Splice Now

For those of you using Version 5 for the first time, one of the biggest changes is the need to deal with advanced keyframes for most visual effects. This represents a big leap in functionality, but for people unfamiliar with the interface, there will be some inevitable speed bumps. I’ve put up an video introduction to the subject, here. (The video is slightly out of date in that you no longer have to promote effects — they’re advanced by default. But it should be helpful, anyway.)

I discovered another hidden feature the other day: The Reverse Animation button, which appears in some traditional visual effects, is missing in action in the advanced interface. You might use it, for example, to create a right-to-left wipe. Avid’s standard wipe is left-to-right. In the past, to switch it, you just hit Reverse Animation.

But in Version 5, when you apply a horizontal wipe, it opens the advanced keyframe interface, and the button isn’t available. It turns out that the feature is there, however, hidden in a contextual menu. To find it, right click on the effect track. Then select Reverse Keyframes.

Note the keyframe graph above. After selecting reverse keyframes, the graph inverts and the Swap Sources button is automatically selected, as shown below.

Voila, you have created a right-to-left wipe.

Here’s a feature that’s been around forever, but many people don’t seem to be aware of it. Say you want to find a piece of data logged for a particular clip. You open the appropriate bin, but the column containing the info you’re interested in isn’t displayed. You could open the bin’s Fast Menu, select Headings and display the appropriate column. But there’s a quicker way. Just Command-Option-click on the clip’s icon (in any view, including frame view). A window will open showing you all the data logged for that clip.

Better yet, you can do the same thing for clips in the source or record monitors. In this case, click and hold in the space between the source and record monitor position bars. Do it on the left side of that area and your window reveals data for the clip in the source monitor. Do it on the right side and you’ll see data for the clip in the record monitor.