Thoughts on NLE HDV PC system at DVinfo.net

Darius Azari · October 20th, 2005, 04:49 PM

Applacation:
Write, produce, direct, edit video based content not to exceed 3o minutes
Direct to dvd with high quality informative content.
Limited distribution – in the hundreds
DVH aspect ratio desired. (I know thereis no media, (DVD) available yet.
Professional but not broadcast quality a must.
Content, titles, nice cuts, limited CGI or motion graphics
My thoughts on a production package:
• Capture: Sony HVR-Z1
• Edit: Avid Xpress Pro HD Mojo on authorized dealer configured system (any comments on Promax as a vendor)
Questions
• I want a system that works out of the box with minimal glitches.
• Is the Avid price premium worth it versus Vegas, Premier Pro or other?
• I want a PC based platform

Kevin Shaw · October 21st, 2005, 07:39 AM

Darius: last I knew Avid still doesn't support HDV editing, although that should be coming soon. If you're not sure what editing program to use, you should consider downloading some HDV samples from the internet and plugging those into demo versions of various programs to see which one handles HDV most effectively for you. There are a lot of choices for HDV editing on the PC platform, and no one solution is clearly preferable.

Darius Azari · October 21st, 2005, 11:56 AM

Thanks Kevin,
This is from Avid web site:
"Forget everything you've heard about working with HD and HDV. Skip the headaches and workarounds. Avid makes it easy for you to work the way you want with the industry's most flexible and complete HDV feature set. Play the video for a “quick tour” to see Avid's open timeline and how you can mix multiple HD and non-HD resolutions and camera formats in the same timeline, in real time.

New! HDV support now available for Avid Xpress Pro (PC only) systems!"

My question is... am I getting added value for cost, or just paying for name?

Darius Azari · October 21st, 2005, 02:31 PM

Do you have any preferences on pc based NLE that you have used?

Kevin Shaw · October 21st, 2005, 02:45 PM

I'm using Canopus Edius Pro 3 to edit my HDV footage, mainly because that's what I was using to edit DV. Edius has some good features but requires a lot of processing power to edit HDV effectively: my 3 GHz dual-core processor is barely adequate. I'm not a big fan of Avid because it's been expensive in the past compared to other options, and their HDV support is so recent I haven't heard any reports of whether it's any good.

The Premiere/Cineform option is arguably the most mature HDV solution on the PC platform, and reportedly works effectively even on single-processor editing systems and laptops. You can find this software for sale at bundled prices on the Cineform web site at the following URL:
http://www.cineform.com/index.asp

Darius Azari · October 22nd, 2005, 10:39 AM

The main complaint with Premier seems to be although feature rich with streamlined adobe interface, Premier is not intuitive and with a very long and complex learning curve. Do you find this to be the case? Any opinions out there on Vegas?

Kevin Shaw · October 23rd, 2005, 06:01 PM

I think any advanced video editing solution can be difficult to learn if it's not similar to something you've used in the past, but at least with Adobe Premiere you can count on having lots of training options. I thought Edius was hard to learn but other people said they picked it up right away, so the only way to be sure about something like that is to try the demo version.

October 20th, 2005, 04:49 PM	#1
Darius Azari New Boot Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5	Thoughts on NLE HDV PC system Applacation: Write, produce, direct, edit video based content not to exceed 3o minutes Direct to dvd with high quality informative content. Limited distribution – in the hundreds DVH aspect ratio desired. (I know thereis no media, (DVD) available yet. Professional but not broadcast quality a must. Content, titles, nice cuts, limited CGI or motion graphics My thoughts on a production package: • Capture: Sony HVR-Z1 • Edit: Avid Xpress Pro HD Mojo on authorized dealer configured system (any comments on Promax as a vendor) Questions • I want a system that works out of the box with minimal glitches. • Is the Avid price premium worth it versus Vegas, Premier Pro or other? • I want a PC based platform

October 21st, 2005, 11:56 AM	#3
Darius Azari New Boot Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5	They claim to support HDV Q= how well? Thanks Kevin, This is from Avid web site: "Forget everything you've heard about working with HD and HDV. Skip the headaches and workarounds. Avid makes it easy for you to work the way you want with the industry's most flexible and complete HDV feature set. Play the video for a “quick tour” to see Avid's open timeline and how you can mix multiple HD and non-HD resolutions and camera formats in the same timeline, in real time. New! HDV support now available for Avid Xpress Pro (PC only) systems!" My question is... am I getting added value for cost, or just paying for name?

October 21st, 2005, 02:31 PM	#4
Darius Azari New Boot Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5	I have heard good things on Vegas w/ Cineform for HDV Do you have any preferences on pc based NLE that you have used?

October 22nd, 2005, 10:39 AM	#6
Darius Azari New Boot Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5	Pro editing friends say Premier although great is not for "non" editors The main complaint with Premier seems to be although feature rich with streamlined adobe interface, Premier is not intuitive and with a very long and complex learning curve. Do you find this to be the case? Any opinions out there on Vegas?

October 21st, 2005, 07:39 AM	#2
Kevin Shaw Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,488	Darius: last I knew Avid still doesn't support HDV editing, although that should be coming soon. If you're not sure what editing program to use, you should consider downloading some HDV samples from the internet and plugging those into demo versions of various programs to see which one handles HDV most effectively for you. There are a lot of choices for HDV editing on the PC platform, and no one solution is clearly preferable.

October 21st, 2005, 02:45 PM	#5
Kevin Shaw Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,488	I'm using Canopus Edius Pro 3 to edit my HDV footage, mainly because that's what I was using to edit DV. Edius has some good features but requires a lot of processing power to edit HDV effectively: my 3 GHz dual-core processor is barely adequate. I'm not a big fan of Avid because it's been expensive in the past compared to other options, and their HDV support is so recent I haven't heard any reports of whether it's any good. The Premiere/Cineform option is arguably the most mature HDV solution on the PC platform, and reportedly works effectively even on single-processor editing systems and laptops. You can find this software for sale at bundled prices on the Cineform web site at the following URL: http://www.cineform.com/index.asp

October 23rd, 2005, 06:01 PM	#7
Kevin Shaw Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,488	I think any advanced video editing solution can be difficult to learn if it's not similar to something you've used in the past, but at least with Adobe Premiere you can count on having lots of training options. I thought Edius was hard to learn but other people said they picked it up right away, so the only way to be sure about something like that is to try the demo version.