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The Best Way to Create Add Edits For Your Multigroups

This tutorial explains the most efficient way to create Add Edits when preparing subclips for multigrouping in Avid. Full credit goes to Rob Kraut for this tip.

Here are some reasons why you'll want to use this Add Edit technique when multigrouping:

• Cameras will no longer shift their banks. They maintain position throughout the multigroup clip which should make both you and your editor very happy.
• Fewer subclips (both while multigrouping and in the final laid out multigroup clip)
• Fewer subclips to add auxiliary timecode to (to learn how you can automate applying auxiliary timecode to your subclips, click this link: http://willblanksblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/adding-auxiliary-timecode-with-quickeys.html)
• Fewer clips to troubleshoot if anything goes wrong
• Save precious time!

The general consensus about multigrouping is that when preparing your subclips you need to create a sequence riddled with Add Edits at the start and stop of every single clip in your timeline.

Take this sync map before Add Edits:

And after (red lines added for emphasis):

This is an inefficient strategy. The Rob Kraut Add Edit gives you the exact same functionality with a fraction of the subclips, so instead the above timeline can look like this: 

This technique is easy to learn and once implemented will save you significant time while multigrouping. Without further ado, here is the general rule for the best way to Add Edit: 

One clip instance per camera/audio clip, per group. 

Relatively easy to say, harder to visualize.

Here again is that same timeline from earlier, the clean sync map:

Now with the Rob Kraut Add Edits:

With this technique, I am only making an Add Edit when it is necessitated by a new instance of a clip, whether it be camera 1, camera 2 or external audio. In this case, the Add Edits are mostly prompted by the trigger-happy operator of camera 2.

To make it clearer, I numbered the "groups" of clips. Avid likes its multigroup subclips in stacked, one-clip-instance-per-camera portions. You'll notice that no cameras or audio clips have multiple clip instances in any of the "groups":

To make it even clearer, here is a video that walks you through the logic behind each of the Add Edits I made in this sequence:



And that is the Rob Kraut Add Edit. 

If this was helpful to you, please share this with others who could benefit! Thanks! 

For a comprehensive multigrouping tutorial please check out this page by Tim Leavitt: http://viewfromthecuttingroomfloor.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/multigroups/

As well as this excellent multigrouping video tutorial by Vincent Rocca: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDR8nRXSTyc

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Thanks to Mike, Brandon (Sound Design/Mixing), and Rich.