Appendix L: Composing to Picture Basics

Appendix L: Composing to Picture Basics

• 
  Discuss and demonstrate the scoring process
  
• 
  Demonstrate the functionality in a DAW program that supports scoring to picture
  

In a professional setting, the following steps are part of the process that takes place as a Film or TV production team collaborates with a composer to create and add music to a film or video.

• 
  The SMPTE start and end points for each musical cue or scene
  
• 
  The dramatic and musical goals for each cue
  
• 
  Type of usage: Underscore, source music, pre-existing song, or new song.
  

• 
  US Theatrical Film: 24fps
  
• 
  US black and white TV or audio only sessions: 30fps
  
• 
  US color TV and video: 29.97fps
  
• 
  European film or video: 25fps
  

Timecode can be added to an existing video in Final Cut Pro using the following instructions.

1. 
   Open the application
   
2. 
   Import the video file into a new project
   
   1. 
      File > Import > Files…(Command-I)
      
   2. 
      Or drag and drop from finder window to the Final Cut Browser
      
   3. 
      Or drag and drop directly to a track
      
3. 
   If the video file (or clip) does not have the same properties as the project, an error message will appear and advise you to change the project (sequence) settings to match the clip—you will definitely want to click “Yes.”
   
4. 
   Double-click the video clip on the timeline so that it shows in the viewer window.
   
5. 
   Click the Browser’s Effect tab…
   
   1. 
      Open the Video Filters tab
      
   2. 
      Find the Timecode Generator filter
      
   3. 
      Drag and drop the filter on the selected video track in the timeline
      
   4. 
      Click the Viewer’s Filters tab
      
   5. 
      Set the Filter parameters
      
      1. 
         Label = blank or perhaps the composer’s initials
         
      2. 
         Set the frame rate to the video clip frame rate. If you don’t know the file’s frame rate, select the video file in the browser then scroll to the right and find the frame rate column!
         
      3. 
         Hour offset: if the cue starts at 1 hour then the offset should be set to 1, etc.
         
      4. 
         Frame offset: if the cue starts “off the hour,” add the necessary number of frames. For example, if the clip starts at 1 hour and 3 minutes, enter 1 into the hour offset field and enter 5400 (3 minutes x 60 seconds x 30 frames) into the frame offset field.
         
6. 
   To see the added timecode field, the video clip will need to be rendered
   
   1. 
      Select the video clip
      
   2. 
      Select Sequence > Render Selection > Video
      
7. 
   Export the edited video clip
   
   1. 
      Select File > Send to > Compressor
      
   2. 
      In the Compressor Settings Window, click the Settings Tab
      
   3. 
      Navigate the folder structure and select a video format. We suggest QuickTime H.264 as a good compromise.
      
      1. 
         DAW programs will all import QuickTime videos
         
      2. 
         H.264 video looks good and results in fairly small file sizes
         
   4. 
      In the Compressor Settings window, click the Destinations tab
      
      1. 
         Select a save location for the resulting file.
         
   5. 
      If necessary, adjust the format settings in the Inspector. If the video includes production audio (dialog, sound effects) that you want to consider while writing to picture, set the audio format to Linear PCM, 48kHz sampling rate and 16-bit.
      

Videos for class projects can be found online at the following websites

• 
  Internet Movie Archive: http://archive.org
  
• 
  Film Archives Online: http://filmarchivesonline.org
  
• 
  Entertainment Magazine: http://emol.org/movies
  
• 
  Movie Trailers: http://apple.com/trailers
  
• 
  Audio from films: http://classicmovies.org
  

Videos or scenes from a video can be ripped from a DVD using a free program called Handbrake. (http://handbrake.fr/)

5. 
   Pro Tools Video Requirements
   
   1. 
      PTs LE (in comparison to the full PTs Complete Production Kit or PTs HD product) only allows QuickTime-related video in a PTs session.
      
      1. 
         You must have QuickTime loaded on the computer
         
      2. 
         HD systems also allow Avid video
         
   2. 
      Number of video tracks allowed per session
      
      1. 
         PTs only allows one video track with one video region
         
      2. 
         PTs LE with Complete Production Kit and PTs HD allow multiple video tracks, video regions and playlists.
         
6. 
   The Main Video track
   
   1. 
      Pro Tools only allows video playback from one track at a time. This track is referred to as the Main Video track.
      
   2. 
      The Main Video track is either the first video track in the session or the video track with the Online button enabled.
      
7. 
   Video Engine Rate (VER) and Frame Rate
   
   1. 
      A session’s video engine rate is automatically selected when you import video into a PTs session. If you’re operating an HD session (or LE equipped with DV Toolkit 2) it’s set when the first video is imported into the session.
      
   2. 
      The VER is equal to the frame rate of the imported video.
      
   3. 
      The VER displays in white on the track header unless it doesn’t match the session’s frame rate. In that case the VER displays in red.
      

Example: Video Track Header

Online/Offline toggle button

Video Engine Rate

8. 
   Session Frame rate
   
   1. 
      Background
      
      1. 
         The session’s frame rate should be set to match the Video Engine Rate. This will allow the grids and rulers to align correctly with the frames of the video file.
         
      2. 
         Film or video frame rates relate to SMPTE timecode which displays time in hours, minutes, seconds and frame in two digit fields separated by colons.
         
         1. 
            For example, 1 hour, 12 minutes, 4 seconds and 20 frames displays as 01:12:04:20
            
         2. 
            When drop frame rates are used, the separator between the minutes and seconds field is a semicolon, for example: 01:12:04;20
            
   2. 
      Set the session’s frame rate in the Session Setup window (Command-2)
      
   3. 
      Supported Frame Rates include:
      
      1. 
         23.976 FPS: Used to convert HD video to NTSC
         
      2. 
         24 FPS: US film (theatrical release) frame rate
         
      3. 
         25 FPS: PAL/EBU frame rate, used in Europe and other countries that adhere to PAL standards.
         
      4. 
         29.97 FPS: NTSC frame rate, used in the US for color video
         
      5. 
         29.97 FPS Drop: NTSC video rate, used in the US for color video. Drop frame is used to enable sync between “hour of the day clock” and video. It still runs at 29.97 fps, but two frame numbers are dropped at the beginning of every minute except minutes divisible by 10.
         
      6. 
         30 FPS: NTSC frame rate used with black and white video and audio only sessions
         
      7. 
         30 FPS Drop: Misleading, not a real frame rate. Only used to correct errors in existing timecode.
         
   4. 
      Session Start Time
      
      1. 
         PTs also allows the user to specify a session start time.
         
      2. 
         Note that 00:00:00:00 is not used. Starting playback before that location would require machines to roll back past “midnight” to 23:59:59:59. This often causes problems with other machines that may be synchronized to PTs and should be avoided.
         

Example: Session Setup Window

9. 
   Importing Video and Managing Video tracks
   
   1. 
      Importing QuickTime Video
      
      1. 
         Import Video Command
         
         1. 
            Choose File > Import > Video
            
         2. 
            In the Select Video File to Import dialog box, select the desired video file
            
         3. 
            Click Open
            
         4. 
            Set parameters as desired in the Video Import Options dialog box and click OK.
            
      2. 
         Drag and drop methods
         
         1. 
            Drag from a Finder window to the Regions List a track or Track List or…
            
         2. 
            Drag from the Workspace Browser…
            
         3. 
            The Video Import Options dialog box will appear, etc.
            
   2. 
      Video tracks
      
      1. 
         Creating video tracks and placing video regions on video tracks is similar to working with audio regions.
         

Example: Video media in the Region List

Video Region

3. 
   Viewing QuickTime video in PTs
   
4. 
   Video tracks have two View options…
   
   1. 
      Frames
      
      1. 
         Shows key frames of the video
         
      2. 
         The more the track is zoomed out, the larger the number of “thumbnails” that are displayed
         
      3. 
         Processor-intensive so, if performance seems compromised, try switching to Blocks view
         
   2. 
      Block
      
      1. 
         Video regions are displayed as colored boxes.
         

10. 
    The Video Window
    
    1. 
       To display the Video window, choose Windows > Video (or Command-9)
       
    2. 
       To resize the Video window…
       
       1. 
          Move the cursor to the lower left hand corner. When the resize cursor appears, click and drag the window to the desired size.
          
       2. 
          Right-click (Control-click) the Video window and choose the desired size from the pop-up menu.
          

Resize Pop-Up menu (Right- or Control-click)

11. 
    Importing Audio from a QT Video
    
    1. 
       Choose File > Import > Audio
       
    2. 
       Navigate the Import Audio dialog and select the QT movie from which you wish to import the audio.
       
    3. 
       In the Regions column, select the audio region to be imported and choose Add, Copy or Convert as is appropriate.
       
    4. 
       Click Done.
       
    5. 
       Choose to Import the region to the Regions List or to a new track.
       
    6. 
       The QT movie’s audio will automatically be imported at using the current session parameters
       
12. 
    Editing a Video Region: Video Editing is only available on HD systems and Pro Tools LE systems equipped with Complete Production Kit. Simple edits like trimming can be performed.