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AMA stutter on playback in Source Window and Timeline playback
I have Avid 5.0.
My system is not all that great: MacPro1,1 Dual-Core Intel Xeon 3 GHz, Memory: 5 GB, NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT
Question: What is reason behind the stutter on playback. My system? It seems to me AMA is really only a way to audition, or prep footage, not work professionally.
I’m a feature film union editor with a number a credits, hopefully moving permanently to AVID on my next project. (Past and current work on FCP.) I spoke with a successfull assistant editor as well, and he said he never gives AMA to his editor.
Will Avid correct this isssue? If not, how is AMA used in the feature film realm (if unable concerning dailies).
Matt Rundell
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7 Replies
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I have edited an entire feature using AMA (from P2 cameras) and only ran into very minor problems using MC4. But it is very much dependant on the codec of the files you are linking to and performance of your machine when linking to QT files. So far I have been impressed by it when linking to QTs that have come from FCP, and have heard of alot of people using it to edit shows shot straight to ProRes. I also just edited a feature shot on RED and found that you really have to have a beast of a machine to get any decent playback and you are still going to want to transcode (although this might go away with 64 bit in the new MC) or convert with one of RED’s own utilities.
Andy
Andrew McKee
Editor/Colourist
Avid Certified Instructor – MC5.5
Apple Certified Trainer – FCP7
Pixelwizard.net -
I don’t see why you’d ever want to edit through AMA- far too many performance issues for it to be reasonable. Transcode to an offline codec, DNxHD 36 works great, or even lower and you’ll be fine.
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Depends on what type of footage it is. If this is something like P2 or XDCAM, which Avid natively deals with, it should be less of a problem. Stuff like ProRes or H264 (let alone R3D) require a fast system to handle the AMA pipeline.
In general, for longform, editing from AMA is not recommended. It is very easy and pretty fast to OPEN the files through AMA, then Transcode or Consolidate them into the system (whereby the Avid will create fresh MXF Avid media).
This will give you a more responsive system and a more robust media management. For longform, my strong recommendation would be to take that route. -
As people mentioned it’s a combo of file type and system strength.
I would add you drive speed and connection type to equation, if you’re trying to work of a pocket external USB drive with DSLR files and AMA for example. Don’t be surprised if iy stutters.What format are you working with?
Also, I find some Improvements in AMA links in 5.5, and with 64 bits coming our way it’s fair to be even more optimistic.
As for the person who told you he never uses AMA, maybe he simply transcodes before he passes it to his editors. compared to how things were before (long, inaccurate imports, no proper TC or metadata support, and no relationship to originals to allow relinking) AMA is light years better, and considering it’s young age, should be given just a lil more time to be perfect.
Hector
Hector Berrebi
prePost Consulting -
I feel that it depends on the codec… h264 w/AMA isn’t up to snuff. I have had no problem with xdcam stuff though.
but the footage was on unity with a decent aproved HP 8600 avid MC
Scott Cumbo
Editor
Broadway Video, NYC -
Thanks everyone for the info.
Matt Rundell
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One your footage is transcoded to MXF via AMA, you do your offline, is there a separate AMA based batch import feature?
Richard Sanchez
North Hollywood, CA“We are the facilitators of our own creative evolution.” – Bill Hicks
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