MC110 Lesson 12: Nesting Effects and Playback Performance

What happens if you auto nest an effect to a split screen?

Adjustments affect everything below the new effect

What is different in the timeline when you step into a blend or compositing effect in simple nesting view?

The timeline displays 2 tracks. One full of filler.

With compositing effects what happens if you insert footage into the V1 track inside a nest?

It will replace the background outside the nest

How do you add a new effect to a multi-layer composite?

• tep into the blend effect — for example, 3D PIP or 3D Warp — and then add the effect below the existing effect.

What should you use to view a composite while working with nested effects?

Expanded nesting view

What happens if you try to auto-nest a filter effect above a blend effect like 3D PIP and then attempt to move the new effect below it?

You get an error message reading “these effects cannot be reordered because they don’t have the same number of input tracks.”

What does media composer do to highlight problem areas if real-time playback can’t be maintained for whatever reason?

the app displays color-coded bars in the Timecode ruler and track once you stop playback. 

What do yellow bars in the TC1 track mean?

• Show areas that stressed the system — the CPU and GPU — but played back in real-time

What do blue bars in the TC1 track mean?

They show areas that stressed the hard drives containing the source media but still played back in real-time.

What do red bars in the TC1 track mean?

They show areas that overtaxed the system during playback and caused skipped or dropped frames.

What are the avid recommended courses of action for regaining real-time playback?

-Lower the project's Format setting

-Reduce the sequence's playback quality

-Render the effect(s)

Where can you change your project’s format settings?

In the setting window, in the format tab

What are the two options for lowering sequence quality?

Draft Quality and Best Performance

Which video quality option scales the frame by 50% in each direction (or 1/4 frame, which means 1/4 the data) — resulting in a slightly softer image?

Draft Quality

Which video quality option scales the image by 75% in each direction (1/16 frame) — resulting in a very soft image?

Best Performance

Which options in the sequence video quality menu will display full quality?

Full Quality Float, Full Quality 10-bit, and Full Quality

What is the keyboard shortcut for interrupting a lengthy render process?

Command + .

How do you render the effect in a segment?

Activate the effect track's selector only, and then click the Render Effect button in the Timeline palette.

What function in media composer determines which effects need to be rendered to achieve smooth playback?

Expert Render

If you auto-nest the Resize effect on top of a 3D PIP on V4, what happens when you adjust the Scaling parameter?

V4's 3D PIP and all layers below are scaled

Which nesting view lets you see the full composite as you reframe a shot within a 3D PIP?

Expanded nesting

You create a 4-panel split screen (5 tracks total) and all layers start at the same time and share the same duration. If playback stutters, which layer would you render?

V5