[Glenn Sakatch]

Or just add some new tracks. It will take some cleanup, but your method of renaming is obviously confusing both you and Avid, so it might be the way to go.

I think Avid will start by creating any tracks from the lower section that may have been deleted…then it will add to the highest level. From here you can put what you have, to a higher level…delete your old renumbered tracks, and then create new ones again which should all come in at the correct level.

Glenn

[Glenn Sakatch]

I’ve used more than 1 gDrive Firewire daisy chained together without any problems. Haven’ used a GRaid. I personally find them a bit over priced.

Esata is just another interface…basically an external version of the sata that is already inside your computer. Usually allows hot swapping of drives. The better cards will cost you 100 dollars or so to function properly. Same idea as any other drive setup. If you can build an esata raid, the more drives you can throw at it, the faster speeds you’ll get out of it. I have an old sonnet with 5 x 2tb, (non raided) and it hits around 450 to 500 on the speed disk check.

Glenn

[Glenn Sakatch]

without knowing
A) how much media you are trying to import
B) how much media you have given Resolve access to through your preferences pane
C) how fast your drives are that contain the media

I would guess the the answer to 1, if not all 3 of these questions is “too much” or “very slow” in the case of the drive speed.

When you tell Resolve to search for media, and offer it up all sorts of media to search through, than that’s what its going to do.

I find it much better to turn off that check box, load the media you know Resolve is going to need to work with the AAF, and then import the AAF. This way you are only scanning the media you need, from the drive you want it to scan.

Glenn

[Glenn Sakatch]

Any external drive will work well with Avid…based on how you use Avid. Offline resolution only? USB2 will probably work. Higher resolution…might want to jump up to Firewire or USB3, or Esata. I would assume you’ll need to install a USB3 or Esata card in the system. (you didn’t say much about your specs)

I have a 2009 Mac Pro, running with all four internal slots filled, as well as the second dvd bay occupying a hard drive. You could always swap out your internal drives for larger drives.

I also have a 5 bay hardware raid via Esata, which I use with no problems, and a second 4 bay raid that runs both Esata and USB3. If you plan to install Esata, do yourself a favour and buy a good card, not a cheap 20 dollar interface…you will notice the difference.

Glenn

[Glenn Sakatch]

Part of your problem is the way the footage is shot. (lens use)
Your first two optimal examples have a much stronger film look, in part because of the depth of field achieved through the lens. Your new shots have pretty much everything in focus, except #3. Part of that out of focus imagery is causing some of the “haze” your are describing.

Second thing, look at either of the first two pictures that you are trying to achieve. What is the blackest item in the picture? The sunglasses? the black shirt? the shadows of the hairline? Now how dark do you think those would register on a waveform?

Now look at the darkest parts of your shots…ask yourself the same questions. Your blacks are way deeper than those of the shots you are trying to recreate. This is going to help you achieve the washed out look.

Comparing your third optimal shot to the first two is not fair. The looks between those shots is so different I wouldn’t try to compare them. More saturation, more vibrant colours, more contrast ratio.

If those 3 shots appeared in a clip, in that order, I would assume someone would ask to have the third clip tweaked to match the first two.

Glenn

[Glenn Sakatch]

Your older versions of Avid DVD will probably work. Never used the program, but I believe its a self contained program, so the version of Avid you are running should be irrelevant. Same with most of the other software. Avid FX still came with MC7 but you have to request that license separately. Not sure if it would be considered dead… I don’t use Avid FX, and haven’t even tried to instal it on the box that i am running 8 on. There aren’t any real differences between 7 and 8 anyway, so if you need that program, stick with 7 for now.

How far can you upgrade depends on when “a few years ago” was. If your 4 years of upgrads ran out 1 year ago, than you can probably go to MC 7. You have to go to the licence page on the avid website and look around for the upgrades area. From there you can request a license upgrade. It will ask you for your original System id and serial number, and will notify you if your upgrade request is valid.

You do not have to install 5.5, then 6., then 6.5, then 7…you can jump to what ever version you want, once your upgraded license has been email to you. Every install of avid is based on uninstalling old version anyway, so there is no benefit to working your way up the ladder. My guess is, based on the timing of when that 4 years of upgrades started, you are eligible for a MC 6.5 or 7 license.

Just download 7, install it and see how far you get. Nobody is going to come crashing through your door because you aren’t eligible for a free upgrade. If you have to roll back to 6.5, then, roll back. The sequences you’ve built in the past will all open with pretty much any version. You may have some effects that have changed, but your timelines will open.

Glenn

[Glenn Sakatch]

I had this as well. As Michael said, it comes with two partitions.
Im on Windows, and just went into my disk management and deleted the old partition, and created a new simple volume for the drive, and it was all there.

I assumed the software the drive comes with would have done the same thing, but had already cleaned all that junk out before I noticed the partition issue.

Glenn

[Glenn Sakatch]

Make sure the version of Cuda you are installing is the newest one available. I had the same problem with a new Zbook, and updating Cuda fixed it.

Glenn

[Glenn Sakatch]

update your cuda version.

Glenn

[Glenn Sakatch]

Yes you need proper training. But more importantly, you need to be honest with yourself and your producer/director on this project.

Trying to turn around an 8 camera concert, with approx. 90 mins of footage per camera, and a 9th camera with what…6 to 8 hours footage on it, into a documentary in 2 days?

It’ll take you at least a day just to organize everything, and start looking at the follow cam footage!

Give the job to someone else, you will only ruin your reputation for future work.

Glenn