Avid / Pinnacle discussions from 2005

[Jeff Bradt]

Actually Pete, I am using Studio 9 + now. I think maybe I should wait and upgrade when I find there are specific things I want to do that I can't do with Studio. With my new camera and some wireless mics I'll be adding, maybe I have enough new stuff to learn for now. I have done one wedding and I have two coming up and I'll probably learn a lot from them about what I need and don't need. Thank you very much for your feedback.

[George Ellis]

Pete, I actually prefer LE's capture. I can either mark the end of the tape, rewind, and mark the start, then start the capture and go do something else. OR, I can log all of my sequences then start a batch capture and go do something else :)

Although LE does not have Smart Sound, I upgraded to SonicFire Pro instead of using Studio. I can custom arrange the loop pieces and have done so for some really short sample files. But that is a good reason to keep it around (Ask Allen aka Video777 ;) )

I use the DVD authoring occasionally in LE. I found that I was more productive using MediaChance's DVD-Lab, which has a 30day unrestricted free trial.

[Tim Borek]

I'm considering the purchase of Avid Xpress DV 4. I recently downloaded the Avid FreeDV demo to get a feel for the interface. I'm sure with a good how-to book, I could learn the software fast enough. One problem, however, is that I'm editing on a Windows XP computer and everytime I import a new DV clip into a project, I have to wait while Avid converts the AVI file to QuickTime MOV. I hope this is a limitation of the free software and that a licensed version of Xpress DV won't behave this way. Can anyone confirm my suspicion?

My editing PC is decent, but definitely not cutting-edge. It's a P4 2.8C, 800MHz FSB board, 1GB DDR400 memory, 2 x SATA hard drives spinning @ 7200 rpm. Only software installed is Ulead DVD MovieFactory. Most Windows services disabled, so I'm running lean for NLE work.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

[Richard Alvarez]

No.

Avid captures dv as OMFI files, which means it will convert a typical AVI you may have saved somewhere else.

[Tim Borek]

Thanks for answering my question, Richard.

[Richard Alvarez]

Tim,
Just so you understand, that when you are capturing from your camera, there is not "conversion"... they are just simply captured as omfi files.

[Richard Alvarez]

Interesting take for those who invest. The Motley Fool looks at Avid's numbers

http://biz.yahoo.com/fool/050207/1107794040_2.html

I guess all those oscars add up.

[Ed Smith]

Hi Richard,

Although quite an interesting article, which will no doubt boost Avid and all their fans ego.

One small thing is the fact that The Aviator was cut (edited) on a Lightworks Touch station and not on an Avid. Although probably some Avid kit might have been used for the audio/ special effects side of things... I do hope that Avid won't clame the Oscar if The Aviator wins "Achievement in film editing".


All the best,

[Richard Alvarez]

Avid is more than their film editing systems, they are also Digidesigns and Protools. So sound achievements and special effects are inclusive in Avid's credits. Good news for investors, which is who the article was aimed at.

[Ed Smith]

That is very true.

Avid is a huge organisation with its foot pretty much in every corner of the Broadcast/ film industry - Which I guess is great for investors...

[John Hartney]

Don't forget newscutter... they're expanding into the worlds news operations faster than any other nle, too....

It is a solid company.

But not my choice for a DV25 nle.

[Brian Nunn]

First let me say I really appreciate the watchdog and dvinfo pages.
They
>both really help me with everything. Ok now here's the question and
its
>probably been asked before but I need to ask again cause I'm kind of
>compulsive,
>
>If I shot on the XL2 in 24p in the 2:3:3::2 pulldown will avid express
pro
>be able to handle it. The eventual goal is print to film so I want to
shot
>with that in mind. I've read alot about cutting on a true 24 frame
time
>line instead of one made for 30i. Ok any help you can pass along is
>appreciated. I just don't want to push through the production and get
to
>the film transfer and be stuck. Also I want to make some Tapes and Dvds too so if i cut on a true 24 timeline do I limit my ability to export to Dvd or other sources like mini DV. Again thanks to anyone that can help .

[Rob Lohman]

Hello Brian, welcome aboard DVInfo.net. I'm not sure what
happened to your formatting above....

I took a look at http://www.avid.com/products/xpresspro/ the
AVID site for Express Pro but couldn't find any mention of pulldown
support for either 2:3 or 2:3:3:2. Knowing how AVID is it could be
very possible it does not support this. It does claim it can work
with 24p, though. Why not send their support an e-mail?

As for film out. It is far better to pick the company that is going
to do your transfer, talk with them what works best for video
to film (this still seems to be 60i a lot!!) and do some test runs
before shooting your movie in one way or another.

[Brian Nunn]

Thanks for the help. I was all over avid's website and it seems the problem with 24p timelines is you can't preform the digital cut to a tape. You can make DVDs still but you are unable to output the 24p timeline to a deck with out the mojo equipment. After looking around I'm starting to question the idea of printing to film right away. I want to hit up some festivals and thought film was my only way but after some research it seems most project all kinds of formats.

So what do you guys think. If i don't plan to print film but what to enter some festivals should I still shoot 24p. or 60i. I just love the 24p look though. any opinons

[Rob Lohman]

If a festival accepts DVD then the choice of framerate is a personal
one, since DVD can work with 24p (NTSC), 25p (PAL), 30p (NTSC),
50i (PAL) and 60i (NTSC).

However, as I said earlier I don't know if AVID Express Pro supports
DV 24p. I do know Sony Vegas supports it for example (together
with DVD Architect to create 24p DVD's). I believe Premiere Pro
with Encore support it as well...