Settings overview
There is a great deal of customizability in Avid Media Composer; much of it can be achieved through various settings. The following discussions provide a helpful overview.
Types of settings
Media Composer has three types of settings as follows:
- User Settings: These apply to modifications you make and are stored as part of your unique User Profile settings in the
Avid Usersfolder. User settings include things such as customized keyboards, render settings, Timeline Views, Bin Views, and more. User Settings are entirely separate from Projects, which allows you to use them along with any Project and at any workstation. We will see more information on User Profile Settings later in this chapter. - Project Settings: Project Settings are located inside the
Projectfolder along with the bins and folders that you created. Changes made to Project Settings affect it and any other editor(s) who work with that Project. Project Settings include information about the video format, audio configuration (for example, sample rate), video display, and more. - Site Settings: The word "site" in this case means your computer workstation and/or associated hardware such as tape decks connected to that system. Site Settings are useful for making specific settings available to all new projects and new users. For emphasis, Site Settings will only be put into effect when a new Project or a new User Profile is created. When Media Composer creates a new Project or new User, it first looks at the
Site Settingsfile before loading any Project and User Settings that are not in that file. This can be a real time saver for things that are used over and over again, for example custom Export Settings, Deck Configuration Settings, Safe Color settings, Interplay settings, and more. Information on customizing Site Settings will be covered later in this chapter.
Duplicating settings to create alternate versions
Settings can be duplicated and then customized, so you can have alternate versions available when you need them.
One thing to be aware of is that when you display your settings (Project Window | Settings tab), the selections within the Project window's Fast Menu (the hamburger-looking icon in the top-left corner of the Project Window) will be different from when the Project Window is set to display bins. If the menu is set to display only the active settings, rather than all settings, it can often cause confusion when you duplicate settings as they will not be visible immediately. For emphasis, make sure that when you're duplicating settings that the Project Window's Fast Menu is set to display all settings.
To duplicate a setting, perform the following steps:
- Go to Project window | Settings tab.
- Click on a setting to select it.
- Use any of these methods to duplicate the setting:
- Select Edit menu | Duplicate
- Press cmd/Ctrl + D
- Right-click on a setting and select Duplicate
Naming settings
Start by hovering your cursor over the setting name. As you slowly move your cursor to the right, you'll see it change from the hand icon to the arrow icon, which will allow you to click into that entry cell and type in.
Activating alternate settings
When there are multiple settings available, only one can be active at a time. It's the one with the check mark that Media Composer pays attention to. You can change which alternate setting is enabled by clicking just to the left of it. This will move the check mark and make that setting active. There are two notable exceptions to this, however. Custom Bin Views and custom Timeline Views can only be activated using the Bin View Menu located at the bottom of every bin or the Timeline View Menu located at the bottom of the Timeline Window.
Alternate settings ideas
The following are some useful alternate settings to get you started:
- Keyboard: You could create several keyboard layouts, each customized for a specific task (for example, editing, capturing, multicamera editing, audio mixing, and so on). My suggestion is to start with your personalized editing keyboard that already has your customized mappings for various functions, Workspaces, Timeline Views, and so on. Then duplicate that keyboard, rename it, and make the specific (most likely minor) changes you want for the new task.
- Grid: You may find that it's faster to preset a couple of different grid display settings and then switch between them by moving the check mark than having to reconfigure it each time. For example, I have several different grid displays for different aspect ratios along with varying combinations of Safe Title, Safe Action, and assorted grid lines displayed. More information on grid settings can be found in Chapter 3, Polishing Gems.
- Import: You may find that it's faster to preset a couple of different common Import settings and then switch between them by moving the check mark than having to reconfigure it. This is especially helpful if you use the drag-and-drop import method.
- Composer: Composer settings allow you to customize such settings as Always Display Two Rows of Data above the Source and Record windows, Undo Only Record Side Events, enable Single Mark Editing, and make some choices for when you're editing in MultiCam Mode or in Stereo 3D, and to control the behavior of the Fast Forward and Rewind functions.
Deleting settings and two warnings
Deleting a setting is as easy as selecting it, and performing either of the methods below:
- Press the Delete key.
- Right-click on it and select Delete.
The following are some warnings and some good news about deleting settings:
- Warning number one: The setting will instantly be deleted. Media Composer will not give you an additional dialog box when deleting a setting, which would allow you to cancel the operation.
- Warning number two: Once a setting is deleted, it can not be brought back by using the
Undocommand. Instead, you would have to rebuild it all over again. - Good news: You cannot delete an active setting, so you'll never be left without a keyboard setting, for example. Further, this would be a good time to point out that you should save some backup copies of your User Settings in case you mistakenly delete something or if they become corrupted.
Restoring a setting back to default
The following is useful if/when you've made modifications to a setting and if you want to revert back to the default selections later, as they were when Media Composer was first installed. Perform the following steps to restore a setting back to default:
- Go to Project window | Settings tab.
- Select a setting.
- You may then do either of the following:
- Go to Special menu | Restore To Default
- Right-click on the setting and select Restore To Default
- A dialog box will open, which will allow you to simply restore the setting, or to save your customized version of the setting as well as provide you with a restored version.