Industry and Avid

[Paul South]

I have been told many times that Avid is the industry standard for movies and television. But which Avid product is used? Whenver I try to read about Avid, I find alot of things, Avid Liquid, Xpress, Nitris, etc. Which of the Avid products is used in the industry?

[Allan Coy]

What are you intending to perform on the NLE. I would say Express pro with a mojo as your I/O box is a good entry into the industry.

Most networks cut off the Media Composer which is my Fav with the adrenaline I/O box and usualy some sort of central storage unit like unity.

We have avid unity at our production house with 4 Media Composer and 2 Express Pro Clients. 1 mojo and 1 Adrenaline I/O

Cost will make your final decision on this one

Hope I could help

[Paul South]

I'm a little confused about what an mojo I/O box is. Is this similar to an external hard drive?

I'm sorry if these are dumb questions, but alot of this is unexplored territory for me.

[Larry Price]

Originally Posted by Paul South

I'm a little confused about what an mojo I/O box is. Is this similar to an external hard drive?

I'm sorry if these are dumb questions, but alot of this is unexplored territory for me.

Indeed you are slightly confused! Don't worry, we all were at some point, and in fact, I still am, just about different things. Anyway, none of this has anything to do with hard drives.

The Mojo is an Input/Output (or "I/O") device. It's about the size of a standard hardcover book. You use it to connect tape decks, your camera, a client monitor, etc., to your editing workstation. It attaches to the workstation via a Firewire (1394a) interface. There's the basic Mojo, which works with Standard Definition material only (essentially DV in our case) and there's an upscale version called Mojo SDI which has a Serial Digital Interface used with higher-end professional cameras. It's still SD only, unfortunately. However, you can ingest HDV through the Mojo SDI, unlike the basic Mojo.

The Adrenaline I/O box, used with Avid Media Composer, is a much more elaborate breakout box, with more inputs and outputs, and with an addon card can handle full HD resolution via HD-SDI. The Adrenaline box is about 10 times more expensive than the Mojo boxes.

If you're still confuzzled, hop over to the Avid website, where you can find detailed information on all of this.

Good luck, and aloha!

[Richard Alvarez]

It can be confusing, because AVID has different versions for different applications. Additionally, each version can 'do more' depending on what sort of I/O device is or is not attached to it. (Just as Final Cut Pro can be enhanced by adding an Aja I/O or Premiere's performance can be changed by adding the Matrox suite)

It's important to understand, that the basic graphic user interface - the 'look' of AVID - is essentially THE SAME from Free DV all the way up to Avid Symphony. One of the great things about AVID is that it is possible to cut a feature film on a laptop version of Avid XpressPro for instance (and I do mean FILM - keycodes and all) - and then take that project file into a full upscale edit suite like a Symphony and do the finishing and color correcting with the same project.

So, you can run the software for Avid XpressPro or AVID MEDIA COMPOSER ONLY - WITHOUT any sort of Digital Nonlinnear ACCELERATOR - (for instance, the Mojo, or the Adrenaline) - or you can attache the DNA and boost the system's realtime capabilities, while enhancing it's input/output range.

The Graphic Interface of the software will appear the same - though as you move 'up' in the line, more and more features become available. Projects can be 'moved up' and 'finished' on higher end systems - and 'user preferences' like keyboard functions can also be transported from one system to another. SO if you have your keyboard settings exactly the way you like them on your laptop - you can take them with you to the finishing suite, and have the High end system work EXACTLY like your laptop when you sit down to edit. (This can save tons of time - which of course means money when you are renting the suite)

CAVEAT - A little over a year ago, AVID acquired the Pinnacle LIQUID line of editing software. This software had a larger share of the 'event' market - weddings, industrials etc. AVID 'rebranded" the Liquid NLE so that it is now an "AVID" product - but as far as I know, the interface for Liquid is not really similar to AVIDs and projects are not DIRECTLY portable between them.

But as others have said, drop by the avid site and read up on system capabilities and design. Sometimes it helps just to WATCH tutorials on each system to see what they look like.

And finally - to answer your question "Which of the Avid products is used in the industry?" - They ALL are. As I said, a Director or Editor might work on a copy of AvidXpress Pro, and then finish on a Media Composer - Or Symphony. That's the beauty of it.

[Peter Moretti]

First, you should check to see if your computer meets Avid's specs. There is a place on the Avid website that list minimum requirements. It is possible that your machine will work fine Aivd even if it doesn't meet the reqs.

(If you can get yourself a copy of Avid's FreeDV somewhere, you could load that up and try running it. Just open, close, start a new project, save it. I'm not saying being able to open FreeDv will mean your system can run the latest version of Xpress Pro. But if it can't run FreeDV, it ain't gonna run anything further up the Avid food chain. Be sure to completely uninstall FreeDV before installing Xpress Pro.)

I would go with Xpress Pro (no Mojo) to start with. There is a lot to learn but just stick with it. I was just talking to someone today about postproduction here in LA. I told him I'm still very new to this world. He asked what I'm editing on. As soon as the "Av..." came out of my mouth, I heard a sigh of relief. Like Richard explained, you can work on Xpress and give your project to same finishing house that did "Titanic" and they'll be able to work with it.

[Paul South]

so an I/O box improves the playback quality of my edited material? it essentially allows me to preview my material at the same quality i would output it at? if so, is this an essential tool?

[Christian Magnussen]

Originally Posted by Peter Moretti

(If you can get yourself a copy of Avid's FreeDV somewhere, you could load that up and try running it. Just open, close, start a new project, save it. I'm not saying being able to open FreeDv will mean your system can run the latest version of Xpress Pro. But if it can't run FreeDV, it ain't gonna run anything further up the Avid food chain. Be sure to completely uninstall FreeDV before installing Xpress Pro.)

For some reason my certified HP XW8400 had som issues with freedv, but Xpress works as a charm.

And as you said, it's almost a relief when speaking to experienced people either in TV and film when you mention you edit with Avid...regardless if it's your studies, hobby or work. I'm not the most experienced person with film/tv stuff, but as soon as the name Avid pops out...you're one of "them" according to the experienced people who prefer "Avid only".

[Peter Moretti]

Christian, THANKS for pointing that out about FreeDV, I did not know it. :)

Paul, What type of material are you planning on editing? What camera, format? That info could with deciding what you might need.

[Terry Nixon]

Avid Xpress Pro, Media Composer Software, and Media Composer Adrenaline are the most common Avid products that professionals use. These Avid products share a common interface and create project files that are shareable between systems.

Many post production companies have one or two more expensive Avid Media Composer Adrenalines complemented by several cheaper Avid software based systems using MC or Xpress dongles.

You need to be very careful to conform the build of your mac or pc to the Avid Specifications listed on Avid.com.

Originally Posted by Paul South

I have been told many times that Avid is the industry standard for movies and television. But which Avid product is used? Whenver I try to read about Avid, I find alot of things, Avid Liquid, Xpress, Nitris, etc. Which of the Avid products is used in the industry?

[Richard Alvarez]

To answer your 'generic' question about I/O boxes such as the Mojo, The MOJO SDI, The AJA I/O, Decklink, Magic, Matrox, etc. etc. Each box or card has different capabilities and some are only suitable for specific software applications.

Ask your self '"What is my intended delivery format and venue?" Are you shooting just for web and inhouse DVD distribution? Might not even need HD/HDV capabilities. Going out to conform to film? Shooting RED RAW? These have their own requirements, that will influence your workflow.

The mojo SDI as I understand it, will output HD as SD for monitoring your HD editing, but doesn't output HD for monitoring purposes. (Somebody else jump in an correct me if I'm wrong) Some I/O solutions support only some frame rates or some resolutions - It's going to take some research on your part to determine your exact needs.

[Allan Coy]

Originally Posted by Paul South

so an I/O box improves the playback quality of my edited material? it essentially allows me to preview my material at the same quality i would output it at? if so, is this an essential tool?

Yes if your going to be doing any graphics work, (with After effects for example) as it gives you the capacity to playout your time line to a crt monitor so you can check for field errors.

If your simply just going to use avid for editing video with some basic built in effects and titling, then dont purchase a I/O device (mojo)

Allan

[Steve Kahn]

Does Media Composer contain everything that is in Avid Express Pro?

That is... Is Avid Express Pro a sub-set of Media Composer???

(So... If I could choose between the two programs would it be better just to buy Media Composer???)

[Vito DeFilippo]

Xpress Pro is the not-as-pro version of Media Composer. But the choice is moot, because they will stop selling it soon. Only Media Composer will be available.