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Previous Avid Systems
I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on previous Avid systems for me. Here’s what I want to know. I browse through eBay’s professional video section all the time and always see auctions for older Avid systems, particular the Meridien systems. I see the breakout boxes for audio and video with certain options and without certain options, different board sets, etc. And really, I have no idea what I’m looking at! I haven’t found any information on websites that explain what each one is and what particularly it’s for and what devices are compatible and what devices aren’t. My current version of Avid is an Xpress Pro HD but I will be upgrading to the Media Composer Software shortly. Would those breakout boxes work in my situation? I’m not working in HD yet basically because I don’t have the resources or money to do so. Eventually I’ll make the upgrade but it won’t be very soon. I’d like to be able to use those lesser expensive BOB’s so I didn’t have to front the money for a Mojo. And from a lot of things I read about the Meridien systems, they were very rock solid and very reliable. Any thoughts?
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8 Replies
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The Meridien systems are rock solid. Still the most stable NLE that use to be on the market.
You can get em cheap now and, imo, you otta.
Buying the new soiftware-based avids makes you a paying beta tester for them. It also slows you waaaay down compaired to the meridien systems because of how ram is utilized and accessed. They are cheap now because those who shelved em for adrenaline have mostly shelved adrenaline and are now trying to play some ctach up with NLEs that don’t offend so much.
Simply put. I miss my old meridien-based Avids. I wish Avid would have upgraded these instead of, well, giving up like they did.
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Ditto on the reliability of the Meridien systems. I’ve used two Symphony’s and owned an Avid Express Elite and have had no hardware trouble. They aren’t the fastest things around but they work with long timelines very well, which is one of the weaknesses of every other NLE I’ve ever touched.
As far as merging your newer Express Pro HD with the older Meridien hardware…I can’t comment with any experience but I would be doubtful that it would work. Don’t take my absolute word on that as I’ve never tried it, maybe someone else has and could post a more knowledgeable response on this.
Good Luck
John Watts
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Really the reason I want to do that is so I don’t have the shell out the money for a Mojo. I want an inexpensive way to be able to view my footage on an external monitor when editing with Avid. And to my knowledge, you can’t do this with anything other than Avid hardware.
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My geuss is you can’t use any of the I/O boards. There’s a reason why the last MC Meridian software version topped out at 12.01, and the software version started with 1.0.
If you are looking to buy a Meridian system, you need to consider (I upgraded my Meridian system with MC/SDI Mojo this month) the boards. Previous posters are correct – MC Meridian was an absolutely rock solid system. I’ve had a Meridian since they came out in 2000 or 01. But as my system aged, I had more problems integrating it into a workflow that has become essentially tapeless once the footage is ingested. Exporting quicktime was a nightmare. Stability became a major issue – it would crash just because you looked at it wrong. And forget about upgrading. You need a very specialized CPU, and if it’s mac, they are very difficult to obtain. Bottom line is I’m estatic with MC/SDI Mojo combo.
Jon
“So you want to throw out the old you – but the old you is old enough to know it won’t make it better”
Del Amitri – “Make it Better” -
So what would be an inexpensive way for me to view my video on an external monitor in Avid?
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I can say with confidence that the Meridien I/O boxes will not work with any modern Xpress Pro or Media Composer or Symphony software. The newest versions are designed to work on Mojo, Mojo SDI, Adrenaline, or Nitris boxes, and next the DX boxes.
A cheap way to monitor video out of Avid. The cheapest is to plug an inexpensive firewire camera to your computer, set the camera to VTR (make sure it can pass the signal through), then line the composite (or S-Video if available) from the camera to your monitor. Don’t expect the video and audio to be in sync, though, and I wouldn’t use it for color correction. But it will get your video to the monitor.
The best way is to scout ebay or craigslist for a used Mojo. You should see quite a few turning up in the next few months as the new Avid hardware is released and people look to unload their older equipment. I got lucky and found the Xpress Pro software with Mojo for $1,200 total, which was less than just the Mojo. Keep your eyes peeled and you can probably find a great deal.
Michael
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Check out Matrox MXO.
https://www.matrox.com/video/en/products/mxo/
Terence Curren
http://www.alphadogs.tv
http://www.digitalservicestation.com
Burbank,Ca -
I’ve used a DV camera as a way to get my footage on an external monitor before but the quality isn’t that great and I do have color correction that I have to do on some clips. I wish Avid would allow third party vendors to create capture cards and devices for there systems. I have an AJA card in my system for Premiere that works great, but I can’t use it with my Avid. I guess I’ll just have to save up and get a Mojo. And as for the MXO, I use a PC to edit, not a Mac so that wouldn’t work for me.
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