The Library
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The Avid Studio Library, or simply ‘the Library’, is a cataloging and management tool for all the file-based resources you can draw on when authoring. Its purpose is to let you choose and use the video segments, photos, sound bites, transition effects, titles and other ‘assets’ (as they are often called) for your movies as easily, rapidly and intuitively as possible.
The Avid Studio Media Library opened on a folder of graphic images.
The Library’s classification scheme resembles what you might see in a file-system viewer. While the viewer groups files under their physical storage locations such as hard drives, the Library groups assets under their type – video, photo, and so on. In other respects, the tree view concept for accessing subgroups of assets is virtually identical and should feel immediately familiar.
In addition to audio, photo and video files in standard formats, the Library includes specialized auxiliary media like titles and disc menus. They are found, along with transitions, filters and other effects, in the main category called ‘Creative Elements’.
The Library can easily manage large media holdings such as are often found nowadays even on a home system. All of the dozens of media file types usable in Avid Studio can be browsed, organized and previewed within its integrated interface.
Assets are displayed either as icons or text records within collapsible folders that stack up in the Library’s Browser. The folders may correspond either to real directories in your computer’s file system, or to virtual groupings based on ratings, file type, creation date, or membership in a user-defined Collection.
Two views of the Library are found in Avid Studio. The Main view takes over the application window when you click the Library tab. It uses the full available space to provide as much information as possible.
To open the Main Library view, click the Library tab at the top of the Avid Studio application window.
The Compact view of the Library is a panel, either docked (as in the Movie and Disc project editors) or floating (as in the Title Editor). The Compact view retains the full functionality of the Library. Its primary purpose is to allow you to bring Library assets into a movie or disc project with drag and drop.
The current set of Library tabs, and the contents of the Browser, are common to all views of the Library. For instance, if you are browsing in a particular folder of disc menus in the Main view, that same folder will be open in the Compact view if you now switch to the Movie Editor.
Correcting media files
With regard to technical quality, media files are not all created equal. Occasionally, you do come across the perfect photo, clip, or sound effect. More often, though, the photo needs cropping, the video is shaky, or the sound starts with an annoying hiss. Avid Studio’s media correction tools let you fix these and similar issues by applying correction filters to a problem clip after you have placed it on the timeline of your project.
Often, however, an even better solution is to apply the correction to the Library asset itself, before adding it to a project. That way, any production using the asset will start with the corrected version, not the unsatisfactory original. Such corrections can quickly be made by opening media editors from the Library. The file underlying the corrected asset is not modified: instead, the correction parameters are stored in the Library database and reapplied whenever the item is displayed or used.
Instant gratification: SmartSlide and SmartMovie
In addition to the core functions mentioned so far, the Library offers a matching pair of tools for automatically constructing a complete project using media resources you specify. Just select some photos or video sequences, enter a few settings, and start. You can output the project Studio generates without further modification, or refine it with manual editing as you prefer.