Working With External Machines; Use Auto-Chase; Using Freeze Mode; Versioning - Merging Pyramix User Manual

Working with External Machines

Use Auto-chase

Auto-Chase is a convenient, one button press solution for situations where control must be frequently switched
between the Internal Machine I.e. Pyramix and an External Machine or machines.
If all enabled machines are set to Auto-Chase, when Ctrl is switched between machines the Active Machine is
automatically taken out of Chase mode and the previously Active Machine automatically enters Chase mode. To
activate Auto-Chase for all external machines, enable the menu setting:
Machines > External Machine > Auto-Chase
And, to activate Auto-Chase for the internal machine, enable the menu setting:
Machines > Internal machine > Auto-Chase

Using Freeze Mode

• If you are using Pyramix for sound-for-picture work, the Freeze Mode is a very powerful tool. For example,
to position an out of sync car-door slam do the following:
• Use the Transport controls with all machines on-line to position the picture on the point where the door
slams.
• Press the Freeze button to freeze the external machine(s).
• Select the clip that has the sound of the door slam.
• Position the Clip Sync Point at the beginning of the impact. (Click and drag the red Clip Sync Point or
position the Playhead Cursor and select Clips > Set Sync Point to Cursor (Ctrl + M)
• Press Freeze and the Playhead Cursor will jump to the point at which Freeze was activated.
• Now, select Clips > Send Sync Point to Cursor (Ctrl + Alt + M) and the clip will move so that its Sync Point
is at the Playhead Cursor position and the sound of the slam is synchronized with the picture.

Versioning

When making "promos" and commercials for radio, TV and film there is often a requirement to produce several dif-
ferent versions with, for example, different dates or times or different languages. The effects and music are often
the same for each version. Pyramix offers several ways of achieving this.
Probably the simplest method is to select all the clips you wish to move or copy to a new location in the Timeline
then select Cursor and Marks > Goto TimeCode, (NUM 6) type in the new TC location and then Cut and Paste or
Copy and Paste. If you have a lot of this work to do, you may want to build a couple of simple macros to to this
with the these commands: Cut / Paste to Cursor and Copy / Paste to Cursor.
As an alternative to typing in the new cursor TimeCode location, you could use the Nudge Cursor functions to off-
set it from where it is currently parked. Nudge to the left/right uses one of the 5 predetermined nudge settings.
Another method uses User Libraries. Copy the selected clips and paste to a library or (Shift + Alt Drag) then
place the Composition using any any tool you wish. This method has the advantage that you can save the library
and open it in another project.
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