10: PC MACs Edit Pulldown

Transcription

1 10: PC MACs Edit Pulldown This Pulldown Menu is familiar to anyone who has operated any Windows or Macintosh programs. It is where all editing commands are located. Most of these are also available as command key equivalents as well. As much as possible, we followed the Macintosh standards for the usage of these keys (as Microsoft themselves are now doing). As is standard in Windows programs, this pulldown isn t available from within most dialog boxes, but the basic command key equivalents generally are (cut, copy, and paste). Undo/Can Not Undo (<control>+z) Standard Macintosh or Windows command that allows the last command to be undone. Cut (<control>+x) Standard Macintosh or Windows command removes whatever has been selected and moves it to the clipboard for temporary storage. When editing text or animation data, everything that follows the removed area will slide forward to fill the void this command creates. In the OffLine Editing Window, animation data at the end of the show will be duplicated as needed. When cutting animation data from the OffLine Editing Window, the Preferences pulldown/cut/paste Options can be set up to automatically clean up any jumps that might be created in analog channels at the point where the data was removed. Copy (<control>+c) Standard Macintosh or Windows command that copies the selected text or animation data to the clipboard for temporary storage without removing it from where it was copied from. Paste (<control>+v) Standard Macintosh or Windows command which is used to copy any animation data or text which has been moved to the clipboard back to a new location you have selected for it. If the area you have Chapter 10 PC MACs Edit PullDown / page 105

2 selected for this animation or text to go is a different length from the data stored on the clipboard, any data that follows it will be shifted forward or backwards as needed to make room (data at the end of the show will be duplicated or shoved off into limbo as appropriate). When pasting animation data in the OffLine Editing Window, the Preferences pulldown/cut/paste Options can be set up to automatically clean up any jumps that might be created in analog channels at the beginning and/or end of the inserted clipboard data. Paste Multiple... (<alternate>+v) This command acts just like the Paste above, except that you have the opportunity to paste from one to 99,999 copies at the same time. If you have a stretch of time selected, go ahead and set the number of times you want to paste to some enormous value. The Paste Multiple will only paste in the number of iterations as will fit. If the Preferences pulldown/cut/paste Options have been set to clean up the ragged ends of the Pastes as they are inserted: a) The Paste Before options will be done before the first copy pasted in. b) Between each copy that is pasted in, the Paste Before options will be used to clean up the end of the previous paste, and the Paste After options will be used to clean up the start of the next copy. c) The Paste After options will only be done after the last copy pasted in. Chapter 10 PC MACs Edit PullDown / page 106

3 Clear to Default Values (<Delete>) or digital channel(s) are selected on the OffLine Editing Window. It is used to remove text or animation data without copying it to the clipboard. When Clearing text, it is simply removed. When clearing animation data on the OffLine Editing Window, the data is set back to its default value in the selected area. If the Preferences pulldown/cut/paste Options are enabled, then PC MACs can automatically clean up any jumps this command might make in the analog channels. Fill with First Value (<control>+f) or digital channel(s) are selected on the OffLine Editing Window. It forces any selected analog or digital channel(s) to whatever value they have at the start of the selected area. Invert Values (<control>+i) or digital channel(s) are selected on the OffLine Editing Window. It simply reverses the conditions of any selected analog or digital channel(s). A digital channel which was 'On' will be forced 'Off'. An analog value will be inverted. Reverse Values (<control>+r) or digital channel(s) are selected on the OffLine Editing Window. It reverses any selected analog or digital channel(s) in time. Whatever actions were programmed in the selected channel(s) will now play backwards. Set To Yak... (<control>+y) or digital channel(s) are selected on the OffLine Editing Window. It is used to paste the audio waveform from a.wav file into either an analog or digital channel. This is typically used to rough out programming of mouth movements and similar animation functions. This function can also be used to modulate lights or fountains to match an audio track. Examples of modulated lights include: a) muzzle flashes of a gun or machine gun b) light that modulates with the voice of a robot Chapter 10 PC MACs Edit PullDown / page 107

4 c) Flicker flame effect that matches the sound of a fire. The best Yak results are always from.wav files that have only the sound you are trying to match. As an example, if you are programing a mouth movement, you don t want all of the sound effects and music mixed into the same audio track. The Yak function will follow ALL of the sounds, and not just the voice you really want. It is not uncommon to create one or more.wav files that are used only for programming. These will typically have one or more voice tracks on one side, and all of the other sounds and voices mixed together on the second audio track. When you create a Yak, you select the voice track as the source. If you have more than one voice on a single.wav track, you can program each mouth individually by selecting each animation function for each figure and programming them individually. As a shortcut, just select all of the animation functions that need to be Yakked and program them all at the same time. All of the figures mouths will move, no matter which one is supposed to be talking. Now go back with the editing tools and Clear the mouths on the figures that aren t talking. In most cases, there is a finite delay in the movements that you are controlling. The Skew can be used to allow for this delay beforehand by offsetting the generated movements forward in time. When programming analog functions, you will need to experiment a few times with the gain settings until the animation function Chapter 10 PC MACs Edit PullDown / page 108

5 matches the sound as best as it can. A setting of 150% is usually a good starting point for most audio files. Digital functions are a bit tricker to set up. The Rising threshold is the level where the audio will turn ON a digital output. The Falling threshold is the level the audio has to drop below to turn OFF that same output. The Skew offsets the functions forward in time. Typical settings are 15% to 20% for the Rising threshold, and 10% to 15% for Falling. You will want to always keep the Falling threshold setting below that of the Rising threshold. As with the Analog Yak functions, you will need to experiment with these until they give the results you want. In most cases, you will need to clean up any mouth movement after programming with the Yak function to make it perfect. Set Digital On (<control>+1) This command is available when a stretch of one or more digital channels are selected on the OffLine Editing Window. It forces any selected digital channel(s) to the 'On' condition. Set Digital Off (<control>+0) This command is available when a stretch of one or more digital channels are selected on the OffLine Editing Window. It forces any selected digital channel(s) to the 'Off' condition. Set Analogs to a Value... (<control>+2) channels are selected on the OffLine Editing Window. It sets any selected analog channels to the value you enter. Chapter 10 PC MACs Edit PullDown / page 109

6 Ramp to a Value... (<control>+3) channels are selected on the OffLine Editing Window. It prompts you for an ending value for any selected analog channel(s). A Ramp, Curve or Spline will be generated on these analog channels from whatever levels they are at the beginning of the selected area to the value you have entered, which will be reached at the end of the selected area. Shift by Percentage... (<control>+4) channels are selected on the OffLine Editing Window. It is a numeric version of the Shift rubberbanding command. It allows you to move Chapter 10 PC MACs Edit PullDown / page 110

7 any selected analog function(s) to a higher or lower level by entering a value on the following screen. Smooth (<F9>) channels are selected on the OffLine Editing Window. It runs a simple filtering algorithm on these channels. This can be used to take any small variations out of analog channels that have been programmed in real time. The filter averages the analog values in adjacent frames. The number of frames which are averaged is set on the Preferences pulldown/smoothing dialog. Inbetween (<F10>) channels are selected on the OffLine Editing Window. It straightens out each of the selected analogs across the selected area. The type of curve used is selected on the Preferences pulldown/inbetweening dialog. The options are: a) Ramp: Draws a straight line across the selected area. b) Spline: This curve is the most commonly used one. It draws a curve across the selected area that matches the direction the analog was going before and after the affected area. c) Curve: Like the Spline above, but it doesn t match the direction of the data found before and after the affected area. This results in a simple S curve. If you do a Shift+<F10>, this brings up a shortcut that opens the Preferences pulldown/inbetweening dialog. You can modify the set- Chapter 10 PC MACs Edit PullDown / page 111

8 tings and close the dialog, and the newly selected settings will take effect on the selected channels. If you cancel the dialog, then nothing will happen. Select All (<control>+a) This command is used to select a bunch of stuff at the same time. If you are in any of the textually oriented dialogs or screens, all the text will be selected by this command. In the OffLine Editing Window, this command will select every channel on the screen. If there has been a range of time selected, then this command will select the channels only during this period. If no range of time has been selected, then the channels are selected for the entire length of the show. Deselect All (<alternate>+a) This command is used to deselect everything which is currently selected. Insert Time (<control>+t) This command is used to add time to one or more channels displayed on the OffLine Editing Window. It is used by selecting a range of time on one or more channels. When it is invoked, the amount of time selected will be inserted at the left edge of the selected area. The data in the selected channels (both analog and digital) at this point will be duplicated as needed to fill the space created. Data on these channels at the end of the show will be shoved off the end of the show into limbo. Delete Time (<alternate>+t) This command is used to subtract time from one or more channels displayed on the OffLine Editing Window. When it is invoked, the selected channels will be deleted for the length of time selected. Data on these channels at the end of the show will be duplicated as needed as the data after the deleted time is slid forward in time to fill the void created. Chapter 10 PC MACs Edit PullDown / page 112

9 10: PC MACs Edit Pulldown Undo/Can Not Undo (<control>+z) Cut (<control>+x) Copy (<control>+c) Paste (<control>+v) Paste Multiple... (<alternate>+v) Clear to Default Values (<Delete>) Fill with First Value (<control>+f) Invert Values (<control>+i) Reverse Values (<control>+r) Set To Yak... (<control>+y) Set Digital On (<control>+1) Set Digital Off (<control>+0) Set Analogs to a Value... (<control>+2) Ramp to a Value... (<control>+3) Shift by Percentage... (<control>+4) Smooth (<F9>) Inbetween (<F10>) Select All (<control>+a) Deselect All (<alternate>+a) Insert Time (<control>+t) Delete Time (<alternate>+t) Chapter 10 PC MACs Edit PullDown / page a