Avid MC5 AMA XDCAM workflow options

[Gary Hazen]

I can’t speak to the strategy of attaching hi quality audio to the proxies. I don’t use AMA – I took it for a test drive and didn’t care for the latency. I import all the proxies on the disc, rough edit and batch import the high res assets from the sequence. Works like a champ.

Regarding disc ID’s, I would assume that the ID would already be on the disc when it arrived at your facility. Each disc must have a unique ID, otherwise you and the Avid will be lost in the weeds. Disc ID’s are typically added in camera or prior to shooting using a deck such as the PDW-1500. Ideally the production company should set up a naming convention for the disc ID’s prior to shooting. Ex: 02-01 for show #2 disc# 1. The last thing you want is a pile of discs with no ID’s and no labels.

“Is there a way of applying a tape name to clips?” – Jon
You can modify the clips in a bin and assign a tape name. By assigning a tape name you’re telling Avid that this media is on a tape. This kills the file import function, you can’t import media off a tape. You’re then forced to batch digitize the material from a deck. If you only have access to a PD-U1 you’ll be hosed. Generally speaking giving clip based media a tape name isn’t a good idea.

[Kris Anderson]

Hi Jon,

I have just finished an 8 part reality series with over 400 XD discs shot on PDW700’s

Here’s how I did it, and I disagree with Gary’s comments re: naming discs. You MUST name/ID them or else your going to create a whole world of pain for yourself.

As soon as the discs arrives we popped them into the XD deck (connected to Ingest via firewire) and opened it up using the Sony XD browser software. Immediately we named the disc. It’s very easy. We then pull the disc out and slide the erase protect latch over so no one can accidentally overwrite any info on the disc.

The we imported it into Avid using ‘import XDCam proxy’. Lo-res pics for offline edit. No problem.

Unfortunately we didn’t have MC5 available so we had a bit of extra back and forth when conforming the pics AND audio. But you should be safe there. When it came to conforming I simply selected the sequence and did a batch import. Avid would ask for discs the same way it would ask for tapes. You can select ‘disk label’ in your bin view to see the name of the disc.

Something to be aware of though, when you’re conforming, is that if your editors have used group clips anywhere, before you conform make sure you right click the sequence and select “Commit MultiCam Edits”. Otherwise Avid will batch import all the clips in the group, even though only one shot is present in the sequence, which in turn will increase your conform time. It’s annoying but thankfully I spotted it after only 2 episodes. There is also a bug if you create a motion effect from a group clip. It won’t conform correctly (shows up as a freeze frame of the first frame of the clip instead) so make sure you match frame back to the original clip, not the group clip, when making motion effects.

Kind of a long winded response but hope it makes sense and hope it helps!