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7D Offline workflow with Avid Media Composer 4.5
Hi,
I’m sure this has already been covered before, but I’ve been scouring the web for a while now and haven’t been able to find anything specific to my needs.
I’m trying to edit a project using footage shot with a Canon 7D.
Basically what I’m looking for is a tutorial that goes through all the steps for bringing the 7D footage into AVID, then setting up an offline edit, and finally making it online once the edit is complete.
The best tutorial I’ve found so far talks about using P2 footage, and that seems to import just fine with the “Link to AMA volume” function in AVID. However, when I try to do this with the 7D footage, I get an error message saying, “unable to link link any clips at [given location]”. I presume this is because they are 7D files that are H.264, and I need to transcode them first?I know the H.264 codec that the 7D creates is awful for editing with, so what should I import it as in AVID?
I shot at 1920×1080 24p.
Remember I am using version 4.5 here, so it may not have the new import tools that the newer version have for working with 7D footage.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Olaf
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5 Replies
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Bare in mind that I’m not as familiar with Avid 4.5 that I used to be, but is importing the footage as DNxHD opposed to linking to AMA not a an option? Avid tends to know and understand what it likes, and importing the footage and creating Avid media files (DNxHD .mxf files) seems to be the way it’ll have to go with your workflow.
I DO know though that Avid’s AMA policy of handling “all Quicktime files” wasn’t introduced until 5.0, so unfortunately, that may be out of the question.
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Carl Ryan Stemple
Color | Edit | VFX
digitalbarbershop.com -
Thanks for your response Carl,
I think you’re right. The best method seems to be to bring it in as DNxHD. But what about setting up an offline edit? Should I just import it heavily compressed, and then link it back to the original 7D footage when I’m done to bring it online?
Or do I have to bring it in high rez, then transcode that to low rez footage, edit the project, then link it back to the high rez footage I originally imported to bring it online again?
Thanks again for your help.
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What I’d recommend is this:
– Import your 7D material as DNxHD 36 (generally accepted as the standard for offline DNxHD workflows).
– Edit your project with this material.
– Once you’ve reached a picture-lock, duplicate your sequence and put it in a new bin. Title it Online Sequence, or something else appropriate. Save the offline sequence in it’s own bin.
– Use the “Decompose” function on the duplicated sequence. This will create brand new media offline clips.
– Selecting all of the offline clips, Batch Import the same footage you originally edited, only this time at high-resolution (depends on what your system can handle – 1:1 may very well be too much. I’ve found that either DNxHD 145 or 220(x) get the job done swimmingly).
– If all went right, Bob’s your uncle!Hope this helps your workflow go as smoothly as possible!
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Carl Ryan Stemple
Color | Edit | VFX
digitalbarbershop.com -
Excellent! That seems to be just what I’m looking for. Thank you!
I’ll let you know how it goes. -
This will work as long as you import the original clip in its entirety.
Michael
Michael Phillips
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