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Avid multicam features?
Hi there,
I’m a long-time Avid editor who switched to FCP because I couldn’t swallow paying $8,000 for a Nitris DX output when I could get a free computer and 12 TB + FCP studio for the same money.
But I’m possibly sorry that I did, because of the multicam features.
In FCP, you have no way to use a camera that starts and stops during recording, and for a long production, it’s simply impossible not to start and stop. For one, P2 cards run out, especially if you’re shooting 1080, and it’s not realistic to make a production stop to resync all cameras — it would be much like asking bank-robbers to hold their heist while I change P2 cards. Having a single clip per camera is fundamentally at odds with real world shooting.
There seems to be no way around this in FCP, and I’m thinking about moving back to Avid. But since I’ve never personally edited multicam in Avid, and I’m now reading the manual, is it true that Avid is also strictly single-clip based?
What do people do when angles start and stop at random? You have to assume that sync is not a problem — everything we shoot has timecode slate on the first frame, and we could even to LTC sync.
But what is categorically impossible is asking every camera to shoot continuously. It can’t be done, and would be extremely destructive to the event we’re documenting.
I’ve read an article about what one editor believes is involved in having sources start and stop intermittently: https://viewfromthecuttingroomfloor.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/multigroups/
Is this really what it takes? Isn’t it just possible to use a sequence as a multicam source? Is there anyone in this forum with Avid multicam experience? The manual is not clear on the issue, but Avid has also never been good at writing manuals.
If I can do this in Avid, I’ll have an order in for a Nitrix DX in 5 minutes.
Thanks much,
Per
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5 Replies
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I’ve done a lot of multicam editing on both Avid and FCP. Both implementations are similar, FCP’s is a bit more configurable (you can even add new angles to the group after it is created), Avid’s functions a bit better (in my opinion) and is less prone to quirky behavior.
Neither does precisely what you are asking for (at least if I am understanding correctly).
FCP’s “Make Multiclip Sequence” might be the closest… you might want to read the FCP 7 manual on page 626. Its a bit complicated, but it might work for you….maybe not.
Multicam wasn’t really designed for situations where the cameras randomly stop and start a lot. It was originally conceived for live sporting events, concerts, etc, where you might have a bunch of cameras and a remote truck…or multicamera film shoots where everyone stops and starts on “Action” and “Cut!”.
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Thanks, I appreciate it!
Best,
Per
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You can try creating a dummy master clip that a timecode that spans all your other clips. The group them – should result in a single group clip with all the clips grouped based on their relationship to that master clip.
Michael
Michael Phillips
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That is a good idea, but how would you create “dummy master clip with timecode that spans all other clips”?
What is the most cameras can you group at once?
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Just log a clip, not needld to capture that is whatever length START to END that you need to encompass all the others. If you shot for 24 hurs off an on, then the clip would be 00:00:00:00 – 23:59:59:29, etc.
A group clip can hold up to 99 clips, but you never need to display the dummy clip when you view as 4 or 9 in the setup.
Michael
Michael Phillips
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