Avid Problems

B

Bono

Active member
Has anyone successfully edited native MXF files on an Avid from an external hard drive?

I'm using Xpress Pro HD and was led to believe that Avid can support native MXF files. The only way I can get the Avid to see the media files is if I transcode the media, which defeats the whole beauty of a workflow that does not require digitizing because it takes just as long to transcode...
 
I think you have to move the mxf files into the Avid media files folder for avid to see them directly. However I am not sure how you assign where that folder belongs. FOr me it was created automatically on the c:.

My problem is once I imported them into Avid and dropeed them on the timeline they just don't play. The timecode moves but the preview in the moitor just sits there.

Bummer. If I didn't realize what a professional app this is I would say my first impression is that is a hunk of junk! But I digress.....knowing that Avid is the Shiznit among pros I realize something else must be wrong.

Anyone care to enlighten us all?
 
As I posted before, turns out AVID is sensitive to drivers installed on the machine, so if your using an nVIDIA card correct drivers would be 77.77 (For Quadro's it's a different version) after that AVID really flies I tell you!
 
First, you make a folder on the root of any drive you wish called AvidMediaFiles, and put in it a sub-folder called "1" (for example). Simply copy your mxf files into that sub-folder, and when you start Avid, it will find them. (For other projects, use "2", then "3", etc.) Open a project at the appropriate format, then open the Media Tool, selecting the drive with your files and your project, and drag the master clips into a bin. You can edit them as always from there, but remember that Avid does not yet support ALL of the formats that the HVX200 can shoot (720/30p, for example), although all of these are scheduled to be included very shortly in a new upgrade.

Also, if the project format you set does not match the actual format of the files you import, the Avid won't know what to do with them. They will show up on the timeline as stills, but not play. (If you bring in the wrong format, one thing that may happen is that it will think it is HDV, and not play.) To verify, open the "hamburger" menu on your bin, and activate the video format option (or is it "video". I'm not at work now, so I'm going by memory). Now the format of your clips will display in the bin, and they should match what you selected for the project type, AND be a supported format. You can find a list of supported formats, and whether they will be DVCPro or DNxHD in the help.

Actually, once you get a couple of these basics understood, you will find that Avid express Pro HD handles this stuff as slick as snake sh*t. It's great, and getting better. I have no problems with it, and you won't either.
 
Do you ever find that A1 Audio mysteriously goes offline? I keep thinking this must be a software bug or incompatability with format...

720/24PN is supported, right??
 
jazzx said:
As I posted before, turns out AVID is sensitive to drivers installed on the machine, so if your using an nVIDIA card correct drivers would be 77.77 (For Quadro's it's a different version) after that AVID really flies I tell you!
Click to expand...

I havefound these video card issues but even after upgrading the system did not "fly" I assure you. At the office I have a Quadro Card. On my laptop an Nvidia go5700. What version of the drivers do I need to make it "fly". Keep in mind on the laptop you have to have OEM drivers or hacked Nvidia drivers to even get the diaplay to work right.

I just installed AVID on my Home PC and will try it with ATI RADEON 9800 and see if it is any faster. SO far I have put this on 4 different systems and I cannot get any playback from the timeline. Just a still of the first frame.

WTF am I doing wrong?
 
1. I, sorry for my poor english i not fluid, buy let me try

I want to know if the p2 viewer is for winXP, then in what NLE PC based we can edit the MXF files, or the only way is Final Cut
Avid Adrenaline is the answer?
 
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P2 viewer is only for Windows XP for now yes, MXF files can be edited directly through AVID Xpress Pro HD and Edius Broadcast, an add-on for Edius Pro 3.6 and indirectly through Raylight software that converts the files to a format (.avi) almost all NLEs can understand
 
There is an easy way for avid to recognise the footage from external drive and that is format the external drive with FAT32 then copy the footage from P2 card with P2 viewer so it mainted the structure. After that media tool will see the P2 in native MXF. It behave like big P2 card and as long as you have the P2 driver installed it will work with external drive.
 
Bono Asked:

Do you ever find that A1 Audio mysteriously goes offline? I keep thinking this must be a software bug or incompatability with format...

720/24PN is supported, right??

-----

Never had audio go off line on me.

720/24PN is supported, although Avid at first failed to so state in their documentation. I don't know if they have corrected that oversight, but they have since printed a confirmation that Xpress Pro HD does, in fact, handle it natively. A lot of people think that it can only be handled in FCP, but that is not true. Avid, in fact, handles it better, without any kind of conversion. If I can find the ACSR bulletin I recieved from Avid on this issue, I will post a copy.
 
I don't know why I've put up with Avid problems over the years. I guess after the initial investment I just felt like they had me and I had to roll with it. I think their requirements of "approved" hardware are absurd for a relatively inexpensive product. I'm amazed at the various C++ errors and overruns and everything else in a commercial product. The lack of AMD support in particular has annoyed me.
 
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