Avid and DVCproHD

smelni

smelni

Veteran
Can avid handle DVCproHD? if so can you perform a low rez offline edit and then render the full rez later?

More complicated now - how does 24PA factor into this - if you perform the pulldown on import of the low rez fot he edit - when you render the high rez will it perform the pulldown again?

Just a little confused
 
Avid Express Pro HD most definitely handles DVCPRO-HD. Avid worked directly with Panasonic to develop their DV100 codec (DV100 is another name for DVCPRO-HD). In fact, in comparing some test shots between the Avid codec and the Apple codec, the Avid seems to render colors completely true, whereas there appears to be a minute color shift that happens in the Apple codec.

Beyond that, I'll have to let Michael Phillips answer -- he's a forum mod here and an official Avid employee. I'm sure he can answer your questions most authoritatively. But yes, most definitely Avid can handle DVCPRO-HD.
 
I may have to switch to something, sure. But I don't know what yet. I know people adore FCP but I'm having a tough time choking down all the things it can't do, that I've become used to with Vegas. It boggles my mind that 24p editing is so well-integrated in Vegas, yet people insist on struggling through FCP and Cinema Tools and timecode breaks and having to separately remove pulldown and all the other hassles, and how you can't mix different timebases or different resolutions on the same timeline, and all that. And Avid seems maybe a little less limited, but everyone says it's so twitchy and really takes a lot of maintenance. Plus, with both systems, I really don't care for how you have to have all sorts of different applications and Mojo and all that stuff -- I love the Vegas integrated approach, where it basically does everything I need all in the editor.

Then there's Canopus Edius -- I've never used it, but it also supports DVCPRO-HD, so it's another option...

So -- I'm gonna wait and see how Sony Vegas responds. If they say they're not going to do it, I'm going to then explore the current options. And there are always other options -- like just buying a faster computer. I already have a form of Vegas running with DVCPRO-HD using the Avid codec, but it's so slow on my P4 2.66 that it's not practical. However, if upgrading to a dual-core-hyperthreaded-4ghz system (or whatever's available in December) would make it a realtime, practical solution, then that's the way I'd go, no doubt at all -- the expense of buying a new $2500 system would be so worth it compared to having to buy $1600 of new Avid software, or $4,000 worth of Mac software + hardware... not to mention the phenomenal amount of learning-curve time that would be necessary.

But then again, I'm a "closed shop" and don't need to try to get jobs with other production houses. If I was looking to hire myself out as an editor to other production houses, the HVX just might be the impetus I'd need to push me into finally switching to either FCP or Avid, both of which are much more prevalent in post houses than Vegas is.
 
everyone says it's so twitchy and really takes a lot of maintenance
Click to expand...

If you stick to Avid's recommended hardware, then it's rock solid. I regularly work on two seperate Avid machines, one of them is Avid certified hardware, the other is not. Guess which one is twitchy. :laugh:

Chris
 
Barry, Thanks for the reply. I fully understand your delimma.

Chris, What are the recommended hardware for Avid?

I was thinking of getting a Dell with the following specs:

3.2 P4 800MHZ bus
2 GIG 677MHZ memory
two serial ATA drives 7200RPM
DVD +/- rw
two monitors.
MS Professional.

Will that work?

Thanks.
 
Just a caveat smelni - if you're planning on shooting and editing 1080p you'll have to render to the dnxhd codec first. At least that's what I've been told, so I'd double check anyway.

Cheers
 
Barry, you said "I already have a form of Vegas running with DVCPRO-HD using the Avid codec". How could I do that?

Thanks
 
Just download the Avid codec pack. When exporting a movie, you'd choose "quicktime .mov", and the Avid DV100 codec will be one of the options.

I can get it to work in 1080, but haven't figured out how to make it work properly in 720 yet.
 
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