Toolsets: Making your workday more pleasant and more productive

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Here's the infomercial style pitch: Wouldn't it be great to be able to push one button on your keyboard and instantly have your work environment reconfigured the way you like it for a specific task like capturing, sound mixing, color correction, effects work, etc? Specifically, let's say you want to do some sound mixing for a while. Just press a key of your choosing and the windows on the screen rearrange to the layout you prefer and all the tools that you like for that task appear on the screen precisely where you like them. And wouldn't it be great if at the exact same time that you selected a Toolset that other settings also became activated? For example, if you activated the Audio Mixing Toolset, wouldn't it also be great if at the same time your preferred Timeline View for audio mixing also became activated? Or what if you selected your Capture Toolset and not only had the windows and tools rearrange/appear the way you like, but also had your customized keyboard layout for capturing also become activated? Yep, that'd be pretty great. So much for the pitch. Let's do it! Scroll down for step by step instructions, or jump to a topic with the links below: Creating a customized Toolset  Creating a customized Timeline View Linking a setting to a Toolset Mapping the menu selection to the keyboard

A brief look at one of the organizational tools you'll learn about in Moviola's 4 day Comprehensive Introduction to Avid Media Composer and Avid Xpress Pro.; Avid; Hollywood; Los Angeles; Moviola; editing; education; training; Video of Toolsets in action.

Creating a customized Toolset:

For this tutorial we'll be making a Toolset for audio mixing.

First, go to the Toolsets Menu and select "Audio Editing:"

If you've never used this feature before then the windows have rearranged themselves and a tool or two have opened. So, the next step is to arrange things more to your liking. Here's an example to get you thinking about how you might want to set things up:

*NOTE:
I've taken my screen grabs using a single monitor,
but window and tool arrangements can be made with multiple monitors.

      
Example: Audio Editing Toolset (on a single monitor)

Now that you've got things set the way you like, return to the Toolsets Menu and select "Save Current." This will essentially lock this arrangement so that even if you close tools or rearrange things, the next time you select the Audio Editing Toolset everything will still be arranged as you set them up originally. If you want to make a permanent change to a Toolset, simply rearrange your windows and tools into their new positions, go back to the Toolsets Menu and select "Save Current."

Now we want to have a setting, in this case a customized Timeline View, also become activated when we select the Audio Editing Toolset. So, rather than presume that you know how to make a Timeline View, I'll go through that process as well. If you already know how, then feel free to skip down to "Linking a Setting to a Toolset" step.

Creating a customized Timeline View:

In this tutorial, I'm focusing on the Audio Editing Toolset, so let's make a Timeline View that we'd like to have activated at the same time.

First, I'll set the Timeline up the way I like it for audio mixing.

I'd like my audio tracks wider, and my video tracks narrower. Select the tracks to change, then go to the Edit Menu and select either Enlarge Track or Reduce Track. ~ Note the keyboard shortcuts next to the menu selections, as they're much faster.

Another method to enlarge or reduce your track height is to hold down the Option key (Mac) or the Control key (PC) and then move the cursor below the track you'd like to change (see picture below), and then with the mouse button held down, drag the track wider or narrower. ~ Note: in Avid Xpress Pro you make these changes directly. There is no need to use the Option/Control key.

Now I'll add some additional displays to the tracks. In this case I'll enable the "Auto Gain" feature so I can keyframe audio levels, and I'll also enable "Sample Plot" so that waveforms will appear. From the Timeline Fast Menu, go to "Audio Data" and from the submenu select both "Auto Gain" and "Sample Plot." ~ Note: in Avid Xpress Pro you make these selections directly. There is no Audio Data submenu.

Fast Menu	Audio Data Submenu

Now my timeline looks like this:

Next, I'll make it easier to see the Auto Gain and Sample Plot displays by changing the color of the audio tracks to white. Enable the track(s) you want to change. Then from the Timeline Fast Menu, select "Track Color," and then select white (or some other color) from the palette.

Now my timeline looks like this:

Next we'll save this configuration so we can access it easily at any time in the future. At the bottom of your Timeline window is the View Menu (see yellow arrow in picture below). Click on that menu and select "Save As" and name your Timeline View whatever you like. I'll name mine "Audio Mix 1."

Note: In the future you may rename or delete your Timeline settings by going to your Project Window, selecting the Settings tab, and then scrolling down to "Timeline Settings." It's also helpful to know that a saved Timeline View remembers any selection that is enabled (or disabled) from the Timeline Fast Menu, such as Clip Color. And on that topic, I suggest enabling the "Offline" color to appear in all of your timeline view settings to alert you immediately if/when something is offline. Timeline Views will also remember the backgrond color of the timeline window as well as your selected font size and font type-face.

Linking a Setting to a Toolset:

In order to get this Timeline View setting to activate when the Audio Editing Toolset is selected, we have to "Link" it. Start by activating the Toolset you want to link to another setting (if you haven't already). In this tutorial I have the "Audio Editing Toolset" activated. From the Toolsets menu select "Link Current to:"

A dialog box will appear. From the menu, select "Link to Named Settings:"

A new dialog box will appear. Type in the name of the setting. In this case I'm linking to a Timeline View setting called "Audio Mix 1." **Important: make sure you type the name in exactly the same, paying attention to spaces and upper/lower case letters. If it's not identical, then it will not link.

Seeing this feature work:

Now, repeat the processes of customizing your Source/Record Editing Toolset layout as well as create a custom Timeline view for editing (different from the one you made for Audio Editing) and linking that Timeline View to the Source/Record Toolset. Once you've completed this, you should be able to switch between the two Toolsets (from the Toolsets menu) and see that both the windows/tools layout and the Timeline Views change at the same time.

Source/Record Editing Toolset and linked Timeline View	Audio Editing Toolset and linked Timelne View

Now I'll show you that you can have multiple settings linked to a Toolset. I'll use the Interface settings as the example.

Open the Settings and scroll down to the "Interface" settings.

You can customize your interface in a million ways. It's pretty intuitive, so feel free to open up the Interface settings, click on the Appearance Tab and have some fun. For this tutorial I want to make sure you know that you can duplicate and rename settings too, so let's select (single click) the preset that Avid gave us called "Brick" (click on the word "Interface" across from the label "Brick," rather than on the label itself). Then go to the Edit Menu and select "Duplicate." Now you've got two of them. Click into the Label column and rename the duplicate *exactly* as you named the Timeline View you linked to the Audio Editing Toolset (you can also copy/paste the name from the Timeline View settings label region). In this tutorial, I've got a link established to settings named "Audio Mix 1," so that's what I'll type in:

Now, repeat this duplication/renaming process with the "Neon" Interface setting. This time give the duplicate Interface setting the name of the Timeline view you linked to your Source/Record Editing Toolset. Now when you switch between the two Toolsets, not only does the timeline change, but the interface does as well (see picture below).

**Note: the "Brick" and "Neon" Interface settings will override your previous timeline color configurations, so you may want to do some tweaking by turning off the desired settings under Settings tab > Interface > Appearance tab.

Source/Record Editing Toolset	Audio Editing Toolset

Mapping the menu selection to the keyboard:

Now we'll map the Source/Record Editing and Audio Mixing Toolsets from being a menu selection to a button on your keyboard.

Open your Keyboard settings:

Now, from the Tools Menu, open the Command Palette:

Set the Command Palette to "Menu to Button Reassignment:"

Select a key on the keyboard. I've selected the F5 key:

Now select what menu item you want on that key. In this case I'll select Source/Record Editing from the Toolsets Menu. Repeat this process and map Audio Editing to the keyboard. I've selected the F6 key. After mapping, the keyboard indicates an abbreviation of what function is there. If you place your cursor over the mapped buttons without clicking, you'll see a tool tip telling you what function is there.

Testing the mapping:

Select either your Timeline Window or Composer Window (a.k.a. the Source/Record window) to make it active. Now toggle between F5 and F6 to enjoy your handiwork.

Now that you have the process down, all that's left is for you to put Toolsets to work in ways that help you with your work. Here's just one idea to get you thinking: create a second keyboard setting that has been custom-mapped just for Capturing, and then link that keyboard setting to your Capture Toolset.