Working with clip lists

You can create and edit clip lists for the following media types:

  • XDCAM media in an XD root folder .
  • XAVC media in an XD root folder .
  • RAW media in an AxS folder .

A clip list is a PD-EDL (.smi) file that allows you to create a video project that is comprised of multiple, shorter video clips.

Clip lists are a helpful part of a proxy workflow when working with limited bandwidth: copy the proxy clips to your computer, create a clip list using the proxy clips, and then copy the clip list back to the camera or deck. The deck will then play the clip list using your full-resolution source.

If you need to create a project for other media types and don't need to write back to a camera or device, you can create a storyboard. For more information, see "Working with storyboards."

When viewing a clip list, indicates spanned clips from the same volume, and indicates spanned clips from different volumes.

Clip lists and spanned clips are not supported in Catalyst Prepare libraries.

Creating a clip list

  1. Click the Organize button at the top of the Catalyst Prepare window to view the Media Browser.

  2. Navigate to the root folder or that contains the clips you want to use.

  3. Select the files you want to include in your clip list. You can hold Shift or Control (Windows) / ⌘ (macOS) to select multiple files.

  4. Click the Tools button at the bottom of the Catalyst Prepare window and choose New clip list from selection from the menu.

    If you want create a clip list without choosing clips, click the Tools button at the bottom of the Catalyst Prepare window and choose New empty clip list from the menu.

  5. Type a name for the new clip list and click OK.

  6. Catalyst Prepare loads your new clip list in View mode.

Opening a clip list

  1. Click the Organize button at the top of the Catalyst Prepare window to view the Media Browser.

  2. Navigate to the root folder or that contains the clip list you want to open.

  3. Double-click the clip list (.smi file) to open it.

Rearranging clips

In Clip List mode, you can add, remove, and arrange clips in the clip list. Click the Clip List button at the bottom of the Catalyst Prepare window to switch to Clip List mode.

You can drag clips within the clip list to rearrange them. Drag a clip and drop it to a new position on the clip list to change its position.

Adding clips

In Clip List mode, you can add, remove, and arrange clips in the clip list. Click the Clip List button at the bottom of the Catalyst Prepare window to switch to Clip List mode.

You can only add clips from the folder where the clip list (.smi) file is saved.

Click the add button at the end of the clip list to display a media browser, where you can select additional clips for your clip list.

You can click the Add button at the bottom of the Catalyst Prepare window when you're in Clip List mode.

When you add a clip, a vertical line is added to the timeline to indicate where each clip begins:

Removing clips

In Clip List mode, you can add, remove, and arrange clips in the clip list. Click the Clip List button at the bottom of the Catalyst Prepare window to switch to Clip List mode.

Select a clip and click the Remove button at the bottom of the Catalyst Prepare window.

Editing clips

In Clip mode, you can log mark in and out points for your clips.

You cannot add, delete or rearrange clips in Clip mode. Use Clip List mode for clip list editing.

  1. Open the clip list you want to edit.

  2. Click the Clip button at the bottom of the Catalyst Prepare window to switch to Clip mode.

    You can also double-click a clip in Clip List mode to switch to Clip mode.

  3. Select the clip you want to edit.

  4. Use the Mark In and Mark Out buttons to adjust the mark in and out points for the selected clip.

    For more information, see "Marking in and out points for playback."

Viewing metadata for clip lists

When you're in Organize or Edit mode, click the Inspector button in the toolbar to display metadata in the Inspector pane.

In Browse mode, the Metadata pane displays additional information about the currently selected clip list.

In View (Clip List or Clip) mode, the Metadata pane displays information about the selected subclip.

For more information, see "Viewing and editing metadata."

Writing a clip list back to a device

Select a clip list in Organize mode and click the Copy button at the top of the Catalyst Prepare window to write a clip list back to a device. For more information, see "Exporting media from a library."