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Telling a Story with Media Composer and Pro Tools

804 views · Published 13 August 2014 · 14:32 · Indexed 29 October 2026

Channel: BenoniStudio · 2014 · Education

In this video I show how you can create a story from even the simplest videos by using Media Composer and Pro Tools.

We will use a simple clip of a dandelion, some Virtual Instruments in Pro Tools, and video and audio effects in Media Composer to tell a story. But even if you don't have video clips of your own to use, don't let that hold you back from being creative.

There are plenty of places online that offer free or paid video clips for you to use in your own video. There are also plenty of places that offer music and sound FX for you to use, one of them being YouTube. Just make sure any content is not copyrighted before using it.

To tell a story you have to invoke a 'feeling' in the viewer. This can be done with music, videos, painting, photography, and any other art form. The emotion you are trying to convey in your chosen medium is in fact the essence of all art.

In order to interest the viewer in a simple dandelion video, I slowed down the clip using Timewarp in Media Composer. Then I use NewBlue FX Film Color to transition from color to black & white.

After that we export a small QuickTime Reference file and import it into Pro Tools.

Then I imported the video into Pro Tools and used AIR Music Technology Hybrid 3 and LOOM to create an ominous sound bed. I also added in the sound of wind, which I simply recorded with the on-board mic on my camera.

At this point you have several options to get your sound into Media Composer. I chose to export each track individually from Pro Tools so I could simulate what it would be like if you were using sound files you did not create in Pro Tool.

You could of course do a complete and final audio mix in Pro Tools, and it is the industry standard for that. But since Media Composer now supports AAX plugins, I figured I would use the same plugins I usually use in Pro Tools, but instead use them in Media Composer.

After a quick audio mix in Media Composer, our short story is nearly done. The sound bed and AAX effects add a new dimension to our story. Sound is the most important part of video, which sounds weird I know. But most people will watch a video that has less than perfect video clips, but if the sound is bad, the viewer is much more likely to not finish watching the video.

With AAX plugins in Pro Tools or Media Composer, sound does not have to be a problem any longer. You can choose from thousands of available AAX plugins that are for sale, and then mix your sound how ever you want. Your choice, Pro Tools or Media Composer. Or even my preferred method, use both!

Once the sound mix is done I needed something to "button up" the story and add one last punch of emotion. For that I decided to use NewBlue FX Titler Pro and create a title that was ethereal. Meaning, it was emotive.

When telling a story, you don't always have to be logical. You need to provoke a feeling and get a response. The goal, for many, is to use that emotional response, which is indeed and by function non-logical; to in turn reproduce a logical meaning that is special to each individual viewer. That's the goal anyway. Actually making that connection is what makes all great artists the great artists.

I know I constantly fail to make those connections, just as any artist will at some point. However, it's important that you don't just give up. The tools are there in Pro Tools and Media Composer. Keep plugging away at it, and experience will teach you how to make a better edit.

Also in the video I show I how include a logo at the end of the video and a logo bug throughout the whole video by using Avid FX/Boris Red

One important point when adding any branding to your video is to not let the branding take away from the story. Only add what is necessary to brand the video and no more.

Editing is what can make any video clip or any creative medium into art. If you are a musician, you don't just play every possible note through all the octaves. If you are a painter, you don't use every color on every space on you canvas. You edit out all the possibilities, and mold it, to create something new that has never existed before.

With Pro Tools and Media Composer you have the most professional tools available to edit raw ideas, and craft them into pieces of art that can make people laugh, cry, feel somber and sentimental, or be inspired! You have all the tools you need to tell the story you want to tell. You have all the tools you need to create. Is there anything better than that?

So what are you waiting for?

There are free trials available for Pro Tools and Media Composer!

Try them today:

Avid Pro Tools Trial
http://www.avid.com/Trial/ProTools

Avid Media Composer Trial
http://apps.avid.com/media-composer-trial/

Watch the completed video here:

Beauty is where you find it
http://youtu.be/0HlaW4wf-Mo