Getting Assets into Your Media Composer Project

5. In the dialog window, navigate to the project that's at the other frame rate and
contains the bin file that you want to open.
6. Select the bin and either double-click on it or click on the Open button in the
dialog window.
7. The bin will open in your Project and you can access the contents.
8. Once the bin is open, it will be inside a folder created by Media Composer labeled
Other Bins. This is short for other projects' bins. It means that the bin file does
not reside inside the same folder as your Project's bin files.

At this point you can elect to begin editing right from those bins, or you may elect to copy the
clips into a bin that does reside in your Project folder. See the next There's more... section for
two methods of copying clips, called Duplicating and Cloning.

There's more...
There are two methods you can use to copy the clips (making a Duplicate or a Clone), each
with a unique behavior. Whether you Duplicate or Clone a clip, you will never create any new
media files, but will simply create an additional clip that refers (or you could say points) to the
media file(s). Media Composer calls this reference a link and would say that the clip is linked
to the media file(s).

ff Duplicating a clip: Each clip acts independently of the other. For example, one clip
could be named Horse and contain several Markers while the Duplicated clip could
be named White Horse Runs and have no Markers. Making changes to the name,
adding/removing I/O marks, and adding/removing Markers to one Duplicated clip
does not have any affect on the other. Further, the creation date of a Duplicated clip
will reflect the new date and time it was created.
ff Cloning a clip: Cloned clips are able to communicate to their cloned brethren. For
example, if you change the name of one Cloned clip, the other's name will also
change. The same is true for adding and removing Markers as well as In and Out
points. The creation date for all Cloned clips will be the same (the original date).

Duplicating clips
The following are the steps for duplicating clips:

1. Select the clips you want to Duplicate.

2. Go to the Edit menu.
3. Select Duplicate. Alternatively, you could right-click on one of the selected clips
and choose Duplicate from the Contextual menu, or use the keyboard shortcut
cmd + D (Mac) or Ctrl + D (PC).
4. New clips will be created and will have .copy added to the end of their names.

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 Chapter 1

5. Create a new bin by clicking on the New Bin button in your Project Window, or go to
the File menu and select New Bin.
6. Move the clips that you just created to the new bin.
7. If you no longer want to have the borrowed bin appear in the Other Bins folder,
select the borrowed bin and either press the Delete key or right-click and select
Delete Selected Bins from the Contextual menu. It's helpful to note that you are not
actually permanently deleting the bin file, but rather just telling Media Composer that
you no longer want to use it. The bin is still intact inside the other project's folder. For
emphasis, this only applies to bins that are inside the Other Bins folder. Deleting a
bin created within the currently open Project will place it into the Trash.

Cloning clips
The steps for Cloning the clips are as follows:

1. Create a new bin by clicking on the New Bin button in your Project Window,
or go to the File menu and select New Bin.
2. Select the clips you want to Clone.
3. Press and hold the Alt/option key while you drag the selected clips to the new bin.
4. New clips will be created in the desired bin when you release the mouse button.
These clips will not have .copy added to them.
5. If you no longer want to have the borrowed bin appear in the Other Bins folder,
select it and either press the Delete key or right-click and select Delete Selected
Bins from the Contextual menu. It's helpful to note that you are not actually deleting
the bin file, but rather just telling Media Composer that you no longer want to use it.
The bin is still intact inside the other Project's folder.

Sequences will never be Cloned

On a related topic, you can use either of the methods mentioned previously on a sequence.
Both of the methods will produce a Duplicate of the sequence. In other words, both of the
methods will make a sequence with the word .Copy added to it, and no matter which method
you used to create that sequence, it will never, ever, communicate with another sequence
in any way. They will always be totally independent. The changes made to one sequence will
never be replicated in another.

Motion Adapters
Note that when you edit mixed frame rate clips into your Sequence, they are automatically
adjusted. You'll see a small green dot on the clip that indicates that it contains what Avid calls
a Motion Adaptor. The method used to adjust the image (for example, Blended Interpolated
or Both Fields) can be changed by promoting the clip to a Timewarp effect. The Motion
Adaptor is applied only to the video and preserves the original duration of the clip; further,
the audio is not altered in any way.

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Getting Assets into Your Media Composer Project

Tape capture tip: Adding Markers while

Capturing
This simple feature allows you to accomplish multiple tasks at the same time. As you capture
material off tape, you can simultaneously add Markers to help you locate the takes you like
and the takes that the members of the creative team like. For example, while Capturing and
watching the footage with your director, you might use red Markers for what you deem to be
useful takes and yellow Markers for the ones that the director likes.

Getting ready
This tip works when you're actively Capturing from the tape (the red light is blinking). Note that
this tip does not work when Batch Capturing.

How to do it...
The steps that follow indicate how to add a Marker while Capturing:

1. Open the Capture Tool by going to Tools menu | Capture Tool.

2. Begin the Capture from tape (the red light is blinking).
3. While the capture is in progress, press any of the keys F3 or F5 through F12 on your
keyboard. F3 or F5 = Red Marker, F6 = Green, F7 = Blue, F8 = Cyan, F9 = Magenta,
F10 = Yellow, F11 = Black, and F12 = White.
4. See the There's more... section of this recipe for details.

How it works...
When the Capture Tool is active, it takes control of your F keys. Whatever you've
mapped there for editing is replaced with several different functions, including the
ability to add Markers.

There's more...
You can even add notes inside a Marker while capturing.

Adding notes in a marker during capture

1. While the capture is in progress, add a Marker using one of the F keys mentioned in
the previous How to do it... section.
2. Press the Tab key to tell Media Composer you want to add a comment to that Marker
(rather than naming the clip).
3. Type your comment.
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