I just received an email this evening that AVID Free DV is on the way! I don't know if that is next week or six months from now, but it said in "2003"!

Being a Premiere and Pinnacle user, I'm anxious to try this system out - even if it is a stripped down version. Anyone else trying the free AVID?

I already use 3.5, and will be upgrading to XpressPro when it comes out soon. But the AVID Free is a great way to learn the interface. Lots of people complain that AVID is " not intuitive" especailly when they come over from premiere, (Or have no experience editing FILM) On the other hand, AVID is the "industry standard" by which I mean AVIDS are used the most in Broadcast and FILM Production settings. (Though I have to say FCP is making a huge inroad in the small, indy and commercial market).

XPressFree was announced as a marketing device in response to FCP announcing their version of a stripped down FC... FCXpress.

You see how the marketing guys are hard at work. Final Cut PRO says "Hey, lets call our new, stripped down version of Final Cut Pro... Final Cut Express... that way people will think Avid Xpress is stripped down... ANd we will sell it for less, so people will learn the interface, and buy the more expensive version." Then the Avid guys say "Hey, let's call our new version of Avid Xpress DV,,, Avid XpressDVPRO... that will sound more like Final Cut PRo,... then we will GIVE AWAY our stripped down version of the interface, to undercut Final Cut Express... that way people will learn the interface, and move up to the more expensive version...."

Will it all work? WHo knows. Long ago, I took all references to "More intuitive" with a grain of salt. SO much depends on where you are coming from to begin with... your familiarity with editing FILM of Video, linnear or non linnear, Mac or Pc...

My general advice is, understand what you need NOW... anticipate what you will need in the NEAR FUTURE and buy the most you can possibly afford.

Then wait six weeks... it will all be obsolete.

Ha ha. You're probably right about the six weeks. I'm not unhappy with the two programs I use now, but you can't go wrong with "free", right? And you are correct that it is (was?) the industry standard, so learning it - even part of it can't hurt me!

Thanks for posting! I may bug you (or others) once it comes in!

I am the post production supervisor on a feature film that is shooting with the DVX100. I want to offline on an AVID film composer, and Finnish on HD. I know AVID has announced support for the camera, but when are they planning on releasing a solution? Does anyone have any experience with bumping the DVX to HD? Are there any Scan converters that work with the footage? Can I do a traditional online to Digi-betacam and then scan convert to HD? If anyone has any thoughts I would appreciate it.

Where do I begin...

I have an external case housing my media drive. It connects into my firewire port - I tried daisy chaining my Canon XL1 through it but it didn't like that. It kept removing the hard drive from the system. (yes the firewire drive is the master and I reformatted the drive using FAT32)

I have since bought a firewire repeater - this enables me to have both the camera and the external drive recognised by the computer ONLY if I turn on the HD first, then the laptop, then open up AVID, then turn on the XL1. Not the best of circumstances but considering what I've been going through I thought this was breakthrough - I can finally edit...

No I can't.

When logging my tape I have no problem - deck works fine etc. But it won't record any of the clips - tries but can't do it.

I got one to tape but then when I try to play it I get an error from AVID then a runtime error from windows and it crashes me out of AVID.
It is obviously something to do with the drive but I'm at a loss.

Please help

FYI - P4 2.2 laptop, windows XP pro, AVID xpress DV 3.5

firewire drives are 6 pin and dv camera's are 4 pin ..

so i assume you are using 6pin to 4 pin cable ?

i've never had any success capturing using one of those cables ( or daisy chaining the camera ) ...

can you capture connecting XL 1394 to computer ?

if you can capture to the computer C drive then proplem is with 1394 box ? ...

can you transfer clips/files from C drive to 1394 drive - and will they play from the 1394 drive ..

have you tried a different 1394 cable ??

can windows media player play the captured clip ?

what brand laptop are you using ? and is the 1394 connection built into it ?

why format FAT32 ?? i say NTFS

as far as firewire drive being the MASTER - i assume you are setting the jumper pins .. if you have a western digital drive inside they should be set to SINGLE ( most of them) ..other drives could be different .. if ADS pyro look at their web site for proper settings for different manufacturer drives ...

Dear Don,

Thanks for getting back to me.

In the end I threw the external dirve in the river (metaphoricaly speaking) and bought a Lacie external drive. It's picking up everything OK - not perfect. I sometimes get a "delayed write failed" message from windows that says that media is offline, which it isn't, and crashes me out of AVID completely.

It's a pain but if I restart all the media is there including my last batch record and all is fine again for a while.

Hi Anthony,

are you by any chance using a Dell? There has been a lot of discussion regarding Dell laptops capturing firewire from a DV source to an external firewire dirve, and the consensus seems to be that because almost all devices on Dell laptops (especially Inspirons seems to suffer) are on the same IRQ 11 (this includes the graphics card, network interface, WLAN if you have it, PCMCIA slots etc), it's only a matter of time before something goes wrong in timing sensitive applications as video capture. Theoretically devices are meant to be able to share IRQ's since PCI came around but I guess not in this case.
One thing that did really help for me was to disable the infrared interface in the device manager btw. This also got rid of the high-pitched clicking sounds I was getting when using headphones.
I have an Inspiron and suffer from the same, so I now capture to the laptop's drive, then copy the media over to the external disk afterwards. Not ideal, but at least it works. I hope that Dell will at some stage release a new BIOS that will allow for setting differenet IRQ's for different devices.

HTH,

Kai.

Hi Kai,

You got it right on - I'm using a Dell Inspiron 8200. Things are going ok with the Lacie drive for the moment. Worled for 14 hours yesterday and only crashed out once.

Thanks for your reply.

Anthony -
one question; are you able to plug in your XL1 straight into the Inspiron and capture from it that way? On mine that doesn't work; only if I daisy-chain through an externally powered device (i.e. a firewire disk with a power brick) will my laptop recognize that there's a camera attached to it...

Thanks.

Kai.

I beleive Avid's Xpress Pro supports this camera nicely. I suggest you go to www.24p.com. The website was created by Michael Phillips, one of Avid's top guys, who created the Film Composer, and can probably answer your questions as well as anyone in the world. He owns a DVX.

Sam Kauffmann, author of
Avid Editing: A Guide for Beginning and Intermediate Users, Focal Press

It seems to work fine if the XL1 goes straight in.

Had no problems at all yesterday through the LACIE drive - well only one "write delay failed", but I can live with that.

Thanks

Anth

I have footage captured in 16x9 mode on an Xl1s that I have been editing on AVID xpress DV 3.5. I'm having trouble exporting the footage in 16x9 mode. I was trying to export to quicktime just as an experiment. It looks like 4:3, even if I check the box that says '16:9 non-square'

Do I need to customize the 'size' setting? If so, what is the correct proportions?

Is 720x486 the standard?

can someone enlighten me?

_steven

Hey Guys--So I'm trying to cut a commercial on Avd Xpress DV 3.0, running Windows 2000, digitizing from my DVX100. I have fixed the Service Pack 3 issue with the OHCI patch (for those of you who are familiar with this issue) and am able to control the camera from the Record Tool in Avid. The problem is, when I try to record, it appears to work for a second, and then I get this message:

Unidentifiable Error While Recording

If I hit more it says: DIO Producer: Digital I/O Missing Starting Timecode.

Sooooo...any ideas? Like I said, hooked up to Panasonic DVX100 via Firewire, Avid recognizes/controls camera, tapes have continuos timecode etc.

Also, if I restart the program, the first time I get an error message it tells me the tape is drop frame and it was expecting Non-drop frame.

OK, thanks for the help!!

Peter

You will have to record black to the tape first.


You can't record to a tape via avid remote mode that doesn't already have timecode.

You can always crash record via local mode, where avid basically sends the data down the firewire and you press record manually on the deck

Thanks John,

I should have been more clear in my post. I was having trouble capturing, not recording using the Digital Cut tool. I solved the problem by just turning off the timecode on the record--I will not need to do a later batch digitize anyway.

Peter

Yup! Avid likes timecode. Otherwise you have to crash record or crash capture.

http://www.avid.com/products/dna/mojo/index.asp

I think this is a pretty new product. Anyone used this or heard of any real world experiences with it? Will it allow me to turn my old Pentium III laptop in to a portable real time editing station?

Any input would be appreciated. I think this is what a lot of us who edit in the field have been waiting for. Let me know you guys think.

Thanks,
Ed

I've only heard the best about it. A buddy of mine uses it and says its great. real time EFX, 1:1 uncompressed video ratio. From what I have heard, there is not much if anything that can compare to it unless you go x-treme high end. The out-put too is suppose to be better quality as well.

Best of luck with it, it definitely sounds like something to really check out.

Does the $1600 price tag really come with AVID MOJO? I thought that that price only pays for the Power Pack.

: ]

Actually a Final Cut Pro system can do what an Avid system does while usually much cheaper (although Avid is catching on and pricing lower). Most people find that Avid is a bit better for cutting and has more time-saving shortcuts. I wouldn't know about stability. FCP4 doesn't seem quite reliable yet. The Mojo board might have revision A problems (you know, never buy the first generation of anything).

<<<-- Originally posted by Randy Reyes : Does the $1600 price tag really come with AVID MOJO? I thought that that price only pays for the Power Pack. -->>>

Nope, Avid Xpress Pro and the Mojo hardware are two seperate purchases.

We just got word from Avid. Xpress Pro upgrades ship next week and Mojo ships by month end!! We've got some great bundle deals for you:

Amazing deal! While Supplies Last!
Xpress DV 3.5 PowerPack with Xpress Pro Upgrade $1499!!
You Save $200 on Xpress Pro PLUS you get the full versions of Boris FX & Grafitti ($400 value)!!
The Xpress Pro Upgrade includes everything you would get by buying the full retail versions. All software, manuals & docs are included. The only thing missing is the higher price!

Xpress Pro & Mojo BUNDLES

- If you already own Xpress DV we've got a great upgrade offer for you.
Xpress Pro Upgrade & Mojo $1999.00

- If you are looking to start from scratch, you can save big bucks by taking advantage of this great bundle. Xpress DV, Xpress Pro Upgrade & Mojo $2995.00

Mojo Add-A-Buck! First 50 people to order one of our Mojo bundles gets a 4X DVD Burner for $1.00!!

For more info http://www.videoguys.com/XpressPro.html

Gary
Videoguys.com

Thanks for the update! Been waiting for this to come out for a while now, I'm glad vendors are finally getting confirmation of a shipment.

Gary, do you have any word on what the educational pricing situation is for Avid Xpress Pro? Will it still be offered to students like myself?

yes there will be an EDU version of Xpress Pro. We do not yet have final pricing. We've got a sister website and company that handles edu & govt sales. They'll have the new details first.

http://www.specialtyvideosupply.com

Gary

The wait is finally over - Mojo is in stock!

I realize for many of you the jury is still out on Mojo, but Real-Time analog & DV output is a VERY big feature. And with Mojo you can do it with a laptop or workstation!

The component and uncompressed features are a nice addition to the feature set, especially if you do a lot of After Effects work and/or complex titling sequences. While these sequences must be rendered, you can drop them into your Xpress Pro timeline made up of DV footage and it will play out in real-time.

We've put together some pretty cool bundles with Mojo & Xpress Pro upgrades. http://www.videoguys.com/XpressPro.html

Gary
Videoguys.com

As promised, AVID Free DV is now available for download:

http://www.avid.com/freedv/index.asp

Liquid Edition is the next version of Pinnacle Edition. They've added some great new features to Edition 5.5 that many users were requesting. My two favorite are:

CX Color Correction - Liquid Edition now has color correction capabilities that are as good as it gets.

Dynamic Speed Control - this allows you to control the sped of a clip over it's duration. Vegas calls this 'Velocity Envelopes' - i just call it "COOL!"

Users of Edition 5 upgrade to Liquid Edition for $49 (if you purchased Edition after 8/1 you qualify for a $49 mail in rebate)

Users of Adobe Premiere and Pinnacle Studio can now upgrade to Liquid Edition for $399.95. You don't have to send back any software or hardware. (The installer will require one oof these titles to complete).

For more info check out http://www.videoguys.com/edition.html

Gary

As part of writing a Free DV tutorial (see www.mindspring.com/~d-v-c if you are interested) I decided to see if Free DV could edit HDV.

Or, more specifically, if it could work with my 4HDV. I did not expect this could work.

But I found I had no trouble importing the AIFF and Proxy MOV files and editing them. It seems Free DV is very QT oriented so it accepts MOV files.

I then tried to import the MPEG-2 MOV files so they could get linked to the Proxies. By now I had hope that with the Apple MPEG-2 decoder installed, QT would let me open these MOV files.

The import started fine. But after a long delay -- while I stopped breathing -- an error message appeared. Damn.

But I don't yet know if this is a Free DV or an Xpress DV limitation.

I'll try next week when I get Xpress DV Pro (with Mojo) to review.

By the way, while Avid tried it's best to cripple Free DV -- oddly what they've provided for free is perfect for LONG-FORM video productions. Which is great news for us who do not do SHORT-FORM multi-layer effects-driven work. And so far on a Mac, it has been rock solid!

And, seems to work with iDVD.

Steve,

Is your experience only with the Apple version?

Has anyone tested Avid Free DV on the PC side?

Brian

Only on Mac, but don't expect any differences.

I've worked with Xpress DV on both Mac and PC and never found any differences.

Steve,

Coming as it does from a feature film production background, Avid's strong suit has always been long form. For media management, it's hands down the best. Glad you like FreeDV, enjoy PRO... my upgrade is on the way.

Richard

Could someone check to see if it will import HDV??

http://www.uemedia.net/CPC/videography/article_5030.shtml

It says, "MPEG-2" in the list of encodable formats.

Thanks,

Chris

As soon as Avid updates XpressDV Pro to support 10.3 I'll be reviewing it.

And will check both HD Pixlet and HD MPEG-2 import.

Thanks Steve.

Chris

I am used to editing on fcp but now I have a job on AVID Express pro, i checked the manual but its not clear on a few things
1) in fcp i can look at a videofile in my browser but i can also see the audiofiles, how do i do that in AVID? I look at the audiofile to see where i want to cut...
2) When editing in the timeline with fcp i can simply drag and pull under to let audio go under other shots, how do i do it with AVID?
Part from this what are the major differences.?

I have been looking through the manual, but my native language is not english so it takes a long time and is not explained fully...

greetings

David

Major work flow differences.

Down on the left hand corner of the timeline, is a "Hamburger" icon. Click on this, and it will give you menus. Choose "Sample plot" and it will draw the audio waves. You can enlarge the track as big as you want to view it.

Up on the top toolbar, is a "Toolset" menu. Audieo toolset opens all of the audio tools. (Also color correction toolset, recording toolset etc.)

Also down on the left hand side of the timeline, are two "arrows" . Click the red one to "overwrite" and the yellow one to "Splice" (with ripple). When you click on a segment, it will be ready to move, delete, whatever.

FCP and Avid come from very different parradigms, and the workflow is different. FCP more closely resembles "Premier"... though FCP is moving towards a more "Avid" like interface.

Good luck.

If you want to extend audio from one shot under another, you need to use what avid calls "trim mode". There is an icon that looks like a can of film, click on this. Then make sure only the tracks you want to adjust are activated, in this case the audio tracks. Now click on the transition you want to adjust. the sides will turn pink.


Up in the composer window you now see two shots. Beneath them are numbers of frames in two boxes. With both of these highlighted, click the >> or << arrows to pull the audio in the direction you want to go by ten frams.

It sound confusing but once you get the hang of it is a precise way to adjust edits. Look up "trim mode" in the manual for more info.

Is the manual that comes with Pinnacle Liquid Edition essentially the same as the one for Edition 5 with a few changes or is it a new re-write. Having not had edition, I can't tell the difference.

The "addendum" talks about colour tracking and the motion control, so I am assuming the Liquid manual is the same as the original Edition 5 version...
Is that correct?

Nick,

I'm not sure how different the Editon5 and Liquid Edition manuals are. But if you want to check for yourself I think you can download both manual versions, in PDF format, from the support sections of the Pinnacle website. I think you may need to use the US (rather than UK) site to access the version 5 manual.

Hope this helps

Many thanks John...Downloading right now !

Hello everyone! I've been sifting through DVInfo's & Avids threads and there has been complaints about Avid Express Pro not being able to output 24PA projects. Can anyone clarify this for me? Why would they give you the ability to edit 24PA footage but not be able to output it in 24PA? Also, if you are able to output 24PA does the program just reverse the pulldown? Please help this confused guy.

I've been trying to nail down a decision between Avid and Vegas and just when Avid looked really promising I'm beginning to shift my weight towards Vegas. And just one more question: In a few sentences or less can anyone tell me which one is the overall champion in exporting to DVD and transferring to film? Now I'm talking about projects ranging anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes. Thanks guys!

I believe you need the Mojo option to be able to output the 24P stuff. Damn stupid and greedy if you ask me. I don't know how Vegas decided they'll give you 24P otuput at a lower price, but AVID decides you'd need to spend another $1K to get that feature.

I know what you mean. It's a damn shame they didn't decide to include 24pa output in Avid Express Pro!! But anyhow, that's business i guess -- sad but true.

Hey for any of those Vegas users out there, how does the color correction tools fair?

Any word on Avid support for HDV? I'm going to be getting certified soon (what better way to get a new job), and am thinking about buying Avid Xpress DV. Let me know!

heath