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Importing resolution guide???
I’m guys (and gals), I new to Avid MC and wondering (hoping like hell) if there is a ‘simple’ guide for importing new media. A best practice guide with the most commonly used Avid resolutions for different types of camera codecs/ other media types.
I understand that Avid loves its own DNxHR… files, but which one to use always confuses me. Plus, of course, there is ProRes and other DNx Uncompressed options. I understand this may not be black & white, but if anyone has a dummies guide that shows what most editors tend to use, that would be an epic start to this overwhelming aspect of Avid.
BTW, I’m using the latest version of MC. Thanks in advance for any information or insights you can provide me with. Cheers!
W.Marshall
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8 Replies
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It’s all these types of options. I know the vertical and horizontal resolutions. Does it matter which one I select? Image below:
W.Marshall
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Depending on the project for me.
If the target is HD then I go as high as I can in DNxHR at 1920×1080.
Of late, HD projects are faster turnarounds e.g. TV spots, Corporate, etc…If its film, then it’s decided by the production team.
I would go with a low res for editorial and hang on to the RAW.
Some clients like the files as low as possible for laptop editing.
Last two feature was all AMA and had no issues with speed.
The client was doing rough edits on an HP Z840.
And when it comes back to me, I don’t have any issues on my nMP D700.
I use ProRes444 most of the time.
Even when I push it to Resolve and back. -
The first 6 or so are I-frame based codecs which take up more storage than LongGOP codecs but are more efficient and hold up to multi-generational loss a lot better. DNx flavors are Avid native codecs developed by Avid whereas ProRes is also native, but developed by Apple and can be decoded on Mac and PC but only encoded on Mac.
The multiple flavors of each are encoding data rates and different in bit depth. Anything with an x after it is 10 bit. Naming changes with DNxHR where the different levels are also different data rates and bit depth.
It is a balance of choosing based on storage, source codec, desired bit depth, detail preservation (based on the type of content), and your workflow offline/online, online online, etc.
DNxHD is for HD formats 720, 1080 and 16:9 aspect ratio only, whereas DNxHD is scalable at most any resolution and aspect ratio. If you make an HD project, you can’t select DNxHR. More info on DNxHD from the original whitepaper 10 or so years ago:
https://www.avid.com/static/resources/US/documents/dnxhd.pdf
Michael
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[Michael Phillips] “If you make an HD project, you can’t select DNxHR”
Oops, I got a bit quick on the keyboard there.
I meant to say DNxHD and not DNxHR when HD is the target.
Thanks, Michael for the awesome deets 🙂 -
I wish we could select DNxHR in a 720/1080 project!
Michael
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[Michael Phillips] “I wish we could select DNxHR in a 720/1080 project!”
Since I live in the Mac side mostly, I am so glad ProRes has more options 🙂
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Really insightful. Thanks, Eric.
It’s starting to make a lot more sense.
W.Marshall
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Hi Michael,
Thanks for your jumping on here with all that information. You’ve demystified something a was really struggling to understand, even after doing several Avid courses.
W.Marshall
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