[Chris Bové]

Ha! Nobody overstays their welcome. I’m an insufferable know-it-all for Media Composer, so hit me with as many Q’s as you like.

For multi-cam, I’m talking this kind of workflow: https://youtu.be/7N1j81KYm6c?t=919

Side note — I know folks who grabbed a 32 and are totally happy. If you’re not, sell it after the edit is done. There’s a huge market for Studios with 32.

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[Chris Bové]

I’m running 32. It is “tolerably” fine. You’ll need to go into your Media Composer Settings and adjust the Video Cache settings. Always follow the “max minus ten” philosophy. So if you have 32GB of RAM, set it to 22 GB. If you have 64, set it to 54.

With 32, the biggest issues you’ll see won’t be in the Avid itself, but rather with having many apps open at once. Plus if you ever drift into multi-cam workflows.

Here is the spec sheet for qualified macOS computers. You’ll see that the Mac Studio is right at the top.

https://avid.secure.force.com/pkb/servlet/fileField?retURL=%2Fpkb%2Farticles%2Fen_US%2Fcompatibility%2Fen422411&entityId=ka16e000000kXCTAA2&field=Attachment_1__Body__s

[Chris Bové]

Gotcha. Hmmm… I’m not seeing them that expensive. I did a general search online and am finding them between $850 and $1,000 everywhere.

If you’re looking for their competitors, Google “2560 x 1600 at 60Hz resolution” and see which ones come up.

When hunting for competitor displays it is AAAALLLL about the refresh rate and the maximum resolution. Everything else – contrast ratios and all that other crap – is for TVs and client monitors. Just chase the Hz rate and the screen resolution, and you’ll find a decent competitor to the Dell ultrasharps.

[Chris Bové]

Hi Trevor. Yes the Max with 64 is gonna be perfectly fine. Anything above that, I’d reserve for heavier multi-cam workflows and for peeps who need to also have full After Effects projects rendering in the background while you’re using MC.

Don’t tell anyone, but there’s a monitor secret right now… All of the editors I know are hitting eBay for the 27″ Apple Thunderbolt displays from a few ears ago. The resolution is 2560×1440 which is actually perfectly fine up against others out there right now, plus you can grab them used for $200-500 everywhere. Yeah you’ll prolly have to meet some craigslist dude at a gas station to pick it up, but whatever. They do un a little hot, and require a TB-to-USBC adapter, but overall they’re still great. If you wanna go new, stay away from HD ones. Stuff like the HP E24U looks nice on paper, but once you get it in front of you, it’s like an iPhone gen-1 resolution. Go for the higher resolution screens, even if they break the bank a bit.

[Chris Bové]

Hi Trevor. I run a very similar setup – 3 monitors, in the same config you mentioned… actually 4, because 1-scripts, 2-bins, 3-timeline, 4-client output from an AJA T-Tap. But I often disable that so I can turn monitor 3 into fullscreen.

I’m running a few systems. One’s a 2014 trashcan. One’s a 2019 Intel macbook pro. One’s an M1 macmini. I’ve been happy with all, including the M1. But there’s a catch to the M1s. There’s a heavy misconception out there that they have some sort of new magical RAM that handles anything. It’s not the case. The RAM “swap” is terrific and new, but the need for more RAM = more performance is absolutely still true. So if you can grab something with 32 or higher, do so.

The M1s, in any flavor at the moment, are all terrific. You’ll simply need to be selective which ones you look at. For example, I know that when the new M1 iMacs first came out, everyone was surprised that you had a limit of only one external display you could attach.

In the end, know that the Intel chips are still terrific. Especially for offline editing, even at higher resolutions. For the moment, the advantage the M1s are having, with or without Avid products, is in the RAM “swap” which is more for having many apps open at once than it is for performance of in-app stuff.

Hit me here or at chris.bove@avid.com if you have more Q’s.

[Chris Bové]

Hello. I think the core of the issue is the Dolby AC-3 formatting that is being created. Can you eliminate that in the app you are using to create the media?

[Chris Bové]

Hi Guy.

Googling “prores hq bit rate” shows 220. Googling “avc intra 100 bit rate” shows 100.

Opinion: Whenever I’m making broadcast programs, I always disregard the camera’s shooting bitrate and transcode to DNxHD 220x. (I use Avid’s DNx rather than ProRes simply because PBS works with Avid’s DNx codecs.)

The offline/online process died many years ago, because storage is so cheap these days. So, transcoding everything immediately to DNxHD220x at the beginning of a project means that I am now “onlining” all of the time. So all color corrections I make during the offline are not only making it through to the final “online” session, but the Symphony color correction is now able to affect the full 220x gamut, rather than be limited by the low ceiling of lesser codecs.

However, if the goal is not top quality but rather saving storage space, then go with 100.

[Chris Bové]

Hi Guy. It’s an easy process. First, check your compatibility. Use my little cheat website here:

http://www.alwaysediting.com/avid-mc-versions.html

If it looks like you are running the correct OS for it, then proceed:

1) Download the 2018 version at home. Note that it is always advised to use the “ceiling release” of any series. So for 2018 that would be 2018.12.15 because it has the most fixes.

2) Uninstall the current Media Composer. It’s always best to do so with the uninstaller that came with whatever version you’re running. So on a Mac, that’s Applications/Avid Uninstallers. Run it.

3) Install 2018.12.15.

Notes:

– If you are doing this on the same computer, you do not need to deactivate in Avid Link

– You will need to create new user settings for MC 2018.12.15

[Chris Bové]

Hi Kevin. Yes indeed, and this should be a quick, easy fix.

1) Launch Media Composer in any way you can.
2) Once launched, click on File / Settings.
3) When the Settings window opens, click on the User tab at the top.
4) Very close to the top left corner, do you see the field called “User Profile”? Click on it.
5) In the pull-down that comes up, scroll down to the bottom of any list there, and click on “Reveal User Profile”. This will take you to the OS level where the user settig itself lives.
6) The user setting file itself is a .xml file. MAKE SURE that it is named whatever you wish, but that it has the “.xml” at the end of the name.
7) If no such file exists there, then go back to step 4, and then instead of clicking on “Reveal User Profile”, you’ll need to click “New User Profile”.

Report back if either of those works.

[Chris Bové]

Nope, not broken. Still working fine.

Note that these specific settings have the ability to be overridden by an I/O box and its settings, if attached.