Avid / Pinnacle discussions from 2005

Adi Head · November 12th, 2005, 06:12 PM

thanks glen. actually i'm in new york and will be here until after christmas at the least.
dell models were actually the first ones i took a look at. i had a few questions and wanted to consult a dell representative. i talked a girl who clearly did not know what she was talking about (nothing to do with her being a girl). she would keep repeating things that had nothing to do with what i was asking. then i tried their new live chat on their internet site. it took forever. 15 minutes wasted and the rep on the other end did not help me a bit. all he was interested in where two things: if i'm a business, and if i will be the only person using the computer or not. so i called again. this time a guy answered. he knew less about dell products than i did from just surfing through their web site for 10 minutes.
afterwards, i read in a few places that dell's service was noticely deteriorating and that their latest laptop models don't seem to made as solid and robust as you might expect. anyway, i just backed away from dell.

HP was a refreshing experience. their rep was friendly, he talked normal not not like a recorded message, and he really helped me narrow the selection down to what i need and what i can afford. i read good reviews on the HP dv4000 and figured that's what i'll go for.

HP PAVILION DV4000 (NEW, 1 year warranty)

- Intel(R) Pentium(R) M Processor 740 (1.73 GHz) centrino technology
- 512MB DDR2 SDRAM (1x512MB)
- 128MB ATI MOBILITY(TM) RADEON(R) X700
- 80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
- DVD+/-RW/R & CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer Support
- 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800)
- Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG WLAN
- 4 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0, 1 expansion port connector, 1 IEEE 1394 (FireWire) and 1 S-Video TV out
- dimensions: 14.11"(W) x 10.16"(L) x1.32"(min) / 1.67"(max)(H)
- weight: 6.45 lbs
- 6 cell battery (good for playing 2.5 hrs. dvd movie)
......... $1370.00

it's a bit over my budget and i'm still trying to find places to cut. so far i've made these minor changes. tell me what you think:

change Processor speed 1.73 GHz to 1.6 GHz
change 512MB DDR2 SDRAM from 1x512MB to 2x256MB
change DVD+/-RW/R & CD-RW w/Double Layer to DVD/CD-RW Drive

that knocked off about $120. do you think i'm making a mistake?

thanks

James Brie · November 15th, 2005, 11:58 AM

Hello,

I'm using Avid Xpress Pro HD and I can't get any audio at all.

Direct Sound Audio and 1394 Audio is my soundcard I believe.

When I start avid up it says something about windows mixer not being configured and that I should check my Sound configuration settings.

Under the sound card configuration there is a record/input. this gives stereo mix and microphone as options. there is also a playback/output option that gives me wave, sw synth and cd player options. I have tried all these options but none of them give me any sound. I have also tried to use the windows mixer but it won't work.

any guidance would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

Matt Brabender · November 15th, 2005, 04:12 PM

Do you have Windows Media Player 10 installed?

James Brie · November 15th, 2005, 04:29 PM

yes I do. is that good or bad?

Richard Alvarez · November 15th, 2005, 05:15 PM

James,

I think theres a setting in windows your'e overlooking. Sorry, I can't recall what it is.Also, did you check to see if that card is reccomended or has issues? www.avid.com for specs and a forum of helpful but grouchy professionals.

James Brie · November 21st, 2005, 01:39 PM

Hey Richard,

thanks for the reply. could you elaborate a bit on the windows setting? is it not related to avid xpress?

also when I play the video sometimes the audio comes on for a brief second and then stops again.

I've tried over at the avid forum but haven't had much luck.

thanks again.

Robin Davies-Rollinson · November 21st, 2005, 02:52 PM

Check your Windows audio settings by right-clicking on the speaker icon on your taskbar and select "adjust audio properties" - when you see the Sounds and Audio Devices box, choose Audio, then look at the panel under Sound Recording. You should see your sound card there. If not, maybe it'll show the name of another device, scroll to select the sound card. Hit Apply and try Avid again.
Sometimes our webcam changes these settings and I have to go through this checklist...

Robin

Matt Brabender · November 21st, 2005, 04:10 PM

yes I do. is that good or bad?

That's a good thing. Sorry, I'm sure what the problem is - maybe a driver conflict with Avid?

James Brie · November 23rd, 2005, 10:37 AM

thanks again to everyone for their help.

my sound card is a SigmaTel audio. It is the only option available for me so it is always applied.

how could I check if there is a driver conflict? does anyone have any more suggestions?

Max Woo · December 2nd, 2005, 06:29 AM

I was just wondering how many times can activation be done. I mean, I am about to get a more powerful rig for my LE 6 so all the hardware configs will be different. Am i able to activate LE 6 on my new system if I have already activated it on my older system which I intend to fit it back to my older LE 5.5. Thanks.

George Ellis · December 2nd, 2005, 02:27 PM

I think it is at least twice. But, I think you can also call to get a reset or new ID (trying to remember the discussion on the Pinnacle board more than a year ago...) But that may have been HollywoodFX Pro.

Edit - you can ask here...

http://www.avid.com/exchange/forums/54/ShowForum.aspx

Max Woo · December 2nd, 2005, 08:27 PM

Thanks. The thread was really helpful.

Gary Bettan · December 8th, 2005, 01:40 PM

Videoguy Interview: Tim Wilson of Avid tells all about Avid Liquid 7

Tim Wilson is a long time friend of the Videoguys and the senior product-marketing manager at Avid for both the Avid Xpress family and the brand new Avid Liquid 7. In this interview Tim tells us why Avid management is so excited about Liquid and what makes it so special for digital videographers. Here is just a sample of what he has to say:

“Gary, you’ve been talking to me about Liquid for as long as I’ve known you, and some of the features you’ve been most excited about – thousands of real-time GPU-accelerated effects, background rendering, instant auto-save updated 30 times a second, 5.1 audio mixing, and DVD authoring directly from the editing timeline – are exactly the same ones that excite us at Avid”.

“Avid Liquid is unique: video, surround audio, DVD, and effects in one application. Not one application for each of those tasks – one application that does it all. Nobody else can say that."

“Who is Liquid designed for? Someone looking for cutting-edge technology wrapped in a single, cost-effective, easy-to-use application!”

“Liquid 7 also includes over 50 new filters formerly part of the highly regarded Commotion compositing package. They cover a wide range of effects
categories, and like all Liquid effects, they render in the background so you never have to stop editing. You don’t even slow down.”

Check out our interview with Tim http://www.videoguys.com/videoguy_liquid.html

Gary

Alex Filacchione · December 22nd, 2005, 10:33 PM

OK, not the source bin files....

Spent hours piecing together some video material and adding transitions, color correcting, etc.

I then rendered out a QuickTime Reference File. The total time of the DV footage on the time line was about 1hr 20 minutes (3 files in the bin, each is about an hour - none have any audio). It consisted of 20 clips. Most of them had fadeout dissolves on them, and every clip was color corrected.

So the exporting to QuickTime Ref took several hours (AMD XP1800+ 1 gig ram, nVidia 5200 video card, Xpress Pro HD 5.2.1). When it was finally done, nothing would play the QT Ref file. QT just crashed. I tried reinstalling codecs and QT, but none of that helped.

So I look at the time line and my footage on the timeline is totaly screwed.

1) EVERYTHING has vertical black lines (almost like it is vertically interlaced, but I am never seeing the 2nd set of fields).

2) Some clips are completely shaded blue. You can still see what's going on in the clip, but everything is blue, even the blacks.

3) Some clips are black & Green vertical lines on the bottom half, and black vertical lines and red specs on the top half.

I exited & restarted Xpress Pro. No help at all.

I looked at the source clips in the bin and they are just fine.

Is there a way to undo all of this? I don't want to have to go through the time line & everything all over again and recreate all of my dissolves, and color correct 20 different clips. I want to get everything back to the way it was before I decded to export.

Is this possible? Anyone know what caused this? Am I screwed here? If so I think I'm gonna have to start the whole thing all over again.

I'd like to switch back to Premiere Pro if I have to start all over again. Will Permiere Pro recognize my captured clips? I captured in Xpress Pro, so they are all OMFI Media Files.

Thanks!

Alex F

Richard Alvarez · December 22nd, 2005, 11:55 PM

Alex,

The Avid Gurus on the avid board are the best people to answer you. www.avid.com

However. You should have a 'backup' version of your timeline in your attic. Check your manual for how to pull up a backup version.

Never heard of the problem you described, but I don't work in HDV. And I'm not running 5.21 (yet)

A quicktime reference file, is just that. A REFERENCE file, NOT the whole project. Your workflow seems a bit odd.

Your system also doesn't look like it's up to spec to run HD 5.21 either.

Best bet, take your questions over to the avid board.

November 15th, 2005, 11:58 AM	#152
James Brie New Boot Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 14	Audio problem with Avid Hello, I'm using Avid Xpress Pro HD and I can't get any audio at all. Direct Sound Audio and 1394 Audio is my soundcard I believe. When I start avid up it says something about windows mixer not being configured and that I should check my Sound configuration settings. Under the sound card configuration there is a record/input. this gives stereo mix and microphone as options. there is also a playback/output option that gives me wave, sw synth and cd player options. I have tried all these options but none of them give me any sound. I have also tried to use the windows mixer but it won't work. any guidance would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

December 2nd, 2005, 06:29 AM	#160
Max Woo New Boot Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Singapore Posts: 6	Activation on Liquid Edition 6 I was just wondering how many times can activation be done. I mean, I am about to get a more powerful rig for my LE 6 so all the hardware configs will be different. Am i able to activate LE 6 on my new system if I have already activated it on my older system which I intend to fit it back to my older LE 5.5. Thanks.

December 8th, 2005, 01:40 PM	#163
Gary Bettan Sponsor: Electronic Mailbox Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Glen Cove, NY Posts: 758	Tim Wilson of Avid tells all about Avid Liquid 7 Videoguy Interview: Tim Wilson of Avid tells all about Avid Liquid 7 Tim Wilson is a long time friend of the Videoguys and the senior product-marketing manager at Avid for both the Avid Xpress family and the brand new Avid Liquid 7. In this interview Tim tells us why Avid management is so excited about Liquid and what makes it so special for digital videographers. Here is just a sample of what he has to say: “Gary, you’ve been talking to me about Liquid for as long as I’ve known you, and some of the features you’ve been most excited about – thousands of real-time GPU-accelerated effects, background rendering, instant auto-save updated 30 times a second, 5.1 audio mixing, and DVD authoring directly from the editing timeline – are exactly the same ones that excite us at Avid”. “Avid Liquid is unique: video, surround audio, DVD, and effects in one application. Not one application for each of those tasks – one application that does it all. Nobody else can say that." “Who is Liquid designed for? Someone looking for cutting-edge technology wrapped in a single, cost-effective, easy-to-use application!” “Liquid 7 also includes over 50 new filters formerly part of the highly regarded Commotion compositing package. They cover a wide range of effects categories, and like all Liquid effects, they render in the background so you never have to stop editing. You don’t even slow down.” Check out our interview with Tim http://www.videoguys.com/videoguy_liquid.html Gary __________________ Check out http://www.videoguys.com 800 323-2325 We are the video editing and live video production experts! DV InfoNet members save 5%! Use Coupon Code DVINFO5OFF

December 22nd, 2005, 10:33 PM	#164
Alex Filacchione Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Atlanta, Ga Posts: 129	HELP! Avid XPress Pro ruined my footage rendering OK, not the source bin files.... Spent hours piecing together some video material and adding transitions, color correcting, etc. I then rendered out a QuickTime Reference File. The total time of the DV footage on the time line was about 1hr 20 minutes (3 files in the bin, each is about an hour - none have any audio). It consisted of 20 clips. Most of them had fadeout dissolves on them, and every clip was color corrected. So the exporting to QuickTime Ref took several hours (AMD XP1800+ 1 gig ram, nVidia 5200 video card, Xpress Pro HD 5.2.1). When it was finally done, nothing would play the QT Ref file. QT just crashed. I tried reinstalling codecs and QT, but none of that helped. So I look at the time line and my footage on the timeline is totaly screwed. 1) EVERYTHING has vertical black lines (almost like it is vertically interlaced, but I am never seeing the 2nd set of fields). 2) Some clips are completely shaded blue. You can still see what's going on in the clip, but everything is blue, even the blacks. 3) Some clips are black & Green vertical lines on the bottom half, and black vertical lines and red specs on the top half. I exited & restarted Xpress Pro. No help at all. I looked at the source clips in the bin and they are just fine. Is there a way to undo all of this? I don't want to have to go through the time line & everything all over again and recreate all of my dissolves, and color correct 20 different clips. I want to get everything back to the way it was before I decded to export. Is this possible? Anyone know what caused this? Am I screwed here? If so I think I'm gonna have to start the whole thing all over again. I'd like to switch back to Premiere Pro if I have to start all over again. Will Permiere Pro recognize my captured clips? I captured in Xpress Pro, so they are all OMFI Media Files. Thanks! Alex F

November 12th, 2005, 06:12 PM	#151
Adi Head Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 642	thanks glen. actually i'm in new york and will be here until after christmas at the least. dell models were actually the first ones i took a look at. i had a few questions and wanted to consult a dell representative. i talked a girl who clearly did not know what she was talking about (nothing to do with her being a girl). she would keep repeating things that had nothing to do with what i was asking. then i tried their new live chat on their internet site. it took forever. 15 minutes wasted and the rep on the other end did not help me a bit. all he was interested in where two things: if i'm a business, and if i will be the only person using the computer or not. so i called again. this time a guy answered. he knew less about dell products than i did from just surfing through their web site for 10 minutes. afterwards, i read in a few places that dell's service was noticely deteriorating and that their latest laptop models don't seem to made as solid and robust as you might expect. anyway, i just backed away from dell. HP was a refreshing experience. their rep was friendly, he talked normal not not like a recorded message, and he really helped me narrow the selection down to what i need and what i can afford. i read good reviews on the HP dv4000 and figured that's what i'll go for. HP PAVILION DV4000 (NEW, 1 year warranty) - Intel(R) Pentium(R) M Processor 740 (1.73 GHz) centrino technology - 512MB DDR2 SDRAM (1x512MB) - 128MB ATI MOBILITY(TM) RADEON(R) X700 - 80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive - DVD+/-RW/R & CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer Support - 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800) - Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG WLAN - 4 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0, 1 expansion port connector, 1 IEEE 1394 (FireWire) and 1 S-Video TV out - dimensions: 14.11"(W) x 10.16"(L) x1.32"(min) / 1.67"(max)(H) - weight: 6.45 lbs - 6 cell battery (good for playing 2.5 hrs. dvd movie) ......... $1370.00 it's a bit over my budget and i'm still trying to find places to cut. so far i've made these minor changes. tell me what you think: change Processor speed 1.73 GHz to 1.6 GHz change 512MB DDR2 SDRAM from 1x512MB to 2x256MB change DVD+/-RW/R & CD-RW w/Double Layer to DVD/CD-RW Drive that knocked off about $120. do you think i'm making a mistake? thanks

November 15th, 2005, 04:12 PM	#153
Matt Brabender Major Player Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 230	Do you have Windows Media Player 10 installed?

November 15th, 2005, 04:29 PM	#154
James Brie New Boot Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 14	yes I do. is that good or bad?

November 15th, 2005, 05:15 PM	#155
Richard Alvarez Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 3,840	James, I think theres a setting in windows your'e overlooking. Sorry, I can't recall what it is.Also, did you check to see if that card is reccomended or has issues? www.avid.com for specs and a forum of helpful but grouchy professionals.

November 21st, 2005, 01:39 PM	#156
James Brie New Boot Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 14	Hey Richard, thanks for the reply. could you elaborate a bit on the windows setting? is it not related to avid xpress? also when I play the video sometimes the audio comes on for a brief second and then stops again. I've tried over at the avid forum but haven't had much luck. thanks again.

November 21st, 2005, 02:52 PM	#157
Robin Davies-Rollinson Trustee Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Gwaelod-y-garth, Cardiff, CYMRU/WALES Posts: 1,215	Check your Windows audio settings by right-clicking on the speaker icon on your taskbar and select "adjust audio properties" - when you see the Sounds and Audio Devices box, choose Audio, then look at the panel under Sound Recording. You should see your sound card there. If not, maybe it'll show the name of another device, scroll to select the sound card. Hit Apply and try Avid again. Sometimes our webcam changes these settings and I have to go through this checklist... Robin

November 21st, 2005, 04:10 PM	#158
Matt Brabender Major Player Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 230	yes I do. is that good or bad? That's a good thing. Sorry, I'm sure what the problem is - maybe a driver conflict with Avid?

November 23rd, 2005, 10:37 AM	#159
James Brie New Boot Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 14	thanks again to everyone for their help. my sound card is a SigmaTel audio. It is the only option available for me so it is always applied. how could I check if there is a driver conflict? does anyone have any more suggestions?

December 2nd, 2005, 02:27 PM	#161
George Ellis Trustee Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Suwanee, GA Posts: 1,241	I think it is at least twice. But, I think you can also call to get a reset or new ID (trying to remember the discussion on the Pinnacle board more than a year ago...) But that may have been HollywoodFX Pro. Edit - you can ask here... http://www.avid.com/exchange/forums/54/ShowForum.aspx

December 2nd, 2005, 08:27 PM	#162
Max Woo New Boot Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Singapore Posts: 6	Thanks. The thread was really helpful.

December 22nd, 2005, 11:55 PM	#165
Richard Alvarez Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 3,840	Alex, The Avid Gurus on the avid board are the best people to answer you. www.avid.com However. You should have a 'backup' version of your timeline in your attic. Check your manual for how to pull up a backup version. Never heard of the problem you described, but I don't work in HDV. And I'm not running 5.21 (yet) A quicktime reference file, is just that. A REFERENCE file, NOT the whole project. Your workflow seems a bit odd. Your system also doesn't look like it's up to spec to run HD 5.21 either. Best bet, take your questions over to the avid board.