Tutorial Guide

• Slow Motion at Fixed Speed

• Slow to a Freeze
• Speed Up from Freeze to Normal

• Match Frame at a Keyframe

• Ramp from Normal to Fast Motion
• Match Frame not at a Keyframe

• Better Quality in Reverse Motion
• Sudden Change

• Ramped Strobe with Blending

• Extend for Dissolve
• Extend with Ping-Pong

• Scratch or Dancing

• Slewing Time

Slow Motion at Fixed Speed

Even for fixed speed effects, you may prefer SpeedRamP due to its higher quality and the ease of trying various speeds in the timeline.

• Drag a new SpeedRamP effect from the Effect Palette to the timeline, and drop on a segment which has some definite action.
• Click on the head keyframe. Above it appears the Order value of "1", with "+" and "-" buttons.
• In the Effect Editor, click on the Speed control and enter "50" on the keyboard to set the speed for this keyframe to 50%.
• Compare the progress of the action in the Effect Preview window on the computer monitor with that on your video monitor.
  

Slow to a Freeze

• Apply a new SpeedRamP effect to a long segment with some definite action.
• Watching the computer monitor, choose a point near the head of the clip where you wish the action to freeze, and add another keyframe there.
• Observe that the Order of this new keyframe is #0. Click the "+" button above the keyframe once to change it to #2. (Avid Xpress DV: Real-Time Effects must be off)
• Set the Speed of this keyframe to 0%.
• Turn on Blending in the Option group.
• Change De-int from Adaptive to Interpolated, in order to
• Move forward to the point in the graph where the yellow curve becomes flat and the green and blue lines intersect with the keyframe #2 icon. Observe on the video monitor that you are at the freeze point.
  

Speed Up from Freeze to Normal

• About halfway through the above effect, add a keyframe at a point where you would like the speed back to full.
• Set the Speed of this keyframe to 100%.
• Press the "+" button once to set its Order to #3.
• If you don't see the keyframe #3 icon in the graph above, that point in the Program time is past the end of the segment. Use the trim keys to move the keyframe earlier till its icon appears from off the right side of the graph.
  

Match Frame at a Keyframe

• Continuing with the above effect, select keyframe #3 in the effect position bar.
• Use the Avid Match Frame function, which loads the source clip back into the Avid source window and marks the match frame.
• Move to the keyframe #3 icon in the graph. You may have to trim the keyframe by a field to perfect the match.
• Mark an In point.
• Exit Effect mode, and overwrite the tail end of the clip with your matching source clip.
  

Ramp from Normal to Fast Motion

• Apply a new SpeedRamP effect.
• Add a keyframe at the point where you want the acceleration to begin. Click on the "+" button above the keyframe to set its Order to #2.
• Add a keyframe at the point where you want the acceleration to be completed. Click on the "+" button above the keyframe to set its Order to #3.
• Change the Speed of this keyframe to 300%.
• Observe the video monitor has gone black, because you are past the end of the sped-up footage.
• Change the Limit menu to Freeze. Now the video monitor shows a freeze of the last available frame of the clip.
• Between keyframe #3 and the end, add keyframe #4 and set its Speed to 100%.
• Change the End menu to Hold Curve.
• The curve shows that the speed is linear at 100% from keyframe #1 (head) to keyframe #2, accelerating to 300% at keyframe #3, decelerating to 100% at keyframe #4, and continues to slow, becoming negative as the action reverses back towards the head of the source.
  

Match Frame not at a Keyframe

• Continuing with the above effect, click on the head keyframe.
• Enter the segment's starting time code into the Source TC Start field in the Effect Editor.
• Move to any point after keyframe #4's icon, before the shot runs out (the yellow curve hits the bottom of the graph)
• Note SpeedRamP's green time code number from the upper left corner of the image.
• Mark an In point, and exit Effect mode.
• Use the Avid Match Frame function to reload the source clip. However, Avid's match is not valid for SpeedRamP.
• Cue the source clip to the noted green time code and mark in.
• Do not trim or remove the end of the SpeedRamP clip, or you may move keyframes or eliminate needed source frames. Instead, cut your next clip onto the track above the SpeedRamP effect.
  

Better Quality in Reverse Motion

In a standard Avid motion effect, -100% reverse motion produces continuous de-interlacing. Instead, use this method with SpeedRamP:

• Apply SpeedRamP to an Interlaced clip.
• With BOTH head and tail keyframes selected, click on the Speed control and type "-100 <Enter>".
• Click on the effect position bar, press the End key to jump to the end of the segment, then the left arrow key once to step to the field just BEFORE the tail keyframe. Add a keyframe here. This will start the effect on a field 1.
• Click the "+" button once to set the Order to #2. (For the moment, the graph displays an illogical condition because the speeds dictate reverse motion while the Order dictates forward motion.)
• Click the "-" button to make this keyframe #1 (swaps Order with the head keyframe which is now #2.)
• Set the Limit menu to Freeze. This will freeze the head field at the end, to make up for the tail field we skipped at the beginning.
  

Sudden Change

• Continuing with the above effect, click on the head keyframe.
• Change it from #2 to #0 (inactive). The graph does not change because End is set to Hold Speed.
• Add a keyframe in the middle of the segment. Make it #2.
• Step one field to the left, add another keyframe, and make it #3.
• Make keyframe #3's speed -10%. Observe the sharp change of speed in the graph.
• Step one field to the left, add another keyframe, and make it #4.
• Make keyframe #4's speed 100%. (An interim keyframe at or near 0% is recommended when changing direction.)
  

Ramped Strobe with Blending

SpeedRamP can do a unique "dissolving freezes" effect that would be cumbersome to build manually.

• Replace the previous SpeedRamP effect with a new one.
• Click on the tail keyframe, and make it #2.
• In the Effect Editor, gradually increase the Strobe setting for this keyframe, observing the steps of increasing size in the graph.
• Turn Blending on.
• Render and play back the effect.
  

Extend for Dissolve

You may have a tight out point that is difficult to dissolve away from. An example would be a sound bite where there is not sufficient pause before the next sentence begins. It may be possible to slow the action imperceptibly at the end of the clip to allow the dissolve, as most of the slow motion or even freeze frame might be hidden by the dissolve to the incoming action.

• Create the dissolve as desired, assuming at least double the existing pad on the outgoing clip. For example, if you had only 10 frames pad for a dissolve, start the dissolve in the same place but you may try 20 or 30 frames duration.
• Add an edit at the point where the action may begin to slow down, for example during the last word of the sound bite.
• Apply a SpeedRamP effect to this segment with the outgoing dissolve at its tail.
• Change the End menu setting to Freeze.
• Add a keyframe at the last useful frame of the outgoing clip.
• Lower the Speed as required to move this keyframe's icon in the graph to about halfway through the dissolve. (Estimate the dissolve start by remembering that it ends at the end of the segment.)
• Render and review, adjusting as desired.
• Do not trim the dissolve or change its centering, as that changes the length of the outgoing scene and will move the keyframes.
  

Extend with Ping-Pong

Similar to the previous, but using Ping-pong and layering if the master clip is too short.

• Locate the start of the available pad on the tail of the short clip.
• Add an edit to the filler track above.
• Add another edit to the filler, creating a segment long enough for any dissolve. Remember, the edit can be easily shortened, but not lengthened without adjusting a keyframe.
• Apply SpeedRamP to the filler.
• At the usable end of the shot, add a keyframe. Make sure it is on a field 2 to prevent de-interlacing.
• Make this keyframe #2.
• Set the Speed to 100%.
• Set the End menu to Ping-pong. If you do not see ping-ponging in the graph, make sure your are monitoring the track with the effect.
• Overwrite or add an edit to shorten. Do not trim.
  

Scratch or Dancing

You can perform rhythmic repetition of action to music, or the comic trick of repeating a single movement of the body to simulate dancing, talking, etc.

• Mark and copy the working section of your sequence which includes the reference audio track to a bin. Use this for creating video mixdowns, which will free you to intercut many speed effects easily.
• Place a series of locators on the audio track at regular beats.
• Identify the start and end of the section of the source clip to be repeated. Using Ping-pong, it will be repeated twice for every beat, once forward and once backward.
• Slide the video clip such that the starting point of the repeat falls on the first beat.
• If there is enough tail to allow for several repeats, add an edit and apply SpeedRamP to the segment on the right. If not, add edits to the filler on the track above and apply SpeedRamP there.
• Add a keyframe at the halfway point of the repeat and make it #2.
• Add another keyframe at the end of the repeat, and make it #3.
• Set the Speed of keyframes #1 and #3 to 0%.
• Set the End menu to Ping-pong.
• Click on keyframe #2 to select it. Without clicking on another keyframe or leaving Effect mode, move the blue timeline marker exactly to the second or third beat in the audio track.
• Increase the Speed until the second or third trough (inverted peak) of the sine curve in the graph moves to match the blue line. Make sure you have one trough per beat. (Use the shift-arrow keys or option/alt-drag the Speed control to see continuous updates of the graph.)
• Turn on Blending if desired.
• Mark a few repeats, and render a video mixdown. Name it by the percentage of speed used.
• For some variation, change the speed to half or double, check the trough to see that it still matches the beat, and again render several repeats, naming by the speed used.
• If desired, use other video tracks to create and mixdown an entrance ramp-down to a freeze of the ending frame, and an exit ramp-up from a freeze of the starting frame.
• Intercut these video mixdowns in various ways as desired.
  

Slewing Time

You may wish to remove or add time in the middle of a clip, yet retain continuous video without a jump cut or cutaway. An example would be a hesitation or short pause in an interview which you would like to shorten.

• Add an edit to the video track at the start of the pause or the first point where sync with audio can be broken.
• Add an edit to the video track at the end of the pause, at the place where sync must resume.
• Without sliding it in time, move the video from the latter segment up from V1 to V2.
• Mark In and Out points in the audio track, for removing up to half of the pause.
• Select the audio track and V2 for editing, but deselect V1. Lift.
• Apply a SpeedRamP effect to the segment on V1 which is half overlapped by the segment on V2.
• Add a keyframe on V1 at the last field before the start of the segment on V2. Make this keyframe #2.
• Make the tail keyframe #3.
• Click on keyframe #2 and set the peak speed there to about 300%
• Further adjust the keyframe #2's speed to move keyframe #3's icon in the graph to align vertically with the blue line at keyframe #2 in the effect position bar.
• Check visually for a good match frame at this point, or use the SpeedRamP time code display.
• If desired, move keyframe #2 by trimming to be more centered between keyframes #1 and #3.
• If the pause is long, instead of a single keyframe halfway through, you can reduce the peak speed by using two intermediate keyframes to raise the speed to a maximum of 200% about a third of the way through, and begin to lower it again about two thirds of the way through.