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# Adding Indirect Media to an Action Node

Media nodes contain indirect media and are connected to an Action node. Media nodes have the following properties:

- They are permanently parented to the Action node (you cannot sever the process lines).
- They have red and blue input tabs for the front and matte inputs, respectively.
- They support floating-point input.

Setting up indirect media is a good way to use pre-processes (a precomposite or the result from multiple nodes) that you want to input into media. You can add multiple Media nodes to an Action node.

To change the input clips of indirect media, you must either parent new front and matte clips to the Media node or add a new Media node. You cannot change the input clips from the Media menu. If you attempt to do so, a message appears indicating that the selected media is indirect media.

To add indirect media to an Action node:

1. Double-click the Action node and then click Media.

   The Media menu appears.

   (a) Media List box(b) Media From box

2. Select Add Input in the Media List box.

   A Media node is added to the Action node.

   (a) Media node

   Notice that the Media list is empty. Although you have added a Media node to the Action node, you have not yet added any media.

   (a) Empty Media list

3. Connect front and matte clips to the red and blue input tabs of the Media node, respectively.

   (a) Front (indirect) clip (b) Matte (indirect) clip

   The Media list is updated with the indirect media. Brackets (“[ ]”) around the clip names indicate the media is indirect.

   When you select a Media node in the schematic, the corresponding media in the Media list is highlighted. Conversely, selecting media in the Media list highlights the corresponding Media node and the link to the Action node.

   (a) Front and matte indirect media

TipYou can parent a back clip to the Action node. Although doing so is not necessary, a parented back clip node provides a good visual reference for identifying the Action composite in the process tree.