MC 101 Knowledge Check Questions (Lessons 1 - 12)

L1 - Where does Media Composer store the files for private projects?

In the logged-on user’s Documents folder

L1 - Which option in the Select Project window lets you switch the project directory displayed in the Project list?

The Location pop-up menu

L1 - What are the three principal windows of the Media Composer interface? (Choose three)

Timeline

Composer window

Bin Container

L1 - Which window serves as your project's central hub?

Bin Container

L1 - What is a bin?

A container file that holds project assets

L1 - True or False: To move a tabbed bin into its own floating Bin Container window, drag the bin tab away from eligible edges but keep it within the right panel of the Bin Container.

True

L1 - What are the two ways to create your own user profile? (Choose two)

In the Select Project window, select Create User Profile from the User Profile pop-up menu & Go to File > Settings

Click the User tab, and select Create User Profile from the User Profile pop-up menu

L1 - Fill in the Blank: To save changes to a workspace, go to ________ > Workspaces > Save Current.

Windows

l1 - Which setting lets you change Media Composer's brightness?

Interface

L1 - True or False: Auto-Save settings control how often Media Composer automatically saves a copy of your bin(s).

True

L2 - How do you create a new project?

In the Select Project window’s New Project tab, fill in the name field, choose a format and click Create.

L2 - Why do you use the Source Browser? (Select all that apply.)

To preview video on a camera card before adding it to a project

To add video and audio to a project

L2 - What’s the difference between linking to and importing media?

Linking connects an original media file to the project in Media Composer. Importing ingests a copy of the original media that's been converted to Avid-native media.

L2 - True or False: When linking media, you cannot remove the original source drive or camera card containing the media because your media will be labeled offline.

True

L2 - True or False: When importing, if you receive this message: The [file directory] cannot be imported, you cannot use that video media in Media Composer.

False

L2 - If you want to link to media rather than import using the drag-and-drop method from the OS level to Media Composer, which modifier key do you press?

Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac)

L2 - What are two ways to load a clip into the Source monitor? (Choose two)

Double-click the clip's thumbnail or icon.

Click and drag the clip's icon or thumbnail to the Source monitor.

L2 - What does J-K-L playback let you do?

All of the above (Play forward at 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8x normal speed

Move forward or backward frame-by-frame by holding the K key as you tap L or J

To play backward at 1/4 speed, by pressing and holding the K + J keys)

L2 - What tool lets you adjust a clip’s audio level?

Audio Mixer

L2 - How can you save your work? (Select all that apply)

Activate the bin you want to save and press Ctrl + S (Windows) or Command + S (Mac)

Activate the bin you want to save and go to File > Save Bin

Activate the Bin Container sidebar and go to File > Save All.

L3 - True or False: The principal goal of a rough cut is to assemble a full scene or video that focuses on story structure, while understanding that many details need to be polished later.

True

L3 - How can you view the audio waveforms for a clip loaded in the Source monitor?

Click the Toggle/Source Record in Timeline button (bottom of the Timeline) and if necessary, click the waveform button in the Track Control panel.

L3 - True or False: Auto-Patching lets you automatically patch tracks based on track activations.

True

L3 - How can you increase waveform height without affecting track height?

Press Ctrl + Alt + L (Windows) or Option + Command + L (Mac).

L3 - Which editing functions are more likely to break sync? (Select all that apply)

Splice-in, Extract

L3 - True or False: One way to ensure you maintain sync when editing segments into a sequence is to enable all record tracks containing elements that need to stay in sync.

True

L3 - What do the Go to Previous Event and Go to Next Event functions do?

Jumps the Timeline position indicator forward or backward from edit to edit

L3 - How would you mark a source clip, so it backtimes from its OUT point when edited between marks in a sequence?

If necessary, clear the source clip's IN point and then mark an OUT point at the desired endpoint for the content.

L3 - What’s the difference between the Lift and the Extract functions?

Lift removes material from the Timeline and leaves filler in its place. Extract removes material from the Timeline and closes the gap left by its removal.

L3 - What is filler?

A tangible empty space in the Timeline that you can manipulate in the same ways as video and audio segments

L4 - Refer to the image. With Segment mode configured as a Smart tool, which of the following is true? (Select all that apply)

Media Composer automatically switches the active tool as you move the cursor up or down within a Timeline segment

Positioning the cursor over the top half of a segment activates the Lift/Overwrite tool

Positioning the cursor over the bottom half of a segment activates the Extract/Splice-in tool

L4 - Which User setting includes an option for changing the default segment tool?

Timeline

L4 - Which segment tool works best for inserting a clip between two Timeline segments?

Extract/Slice-in

L4 - How do you add only an interview clip’s audio, without its video to a Sequence?

Activate the Source-side audio track (green) and deactivate the Source-side video track, then drag and drop.

L4 - True or False: To edit source content to the Timeline between IN and OUT marks, hold the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) key while dragging and dropping.

True

L4 - How do you enable an audio track's Solo option?

Click the S button in the Timeline Track Control panel.

L4 - If the music in a sequence is too loud, how can you lower its level?

Click the music clip's Fader button and drag the mini fader down.

L4 - Besides dragging the mini fader, which of the following methods or shortcuts adjust the clip gain in the Timeline? (Select all that apply)

Click a clip's fader icon and use the up and down arrow keys to adjust the gain in 0.1 dB increments

Click a clip's fader icon and then use numbers keys to enter a specific value

Shift + Alt + Up/Down (Windows) or Shift + Option + Up/Down (Mac) arrow keys

L4 - How do you enable Digital Audio Scrub? (Select all that apply)

Shift-drag through the Timeline to enable temporarily

Map the Toggle Digital Audio Scrub button (Play tab of the Command Palette) and enable it

L5 - Which tool lets you rearrange video segments in the Timeline?

Extract/Splice-in

L5 - What is four-frame display, and how do you activate it?

Activate in Timeline settings to see a real-time preview in the Composer window as you drag a clip with a segment tool.

L5 - True or False: When moving a segment to another track, the Lift/Overwrite tool works best.

True

L5 - How do you remove a shot from the sequence and leave a gap (or filler)?

Activate Lift/Overwrite, click the shot and press Backspace/Delete.

L5 - What happens when you use Extract/Splice-in to remove a segment?

Deletes the segment and moves downstream content backward to close the gap.

L5 - What does this button do?

Divides a segment in the Timeline

L5 - What does this button do? (Select all that apply)

Link Selection Toggle: when active, automatically selects associated audio if you click a video segment

Link Selection Toggle: When inactive, lets you select video or audio segments independently

L5 - To remove an audio segment, you click it with the Lift/Overwrite tool and press the Delete key. The segment stays in place. You press Delete a second time and the segment is removed as expected. Why?

The segment contains a clip gain adjustment, and the first deletion removes it.

L5 - The Ripple tool can cause which of the following issues?

Broken sync

L5 - What impact does Ripple Trim have on an active track?

Moves all material to the right of the clip you’re trimming forward or backward

L6 - If you want to add dissolves to multiple cuts, how do you identify which cuts will receive a dissolve?

All of the above

(Set IN and OUT marks to select the group of cuts, In the Quick Transition dialog box, activate Apply to all Transitions (IN -> OUT), Enable the destination video track selector)

L6 - True or False: Handle is the unused portion of a source clip.

True

L6 - How can you ensure you add a Quick Transition to a video cut point and not an audio cut point?

Deactivate the audio track selector(s).

L6 - What do you enable before you directly adjust a transition effect's duration or Timeline position?

The Transition Manipulation tool

L6 - True or False: The Transition Corner display shows the first, middle, and last frames of the transition's A-side and B-side handle.

True

L6 - What happens if you drag a transition effect from the Effect Palette onto an existing transition in the Timeline?

The new transition effect replaces the existing one.

L6 - If you add a Dip to Color transition effect, how do you change its color?

Adjust the Background Color in the Effect Editor.

L6 - Can you save a transition as a template? If so, how?

Yes, drag the effect icon from the Effect Editor to a bin.

L6 - How do you add audio crossfades to your sequence?

Click the Quick Transition button and set your desired options.

L6 - If you add audio crossfades to multiple cut points and an Insufficient Source dialog box appears, what’s caused this?

One or more clips in the marked region doesn’t have enough handle.

L7 - How do you apply an effect to multiple segments?

In Effect mode or Segment mode, select multiple segments. Then double-click an effect in the Effect Palette.

L7 - True or False: After a clip is stabilized, you can disable active parameter groups in the Effect Editor to compare the stabilized version with the original video.

True

L7 - How do you lock down a shot with the Stabilize effect?

Disable SteadyGlide in the Tracking window.

L7 - When setting up for automatic color correction, what is the suggested HSL correction order?

HSL Auto Contrast, then HSL Auto Balance

L7 - When setting up for automatic color correction, what is the suggested Curves correction order?

Curves Auto Balance, then Curves Auto Contrast

L7 - Which effect can hide jump cuts?

FluidMorph

L7 - Is FluidMorph a real-time effect? How do you determine this?

No, a blue dot appears next to the effect icon in the Timeline

L7 - What does the Reduce button do in the Effect Preview monitor?

Reduces the Effect Preview monitor’s area to make working outside the boundaries of the visible frame easier

L7 - How can you scale and maintain a clip's aspect ratio while resizing it in the Effect Preview monitor?

Drag the control handle in the upper-right corner of the image.

L7 - True or False: To delete a keyframe, click it in the Effect Preview monitor's position bar and press the delete key.

True

L8 - How do you add an effect to a clip in the Timeline on top of an existing effect?

Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac) a segment effect from the Effect Palette onto a clip with an existing effect in the Timeline.

L8 - What is the procedure called that lets you add an effect on top of an existing effect?

Auto-nesting

L8 - What are the two different ways to view the effects inside a nest? (Choose two)

Simple nesting

Expanded nesting

L8 - True or False: Simple nesting view lets you view lower effects in isolation.

True

L8 - True or False: Expanded nesting view let’s you simultaneously view all sequence content and access nested effects in the Timeline.

True

L8 - Which of the following activates a nesting view? (Select all that apply)

Click the Step In button to activate simple nesting view.

Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac) the Step In button to activate expanded nesting view.

L8 - True or False: You can monitor sequence audio in simple nesting view.

False

L8 - How do you change effect order within a nest?

Drag an effect icon up or down in the Effect Editor.

L9 - What are the three types of motion effects? (Check three)

Freeze frame

Motion effect

Timewarp effect

L9 - How do you create a freeze frame clip within Media Composer?

Load a clip in the Source monitor and go to Composer > Freeze Frame.

L9 - True or False: To produce a high-quality result that doesn't jitter, it's important to set how the freeze frame processes the two fields in interlaced footage.

True

L9 - How do you create a constant speed motion effect?

In the Source monitor, clck the Motion Effect Editor button you mapped.

L9 - How many marks do you set to create a Fit To Fill motion effect?

Four — two in the Source monitor and two in the Record monitor

L9 - When creating a motion effect, which render method works best for 24p footage?

Both Fields

L9 - You want a clip to play back at twice its normal speed. Which of the following will generate that result?

200%

L9 - You use the Fit To Fill option to fit a 2-second clip into a 4-second gap in the Timeline. Which of the following is true?

The new segment will play back at 50% speed.

L10 - You want a title to cover multiple Timeline segments. How do you efficiently set up Avid Titler+ for this?

Add a track, set IN and OUT marks, add Avid Titler+ to the new track.

L10 - Once you set up your Timeline for creating a title, how can you open the Avid Titler+ tool? (Select all that apply)

Click the Avid Titler+ button in the Timeline palette.

Go to Tools > Avid Titler+.

Go to Effect Palette > Title category and drag the Avid Titler+ effect to a segment or a marked Filler section in the Timeline.

L10 - Once you type text in the Effect Preview monitor, how can you switch from Text mode to Move mode? (Select all that apply)

Press the ESC key.

Click the Avid Titler+ tool and Press the M key.

Click outside the text box.

L10 - What do these two buttons do?

Text mode tool for typing text and Move mode tool for modifying the title layer.

L10 - True or False: To center justify two lines of text, triple-click the text in the Effect Preview monitor and press the Horizontal Justify button in the Avid Titler+ tool.

True

L10 - You try to adjust the Size parameter in the Avid Titler+ tool but nothing happens. What do you need to do?

Ensure Move mode is active and the title is selected in the Effect Preview monitor.

L10 - You created a name/location lower-third title. How do you save it as a template to apply to additional interview subjects?

Click and drag the Avid Titler+ icon from the Effect Editor to a bin.

L10 - Which of the following features can fade a title in and out? (Select all that apply)

Fade Effect

Quick Transition

L11 - Where can you find the Export command? (Select all that apply)

Go to File > Output > Export.

Right-click the Record monitor and choose Export.

L11 - How do you access the Export settings dialog box?

Click the Options button in the Export As dialog box.

L11 - Which Export As menu option works best for YouTube upload?

MP4

L11 - You want to select a preset in the Image section that matches your project’s resolution. What are two ways to verify your sequence’s image size — 1920x1080 for example? (Select 2)

Look at the project format in the Timeline’s name display area.

Review the Source Raster section in the UME File Export (Export Settings) dialog box.

L11 - Which video codec family does YouTube recommend?

H.264

L11 - True or False: When exporting a video for Youtube upload, select the Scale from Legal to Full Range button in the Color Space section

False

L11 - Your sequence contains audio but the exported MP4 file does not. Which option in the UME File Export (Export dialog box) could have caused this? (Select all that apply)

Use Selected Tracks checkbox (checked)

Include Inactive Audio Tracks checkbox (unchecked)