GH2 I have searched but cannot find the optimum GH@ to Avid workflow.

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paperchase748

New member
Greetings,

I am shooting with my new hacked GH2(thanks Vitaly) and I am wondering if my current work flow is giving me the most optimized results:

1. I currently shoot on a Kingston SDHC Class 10 card and then import the card files using TMPGNCVideo Mastering Works 5.
2. I then take those .mts files and convert them to Avid DNxHD 175 codec Quicktimes with a bit depth of millions+, a 709 color space, and a file output resolution of 1080i/59.97
3. The files usually read 1920 x 1080, 29.97 fps before I convert them but I don't see this option in this program
4. I click export and then I wait until the clips are converted and exported to my external drive.
5. I then open Avid and create a project that is 1080p/29.97
6. Once I have my bins set up I then link to AMA files and point the link to my converted Quicktimes.
7. This allows my software based Avid setup a decent chance to edit but it is slow and there is almost no chance for doing color correction and effects because of lag.

I know how to use Avid pretty well so I would like to stick with it. I am wondering why I see so many workflows for Premiere and FCP but none for Avid. Am I using the wrong NLE for this file structure and workflow?

Is there any thing that I can cut out, add, or do differently that would let me take advantage of my GH2 and it's acclaimed video output?

Thank you for your advice.
 
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I'll be in the same boat you're in soon as I am switching from FCP to Avid at home. It doesn't sound like Avid handles AVCHD very well unfortunately. Not sure if you've read these yet, but these forums somewhat address the issue:

http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/45/881904#881904
http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/45/881055#881055
http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/45/877712#877712

Sounds like a lot of people are converting the clips outside of Avid (with ClipWrap or MPEG Streamclip) but the files become massive. You also mentioned your files are QT files. I haven't used Avid in a few years but I thought it only read its own proprietary .omf files, not Quicktime.

I'll be hitting this learning curve soon. Post back how it all pans out for you.

Thanks!
 
I just import directly to dnxhd 175x. So far so good (http://vimeo.com/29930815 for sample). Somewhere between avid, sorrenson and vimeo things got crunched a bit, but that's my only complaint.

Direct import into avid occasionally hangs -- found the most easy fix is just to copy the troublesome avchd file onto the hard drive that contains MC5.5 and voila. Problem usually solved.

It is also very important with these new high bitrate hacks to reformat card in camera and ensure you leave plenty of time for buffering/writing to wind down before starting new clip or turning camera off.

If there are known issues with my workflow please let me know!
 
I figured it out! Just download the new Avid MC 5.5 and they have upgraded AMC to direct import mts files! This is a HUGE time saver for me! Thanks for the links guys. I was using 5.3 and that was the problem
 
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