Using a few examples, we would like to help you familiarize yourself with the basic operations and intuitive controls on the Casablanca Avio, Prestige and Kron video editing products. (The screenshots were taken from a Prestige system.)
Here is a list of issues covered in this section:
Which basic settings can or must I configure before starting my video project?
1) Which basic settings can or must I configure before starting my video project?
In the project settings menu you will see a slider control for video "Quality" and a selection button for "Audio Quality". You should use these settings depending on the quality of the initial footage. For example: if you import material from a Hi8 camera and use a CD player for dubbing and then want to record the finished film project using an S-VHS recorder, we recommend that you set the video quality to 4 (SVHS) and the audio quality to CD (Stereo). If you use a DV camera for importing your material and want to record the finished film back onto DV tape, we recommend you select a higher level. The maximum possible recording time decreases the higher the video quality is set. (Casablanca Prestige only offers the direct-DV mode.)
2) How do I record video material onto the hard drive?
In this example, a camera will be used for importing the video footage to be edited. The camera is connected as described in the section on connection examples. Please make sure you configure the correct video settings – the appropriate video input must be selected here.
You must activate playback on the camera yourself. In the recording menu, you will now see the video signal running in the background. If you press the red record button, the currently running video footage will be recorded onto the hard drive in the Casablanca Avio / Prestige / Kron. The displayed counter provides information on the recording progress. You can stop recording by pressing the square black button located alongside the counter. The material is now recorded onto the hard drive and can later be played and edited at any time without having to use the camera. The camera therefore only has be used once for importing the video footage, which means it is subjected to much less wear and tear compared to other video editing solutions. (The technology used in a video camera is generally very delicate and therefore quite sensitive). You can now switch to the Edit menu to edit the footage that you have just imported.
The Video Recording menu
3) How do I edit the video material?
Please switch to the "Edit" menu.
The imported footage should now be visible in the menu. You will see a scene called "S 1" in the scene bin. You can now play the scene by marking it using the mouse pointer and then clicking on the play button located at the right bottom edge of the screen. The video footage that you now see playing is running directly off the hard drive. Throughout the entire editing process, the video will retain the current quality level since the system only uses digital techniques, which do not result in quality loss. This means that there are no additional recording steps involved that could lower the quality of the footage!
The Edit menu immediately after footage is imported.
A scene was imported that now appears as "S 1" in the
scene bin and can be edited.
Now click on the "Split" button. You now see the first frame of the imported scene in the background. In the foreground you see a set of controls including the "Split Position", "Use" and "Drop" buttons. We shall not be using the other buttons in this example.
First we want to split the video footage into smaller scenes. Please click on the "Split Position" button first. You can now scroll backwards and forwards through the video footage using the trackball. The faster you roll the trackball, the quicker you can "spool" through the footage. Stop at the first perceivable hard cut, i.e. the point at which you started filming a new scene using the camera. Mark this splicing point using the left trackball button. You can now either "Use" or "Drop" the section up to this position. If you like this section and want to use it in the film, select "Use". If, for instance, you had the camera set to record for too long and you filmed your feet, you can "Drop" this section since you probably will not want to use it in your movie. The next frame of the scene in the raw footage now appears in the background. Now click on "Split Position" and select the next "splicing point".
You can continue editing the entire video footage of the imported scene in this way and decide which scenes you want to use in the film and which ones you do not. Once you have split the footage up to the very last frame, the interface automatically switches back to the Edit menu. You will see that all the scenes that you want to use are now in the scene bin positioned alongside the raw footage scene "S 1". These scenes are automatically numbered but you have the option of renaming them as required to gain a better overview.
In the Split menu, the imported raw footage is divided into separate scenes.
All the "used" scenes are then saved in the Edit menu as numbered individual scenes.
You can then arrange these individual scenes in the storyboard as required.
4) How do I put a film together?
The scene bin now contains many separate scenes that we can put together in any order we want to make a movie. Click on a scene in the scene bin. It is now highlighted and you can use the "Add" button to insert it into the storyboard. The storyboard is used to specify the order of scenes in a film. If you highlight another scene in the scene bin and click on "Add", you will be asked if you want to insert that scene in front or behind the previous scene. This notice only appears if you are at the start of the storyboard or if, as in our case, there is only once scene in the storyboard.
If you want to check the storyboard sequence by playing it, you can do so by pressing the play button. It is located in the top right corner of the screen. If you are not satisfied with the film sequence, you can remove scenes at any time from the storyboard and insert them at another position. If you feel that a scene is too long, you can trim it at the beginning (IN) or at the end (OUT) using the "Trim" function in the scene bin. You can undo the trimming action at any time. The trimmed scene can then replace the overly long scene in the storyboard using the "Remove" function.
5) How do I insert effects?
So far we have put together a film with hard cuts. In order to spice the film up a little, we have a whole range of effects we can use. Two scenes can be linked to one another to create a soft transition from once scene to the next (transition effects). You can also apply an effect for the duration of an entire scene (image-processing effects), for instance to correct the color of a whole scene.
You will find a menu bar at the bottom right edge of the screen in the Edit menu. There are two buttons labeled "FX". The first button (with the two little boxes) opens the Transition Effects menu. The two scenes in the middle of the storyboard can now be associated with a transition effect. You can now select any effect you like from the list of effects and, using the "Add" button, insert it in the storyboard between the two scenes enclosed by the border. If the effect is one of the many "Real-time Effects" (indicated by a little blue flag in the list), you can play it immediately in full-size mode using the play button in the storyboard. If, however, it is a more complex effect that first has to be calculated it will be displayed in the storyboard with a red symbol. If you want to view it in full-size mode, it first has to be rendered ("Create" button). The symbol in the storyboard then turns blue. You can, however, also view a real-time preview in a smaller window ("Preview" button).
If you click on the FX button that is displayed containing one little box, a list of all the image-processing effects will open. These effects can be inserted and calculated in the same way as the transition effects. The effects last for the duration of a whole scene.
In the image-processing effects and transition effects menus you can associate
effects with scenes or apply effects for the duration of an entire scene
(or several scenes at the same time). There are no limits to what you can create.
6) How do I create high quality titles?
All Casablanca systems are equipped as standard with comprehensive titling functions like scrolling text, rolling titles or subtitles. Various font types are available for you to create custom titles.
Start by selecting a title effect (e.g. rolling titles) and insert this as an effect symbol into the storyboard over the required scene. Use the "Enter/Edit Text" button to open the Titling menu so you can enter the text you want using an on-screen keyboard. Here you can also define the type and size of the font used and add colors and patterns to the text.
If you own an external USB keyboard, you can use it instead to enter text. You can also save titles in an archive so you can access them quickly at a later date.
If you need more options when creating your titles, we recommend you use the Title Effect Package or the Font Packages.
Create your own unique opening and closing credits or add subtitles to any part of your video.
7) How do I dub my video with music and commentaries?
Before you can dub your video, you must first record the sound onto your hard drive. This is done in the Audio Mix menu, where you can record music, commentaries or sounds via the selected audio input (e.g. stereo RCA input). These audio samples can then be assigned to sections of the film with frame-by-frame accuracy in the Audio Mix menu. There are two freely assignable stereo audio tracks available for this purpose on the Casablanca Avio. The Avio Pro-Package, Kron and Prestige devices provide five stereo audio tracks in addition to the original soundtrack.
You can now use the "Add" button to view a list of all the audio samples that have already been recorded. With the click of a button you can then make the selected audio sample appear beneath the video scene in the audio track that you previously selected. If you do not want an audio sample to start at the beginning of a scene but somewhere in the middle, you can use the "Range" button to reposition the sample with frame-by-frame accuracy. There are also fader controls for soft fade-ins and fade-outs as well as slider controls for adjusting the volume. These allow you to do such things as reduce the volume of the music track during a commentary.
The Audio Dubbing menu (here on the Prestige) with six stereo audio tracks.
News
