Re: not feeling too chipper about this.....

[Flintstone]

I was perusing the Avid forums and from the responses there, Avid Pro is a rather worm filled buggy Apple.


Is it really that bad? Have you experienced any of the problems they have mentionned in the forums? I mean, it can't really be all that bad.. Can it?

[Flintstone]

From what I can tell, a lot of people seem to have trouble using it with their DVX100's. Unfortunately I haven't had a lot of time to really dig into this, but there are a lot of very unhappy people.

Yeah! *But what have you experienced that was not satisfactory (aside from 24p output to tape)? *Besides, can't you export with a pulldown (to bring it to 60i) and then export to tape? *Granted it's a 2 step process, but look at the benefits as you edit pure 24p! *I certainly could live with that!

I'm not an Avid user, but I am interested in finding out more about it as a potential future NLE. *I may be wrong, but it sounds to me that you haven't given Xpress Pro it's fait chance, and may be unduly influenced by bugs that may or may not apply to you.

I'm saying this because I have a Matrox RTX.100 Xtreme card, and I see a lot of gloom and doom about that card on the forums. *Yet I don't experience most of what is discussed. *I'm not saying I don't have any problems with it, but it does it's job 95% of the time. *The other 5% does cause me grief though >:( , and is the main reason why I want to go the software only route with a fast PC. *That, and the fact that it doesn't support 24p! *:(

Avid is renowned and has proven itself in the past. *It does not exempt them from bugs. *Can you name me one software that is flawless? *The question you should ask yourself is, does it do what you want? *There are afterall numerous advantages to go with Xpress Pro (aside from the price ;D).

Besides, it's difficult to return software once it's open, buggy or not, if you read the license agreement, once you opened the disk envelope, you are stuck with it. *Unless it proclaims satisfaction or money back guarantee! *Anyway, just trying to save you some money and offer a different perspective. ;)

[MichaelP]

Reading most forums would indicate that no software is worth anything! I do hear about people saying they heard from someone, or read somewhere that someone said, etc. but until specific examples are represented it is difficult for a company to address the issue, respond or for a workaround to be described. I know of many productions using Avid Xpress Pro with the DVX100 camera with no problems. A lot of the issues come from unsupported platforms, not enough processor speed etc.

And yes, you do need a Mojo to output to DV or analog from a 23.976p project. The Mojo allows for the 2:3:2:3 pulldown insertion while maintaining the real time effects (color correction, and other).

InDigEnt Films is currently finishing several feature films where Xpress Pro was used and has a feature set for capture and pulldown correction that does not exist in other applications such as manual over ride of pulldown frames when flags are missing. Drop frame support for 24p capture from dubs, audio compensation while capturing, timecode LTC decode from audio track to be using in double system AutoSync etc. The AutoColor Correct feature is also a great way to get footage into legal zones with color cast removal leaving you to be creative with the color enhancements.

The native 24p timeline can be encoded to DVD with 2:3 flags in the MPEG2. The bundled Sorenson Squeeze creates great looking progressive DVD and supports the anamorphic flag encoding as well. This past weekend I encoded to WM9 with uprez to 1920x1080 at 9Mbs for digital cinema projection and was astounded by the quality.

I suggest you use the application in your editing situation and list the actual issues you are encounterting so either Avid or other users can help.

Michael

[Flintstone]

A lot of the issues come from unsupported platforms, not enough processor speed etc.
Michael hit a mark there. *Same with my Matrox RT.X100, it is very important to follow the manufacturer's system recommendations to the letter. *That holds true with most NLE out there, especially if there is hardware assist involved. *When I first got my RTX100, my computer was not up to spec with the system recommendations. I've had problems over problems over problems. *I thought to myself, hey, I have 15 years experience in IT, I should be able to make this work! *WRONG! *I was never as much my own client as the day I started editing video. *As I progressively changed the components of my computer to match Matrox recommendations, the problems started to go away. *I've had many systems with real-time cards in them, and all where at some point non-compliant, which resulted in problematic behaviors. *As I followed specs, problems would go away.


Regardless if I have given it a fair chance or not (have not been able to yet) doesn't change the fact that there is a huge amount of user unrest over the Pro version and a lot of very nasty appearing bugs in the problem.
Michael and I both say it: *don’t be pressured by forums stating that the product is crap. *All forums of all products will yield negative feedback in one form or another. *It is easier to complain then it is to praise (human nature at it’s best ;)). If you follow Avid’s system recommendations, you’ll be on the right track! *Plus, it’s going to make life easier when you call for support. *Now, that doesn’t shield you from genuine bugs, but like I said before, there are no perfect products out there.

[Guest]

There are issues with XPro's export settings with QuickTime files. Avid's XPro forum is littered with documentation of this problem. I've been running XPro on two PC boxes with different specs. and have the same problems on both (that I didn't have with XDV 3.5.4). I also have import inconsistancies of QTs on both boxes. I've found some workarounds but they eat up a LOT of time. If I had it to do it all over again I'd definitely wait until these bugs are worked out.

[Guest]

There is an upg patch (for Pro) for all registered users at www.avid.com
Version 4.1.1
Hope it fixes some of your issues.

Grant