Using the MacroSystem Casablanca AVIO/ DVD Pro
Capture your video and audio footage in real time by simply playing your source
material into the AVIO. Your original tapes are never altered nor accessed again
by the AVIO. The AVIO can capture from RCA and S-video analog sources, as well
as from firewire. You can mix sources on your timeline.
While capturing analog, you can do some image processing (correction) or you can
save it for scene by scene manipulation. Footage captured via firewire will come
in exactly as shot, but can be manipulated later on in editing.
You can hold up to ten different projects on your drive at the same time.
Material can be stored, worked on, and copied from project to project.
After your footage has been digitized into the AVIO, the next step is to SPLIT
the footage into workable scenes or shots (essentially copies made from your
unsplit originals).
When you split your source material, it is a non-destructive process that still
keeps your un-split original captured clips available to you. Make a mistake and
all you need to do is delete it and then do the split again. Material brought in
via firewire can be automatically split by the AVIO.
After splitting your material, the next step is to fine hone your in and out
points for each shot. The TRIM function allows you to make frame accurate
decisions. You can always COPY a scene, then have the luxury of using the same
footage multiple times with multiple in/out points!
When you TRIM the in and out points of an edit, it is also a non-destructive
process that allows you to go into an edit and change those in/out points.
If you need to color correct or effect a shot while it is still in the workbin,
you can access the IMAGE PROCESSING menu. This offers a good selection of color
manipulation and some special effects that can be “layered” before adding the
scene to the storyboard.
Assemble your shots in order on the storyboard. Re-arrange shots as needed. Go
in (using SEARCH to find your edited raw shot, and REPLACE to put your new edit
up in the storyboard).
Add any visual transitions, other than the default straight cuts, that you want
to use for scene separations, such as fades, wipes, dissolves, etc.
The Titler lets you add crisp 2D or 3D titles to your footage. It provides a
good variety of fonts, infinite colors and sizes, some textures, and standard
title motions.
You can capture wild audio, such as music, sound effects, narration using the
Audio Record window. After audio has been captured, it can be copied, split, and
trimmed (similar to video). Audio can be uploaded directly from a CD. Narration
can be recorded directly into the AVIO while watching playback of a scene.
In the Mix window, you can add audio to 5 additional pair of stereo soundtracks.
The AVIO gives you a total of 6 soundtracks (production sound attached to the
video, commentary, and music). If needed, these 6 tracks can be mixed down to a
single pair, and then more tracks can be added to your production.
When audio is placed in the commentary track, it is locked to the adjacent
video. Add or delete some picture ahead of this scene in the storyboard, and the
audio keeps its sync with the scene it was married to.
Audio placed in the music track is not married to specific picture, but instead
is locked to the running time. So if picture were to be added or deleted, the
music would remain in the same place relative to the running time of the
storyboard.
These six audio tracks (production, commentary, music) can then be mixed
together and rendered as one set of stereo tracks. AVIO allows you to control
relative audio levels and cross-fades between the six tracks.
Output the finished storyboard to your VCR or DVD burner, and your project is
done!
AVIO DVD PRO package (what we sell) is more inclusive than the
basic AVIO that you may see advertised elsewhere for less $$. Don’t get fooled.
AVIO PRO is a software upgrade (under $199) that greatly expands the editing
capabilities of any AVIO. It adds features such as Audio Scrub, Auto Split, Full
Screen Preview, Scene, Clipboard, 10-project, and 6-soundtrack.
This software is so useful to anyone doing video editing, that we would not feel
comfortable selling the AVIO without it. So we bite the bullet, cut our profit
margin, and include it in our packages.
Audio Scrub is the ability to monitor audio while scrolling frame-by-frame
through a shot. A waveform monitor enables you to visualize the audio editing
point at the same time. This gives the editor the option of marking a cut on a
specific frame of picture or sound.
Auto Split allows the edit .system to read the camcorder start/stop signals
encoded in firewire digital video. When you import footage via the firewire, the
AVIO can automatically split your new material into camera takes.
Full Screen Preview comes in handy when applying Image Processing to a scene. A
still frame is displayed full screen that instantly reflects your selected
changes & color corrections. You can scroll through the shot to select which
frame is currently displayed. You can also preview the original, the new effect,
or a split screen showing “before and after”.
The Scene button allows you to save an effect, transition, audio mix, etc. as a
new clip. All of improvements are permanent in the new clip, as if you had
downloaded footage from a finished movie. You can save a single effect, or a
range of scenes from across your storyboard. The new clips can be added to your
existing storyboard, allowing you to LAYER effects over effects!
Clipboard gives you the ability to copy video & audio from one project to
another. Great for re-using logos and title sequences. Used in conjunction with
the Scene button, it becomes simple to sync dailies film-style (marrying
separate audio tracks to picture) and then add this raw footage to another
project.
AVIO PRO increases the number of projects from the standard 3 up to 10. It also
increases the number of available audio tracks from 3 to 6. And if you need to
mixdown more than 6 audio tracks, the Scene button allows you to save the first
6 as one.
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