AVID & HVX Workflow CRISIS - HELP DESPERATELY NEEDED

[David Cavallo]

Scheduled to start a TV pilot shoot tomorrow in the early AM but producer, DP, AC have been holed up for nearly six hours trying to solve a massive HVX/Drive/Avid problem and are in DIRE need of help ASAP.

We have FS-100 drives that have the latest firmware update (3.0.0.0040 etc), and 2 HVX cameras. We are importing into Avid Express Pro HD w/a Power Book G4 w/G RAID 2 500G drives.

However, we CANNOT get useable footage from ANY HD mode.

1. 720p Native -- When transferring from the FS-100 (set to P2N), shooting 720/24pN to Avid, more than 1/2 of the MXF files imported get an error that says the audio and video clip lengths (MMF error? it's been a long night) don't match and the clips will not play. We have carefully followed all instructions on how to import into Avid (from this forum.)

After hours searching on the web, reading the HVX book, Avid newsgroups and others, and consulting with our editor, we cannot come up with a practical solution. Our shoot is in jeopardy. (The User Bit is properly set to Frame Rate, too.)

2. We abandoned our hopes to shoot 24PN (it's a doc style shoot so P2 cards are out of the question--we don't even have any on set) and tried:

720p/24p (over 60 mode) -- the MXF files imported into Avid (set up as a 59.94 project) stuttered badly--totally unusable!! We tried creating a new project with different time-bases, but, of course, they don't match the clips, so they won't play. We then tried again and again. Same thing. Stutter.

1080i/24p - same result. Same result also when we played with time base. Will not play.

So...now we have a system that has set us back several thousand dollars for the weekend that WILL NOT record any useable footage to our AVID system. Has anyone ever had this type of problem?

To be clear--we've tried importing and reimporting, and going through almost every user setting in the cameras and the FS-100, but all to no avail. It's truly a nightmarish situation for all involved, and a large number of people are counting on us to shoot tomorrow!

If anyone can help, please let me know. We are in the NY area, and will pass along the producers phone number if anyone has real answers. We are almost out of time.

Thanks a great deal.

--David Cavallo

[bherr]

Can you copy the MXF files (in the folder structure) from the FS to one of the GRaids? Once you've done that, you should be able to use P2 import in Avid to bring the files in. (Version 5.7 of Xpress Pro). I havent used a FireStore so I don't know if it keeps the P2 file structure--seems like it should. Maybe that's the way you're doing it already.

[Barry_Green]

I've added "AVID" to your thread's title, because the issues you're encountering are issues with how to import to the Avid, and hopefully some of our Avid experts will chime in and assist you.

First question: are you running the FireStore's "organize P2" command before trying to import the footage? That's a mandatory step.

If you're not running "organize P2" then all the problems you're encountering may happen. If you *have* run the "organize P2" function, then you should be able to copy the video and audio MXF files over to c:\avid mediafiles\mxf\1 and import using the media tool.

[David Cavallo]

Thanks for your reply, Barry. I'm fairly sure we've been using the organize P2 command in the FS-100; I'll have to double check with my AC.

But good news is that while our 24PN footage from the FS-100 shows up as corrupt once it gets to Avid no matter what we do with it (I think this may be another not uncommon firmware issue that FS needs to address, or perhaps Avid, or both) the over 60 24P footage now imports to Avid without a hitch and we had a successful shoot today! (Whew!)

The reason for the problem--and this is really, really obvious--was that the director's G4 did not have enough VRAM to properly play back the HD content. The editor's much more powerful system processed it without a hitch,in Avid and the images look stunning. What a reilef!

Now if we could just get the 24PN to FS-100 to Avid Express Problem fixed, it would save us so much space.

Thanks again,
David

[Take_1]

This is a very old and well documented issue that exists as a Firestore Bug. DO NOT USE 720pN until this bug is fixed by Focus. The last email I received from Focus is that they are still working on the problem and hope to have it fixed in version 3.1 of their next update.

Until then use 720p and you will have no issues.

In the meantime, your only workaround for your footage that has already been shot in 720pN is to mark an IN or an OUT at the beginning or end of your clip... and I believe its the latter one. Just move in a few frames from the end of your clip and mark the out, it should stop the error... at least until you get it into your timeline...

Let me know how it works out.

[DC]

We are importing into Avid Express Pro HD w/a Power Book G4 w/G RAID 2 500G drives . . . the MXF files imported into Avid (set up as a 59.94 project) stuttered badly--totally unusable!! We tried creating a new project . . . Same thing. Stutter. 1080i/24p - same result. Same result also when we played with time base. Will not play.

. . . the over 60 24P footage now imports to Avid without a hitch and we had a successful shoot today! (Whew!) The reason for the problem--and this is really, really obvious--was that the director's G4 did not have enough VRAM to properly play back the HD content. The editor's much more powerful system processed it without a hitch,in Avid and the images look stunning. What a reilef!

Upon reading this, my first thought was that your footage was stuttering due to an underpowered computer. Editing High Definition footage requires a good amount of power and storage space. I'm not sure a lot of people realize that. I don't use and have never used a Firestore so I can't really be helpful with that. Most of what I've heard about that product has been not so good though.

Regardless, I'm glad to hear you were able to achieve some success. Soon, P2 cards will be reaching 32Gigs+, making the Firestore (and similar solutions) almost pointless.

[Bob Gruen]

Anyone who discusses Avid should make the distinction between importing and mounting. If you copy the MXF files onto the hard drive and use the media tool, you are simply 'mounting' the file; i.e.: there is no import process. If you are using a product like DV Rack, there is a true import step to convert the DVCProHD MOV files to Avid's DNxHD MXF files. I'm still trying to work out which version to use for maximum effeciency while maintaining lossless conversion.

This may seem trivial, but understanding what is truely happening under the covers will allow you to more accurately diagnose problems such as these.

David: Glad to hear you found a solution.

Bob

[DC]

Excellent point, Bob. Thanks! I'll have to make changes to my sticky. :)