[Erik Pontius]

Oh…however, the Avid DNxHD codec doesn’t support exporting with an alpha channel…you’ll still need to use uncompressed AVI or Quicktime animation or other codec that supports one.

Erik

[Erik Pontius]

Ah…
I wondered the same thing a while back…the answer was in the help file. You’ll obviously pick non-square 601/709 for graphics/video rendered using aspect ratios like NTSC 720×480 using a PA of .09 but also for their square pixel equivalents like 720×540.

For HDV projects the files you will be importing will be end up ultimately using the Avid DNxHD 145 codec. Which is 1920×1080 square pixles upper field first. You can skip a step, speed up the process and save some space by rendering your graphics and other composites using the Avid DNxHD 145 codec (granted the application supports exporting to a QT file). If you have a separate system for graphics and compositing, you can install the Avid codec pack which you can download from the Avid website. Importing the files you would use the 601/709 non-square pixel import setting.

Erik

[Erik Pontius]

I would doubt WMP11 would do anything. WM9 is a requirement for Xpress now, WMP11 contains some updated WM9 codecs and player. However, Avid is QT based primarily using WM only as an export option. You’re more likely to have problems with updated QT versions, IMHO.
That’s not to say it couldn’t be related…Avid is EXTREMELY picky about any kind of driver and software updates.
If you have photoshop or After Effects you might try creating something with an alpha and see if you get the same results, it maybe that the 3d app that created your files is creating alphas Avid just can’t understand for some reason.
There is also a handy tool called “Gspot” that can identify what CODEC a file is using (amongst other info).
Otherwise, see if you can re-export the files out of your 3d app using the QT Animation codec or uncompressed AVI.

Erik

[Erik Pontius]

What happens if you ignore the alpha and just import the video without the alpha? Wonder if Avid is having problems reading the codec properly. Usually, files that are using a codec Avid can’t read show up as white…so inverting that might end up with a solid black frame.
What codec, if any, are you using in your AVI’s and QT’s?

Erik

[Erik Pontius]

Usually, you do not want to capture to a “system” drive, the drive that contains your operating system files, since the OS will be reading/writing to the drive as part of it’s normal operation…this can slow down the performance of the drive and you can risk having problems with capturing (dropped frames, overruns, etc…).
So if your D: is too small to capture video to, you may consider upgrading the drive to a larger drive or look into external storage (sata, firewire, etc…).

Erik

[Erik Pontius]

Export Save as Source. This will create QT files with the Avid codecs.
If you are editing HDV you will need to transcode the sequence to DNxHD145.
The Avid Codecs are available to download from the Avid site. These can be installed on mac/pc’s that do not have Avid installed.
Otherwise, QT using the Animation codec, which is lossless and cross-platform and can be read on just about any system with QuickTime. The files will be HUGE though.

Erik

[Erik Pontius]

You don’t specify what problem you are experiencing.
Here’s a few common problems and solutions:
Your AVI will either have to be uncompressed or in a codec that supports an alpha channel…DV will not.
Make sure that you actually exported your footage with an alpha channel. Applications like After Effects you will need to specify that you want to export the alpha (usually by choosing “Millions of Colors +”).
Also, Avid seem to like “Straight” alphas more than “pre-multiplied” alphas.
Also, Avid sees alpha channels as they would be in film…white areas being transparent, black areas being opaque. This is the reverse (or inverse) of what most graphics applications like AE and Photoshop use…black being transparent, white being opaque. You’ll need to choose the option to “invert alpha” when importing your footage.
You may also want to try a different format altogether. Exporting your titles using the Quicktime Animation codec specifying to include the alpha (Millions of colors +).

Erik

[Erik Pontius]

I downloaded the codec from BitJazz to try it out…it has a free full featured trial for 20 days (I think). I tried it out since I had some Apple DVCpro50 greenscreen footage I wanted to manipulate on the PC with AE. Since the Sheer CODEC is cross platform, I exported the Apple DVCpro footage out of QT Pro on my ancient Mac to the network and was able to open it up in AE on the PC. Worked like a champ…used it for some other intermediates for some other stuff out of AE to then use Procoder to encode to a couple of different web formats. Worked fine…though I did have a hang up in AE when working with the greenscreen footage, though I didn’t do enough testing to see if this was related specifically to the Sheer codec or just my system getting moody.

Erik

[Erik Pontius]

Haven’t see the error before.
Microsoft has this enlightenment:
“Calling a pure virtual function is a programming error, so you need to find the call to the pure virtual function and rewrite the code so it is not called.”

Maybe time to re-install. Any reason why you Avid installed on you D:\ drive? Usual practice is to install the Avid app on the C:\ and use a second dedicated drive for capturing media.

Erik

[Erik Pontius]

That’s what I was thinking at first…but you wouldn’t need to “up rez” SD footage (.9 or 1.2 pa) to square pixels…just make a 864×480 comp and scale to fit…right?
I was wondering at first if that was a requirement for the Instant HD, but from watching the quick tut video on their page, it handles PA conversion…just doesn’t do interlaced sources (an attempt to sell more Magic Bullet?).

Erik