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Going to Symphony/FCP from Xpress Pro and back again
Hi guys.
Looking for some advice on exporting/transferring a sequence from Avid Xpress Pro 5.0 to either Symphony or Final Cut Pro for colour correction. The tricky thing is we will then need to re-import the sequence (with edits, transitions, titles, etc.) back into Xpress Pro for further editing.
Does anybody has any idea how to do this? I’m guessing taking it into Symphony is fairly straightforward. Copy the media files and project files onto an external drive, then into the Symphony OMFI bin along with the project files and you’re good to go. Or is that wishful thinking? Also, is it possible to go back from Symphony to Xpress Pro? And if so, what’s the workflow?
As far as exporting to FCP and then re-importing the sequence intact, I’ve no idea so any thoughts/comments are welcome.
The reason I’m asking is that the guy doing the colour correction has access to both Symphony and Final Cut, but has said he would prefer doing it in Final Cut if possible as he’s more familiar with it.
A little bit about the project:
Video format:
DV 411
Frame rate: 23.976fps
NTSC
2:3:3:2 pulldown
Drop-frame timecode (obviously)4 video tracks
10 audio tracksTotal running time: About 95 minutes
Thanks guys.
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1 Reply
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Assuming you’re already working at online resolution (which in this case sounds like it’s going to be DV 411), just copy the media and project files to your Symphony and color correct. If you render everything in the symphony you can take it back to the Xpress and it will look the same. However, change one thing that causes it to lose a render and anything that is available on the Symphony but not on the Xpress system will be lost. Until you open it back up on a Symphony.
To take it to Final Cut use Automatic Duck. There’s a forum here for it, and it ports Avid timelines to FCP. I don’t know if it ports FCP to Avid, however, so taking your sequence back could be a hassle, likely involving the export of a huge quicktime–losing all Timecode in the process. I would stay away from FCP if you’re starting and wanting to finish in Avid. They don’t play nice together.
I do have to ask though–why in the world would you use FCP for your color correction? Unless you have some sort of third party plug in that gives you more control you’d do better to Color Correct in Xpress. With a Symphony you have true secondary color correction–as far as I know, in FCP, you don’t even get close. In fact, I don’t even think you get Curves.
If your guy is unfamiliar with his Symphony you might want to find someone who isn’t. You’ll get better results, and if you’re paying for a Symphony you’ll want the best operate you can afford. Also, don’t take it to the Symphony until all of your edits are done or you’ll likely have to take it back to rerender everything.
My thoughts on the issue, and best of luck with whatever you do.
Mike.
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