Newbie import question

[Shane Ross]

[andrew donaldson] ”
My first newbie question is, does all media need to be converted on import?”

No…some can be linked via AMA and edited natively (XDCAM, P2, C300)….there are a few codecs that work for this. Other formats might be highly compressed, and would be difficult to work with in Avid MC natively, like AVCHD and H.264…so it’s best to transcode those formats.

[andrew donaldson] “When I import media the avid converts the footage to mxf.”

Yes…that’s the media format Avid MC prefers.

[andrew donaldson] “Is this normal? I have tried ingesting dnxhd, progress, etc…”

Yup…totally normal. If you want to edit native, look at Adobe Premiere. Avid MC prefers Avid media formats (MXF) and Avid codecs (DNxHD, 15:1…etc).

[andrew donaldson] “This is pretty disk heavy as it duplicates all my media.”

Don’t store the originals and the imported media on the same drive. You want to archive the originals…store them on a shelf. If the media drive dies, as all drives fail eventually, you can then re-import. Never wise to work from the only copy of your footage.

Shane
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[Andrew Donaldson]

Thanks for your reply Shane.

I have cut on both FCP and Premiere for years now, but need to learn Avid.
Im just trying to get my head around the workflow.

I am used to converting everything to Prores and cutting from that.
Do you transcode all your media to MXF, or just let Avid do it on import?

Cheers,
Andrew.

[Shane Ross]

[andrew donaldson] “Do you transcode all your media to MXF, or just let Avid do it on import?”

That’s what Avid does when you import…it converts it to MXF. How I import depends on the footage. Camera masters, I AMA then transcode, or consolidate if they are native formats Avid supports. Or, if I have a LOT of footage, I’ll transcode to a lower resolution, and online later. If it’s QT files from other sources, screen captures or After Effects exports or the like, I’ll import, and that converts to MXF.

Shane
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[Andrew Donaldson]

Perfect answers to my questions, thanks alot.
AMA sounds pretty good too, I’ll go check that out.

Normally, I would ask some editor friends these silly questions, but they all cut on FCP or Ppro!.

Thanks again, I appreciate it.

Andrew.

[Pat Horridge]

AMA linking and then Transcoding can be way faster (we see 5-6 times speed increase over import)
Also if you AMA link you can make subclips and only Transcode what you need (ideal for massive GoPro files)
A conform based on imported files is slow as you have to re-import all the files used (not just the parts used) where as an AMA linked job the conform is much faster.

At VET I deliver an Avid media management course (for UK folks)

https://www.vet.co.uk/site/Training/Scheduled_courses/Avid_Media_Management_for_Media_Composer_VET_Short_Courses

That covers that.

Pat Horridge
Technical Director, Trainer, Avid Certified Instructor
VET
Production Editing Digital Media Design DVD
T +44 (0)20 7505 4701 | F +44 (0)20 7505 4800 | E pat@vet.co.uk |
http://www.vet.co.uk | Lux Building 2-4 Hoxton Square London N1 6US

[Pieter Viljoen]

Shane,

Which formats can be edited natively? I’ve only dealt with mainly 5D/7D, Alexa and Red. Even the mxf from the Alexa is different because it’s a streaming format and needs a plug in. Thanks for the info, this is educational.

[Shane Ross]

[Pieter Viljoen] “Which formats can be edited natively?”

Panasonic P2…shoots native MXF files as DVCPRO HD or AVCIntra codec.
Canon C300/Canon XF305…shoots native MXF in the XDCAM codec.

That’s pretty much it. If you have short projects, say :30 seconds or 1 min…maybe 3 min, then you MIGHT get away with editing native via AMA. But things will not be nearly as fast and responsive than if you transcoded to Avid media. Avid wasn’t designed to work native, and this AMA thing is new still. If you want to work native, go with Adobe Premiere Pro…that WAS designed to work native…and native only.

Shane
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[Pieter Viljoen]

I chose Avid for it’s data management so AMA is fine for me. I’ve almost never tried doing anything natively as I don’t see the point, but I didn’t know the C300 did that. What about the C100?

[Shane Ross]

The C100 shoots AVCHD…which is the worse format to work with natively…Avid OR Premiere Pro.

Shane
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[David Blumenfeld]

HI.

Just starting to work on Avid with some C100 Footage. What is the best codec to AMA-Transcode to? DNXHD? XDCAM 35?
THanks!