Hello,

Is anyone using an xl1s and editing with Avids Xpress DV? Any problems, tricks and tips, etc. Thinking about getting this set up and trying to learn all I can.

Thanks in advance.

I'm looking to buy an editing program. I've worked with Avid Media Composer. My question: is the Avid express DV similar enough that I wouldn't have to learn it?

Here's another question: would you attempt an hour documentary for broadcast on a Premiere 6? Can it handle it? Anyone have experience with that?

Thanks.

Hi,

I've made 2 1hour+ videos with Premiere 6. The videos were of the play Romeo and Juliet and are used for archival purposes by my local theatre.

It let me capture 3 hours worth of footage into the PC, allowed me to cut between 3 video channels and out put to my XL1.

Problems en-counted include:
While I play back what I am doing the video would speed up for no reason, but once that happened, and I played it back again it would sort it self out - could be premiere or could be hardware - I've never managed to work out why.

When I exported to my XL1 again for some reason it would speed up, and skip frames, even though it says that it had not dropped any frames and the data rate was constant - could be premiere or could be hardware - again I have never managed to work out why.

If you have the money I would suggest Avid express DV, it should have much of the same controls as most of the other AVID programs - not having much experience with the program I could be wrong.

Hope this helps,

Ed Smith

One additional note re: Avid xpressdv, I believe that it's only "certified" for specific hardware platforms. I know that at least one of the Dell notebooks is on the list, as well as several other desktops.

So, unlike Premiere, it looks like you're making a platform and tool decision with the Avid.

Avid would have you believe that it's only available on "certified" hardware platforms. But over in the UK you can get just the software on its own - Avid Xpress DV 2.0 £1200 or complete systems from £3650.

What you would have to bare in mind is that you would probably have to buy a separate capture card as well as the software.

Unlike Premiere you can get DV500+ with premiere, capture card and other software for the same price as the software on its own, £550.

If you decide to go down the DV500+ path, be aware that this card is very picky about the enviroment it works in. You have to match specific components and settings to get it to work properly.

That said, once working, it and Premiere are very capable tools.

I'm thinking to buying an XL1s to use with Avid Xpress DV (version 3.0). Does anyone know of any problems associated with batch capture or digital cut, or anything else I should know about?

Any help will be appreciated.

The only thing I have run into is that XPress DV is, as yet, not compatible with Windows XP. You can install, run and edit just fine under XP also, but Avid's DV driver seems to not play ball under XP.
If you must use XP you'll need to use dual-boot with a W2K installation. Else just stick to 2000. Avid has apparently released a beta of 3.1 which adresses this issue, but I don't know when the Beta program will end, or any other details.
In all other respects, it's just fine with the XL1 as far as I have seen.
For all info regarding XPress DV you may want to check out http://www.avid.com/community/, there's as lot of info and knowledgable people hanging out there.
HTH

Kai.

sorry to follow up on my own post, but this is probably what you're looking for...

ftp://KCUser:KCPull12@support01.avid.com/KCUser/XpressDVSupportedDevices2_0_B.htm


HTH,

Kai.

I have a Xl1s and avid 3. When capturing undo TC button and capture works ok. Seems to work best when I capture all footage unstead of starting and stoping.

hope that helps, good luck, dan

Capturing in one stream is a good idea anyway, especially if you use your XL1 for the capture. Using XPressDV's subclipping makes cutting sequences to bits almost unnecessary.
For those that _do_ prefer to work with individual clips, have a look at

http://www.scenalyzer.com

It's a great piece of software that will either capture your footage to individual clips immediately (ScLive) or cut single-file sequences into their constituent clips. I have no relation to them other than having used their software...

Kai.

Hi!
I used to work with Premiere alot but now working with AvidXpressDV3, and Avid is much much better and very solid.Better than Premiere for sure.
The good thing is, AvidXpress DV is almost the same as AvidMC, and you also can import and export from Xpress to MC.
I hope I could help.
BTW, Avid only works with W2K right now, and no another Editing are allowed like Premiere , it cause lots of problems

I can only agree with Chunglee.
Although Premiere is no doubt capable of doing a 1 hour docu, you'll be much happier doing it in XpressDV, especially since you've got previous Avid experience. It's just so much smoother to play with, and you get almost every effect and transition in realtime if you use v3...
Just my €0.02

Kai.

Thanks for all you insights. I think I'll start "from scratch" and get the hardware that will support the Avid DV.

We've found some excess inventory of Xpress DV3 powerpacks in the warehouse, so we have decided to run the following promotion.

Xpress DV 3 PowerPack on sale $2195 ( a $300 savings) PLUS a FREE EZ Keyboard ( a $120 value).

We are also offering a FREE EZ keyboard with the base Xpress DV 3 for $1499. (sorry, free keyboard promotion is not available for Edu and Student packs)

For more information on the Xpress DV PowerPack go to http://www.videoguys.com/XDV_PowerPack.html

For our hands on review of Xpress Dv3 check out http://www.videoguys.com/XDV30.html

Gary

I have reached the end of my first project with DVX 3. I have been using real time rendering and everything is working OK.

To render for final output I clicked on Green Render button to make it Blue, Marked an In point at the begining of my main sequence and an Out point at the end, Pressed Ctrl-A to select all tracks, right clicked on timeline and selected Render in-Out.

It then seemed to render OK but when I try to play through firewire the unrendered footage plays OK but the rendered stuff just gives me a blank screen.

Is there some seting I have wrong.

Any Ideas appresiated,
Ben

Hi - noticed Bekky's q's on Avid. I use PD150 with Pinnacle Pro-One and looking to upg. to Avid. Reason for upg. is pursuit of quality at the "expense" of losing some of the fancy 3D effects I get with Hollywood FX Gold. However, I am not getting much joy in resolving some basic questions of Xpress DV vs Composer in relation to compression/quality. I would like to avoid the cost of Composer if poss. but don't want to end up with Xpres DV if it is not adequate quality for documentary work. Can anybody what I would lose if I went with Xpress DV, esp. in compression. Somebody on another web site said Xpress DV was limited to 5:1 compression and so would only be good for two renderings before starting to lose quality. But Avid says that DV is 5:1 anyway, while suggesting that Xpress DV can edit uncompressed. Go figure?! Thanks in anticipation ......

Avid Announces Immediate Availability of Avid Xpress DV 3.5 Video Editing Software for Macintosh OS X and Windows XP
Only Digital Video Studio with Expert Color Correction Toolset, Revolutionary Real-time Architecture and Software for both Mac and Windows in the Same Box
Los Angeles, CA - June 26, 2002 - Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID) today announced immediate availability of Avid Xpress® DV v3.5 for Mac OS X and Windows XP. Now on the Mac platform for the first time, this portable, affordable, professional DV studio brings the industry-standard Avid editing experience and toolset to everyone who wants to edit digital video. Also new to the Avid Xpress DV product is an expert color correction toolset, featuring patent-pending technology capable of automatically matching skin tones between scenes with a single click.

"Xpress DV 3.5 is an important release for Avid because it fulfills our commitment to bring the industry's most powerful DV editing studio to the Mac," said David Krall, Avid's president and CEO. "And, we have taken our commitment to Macintosh users a step further by ensuring that Xpress DV's real-time architecture is supported on all G4s - laptops, desktops and even the new iMac."

"Most of the world's video editing is done on Macs and Avid's new Xpress DV product will further cement this," said Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple. "Avid has a long history of serving the professional video editing community, and this new version of Xpress DV taps the power of Mac OS X and the G4 Velocity Engine to bring professional-level editing capabilities to even more Mac users."

Avid Xpress DV v3.5 Summary
Avid's real-time architecture - offers more than 100 infinitely customizable real-time effects, titling, compositing and color correction with multiple, simultaneous streams - all in software - all without rendering. Customers can create richly layered compositions such as a moving title with a dissolve, a color correction effect, and a picture-in-picture overlay simultaneously - all in real-time.
Real-time expert color correction tools (built on patented technology derived from Avid's professional Avid Symphony™ finishing system).
Customizable workspaces that allow customers to personalize every aspect of the industry-standard Avid editing interface.
Versions for both Macintosh OS X and Windows XP operating systems in the same box, so professionals can easily move back and forth between systems they use most often.
Support for all qualified Macintosh computers with Mac OS X v10.1.4 or later and 400 MHz G4 processor or higher. Avid's revolutionary real-time architecture even runs on the new iMac and all Apple PowerBook G4s.
Support for qualified systems running the Windows XP Professional operating system.
Affordably priced - USMSRP $1,699 for the standard configuration and $2,499 for the PowerPack.
New Color Correction Features
Patent-pending NaturalMatch™ technology, capable of true color-to-color matching without the use of grayscale values to approximate color tones.
A three-window view that includes previous, current and next frames, along with reference frames and split-screen mode, to let editors precisely correct colors between shots.
Customizable, advanced vectorscope, waveform monitors and histograms, including luminance and chrominance.
Three ChromaWheel™ HSL color offset wheels (shadows, midtones, highlights).
HSL master controls (hue, saturation, brightness, contrast, clip, invert).
ChromaCurve ™ interactive graphs with multi-point controls (red, blue, green, master).
Beta Customer Feedback
"With Avid Xpress DV on my Mac, I can now move projects from my PowerBook to a Media Composer® or Symphony™ with ease. I don't lose any of the project info, and we save lots of time by not having to convert EDL's," said Emmy®-award winning Editor Herbert Bennett of Video Arts in San Francisco. "Avid is already the industry standard for editing at the high-end of the market, but tools like this mean that every editor can affordably join the Avid family."

More About Avid Xpress DV v3.5
More information about Avid Xpress DV v3.5, including complete pricing, upgrades, list of features, the new color correction toolset, and system requirements, can be found at www.avid.com/xpressdv.

The very nature of DV is that it is a compressed format. If you are acquiring on DV, Avid Xpress Dv is and ideal match. Avid Composer and Symphony are probably overkill unless you have an unlimited budget. Composer has features not found on Express, but they are not worth the price difference. Express also has an easier learning curve.

Jeff

Another option to look at, and this is one I'm interested in, is going with Pinnacles new Edition software. This NLE app was recently purchased from Fast and appears to be quite good and a definate improvement over Premiere.

Jeff is dead right when saying Composer is overkill for DV as the image is commpressed 5:1 by the camera. If you already have the Pro-one then Edition will work with that and you won't lose your Hollywood FX or the Breakout box. It's also half the price of DV Express at $699.

Xpress should be fine for what you want to do.

Many people use XDV strictly for offline work and then finish on a MC. It's a great method if you need uncompressed video because the files transfer seamlessly between XDV, MC and Symphony (though, most of those people are using Beta SP and not mini DV). In my opinion XDV is perfectly suited for mini DV online work.

I just got Avid Xpress DV 3.0, and am very happy with it for a variety of reasons. Chief among these is the fact that, unlike the last version, Avid will now capture from my Canon ZR20. I bought the ZR20 solely for the purpose of using it as a "deck" in my editing system, in order to save wear and tear on my XL1.

The problem is this: the ZR20 is not accepting picture info back out of the computer over the firewire. I can't view anything on my NTSC monitor, which is connected to the ZR20's AV IN/OUT jack. I can't even see anything on the ZR20's own LCD.

Does anyone have any idea what may be going wrong here?

Thanks

Chris

Do you have real time mode off? Thats the only way it will work.

If this isn't your problem try posting this at...

http://www.wwug.com/forums/avid_xpress-dv/index.htm

or...

http://www.avid.com/cgi/forumscgi/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum=Avid+Xpress+DV&number=28&DaysPrune=20&LastLogin=

Thanks for the reply. I think the "realtime mode" might be the problem. How do I turn this on/off?

chris

Right next to the AVID logo on your timeline will be a green or blue dot. Green is realtime on blue is reltime off. Just click the dot.

Thank you both! It is now working perfectly.

HI,

I hope you can help me.

I'm looking for a Xl1s to use it with the avid xpress dv 3.5 but it seems that this camera don't work well with the software. Is that true? What are your experiences? Can you tell me where can I buy it in Los Angeles or in a good website?. In your opinion which is the best analog and Dv (under $500) card and software? transcoder?

The thing is that I'm from Mexico City and I'm going to be in Los Angeles the next week.

What do you guys know about them? Are they worth it?
Thanks
Ryan

My brand new preconfigured system won't playback or do digital cuts. I've tried both my JVC VS30U (not supported) and my Canon XL1s (supported). I can't use client monitor at all, blue screen. When I try to do a digital cut I have long periods of blue screen interspersed with brief flashes of video and audio. I've tried legacy mode and realtime and nothing. This is straight audio/video with no effects. I've also tried just doing text (of course rendering first) and am getting nothing. Am I doing something wrong. HELP!

Becky,

Hard to say from you post. It might be as simple as configuring the deck selesction correctly. Or it might be as simple as turning on your Camera AFTER you open XDV. For the best forum help with XDV try posting on avid.com they have a forum with faqus on sililar problems.

The XL1s does not get along real well with the AVID. You have to nurse it a bit.

"Are they worth it?"

Worth is a subjective judgement. It was for me. Might not be for you.

I own a turnkey Avid Xpress DV system. Very powerfull. Very scary. VERY STEEP learning curve if you are coming from Premiere.

Are you editing short spots with lots of compositing? Maybe the longest thing you do is a music video?

Probably want to stay away from Avid Xpress DV.

Are you interested in completing a feature film or long form documentary. Maybe shot in film, offlined in DV and conformed back in film? Are you working on projects that you want to transfer to an avid house for special effects? Are you interested in learning the avid interface so you can move up to the bigger systems?

AVID is your number one choice.

But as I said, it is a steep learning curve. And an expensive one. You can walk into any Barnes and Noble or Borders Bookstore, and find a shelf of self-help and how-to books on Premiere and Final Cut Pro. Try to find ONE on Avid. Not gonna happen.

Seriously, if you are short form, graphics intensive oriented, and have training in Adobe Graphics products or Apple, then stay with Premiere or Final Cut Pro.

Avid and Premiere approach editing from two different paradigms. Premiere comes from a "Computer File, Graphic manipulation paradigm" which tends to be very flexible.

Avid comes from a paradigm where everything you do, has to have a real-world application to cutting real negative stock. So this influences their work-flow approach. They pour their money into media management, making it easier to manipulate HUGE ammounts of media, (Typical for a feature film) or systems that are connected (More than one system working on a project at once) They leave the compositing and effects work to third party vendors like Boris (Great products) and Pro Tools, (also owned by Avid).

At the moment, AVID is tackling FINAL CUT PRO head to head on the Mac. They pushed 3.5 out the door a little too early in my opinion. The PC version has some serious bugs that are being worked out as I type. Expect 3.5x out sometime soon. Then it will be safe to jump on.

You will find it different from Premier and Vegas.

If you want to jump in the dep end, then choose Avid.

Visit the AVID.COM forum, and read the posts there. Do the same for FCP, VV and PREMIERE. They all have issues. The first thing to do is determine what your specific needs are. Short or Long.

Alrighty...

I am trying, working on, outputting in native Quicktime from Avid Xpress DV 3.5, and not having good results.

My settings are all screwed up because I tried so many ways of exporting. I don't know anymore.

I had no problem exporting from Premiere, however, I am not using that anymore. To compare gives me a headache of likes and dislikes...

I need to move this along and export to Quicktime so that my composer can start working on the music.

Please help....

Thank you for taking time to scrawl out some text.

Cheers!

Derrick

Not sure exactly what your problem is. Might be you should be using Quick Time Ref files. Might be you should upgrade to 3.53 (The fix for 3.5 issues)

If you really want some excellent free avid advice, check the avid forum. www.avid.com

Be sure to give all your system specs, and a complete description of the problem, lots of good people there to help. I know, they've helped me.

Bill,

Thanks for the input. Yes, Avid's community has been very helpful. I think I solved this using the Sorensen codec. I'll no later when I have time to try it out.

I hope it works...

The Quicktime output has been very choppy, like every other frame is dropped.

Thanks...

these past two weeks i have been researching and learning about how to build a pc for editing, which will best fit my needs and avid xpress dv3.5 editing software.

i've narrowed it down to 2 options:

one based on a Dual AMD Athlon MP2000 + 1.67 GHz processor and Tyan Tiger MP Dual Atholon MP motherboard

the other based on an Intel Pentium4 2.53 GHz 533 MHz FSB motherboard and Asus P4B533 845E motherboard

the rest of the specs don't differ all that much between the two. it's either an AMD based machine or a Pentium 4 based machine.

what are the differences between these two options:

1) which is more powerful?
2) which is less expensive?
3) which will require more fans and therefore will make a noisier working enviorment?
4) which is known to work better with video editing / DV / xpressDV3.5?

any comments or suggestions you may think of are most welcome.

thanks.

From what I've heard, Althalons run xpress dv fine, but they are not qualified by avid.

I would go with the other evil empire Wintel.

They will help you at CS if you drive a p4

The Athlons run fine with XDV, but as Marc said they're not supported by Avid. I'm running dual MPs with the a Tyan mobo and 2 gigs of RAM. I haven't had any problems. It runs fast and stable.

I am told XDV only runs around 25 to 50% faster with two chips. WHere you'll really see the difference is in After Effects as it takes full advantage of the second CPU.

On the other side...the benchmarks for the 2.53 GH P4 with the 533 frontside bus look really good too.

I actually almost built one of these systems but decide to go with AMD instead. At that time, if I remember correctly, the AMD system cost around $300 more than it would have cost to build the pentium box.

HTH,
Jason

adi,

See my comments about the duals on the other thread,

bill

We just got word from Avid on a very exciting new program. If you own Premiere (or Final Cut Pro) you can save big bucks on Xpress DV!!

$300 trade up allowance on XDV Base ($1499 - 300 = $1199)

$400 on the Powerpack ($2199 - $400 = $1799)

You will have to provide proof of ownership. The exact details of the program will be posted on our (and Avid's) website over the next day or two. This is a very limited time promotion, just in time for the holidays. If you're a Premiere or FCP editor who has been thinking about upgrading to XDV, the time is now!!

Gary
Videoguys.com

We just got word from Avid on a very exciting new program. If you own Premiere or Final Cut Pro you can save big bucks on Xpress DV!!

$300 trade up allowance on XDV Base ($1499 - 300 = $1199)

$400 on the Powerpack ($2199 - $400 = $1799)

You will have to provide proof of ownership. The exact details of the program will be posted on our (and Avid's) website over the next day or two. This is a very limited time promotion, just in time for the holidays. If you're a Premiere or FCP editor who has been thinking about upgrading to XDV, the time is now!!

Gary
Videoguys.com

Download: $419.97
I have used both and like vegas better

What do I know????

Avid is pushing fairly hard, sounds like a good thing I think. I have a student version so it cost the same as VV. Do you know if Avid is planning on supporting 24P editing natively, perhaps as a kind of plug-in?

I was thinking the same thing (Vegas). I'm pretty much sold on that and can't wait to start buying new computer parts...then the Vegas software. Although I've heard nothing but good about Avid, I'm afraid I'm just a poor guy so Avid is out. I was thinking Storm a while back, for it's PAL/NTSC conversion software (extra $), but Vegas has this feature built in.

Avid's powerpack already allows you to edit in 24 f for matchback. (Which is why it is so great for actually editing FILM) NO NLE currently edits in 24p. (No, not even FCP) Though they are talking about doing it. Basically, the new Panny camera shoots and converts a pulldown in camera... so everyone winds up editing in 29.97 anyway. (That's why you can see the image on a regualr monitor, and play the tapes in a regular player) Since there are no consumer 24p decks for playback, it is unclear at this point how the inustry will respond... so people are playing a 'wait and see who goes first game'.

Some people don't understand that AVID comes from a film-editing paradigm. The other NLE's come from a computer graphics paradigm. THis creates a different work-flow that often makes avid seem more difficult to master for those coming from a CG background.

I think the purchase of home computer NLE's is pushing AVID into the CG paradigm, even as FCP strives to be more "Avid-like". (Consider who invented the NLE interface).

In five years, my guess will be that there will be very little difference between NLE platforms. In short, about as much difference as there is between Microsoft WORD and WORDPERFECT.

i'm tempted to set up my system with Dual AMD Athlon MP2000 1.67 GHz processors and a Tyan Tiger MP motherboard.

BUT i know that AMD isn't in any of AVID's suggestested systems and therefore won't support it. or i've heard they will but for a $50/hour fee.

so my other option is INTEL pentium4 2.53 GHz 533 MHz FSB processor and either an Asus P4B533 845E motherboard or an INTEL Maryville motherboard.

if i give up the AMD setup to stay supported by avid, am i giving up much? or will the intel setup work fine with no major differences from a dual amd processor's capabilities?

or, do you think that i should go dual amd processors and rely on avid's forum or forums such as this one when i get stuck and risk that i won't need too many $50 hours with avid's support people.

would be happy to read your thoughts on this, especially from those who have experience with xpress dv3.5 on similar running systems.

thanks

This is just my .02 but I would probably just stick with a one processor setup, and put the money towards more HD space and xtra software packages.

I have been running 3.5 on my Single Athlon XP1800 setup on a Soyo Dragon Plus Platinum MB for about $350 total. One fast processor renders FX pretty fast, and is plenty sufficient for recording/playback/Realtime FX with no problems. With the savings of the Xtra processor and board that supports it you could buy another 20 Hours worth of storage.

Just thought I would chime in.

-Brad

I'm running dual AMD chips with XDV and I haven't had any problems. True they are not supported by Avid, but Avid only offers free support for 30 days, then you have to pay for the support period...And let me tell you, their support isn't very good to begin with. I find the Avid forums to be of greater help.

If I were building a system JUST for XDV I would go with a single processor. XDV doesn't really take advantage of the second chip. I've heard XDV performs only 25 to 50% faster than a single chip machine. If you do a lot of After Effects work...then I do recommend dual processors. AE is true multithreaded software.

As far as the Pentium Xeons VS AMD, many will tell you the dual Xeons are worth the extra money over the dual AMDs, but I can't justify it just yet. The latest AMD MP chips run a bit hotter but overall they perform extremely well.

If you do decide to go with the dual AMD chips, be prepared to tweak Windows XP Pro to the max.

thanks all. what exactly does "tweak to the max" mean? my knowledge of computers is limited.

XP tweaks...

http://www.videoguys.com/WinXP.html

what is the best effects/color correction software to work with on a system with avid xpress dv 3.5?

regarding AE:
i know of conflicts between avid xpress dv and premiere if on same system.
does after effects cause the same conflict? i though it might since its also adobe.

thanks.