Adding and Editing Visual Events
Introduction
There are two different ways to either manually create Visual Events directly in ADR Master, or by using Pro Tools® to define the selection of the In Point and Out Point.
Navigating & Adding New Visual Events In Standalone Mode
To quickly scroll through the entire video timeline to roughly find the area of a cue, click anywhere in the timeline, & move the timeline's playhead (the blue arrow above the edit cursor in timecode ruler display), by clicking and dragging it left or right, which will scroll through the timeline.
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A similar effect can be achieved by dragging a selection in the timeline by hovering the cursor above halfway in the waveform, clicking and dragging left or right.
Once you are roughly in the area, to scrub the audio to find the exact start of the line, place the cursor above halfway in the waveform of the audio track associated with the video, & hold control while moving the cursor left and right.
At this stage it may help to zoom into the area.
To fine tune the cursor point, move the edit cursor left or right in one frame increments using the , and . keys.
Add the Option key to move the cursor in increments of 1 second and the Control key to move the cursor in increments of 5 seconds.
To quickly create a new Visual Event with the default new event duration set in the preferences, press the relevant New Event hotkey (A, M, S or F).
Alternatively, you can also drag a selection in the timeline before pressing the hotkey to get a new Visual event with both the start and end timecode set to the selection boundaries.
This is only relevant to ADR Cue & Marker Visual Events- which support both in and out points.
New Visual Events can be added quickly to the timeline at any time while playing back or stopped through the four following ways:
1 - Using the relevant keyboard shortcut. Press the shortcut relevant to the name of the visual event type. For an ADR Cue, press A. For a Marker, press M. For a Streamer, press S, For a Flutter or Punch, press F.
2 - Using the relevant New Event command for the Event menu.
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3 - By clicking the "+" button in the Event List.
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4 - By clicking the "+" button in the DAW Control window.
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Clicking the + button options create a new Visual Event with the type that is used most among all events in the timeline.
If the new Visual Event type supports text, The Text field will automatically be selected in the Properties tab, to start entering text into.
Capturing and editing a Visual Event in ADR Master from a Pro Tools® Selection
Another option to create Visual Events in ADR Master, is using the timeline selection from Pro Tools®.
This requires that the DAW sync between ADR Master and Pro Tools® is already set up using either Avid® Satellite Link or MTC/MMC and the Accessibility API.
In Pro Tools®, confirm that Edit Insertion Follows Scrub/Shuttle is enabled in the Operation tab of the Preferences window.
To create a new cue, drag a timeline selection in Pro Tools®.
Next choose New Event from DAW Selection from
the Event menu.
You can also use the system-wide hotkey key Command+F7, or the shortcut Command+Shift+N.
Alternatively, click the corresponding +DAW button in the Event List or DAW Control window.
ADR Master will create a new ADR Cue Event using the selection boundaries from Pro Tools® as the In and Out Points of the Event. To change to a different type, use the Type Field selector in the event list, once the event has been made.
To change the In & Out Points of the new Visual Event, first modify the current selection, or make a new selection in Pro Tools®.
Next choose Update Current Event from DAW Selection from the Event menu.
You can also use the shortcut Command+Shift+U or the system-wide hotkey Command+F8.
ADR Master will match the In and Out Points of the selection from Pro Tools® as the new In and Out points of the selected visual event.
Editing Visual Events in the Visual Events Track Timeline
Any visual event can be moved in the Timeline by moving the pointer below half way in the visual event so that the hand symbol displays, and then clicking and dragging it along the timeline.
The in and out points can be adjusted by moving the pointer to the relevant edge so that the trim icon appears - and clicking and dragging to a new point.
Another way of adjusting the in and out points, with a Visual Event selected and showing in the Properties window - is locating the playhead to the correct start frame & selecting Set Playhead As Current Event's In Point from the Event menu (or Shift+i); & then locating the end point & selecting Set Playhead As Current Event's Out Point (or Shift+O).
Scrubbing the guide audio track can be a good way of identifying the correct points.
Any event can be duplicated by selecting it in the Timeline & selecting Duplicate Current Event or by using the global Apple duplicate shortcut Command+D.
Two or more events can be selected in the Timeline and merged by choosing Merge Selected Events from the Event menu, or by using the shortcut Option+Command+M.
The text fields from all selected Visual Events are automatically joined together in the order they appear - in the one resultant Visual Event.
A selected visual event can be split in half by placing the playhead at the desired point in the timeline & choosing Split Current Event At Playhead from the Event menu, or by using the hotkey Option+Command+S.
The Split Text window will appear, where the corresponding split point in the text can be chosen by clicking in the window at the desired point, or using the Split Text nudge hotkeys to move the cursor:
Left / Right Arrow Key: Move Insertion Marker by Word
Alt + Left / Right Arrow Key: Move Insertion Marker by Character
Click the Split button once done.
One or more selected visual events can be deleted by selecting Remove Selected Events from the Event menu, or by using the delete key.
To move multiple selected visual Events simultaneously by a desired amount, select Modify Selected Events from the Event menu, click the lock icon, & enter an offset amount in either or both of the In Point or the Out Point fields.
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The lock icon locks the duration of the cues.
Editing Visual Events in the Properties Window
Any visual event's timeline position can be fine-tuned
numerically, or have additional info like text added to it
(where relevant to that
particular visual event type)- by double-clicking it in the
Timeline or Event List. This
will bring the Properties tab in the top left
section to the forefront- with all the relevant details for that
visual event.
When creating new events from the main window, the Properties tab is shown automatically - such that the visual event's properties can be edited immediately. For Marker and ADR Cue events, the cursor jumps straight to the text box, allowing for quick text input without having to double-click the text field.
To 'scrub' adjust the value of either In or Out timecode field, click and hold the arrow button to the right of the timecode, & drag left or right to increase or decrease the value. Drag slowly for finer changes, or drag further for larger changes.
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To retype the whole timecode value manually, click the field once so that the whole timecode is selected and type the full hours, minutes, seconds and frames timecode (excluding the colons).
The period and comma keys can be used as a shortcut to enter double zeroes into the timecode fields
To confirm after any new value is entered in any boxes, either hit Enter, or just click off that box.
To adjust just one timecode field, e.g. frames - double click just that field in the timecode- so that just that field is selected, & retype the value.
It is possible to edit one field this way, without the following fields changing or defaulting to zero.
To trim the start timecode of a visual event numerically while keeping the Out Point in place, the link button should be un-linked.
Likewise, to trim the end timecode of a visual event numerically while keeping the In Point in place, the link button should be un-linked.
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To move the event, such that the duration of the Visual Event stays the same, click the lock icon shown between the lines that link the In Point & Out Point fields together - so that the link icon has no break between the two parts. When fields are edited in this mode, the other field will also be relatively changed to maintain the duration.
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Text can also be added or adjusted in the text fields, such as Text, Notes & Eng. Notes.
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ADR Cue visual events also have some selectable fields such as Character, Rec Track and Reason.
There are also some other numeric fields such as Takes & Cue# & a Done tick box to show that the recording of a specific cue has been completed.
For ADR Cue events, the in point is the first frame of the actual line, whereas the start point is the first frame of the wipe or countdown.
For Streamer events, the in point is the point where the streamer ends, whereas the start point is the first frame of the wipe or countdown.
For Marker and Flutter events, the start point and in point are identical.
While is not possible to change the Visual Event type from the Properties window, this is possible from the Event list.
Editing Visual Events in the Event List
The Event List window shows the same information shown in the Properties tab in the Main window, and the same result can be achieved whether event properties are modified in one or the other. The only difference is that the event list shows information for several events at a time, while the properties tab only shows information for the currently selected event (or for the first if more than one event is selected).
The following fields can be accessed from either the
Event List or the
Properties tab:
In / Out Points (Timing)
Character
Cue#
Text
Notes
Eng. Notes
Takes: Numbers
Rec Track
Done
Reason
The following fields can only be accessed from the
Event List window:
On
Actor
Type
(Streamer) Durn
Takes: Sel
Takes: Alt
Forced Narrative
FN Region
This means it is possible to select multiple items and edit them simultaneously - for example assigning certain lines to a specific character.
Click on an event in the event list to select it.
Press Cmd+Alt+A to include all events before the currently selected events.
Press Cmd+Shift+A to include all events after the currently selected events.
Press Cmd+A to select all events currently shown in the list.
Click on a desired Field heading to sort the Event List by that Field.
Click on the same field heading to switch between ascending and descending sort order.
Events will always keep their initial sort order when they have the same timecode values and the event list is sorted by timecode.
Event boundaries can be modified by dragging the timecode modifiers in the event list next to the In and Out points.
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Pressing Q, N, E, or T keys will quickly enter edit mode for Cue Number, Notes, Engineering Notes, and Text respectively of the currently selected ADR Cue visual event in the Event List.
Creating a Nested ADR Cue (Schachteltake)
To have two or more ADR Cues appear as one ADR Cue (whilst retaining their text & additioninal start & end timings) - simply assign the same cue number to them all. This can easily be done by selecting the relevant events in the Event List & entering a new cue number in the Cue field in any one of those events. All selected events will be assigned the same cue number.
To make sure that these nested ADR Cues remain selected together, the Event List can be navigated forwards by selecting Event -> Select Next Event by Cue Number, & backwards by selecting Event -> Select Previous Event by Cue Number.
A Secondary Preroll will be shown for each cue inside of the nested ADR Cue, & once the text of each passing cue has been shown onscreen, that text will be removed to show only the lines of the remaining cues.
The text for these nested cues will all be combined into one ADR cue in any exported ADR Cue sheets & treated as one cue in any ADR Summaries.
Renumbering ADR Cues
To auto-renumber any cues, select them & press the hotkey combination Shift+Control+Option+Command+E or select Event -> Assign Cue Numbers To Selected Events. The Assign Cue Numbers window will appear.
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This can be done for multiple characters simultaneously, whist retaining their correct unique character Cue Number prefix.
Select By Character in the Prefix field to have each character's cue numbering start at the value set in the Starting # field.
Select Global in the Prefix field to have one counter across all characters - ie each character's cue numbering starts at the next numerical value where the previous alphabetical character has ended.
Enable Keep equal cue numbers to ensure that all existing nested ADR cues are relatively assigned their same new cue numbers.
By default, the Keep equal cue numbers option will always be enabled when the Assign Cue Numbers window appears.
The Zero Padding field determines how many leading zeros will be suffixed onto the cue numbering. For example, with this value set to a value of 1, the first cue for a character called Sue, would be SUE01.
Forced Narrative
Forced narrative events are most commonly used in forgeign language dubbing to clarify a story point not covered by the dubbed audio, but needed to follow the story in the target language.
To mark an ADR Cue Event as Forced Narrative, enable the check box in the Forced Narrative field in the Event List.
Next, using the FN Region field, choose between the four available Forced Narrative Regions: Bottom, Top, Left, or Right.
Forced narrative events will be included and displayed in Word, PDF, CSV & Excel ADR Cue sheets when exported using Bulk Export.
Reason Codes
ADR Master provides an extensive list of reason codes to chose from to denote the exact reason why a line of dialogue is to be recorded. These can be selected from the Properties tab, the Event List & the DAW Control windows, & are divided into four main categories, each with reasons specific to that category:
- Actor
- Sync Sound
- Location
- User
Additionally, two shortcut categories- Most Used & Last Used are also provided for easy access to the most favoured reason codes.
These appear in the Reason field in either the Properties tab, the Event List, or the DAW Control window.
Here is a complete description of all the available reason codes, categories & their intended use:
CODE | REASON CATEGORY | REASON | Use for: |
---|---|---|---|
AR1 | ACTOR | New Line | Production Request for a new line. |
AR2 | ACTOR | Line Change | Production Request for a line change or amendment. |
AR3 | ACTOR | Alt Delivery | Production Request for a change of delivery or performance. |
AR4 | ACTOR | Clarity | Loss of clarity or intelligibility due to lack of projection or swallowing of words. |
AR5 | ACTOR | Pronounciation | Incorrect Pronunciation |
AR6 | ACTOR | Projection | Instances where the addition of diegetic music or sound would change the required voice projection level, eg talking over loud music in a club |
AR7 | ACTOR | Accent | Incorrect Accent |
AR8 | ACTOR | ADR Continuity | Additional adjacent lines for editorial continuity on the same camera angle |
AR9 | ACTOR | Dialogue Overlap | Coverage of lines where another actor's overlapping lines are being replaced with ADR |
AR10 | ACTOR | Breaths/Efforts | Additional breaths and efforts presence for close sync without words, or exertion like running or fighting. |
AR11 | ACTOR | V.O. | Voice Over Addition |
AR12 | ACTOR | Temp ADR | Replacement for poor quality Temporary ADR added in the video edit |
AR13 | ACTOR | Swearing | Cover for Obscenities & swearing for Syndication, Airline & TV Safe Versions |
AR14 | ACTOR | Revoice | Production request to replace with another voice actor. |
AR15 | ACTOR | Foreign Dubbing | Foreign Language Re-versioning & Dubbing |
SR1 | SYNC SOUND | Mic Off-Axis | Microphone placement off-axis from source. Lacking body. |
SR2 | SYNC SOUND | Low Level | Source recorded at excessively low level. Low signal-to-noise ratio. |
SR3 | SYNC SOUND | Distortion | Oversaturated or distorted recordings |
SR4 | SYNC SOUND | Wind On Mic | Mic capsule distortion caused by wind on the microphone |
SR5 | SYNC SOUND | Radio Mic Rustling | Excessive radio mic clothing or costume rustle |
SR6 | SYNC SOUND | Boom Handling | Boom pole handling Noise or bumps |
SR7 | SYNC SOUND | Mic Drop-Out | Sudden mic drop-out mid-performance- resulting in loss of audio |
SR8 | SYNC SOUND | Mic Interference | Electromagnetic Interference or RF Induced Mic Noise |
SR9 | SYNC SOUND | Missing Channel | Missing Boom or Radio Mic channel(s) for scene sound editorial continuity. |
SR10 | SYNC SOUND | Audible Sound Edit | Undesirable or obvious audible sound edit of two separate takes from video editorial |
SR11 | SYNC SOUND | Incorrect Sync | Correcting unmatching sync sound used in the video edit |
SR12 | SYNC SOUND | No Sync Sound | MOS, Slow-motion, corrupt sync sound, no sync sound used in video edit |
LR1 | LOCATION | Noisy Background | Excessively loud background room tone, skyline, hums, wind, waves, rain, cicadas, chatting, pedestrians, traffic, passing cars, airplanes, etc or other continuous layers. |
LR2 | LOCATION | Camera & Crew | Undesirable audible crew background movement or chatter. Loud Camera or Dolly movement, as well as camera fans, mechanisms, beeps, clicking & buzzing |
LR3 | LOCATION | Footsteps | Dialogue over excessively loud or undesirable sounding actor footsteps, or surfaces such as creaky or reverberant floors |
LR4 | LOCATION | Props | Dialogue over sync with loud undesirable sounding props |
LR5 | LOCATION | Modern Sounds | Where modern sounds recorded in the background of the dialogue are too modern for the timeframe of the story - eg mobile phones in Historical or Period Dramas |
Adding User Reason Codes
To add your own specific reason codes, go to the PROJECT tab in the top left & scroll down to the bottom & select the Edit Reasons button under ADR CUE USER REASONS.
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There are eight additional User Reason fields which can be added in this Edit ADR Cue User Reasons window.
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These will appear in the the Reason field tab in Properties or the Event List- under the User Reasons sub-category from the Reason list.
Event Selection Playhead behaviour
There are a couple of general options which dictate how the playhead behaves when any visual event is selected. These can be found under the General tab of the Overlays Preferences.
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When an event is selected - Go to Start or Go to In Point or Don't move Playhead - dictates whether the playhead moves to the Start of a visual event that is selected, the In Point, or does not move the current postion of the Playhead.
Go to Start does not work when Locate DAW on Event Selection is turned on.
If Events are Selected - Show Only Selected or Show All - Selects whether only the selected events are shown (if at least one event is selected); or whether all events are always shown- independent of those selected.
Duplicating Visual Events
Hold down the Option key while dragging one or more highlighted Visual Events to duplicate them.
Or with the desired event or events highlighted, select Duplicate Current Events from the Event menu.
Using the Duplicate Current Events function will paste the new events at the same timecode position as the original highlighted files.