I've searched the forums here, at Avid and the web in general, but haven't been able to get a clear answer of if the HV20 works with Xpress Pro HD.

Is anyone using their HV20 with Avid? I know Avid supports 24P, but I also know that compatibility is very hardware dependent and idiosyncratic. The HV20 is not on their list of supported hw.

Also, if there isn't way to directly use the HV20 w/ Avid, is there a viable workaround? Thanks much!

I would think Avid Xpress Pro would support HDV capture at 60i (of both 60i and 24p material with embedded 3:2).

No 24p pulldown removal on the fly, though, sad. Wait for NAB?

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com

bump ~ just doing some searches and learning. I have this set up currently (HV20 ~> Avid Express Pro (on WinXP Pro SP2)) and am curious about it's viability, especially with 24p.

If anyone's feeling especially proactively helpful, please share any relevant insights/experiences here. I'm a total n00b to the video world and having loads of issues with capture initially. The input signal seems to keep dropping from Avid, though the deck is still functional and I can import w/HDV Split (though I haven't sorted out the audio import there either as yet, lol).

Also open to alternative work-flow solutions (on PC). After I get this sorted, I'm keen to explore straight-to-disk, HDMI (BlackMagic Intensity). One step at a time though. ;)

Many of my searches brought me back to this forum.. so thought I'd bump this thread as I keep digging.

TIA

Cheers,
Scott

I have been using Avid X Pro HD 5.2.4 to capture and edit from an Hv20 and an A1 with no problems, but I shoot at 60i.

I did test the HV20 at 24P, which will capture into an Avid HDV 60i timeline, with of course the extra frames.

There are complex methods to distill real 24p from the HV20, but not in avid so far.

The generic Avid firewire capture setup works well with the HV20 and the A1. HDVsplit m2t files also import into Avid without problems.

Final note, I always immediately transcode HDV footage into DNxHD 145 and then edit.

Good Luck All

capture your footage via cineform and intensity with the 24p option on. I think you can do this via firewire as well, but I used the intensity.

transcode from cineform to DNxHD via a free program called MPEGStreamclip. Import into Avid.

Works for me. Ok, should work, I have only imported with 30i project, but I see no reason this won't work.

I have edited footage in the avid at HDV resolution and it works just like regular hdv would. You can transcode to DNxHD, but unless you have some monitoring solution ie adrenaline w/ dnx board, then it doesn't make that much difference. Where is does make a difference is if you want to make a dvd. You will need to transcode to DNxHD at some point if you want to make a dvd, sd or HD with the footage. You cannot export a QT reference with the hdv codec. Which is good to have if you use sorenson at all.

Chris

Scott, what deck settings are you using? I capture HV-20 60i all the time. The only problem I've had is that using the pause key when marking in and out points can sometimes cause an odd error message (I believe about timecode). And don't try to capture across time code breaks or after timecode has stopped. Avid expects we know what we are doing more than some other NLE's.

I have to say, with my very limited experience, that Avid is probably the best HDV editing solution out there. It surely puts a lot less stress on my CPU than Vegas does.

...
Final note, I always immediately transcode HDV footage into DNxHD 145 and then edit.

Good Luck AllTerry, are you using the thin raster "TR" version of DNxHD?

Peter,

Yep, it is TR. (1440 pixels wide instead of 1920)

By setting up an Avid HDV timeline, this is the only transcode option I see (in 5.2.4)

Actually I don’t mind since my final goal is SD DVD, and all the processing steps seem to recognize the anamorphic format.

Even though Avid can edit HDV, in my mind every frame based action of GOP media requires a read and a calculation to generate the frame. I assume the DNxHD TR codec is frame based, so the computer has an easier time by just reading the frame from the drive, while the CPU has better things to do.

Terry

I've been trying to capture with Avid Media Composer 3.5 from a Firewire PCMCIA card on my laptop. It's frustrating! I can control the camera perfectly, but no video actually gets through to the Editor! Any ideas?

Eddy