Steinberg Nuendo 5 Manual
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521 Video Introduction Nuendo is a full-featured postproduction media tool that is capable of dealing with video content in several ways. You can work with video and create complete soundtracks from within Nuendo. The soundtrack can then be inserted into a video file, recorded onto video tape or exported as an audio file that can be married to the video or film later. This chap - ter covers the video operations related to the video itself, like importing video files, playing back video, and applying speed changes to compensate for film transfers. How to create a soundtrack for a video file is described in the chapter “Audio editing to picture” on page 535. Before you start When working on a project involving a video file, you first need to set up your system according to your equipment and your demands. The following sections provide some general information about video file formats, frame rates, and video output devices. Video file compatibility Because there are many types of video files, it can be dif- ficult to determine if one will work on your system. There are two ways to figure out if Nuendo can play back a cer - tain video file: •Open the video file with QuickTime 7.1 or higher, be- cause Nuendo uses QuickTime for playing back video files. •Check the file information of a video file in the Pool. If the information reads “Invalid or not supported file!”, the video file is either corrupt or the format is not supported by the available codecs. Video container formats Video and other multi-media files come in a container for- mat. This container holds various streams of information including video and audio, but also metadata such as syn - chronization information required to play back audio and video together. Data regarding creation dates, authors, chapter markings, and more can also be held within the container format. The following container formats are sup - ported by Nuendo: Nuendo supports all these container formats, but prob- lems may arise when the computer does not have the cor- rect software to decode compressed video and audio streams within the container file. You must also know the type of codec that was used to create the video file. Codecs Codecs are methods of data compression used to make video (and audio) files smaller and more manageable for computers. In order to play back a video file, your com - puter must have the correct codec installed in the operat- ing system to decode the video stream. !If you are not able to load a certain video file, you must use an external application to convert the file into a compatible format or install the required co - dec. For more information on codecs, see the sec- tion “Codecs” on page 521. FormatDescription MOVThis is a QuickTime movie. QTThis is also a QuickTime movie, but it is only used in Windows. MPEG-1This is the first standard of the Moving Picture Experts Group for video and audio compression, used for making video CDs. Files of this container format can have the extensions “.mpg” or “.mpeg”. MPEG-2This container format is used for DVD authoring. It can also contain AC3 multi-channel audio and has the file extension “.m2v”. VOBThis format is used for DVD video and is based on MPEG-2, but has additional limitations and specifications. MPEG-4This format is based on the QuickTime movie standard, can contain various metadata for streaming, editing, local play-back, and interchange of content. Its file extension is “.mp4”. AVIThis format is a multimedia container format introduced by Microsoft. DVThis is a video format used by camcorders. !The names of codecs and container formats can be confusing. Because many container formats have the same names as the codecs they use within the file, make sure to differentiate the container format or file type (e. g. .mov or .dv) from the codec used within it.
522 Video If you are not able to load a certain video file, the required codec is probably not installed on your computer. In this case, you can search the Internet (e. g. the Microsoft or Apple web sites) for video codecs. Frame rates Nuendo is capable of working with different types of video and film frame rates. For an overview about the supported frame rates, refer to the section “Frame rate (speed)” on page 498. Video output devices Nuendo supports several ways to play back video files. Viewing video files onscreen in the Video Player window may work just fine for many applications, but often it is necessary to display video in a large format for viewing small details and so others involved in the session can also see the video. Nuendo provides the ability to use sev - eral types of video output devices to accomplish this. Multi-head video cards One of the most common methods is the use of a multi- head video card installed in the computer. Multi-head video cards allow you to connect more than one computer monitor to the card, in some cases up to four. If you direct the video output of Nuendo to one of these outputs, the video file is displayed in fullscreen mode on a computer monitor or HD television screen. ÖYou can also use more than one video card to achieve the same result. The use of two dual display cards in one system (a total of four monitors) is a very common setup for film postproduction systems. One output is dedicated to video and the other three can be used for Nuendo and other applications. Different video cards support different types of outputs in- cluding standard VGA, DVI, S-Video, HDMI, and compo- nent video. These options allow you to choose the type of monitor you use for video. HD televisions and digital pro - jectors provide the largest viewing screens, but a normal computer monitor can function as a very high-quality video monitor as well. Dedicated video cards The use of a dedicated video card is also supported in Nuendo. These cards are normally used in video editing systems to capture video to disk and display it while edit - ing. They usually have a high resolution and take some strain off the host CPU by providing video compression and decompression processing on the card. ÖThe Decklink cards by Blackmagic Design are auto- matically recognized by Nuendo. Video will be sent di- rectly to its output. FireWire DV Output You have the option to use FireWire ports on the computer to output DV video streams to external converters such as various camcorders and standalone FireWire to DV con - version units. These units can be connected to a television or projector for large format viewing. The FireWire protocol is capable of transporting data at high speed and is the most common standard for communicating with video- related peripheral equipment. !Under Windows, it is important that you connect your device to the FireWire port before launching Nuendo. Otherwise it may not be detected properly by Nuendo.
523 Video Preparing a video project in Nuendo The following sections describe the basic operations nec- essary for preparing a Nuendo project involving video. It is advisable to store your video files on a separate hard drive from your audio files. This can help prevent data streaming problems when using high-resolution video with many au - dio tracks. Importing video files Importing a video file into your project is very straight for- ward once you know that you have a compatible video file. Video files are imported in the same manner as audio files: •By using the File menu (Import–Video File). In the Import Video dialog, you can activate the “Extract Audio From Video” option. This imports any embedded audio streams to a newly cre- ated audio track positioned below the video track. The new track and the clip will get the name of the video file. The new audio event will start at the same time as the video event, so that they are in sync with each other. If there is no audio stream within the container file, you will get the error message “No compatible audio stream found in file”. Click OK and the video stream will continue to be imported. ÖIf you try to import a non-supported video file with the Import Video option, the Import Video dialog displays the text “Invalid or not supported file!”. •By importing to the Pool first and then dragging to the Project window (see “The Pool” on page 320 for details). •By using drag and drop from the Windows Explorer, the Mac OS Finder, the Pool, or the MediaBay. ÖWhen importing video files via the Pool or by using drag and drop, Nuendo can automatically extract the au - dio from a video file. Whether this happens, depends on the “Extract Audio on Import Video File” setting in the Preferences dialog (Video page). For further information about extracting audio from a video file, see “Extracting audio from a video file” on page 528. ÖWhen importing video, Nuendo automatically creates a thumbnail cache file. The generated file is stored in the same folder as the video file and gets the name of the file with the suffix “.vcache”. Adopting the video frame rate When using video files within Nuendo, it is important to adjust the project’s frame rate to that of the imported video. This ensures that the time displays of Nuendo cor - respond to the actual frames in the video. If the frame rate of an imported video file differs from the frame rate set for the project, the video event shows a warning. In order to match the two frame rates, you have to adjust the frame rate in the Project Setup dialog. To adopt the video frame rate, proceed as follows: 1.Pull down the Project menu and select “Project Setup…”. 2.In the Project Setup dialog, click the “Get From Video” button. Provided that the video file has a frame rate supported by Nuendo, it is automatically detected and applied to the project. If the project contains several video files with different frame rates, the project frame rate is ad - justed to the frame rate of the first video event on the upper video track. The project frame rate setting will change to that of the video file and the project start time will be altered to reflect the change in frame rate if needed. For example, when the project frame rate is switched from 30 fps to 29.97 fps, the start time is changed so that all the events currently in the project remain at the same positions in relation to realtime. If you want the project start time to remain the same, you !In Nuendo, you may work with multiple video files of differing frame rates and formats on the same video track. There can be two video tracks per project. As - suming you have the proper codecs installed, all video files can be played back in one project, but note that proper synchronization of audio and video events is ensured only if the frame rate of the video file matches the project frame rate (see below).
524 Video must manually change it back after clicking the “Get From Video” button. In this case, it is important that the video event is snapped to the timeline to ensure proper position - ing and synchronization within the project. ÖNuendo can only detect the supported frame rates (these are the frame rates listed in the Frame Rate pop-up menu in the Project Setup dialog). Video files with non-sup - ported frame rates can be played back, but the time dis- plays are not correct in this case and proper positioning is not guaranteed. Furthermore, audio and video may not be in sync. Therefore, we recommend that you use an external application to convert the video file to a frame rate sup - ported by Nuendo. If you have more than one video file in a project, it is advis- able that all video files have the same frame rate consis- tent with the project frame rate. Nevertheless, you can work with multiple video files of differing frame rates, but in this case you should always change the project frame rate to the frame rate of the video file that you are editing at the moment. This is done in the Project Setup dialog by se - lecting the correct frame rate from the Frame Rate pop-up menu. Video files in the Project window Video files are displayed as events/clips on a video track, with thumbnails representing the frames in the film. There can be two video tracks per project. In the track list and Inspector, you find the following but- tons: ÖSome of these buttons may not be visible in the track list. With the Track Controls Settings dialog you deter - mine which buttons are displayed in the track list, see the section “Customizing track controls” on page 573. About thumbnails The individual thumbnail images are positioned exactly at the beginning of the corresponding frame. When you zoom in and there is enough space between the frames, the thumbnail is repeated as many times as there is free space available. Thus, you can always see a thumbnail re - gardless of how much you zoom in. Thumbnail Memory Cache Size In the Preferences dialog on the Video page, you can en- ter a value for the “Thumbnail Memory Cache Size”. This determines how much memory is available for displaying “real” thumbnails. The currently shown image is buffered in the thumbnail memory cache. Whenever you move to another image and there is no memory capacity left, the “oldest” picture in the cache is replaced by the current one. If you have long video clips and/or work with a large zoom factor, you may have to raise the “Thumbnail Mem - ory Cache Size” value. About thumbnail cache files When importing video, Nuendo automatically creates a thumbnail cache file. The cache file is used in situations where the processor load is very high and the correct re - drawing or realtime calculation of thumbnails might use system resources necessary for editing or processing. When you zoom in on the thumbnails, you see that they are in a lower resolution, i. e. the pictures are not as clear Show frame numbers Mute videoShow thumbnailsLock ButtonDescription Mute VideoWhen this is activated, video playback is disabled, but playback of any other events in the project continues. This increases the performance of Nuendo when realizing operations that do not require watching the video. Show Frame NumbersWhen this is activated, each thumbnail is shown with the corresponding video frame number. Show ThumbnailsWith this button you can activate/deactivate the thumb-nails of a video track. LockWhen this is activated, the video event will be locked, see the section “Locking events” on page 74.
525 Video as when they are calculated. When the processes that rely heavily on the computer CPU are finished, the frames are automatically recalculated, i. e. the program automati- cally switches between realtime calculation of the pictures and using the cache file. ÖThere are situations where no thumbnail cache file can be generated, e. g. if you import a video file from a folder that is write-protected. If you have access to the host folder at a later stage, you can generate a thumbnail cache file manually. Manually generating thumbnail cache files If no thumbnail cache file could be generated during im- port or if you have to “refresh” a thumbnail cache file of a certain video file, because the file has been edited with an external video editing application, you have the possibility to generate the thumbnail cache file manually. To create a thumbnail cache file manually, you have the following possibilities: •In the Pool, right-click on the video file that you want to create a thumbnail cache file for and select the “Generate Thumbnail Cache” option from the context menu. A thumbnail cache file is created, or, in case there already existed a thumbnail cache file for the video file, it is “refreshed”. •In the Project window, open the context menu for the video event, and select “Generate Thumbnail Cache” from the Media submenu. •Pull down the Media Menu and select “Generate Thumb- nail Cache”. Ö“Refreshing” an already existing thumbnail cache file can be done only from within the Pool. ÖThe thumbnail cache file is generated in the back- ground so that you can continue working with Nuendo. Playing back video To check if your video equipment is capable of playing back a video from within Nuendo, open the Video Player page in the Device Setup dialog. If your system does not meet the minimum video requirements, a corresponding message will be displayed. For further information on the Device Setup dialog, see below. Video is played back together with all other audio and MIDI material, using the Transport controls. If you work with two video tracks in your project, the file on the lower track is played back. To watch a video file that is posi - tioned on the upper video track, change the order of the tracks or mute the lower video track. Video settings in the Device Setup dialog In the Device Setup dialog you determine which device is used for playing back video files. You can switch between different output devices during playback. The Video Player page in the Device Setup dialog !For playing back video files, you must have QuickTime 7.1 or higher installed on your computer. There is a freeware version and a “pro” version, which offers ad - ditional video conversion options. The player engine is the same in both versions, so for mere playback in Nu - endo there is no need to purchase the “pro” version. !You need a video card that supports OpenGL (ver- sion 2.0 recommended) for proper video playback. A card with OpenGL 1.2 can also be used, but might put restrictions on the video functionality.
526 Video To set up a video output device, proceed as follows: 1.Pull down the Devices Menu and select “Device Setup…” to open the Device Setup dialog, and select the Video Player page. 2.In the Active column, activate the checkbox for the de- vice that you want to use for playing back video. All devices in your system that are capable of playing back video are listed. The Onscreen Window device serves for playing back the video file on your computer monitor. For further information on output devices, see the section “Video output devices” on page 522. 3.From the pop-up menu in the Format column, select an output format. For the Onscreen Window output, only a “fixed” format is available. For the other output devices, you can select different output formats for play - back depending on the device. 4.Adjust the Offset setting to compensate for process- ing delays. Due to delays while processing video, the video image may not match with the audio in Nuendo. By using the Offset parameter, you can com - pensate for this effect. The Offset value indicates how many milliseconds the video will be delivered earlier in order to compensate for the process- ing time of the video material. Each hardware setup can have different processing delays, so you must try out different values to determine which value is appropriate. ÖThe Offset value can be set individually for each out- put device. It is saved globally for each output device and is independent of the project. ÖThe offset is only used during playback. It is defeated in stop and scrub mode so that you always see the correct video frame. •If the quality of the video image is not a critical factor or if you are experiencing performance problems, try lower - ing the value on the Video Quality pop-up menu. Although higher quality settings make the video display sharper and smoother, they also lead to an increased processor load. Playing back video on the computer screen The Video Player window is used for playing back video on your computer screen. •To open the Video Player window, pull down the De- vices menu and select Video Player. Setting the window size and video quality To resize the Video Player window and/or change the play- back quality of the video, select the appropriate option on the context menu of the Video Player window. The following options are available: OptionDescription Fullscreen ModeThe window is enlarged to occupy the whole (computer) screen. If you are working with more than one monitor, you can move the Video Player window to an extra monitor. Thus, you can work with Nuendo on one monitor and let the video play back on another monitor. You can exit fullscreen mode via the window’s context menu or by pressing [Esc] on your computer keyboard. Quarter SizeThe window size is reduced to a quarter of the actual size. Half SizeThe window size is reduced to half the actual size. Actual SizeThe window size corresponds to the size of the video.
527 Video •Drag the borders, just like when resizing other windows. ÖThe higher the resolution, the more processing power is needed for playback. If you need to reduce the proces - sor load, you can reduce the size of the Video Player win- dow, or lower the value on the Video Quality submenu. Setting the aspect ratio Resizing the Video Player window by dragging its borders may lead to a distorted image. To prevent this, you can set an aspect ratio for video playback. •From the Aspect Ratio submenu of the Video Player context menu, select one of the following options: ÖWhen the video is played back in fullscreen mode, the aspect ratio of the video is always kept. Scrubbing video You can scrub video events, i. e. play them back forwards or backwards at any speed. This is done by clicking in the Video Player window and moving the mouse to the left or to the right. You can also use the Scrub controls on the Transport panel or a jog wheel on a remote controller for scrubbing video events, see the sections “The shuttle speed control” on page 87 and “Project scrubbing – the jog wheel” on page 87. Editing video Video clips are played back by events just as audio clips are. You can use all the basic editing operations on video events, just as with audio events. You can take a single event and copy it many times for the creation of mix varia - tions. A video event may also be trimmed using the event handles to remove a countdown for instance. Furthermore, you can lock video events just like other events in the Project window, and you can edit video clips in the Pool (see the chapter “The Pool” on page 320). It is not possible to fade or crossfade video events. Fur- thermore, you cannot use the Draw, Glue, and Mute tools with a video event. ÖWindows only: If you find that you are unable to edit a video file copied from a CD, this might be due to the fact that files copied from CD are write-protected by default. To remove the write-protection, in the Windows Explorer, open the Properties dialog and deactivate the “Read- Only” option. About the Edit Mode When you are editing audio material to a video, it is impor- tant to know how each audio edit relates to the exact frame of video where it occurs. Video playback follows the Nu - endo transport, i. e. the video frame at the current project cursor position is shown in the Video Player window. How - ever, if you perform event or range-based editing tasks you will get no visual feedback. The special Edit Mode solves this problem, allowing you to edit audio while getting con - tinuous visual feedback on the video display. For further in- formation on the Edit Mode, see the section “Edit Mode” on page 545. Double SizeThe window is enlarged to twice the actual size. Video QualityThis submenu allows you to change the quality of the video image. Higher settings make the video display sharper and smoother, but lead to an increased processor load. OptionDescription NoneThe aspect ratio of the video is not kept when resizing the window. The image is enlarged/reduced to occupy the whole Video Player window. InternalThe Video Player window can be resized at will, but the as-pect ratio of the video is kept and black borders are dis-played around the video image to fill the window. ExternalThe resizing of the Video Player window is limited accord-ing to the aspect ratio of the video image, i. e. the video im-age always fills the full window and its aspect ratio is kept. Option Description
528 Video Extracting audio from a video file If a video file contains audio, the audio stream can be ex- tracted. As always when importing audio material, a dialog is displayed allowing you to select different import options (see the section “Audio file import options” on page 64). The extracted audio stream is added to the project on a new audio track and can be edited like all other audio mate - rial, see the chapter “Audio editing to picture” on page 535. There are several ways to extract audio from a video file: •By activating the “Extract Audio From Video” option in the Import Video dialog (see the section “Importing video files” on page 523). •By using the “Audio from Video File” option on the Im- port submenu of the File menu. This will insert an audio event starting at the project cursor position on the selected audio track. If no audio track is selected, a new one will be created. •By activating the “Extract Audio on Import Video File” option in the Preferences dialog (Video page). This will automatically extract the audio stream from any video file during import. •By using the “Extract Audio from Video File” option on the Media menu. This creates an audio clip in the Pool, but does not add any events to the Project window. Replacing the audio in a video file Once you have edited all audio and MIDI data to the video and created a final mix (see the chapter “Audio editing to picture” on page 535), you will need to put the new audio back with the video. You can do this by embedding the audio in another stream within the video container file. To replace the audio stream in a video file, proceed as fol- lows: 1.Place the left locator at the start of the video file in Nu- endo. This will ensure that your audio and video streams are synchronized. 2.Pull down the File menu and select the Audio Mixdown option from the Export submenu to export the audio file you wish to insert into the video container file (for detailed information on this function, see the chapter “Export Audio Mixdown” on page 473). 3.From the File menu, select “Replace Audio in Video File…”. A file dialog opens prompting you to locate the video file. 4.Select the video file and click Open. Next, you are prompted to locate the corresponding audio file. This should be the one you created above. 5.Select the audio file and click Open. The audio is added to the video file, replacing its current audio stream. Once the process is completed, open the video file in a native media player and check for proper synchronization.!These functions are not available for MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video files.
529 Video About film transfers When working on film projects, video postproduction edi- tors typically transfer the film footage to video for use with computer video editing systems. Once the film has been edited, it can be transferred back to film for presentation in theaters or may remain in video format for television broad - cast and release on videotape or DVD. Pull-up and pull-down When film footage is transferred to video, the frame rate must be converted from 24 fps to either 25 fps (PAL/SE- CAM) or 29.97 fps (NTSC). This process introduces a slight speed change as a result of the mathematical rela - tionships between the different frame rates. When a specific speed change is applied to either audio or video, this is called a “pull-down” or “pull-up” depend - ing on the direction of the change. The specific amount and direction depend on the type of transfer the film un - derwent. For example, transfers to PAL/SECAM and NTSC each require a different speed change in order to keep the audio in sync. The film to NTSC conversion is done as a 2-3 pull-down and the film is running at 23.98 fps to maintain the exact 2:3 relationship. As a result the film is running ~0.1 % slower in NTSC TV. These speed changes must also be applied to the audio recorded along with the film, in order for the audio to re - main in sync with the picture. Sometimes the speed change is applied at the same time as the film transfer and is recorded directly on the videotape. This allows the video editor to hear the audio along with the transferred video while editing. However, speed changes also result in pitch changes. Furthermore, this may lead to artifacts in the audio, due to the fact that a direct digital transfer from the field recorder to videotape is not possible without performing either a sample rate conversion or an analog transfer. Therefore, most audio engineers prefer to use the original source material when working with film audio. Once the original audio has been digitally transferred into Nuendo, the speed change must be compensated for in order to keep the audio in sync with the video. Nuendo has the flexibility to apply these speed changes independently to either the audio or video. Both methods are described in detail in the section “Compensating for speed changes in Nuendo” on page 531. The telecine process A telecine machine is the device used to transfer film to videotape. It transfers images from each frame of film to frames of video in a very specific way. Having a clear un - derstanding of this process will help alleviate the confu- sion surrounding pull-up and pull-down sample rates and keeping film audio in sync. Film frames vs. video fields One of the first things that needs to be understood is how video signals are formatted in general. Each frame or sin - gle image of a video signal is composed of two video “fields”, each containing half of the image. The first field contains all the odd horizontal lines of resolution and the second field contains the even horizontal lines of the im - age. This is called “interlacing” and is needed to minimize the flicker effect that would result if the image was pre - sented all at once. Because the film frame is a single, complete image (like a 35 mm photograph), there are no fields involved. The tele- cine machine must transfer part of the film image to one field and then the rest to another field of video. This may sound simple at first but as you will see, it can become quite complex. Transferring film to PAL/SECAM video Film transfers to PAL/SECAM video are relatively straight- forward. Film runs at 24 fps and PAL video runs at 25 fps. If you speed up film by roughly 4 % (or 4.16 %, to be pre- cise), it will be running at 25 fps. So, film transfers to PAL video result in a 4 % “pull-up” in speed. The audio must also be pulled up by 4 % in order to remain in sync with the video.
530 Video When properly done, the first frame of film will be trans- ferred to both fields of the first frame of video and so on. All that is needed is the 4 % increase in speed for this to be a one-to-one transfer. If the project is going to be returned to film for the final presentation, the audio can be slowed back down to nor - mal speed when transferring back to film in order to pre- serve the fidelity and performance values of the original material. Transferring film to NTSC video Transferring film at 24 fps to NTSC video at 29.97 fps pre- sents a few more difficulties than the PAL transfer. Simply speeding up film to 29.97 fps would cause both the visual and audio elements to become too fast and high-pitched to be usable. There is no neat mathematical relationship between 24 fps and 29.97 fps. Another method was de- vised called the 2-3 pull-down. What is 2-3 pull-down? The 2-3 pull-down is a combination of speed change and frame-to-field-counting that results in a smooth transfer to NTSC video without any unwanted or noticeable pitch changes in the audio. Here are the steps involved during the process: 1.The film speed is slowed or “pulled” down to 23.976 fps (-0.1 %). At this speed there is a mathematical relationship between 23.976 and 29.97. 2.The first frame of film is transferred to the first two fields of video. 3.The second frame of film is transferred to three fields of video, the two fields of the second video frame and just the first field of the third video frame. This is where the “2-3” part of the name comes from. Each alternating frame of film is transferred to two fields of video, then three fields of video, and so on. 4.The third film frame is transferred to the second field of video frame three and the first field of video frame four. This is a block diagram of the 2-3 pull-down process. Notice that 4 frames of film are transferred to 5 frames of video using the 2-3 field technique. 5.The remaining film frames are transferred in this man- ner, alternating between 2 and 3 fields of video, until the end of the transfer. After four frames of film have been transferred this way, an even five video frames will be created. Over the course of one second, 24 frames of film and 30 frames of video will have gone by. Because they are run - ning at -0.1 %, the actual frame rate is 29.97 video frames per second, the NTSC standard. It is important to have a clear understanding of 2-3 pull- down in order to make accurate decisions regarding audio pull-down and video pull-up when working with NTSC film transfers in Nuendo. !The only downside to PAL transfers is that a 4 % in- crease in the speed will result in a 4 % increase in the pitch as well! This could affect the perception of a character’s delivery of a line or the timbre of sound effects or musical tonalities. If the final project is to remain in the video format, pitch-correcting this anomaly might be necessary.