getting started

The Basic Workflow

We would like to provide you with a few "getting started" steps that will help you understand how
to use Incite Media Assistant more quickly and easily. For in-depth information on Incite Media
Assistant functions and tools, please refer to our User’s Guide (in Acrobat format: pdf) or to the
on-line Help integrated with the software.

1. Browse for Media
2. Converting Media
3. Automating Conversion
4. RTF fields and Files
5. Logging Clips off-line
6. Working with the Storyboard Window
7. Incite Media List files (IML import/export)
8. Making Movies

Browse for Media

The first thing you will do is browse for a media file folder on your system or over the network.
Use the Explorer-like tree to located the folder quickly. Clicking on the folder, the media files will
be shown in the Catalog List area (displayed like clips in a clip collection or bin). The Catalog List
can display media files as a simple list, picons, and picons with text fields. Picons are playable.
From the Catalog List you can select media files for conversion, load them into the
Preview/Logger monitor for editing or drag them to the Storyboard window.

Special Functions: After you open a media file folder, you may wish to make a printout using the
Print button or create an HTML page with links for the various media files.

Converting Media

Converting a File/Batch Conversion
To convert a media file, select its picon with your mouse, right click and run one of the conversion
commands located on the pop-up menu: Convert Selected to AVI, Convert Selected to QT, or
Convert Selected to RM. You can select more than one media file for a batch conversion session.
You can quickly select all of the files by right-clicking on a media file and choosing Select All
from the right-click menu.

Setting Parameters
There are 3 conversion utility windows that let you set parameters, create task lists and monitor
the results of all your conversions. Using the Tool menu (on Incite Media Assistant's main toolbar)
you can open the AVI, QT, & RM Converters (all three converters can be opened simultaneously)
and use the various tab options to set video and audio parameters, file/folder locations, follow task
lists and check the progress of files, etc. You can run all three converters simultaneously. This
means you can have multiple batch conversion sessions running (1 in AVI, 1 in QT and 1 in RM).

Tip: These windows do not need to be open for conversion. If you want to monitor conversion more
discreetly, select View/Status bar from Incite Media Assistant's main menu. This opens a status
bar at the bottom of the interface which will monitor your converters, make movie utilities and the
Conversion Server.

Automating Conversion

You can thoroughly automate file format conversion using the Conversion Server. The Conversion
Server lets you monitor a selected media file folder or group of folders. Whenever a new file is
detected, the Conversion Server sends it to the converter you have designated. To begin, select
Tools/Conversion Server from Incite Media Assistant's main menu. This opens the Conversion
Server window where you can create Tasks and Watch Lists.

To Create a conversion task, select Task/Add Task. Using the dialog box that subsequently
opens, you can designate the media file folder to be monitored, specify which converter to use
and establish other parameters and options. Note as well that the current parameters in the
selected converter will be used (so you might want to change or double-check these settings).
You can generate several tasks for any given Incite Media Assistant session.

A Watch List is nothing more than a series of Tasks saved as an WLF file on your computer.
Once saved, you can the file at anytime, so you do not need to regenerate the same tasks over
and over again. To load, combine or save Watch Lists, use the Watch List menu.

RTF Fields and Files

You can easily associate RTF files to your media using Incite Media Assistant. An RTF file is
useful in that you can enter comments about the media file, special instructions for its use,
pieces of a speaker's monolog and, most, importantly, timecode information. RTF fields appear in
the Catalog List (as an option) and below the Preview/Logger Monitor.

When you a load a media file in the monitor, you can quickly locate In and Out points and enter
the TC into the RTF field by right-clicking on the specific TC button (i.e. the IN button or the DUR
button).

Once TC information is inserted in the RTF field, you can double click on it to cue the media file
in the Preview/Logger monitor.

To show the RTF Format bar, press on the Change View button and select Show Text Bar. This
text bar lets you select font, size, color, and style. You can also save preset formats for normal
text and TC entries (using the Color Palette button in the Text Format toolbar.

Tip: To show RTF fields in the Catalog List, press on the Change View button and select Small
Text or Large Text.

Logging Clips Off-line

Preview/Logger Monitor
Double-click on a media file in the Catalog List to load it into the Preview/Logger. You will be able
to preview the file, select In and Out points and insert the media file as a storyclip (an edited
version of the file) into the Storyboard window. Remember, you are not changing the original
media file as you are working, via the codec, with a proxy file. Using the Preview/Logger monitor
you can create a series of storyclips for IML export or for a Make Movie session.

Monitor Window
The monitor window, besides providing a preview of a storyboard sequence, is used primarily for
updating storyclips. To update a storyclip, double-click on the storyclip in the storyboard window.
Make sure the Monitor window is displaying both the logging monitor and the preview monitor
(select View/Show Logger from Incite Media Assistant's main menu). Once loaded, you can edit
the In and Out points, then press the Update button to refresh the storyclip. You can also use
the dual screen Monitor window to edit the cut point between two storyclips on the timeline.

Working with the Storyboard Window

You can begin building a sequence by dragging and dropping media files from the Catalog List
directly to the timeline or by inserting storyclips from the Preview/Logger monitor. The Storyboard
window provides tools for trimming, cutting, moving and deleting storyclips. Most editing actions
can be performed with the mouse and/or keyboard techniques and shortcuts. You can save and
open sequences as Storyboard Projects (MSB file). Storyboard projects can be exported as IML
files, TXT or CSV files, and Movies using the Save menu. You can also import IML files.

Incite Media List Files (IML import/export)

To export an IML file, click on the Save Menu button in the Storyboard window. From the
drop-down menu, select Export Incite IML. A Save As dialog box appears. Use this dialog box to
browse for the directory in which you wish to create the IML file and assign it a name. The file
extension .IML is added to the file by default. Once created, Incite will let you open the IML file
directly within a selected video layer of an Incite storyboard. Using the same drop down menu
you can import an IML file created in Incite into Incite Media Assistant. For more details on
importing/exporting IML files, please see Ch.6 of the Incite Media Assistant User's Guide.

Tip: If you are working with Incite and Incite Media Assistant simultaneously on the same
computer, you can simply drag and drop the sequence using the Drag icon located in the lower
left-hand corner of the Storyboard window. Select and drag the icon from Incite Media Assistant’s
interface to a video layer of an Incite storyboard.

Making Movies

Creating the Movie
To make either an AVI or QuickTime format movie of a storyboard sequence, activate the Save
Menu and select either Make AVI Movie or Make QT Movie (QuickTime). Incite Media Assistant
will use the current settings found in the Video and Audio tabs of the Make AVI Movie or Make
QT Movie windows. After selecting the Make Movie command, a Save dialog box will appear in
which you can enter the name and select a directory for the file.

Setting Movie Parameters
To set movie parameters, select Tools from Incite Media Assistant’s main toolbar and choose
Make AVI Movie or Make QT Movie. These commands will launch the appropriate Make Movie
window. The Make Movie window is similar to the Converter window discussed in chapter 3 (with
the notable difference that there is no Files/Folder tab option).
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