PC workflow

Green Hornet

Green Hornet

Veteran
Just wondering what hardware and software everyone on the PC side is using?
It seems as if I am right back where I started.
I got the cam, but still can't edit/view anything on the pc side.


I really don't want to go final cut, but so far, I don't know of any pc based solutions that do 24p.
 
mvb said:
See http://dvfilm.com/raylight $195
Click to expand...
1) Does it work with 25p?

2) And with the Canon's 25F/24F?

3) Does it work with HDV or HDCAM-HD 35mbps or whatever MPEG-2 codec that the Sony cameras series will shoot?

4) Is it possible to mix from different codecs, that is, from different HD_cameras@the_same_timeline, that is, in the same stream/workflow?

Thanks in advance mvb, your presence here is a value-add to our forum.
 
Last edited:
Raylight does support or will suport all modes of the HVX200.

Raylight's only for the HVX200.

You can use Raylight with Vegas or Premiere, which do
support HDV using the Cineform AVI codec, so in principle
you could mix and match although I've not tried it.
 
I will be using Avid Xpress Pro HD once I get my camera.
Dual Xeon 3.06ghz 512kb L2 cache
2gig ECC DDR 266mhz memory
1TB HD Space
 
mochouinard said:
I will be using Avid Xpress Pro HD once I get my camera.
Dual Xeon 3.06ghz 512kb L2 cache
2gig ECC DDR 266mhz memory
1TB HD Space
Click to expand...


Maybe I will go Avid as well. How much is the avid software?
I watched some demos on editing with Avid, and it seemed quite nice.
I had Avid back in the day, but never used it, or really learned it as it was so different from Premiere.

I learned Premiere because there were so many good tutorials on it, but now it has changed as well, so I will have to relearn anything anyway.

I don't have an "interest" in learning software editing, but I see now that it will be a must.

I do not think I want a Mac, but would not mind final cut if they made it work on a PC. I just don't want a system that only works with mac software because I don't want to buy anything else mac anyway, so for me, I just feel more comfortable knowing if I needed my machine to do other tasks, it could. That being said, my new system would be initially a dedicated editing system.


By the way, does anyone know WHY Premeire is not supporting DVCPRO HD?
I can see that maybe if they are waiting for someone else to have a drop in plugin, then they, don't have to pay the royalties. That is what I was told, and seems to make sense.
 
By the way, does anyone know WHY Premeire is not supporting DVCPRO HD?
I can see that maybe if they are waiting for someone else to have a drop in plugin, then they, don't have to pay the royalties. That is what I was told, and seems to make sense.
Click to expand...

Rumor has it that Adobe wasn't able to get the rights in time for their PPro 2.0 release and it was too late to write their own.

3rd party codecs ought to be fine until 2.5 comes out.

BTW: I've got Creation Suite Prodduction Studio Premium and the way Premiere, After Effects, Encore DVD and Audition integrate is fantastic!

Encore already was able to edit DVD Menus right in Photoshop, well now you can edit your movie in Premiere, open your movie in After Effects and apply effects, send it back to Premiere to finish editing, then when the project renders the After Effects render engine kicks in automatically on the shots with effects in them. It's very cool.

Once your project is done, you can create a motion menu for your DVDs in After Effects, open it in Encore, make changes in Photoshop and go back and forth between all the apps and changes all happen in real time.

I'm willing to wait for a codec or use Raylight until Adobe can get DVCPRO HD worked out.
 
Yeah, I haven't tried the raylight yet, (mostly cause I'm still waiting for my HVX). But the new Adobe versions are AWESOME. As Big Mike said, the integration between aps is SWEET. Also, Premiere Pro 2.0 is fantastic compared to 1.5

It's much faster, more stable, doesn't take soo long to do that stupid "Conform" on audio which used to take up tonnes of disk space. (Now it makes small PEK files ala Sony Vegas). Also, Real and propper 24p support, better HDV support, better color correction tools etc. I was getting tottally fed up with premiere and thinking of going mac, but this new version has really impressed me. As long as raylight works well, or they come out with DVCPRO50/HD MXF support in 2.5, I'm happy.

Anyone know if there are any other HVX editing options for premiere other than raylight? Doesn't Matrox have a solution?
 
Ok. I have converted 3-4 files to raylight format. Now I want to edit these in Premiere Pro. What kind of project settings do I need to use these files?

Nevermind. The settings were right inside the readme file! Doh!
 
Last edited:
Anyone know if there are any other HVX editing options for premiere other than raylight? Doesn't Matrox have a solution?
Click to expand...

Matrox has Axio but my reseller won't just sell me the card, I would have to buy a whole system for the following Prices:

Axio SD $13,000.00 edits all formats of SD through HD but breakout box doesn't have HD componant inputs.outputs.
Axio HD $15,000.00 Has only HiDef inputs and edits everything from SD to HD.
Axio with both breakoutboxes: $18,000.00.
I went to a demo and these systems are amazing and will edit 2 streams of uncompressed Hi Def with 4;4;4 color.

They are about to release Axio LE, $5,000.00, that looks like it's made for DVCPRO HD. We don't need the features of the high end versions.

My question is: Will they sell me the card without the computer attached?
 
WOW! The Axio LE looks SWEET! Pricy, but sweet. Here's all the info and specs in pdf:

http://www.matrox.com/video/products/pdf/AxioLE.pdf

Are you sure about the $5,000 Price? And it looks like you can just buy the card and break out box.

Anyone know if this is a PCI Express card? or needs some kind of special interface? Also, it looks too big to fit in my box. haha.

Jeez... this thing does EVERYTHING I could ever want. Now I need 5 grand.

Also, this thing reminds me of the Blackmagic MultiBridge extreme for mac. But that's only like 2,500$ right?

icicle22 - How's it looking? What's your thoughts on Raylight?
 
Morgan_Rozender said:
icicle22 - How's it looking? What's your thoughts on Raylight?
Click to expand...

The good news is that it works quite well. It seems very stable. The bad news is that it is very slow. I have a dual 3.1GHZ xeon with 2GB ram. In premiere pro 1.5 I had a simple 8 second clip on the timeline. I rendered out using highest quality settings and it was very fast. 3-4 seconds.

Things took a turn for the worse when I applied a very simple color correction and rendered that same 8 second clip and it took over 4:00 minutes. That seems a bit excessive. Still it worked.

These were on 720 24PN clips. It would be longer on 1080P clips.

My unique situation is that I do have a MAC..........MINI that is. It has FCP HD on it. It is a very slow machine in comparison to the DUAL 3GHZ xeon. It is a 1.4ghz G4 with 1 gig of RAM. The performance is about the same. In fact....I think the MAC-MINI might be faster.

The only drawback to the mini is I am not used to editing in FCP and it has no dual monitor support. It is a bit alien to me. So I must decide......learn FCP and have a little better performance. Or stick with the Adobe software and have slower performance? (I still have to buy the full version of raylight too!) I need to do more testing but I am starting to think I should have gotten an XLH1! :)

Ok....not really but I am seeing more support for HDV and that crazy 24f mode than I am for HVx on PC side. But I digress......

Someone please step up and make a solid performing PC solution.
 
Thanks for the info, Icicle. So are you saying that DVCPRO HD editing is as fast or even FASTER on your MacMini than on a Dual 3GHZ Xeon with raylight and Premiere?

Man, that's rough. I bet it would choke my single 3.4ghz +1gig.

I think we'll all agre that the Matrox Axio LE is a solid option, but if it is really going to be $5,000... i duno. I could get a sweet Mac for that price.
 
Green Hornet said:
Maybe I will go Avid as well. How much is the avid software?
I watched some demos on editing with Avid, and it seemed quite nice.
I had Avid back in the day, but never used it, or really learned it as it was so different from Premiere.
Click to expand...
The retail pricing for Avid Xpress Pro HD is listed here:

http://www.avid.com/products/xpressprohd/

Keep in mind that Avid works through resellers, so you can get much better deals and bundles with other hardware/software rather than just purchasing off Avid's website.

Take a look at the quick tours on this page as well, hosted by Tim Wilson. You'll get a real sense of how deep and powerful Avid products are.

I use the Xpress Pro HD Studio Complete package. Works wonders for me.

And don't forget that XPHD is at version 5.2.3 now. Handles even more of the HVX formats like 720p/24p, 720p/30p and 720p/60p.

Regards,

Cre8tive
 
I think we'll all agre that the Matrox Axio LE is a solid option, but if it is really going to be $5,000... i duno. I could get a sweet Mac for that price.
Click to expand...

The Axio is what I'm looking at seriously.

Someone asked if it's PCIExpress. As far as I know, it'sthe 64 bit PCI-X slots that most newer workstations have. My system doens't have the PCI express.

I had high hopes for Raylight. Keep us updated on how it's working for you.

I use Premiere Pro 2. I wonder if it would work better in that?
 
64bit PCI-X eh? ... crud. my rig doesn't have those. Just PCIExpress. Maybe i'm going to have look at macs a little more seriously. I find avid clunky and not user friendly. (The high end, Nitris and Media Composer systems are great but alas the dollars...)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top