[Hector Berrebi]

[William Meese] “So I’m doing homework in a hurry:
MC 5.5 is 32-bit. Any problem running it on an Adobe CS5-friendly 64-bit box?”

MC is 64 bits. this version will be the last to work on 32 bit system.

Hector Berrebi
prePost Consulting

[Hector Berrebi]

hi Michael

nice post, however, “AVC-Intra – delivers excellent visual quality at lower data rates, and has been popping up more and more in prosumer and professional cameras”

AVC-intra is not on any consumer camera that i heard of, its panasonic’s current (as Ultra is on its way) hig-hend format. only on expensive Varicam models (2700, 3700) and on the 10K$ 370 camera
its 100Mbs 10 bit, 4:2:2, so its not really low data rate…. (unless you work in really high ones)
and its been natively supported for a while and works fine.

AVCHD is the long GOP, low data rate codec – 24 Mbs, that can be found on many consumer and semi-pro cameras, and is not yet supported adequately. the new AG-AF 100/1 is AVCHD, which means a lot of this stuff is coming our way soon. was sure it would be included in the next big update.

unless Avid considers them to be the same thing (they shouldn’t) then this hardware addition is very specific, and targets high-end workflows, BBC shoots many nature movies with AVC-intra, including a lot of the footage on the “Earth” project.

Hector Berrebi
prePost Consulting

[Hector Berrebi]

[Shane Ross] “Yes sir. I captured HDV and DVCPRO to DNxHD MXF files.”

ok… wow 🙂 now i just ran out of my room with my hands in the air.

this is huge. and even if its the only considerable upgrade in 5.5 it deserves the semi new version status

Hector Berrebi
prePost Consulting

[Hector Berrebi]

hi Vincent

yes, you have to go pan&zoom, its easy to mess it up (or use it wrong) read the help section on pan&zoom
its not that bad a tool. you don’t event have to import the stills to the project to use it

don’t use pip. try playing a bit with 3D warp, with advanced mode, it has more options and features than the motion tab in FCP 🙂

also, try playing a bit with Animatte, you can make nice stuff with that tool, 3D warp and a bunch of stills

good luck on the new job

Hector Berrebi
prePost Consulting

[Hector Berrebi]

[Shane Ross] “when I was able to capture my first clip”

hi Shane

will it let you capture HD to DNX?

Hector Berrebi
prePost Consulting

[Hector Berrebi]

hi Tyler

” obviously have discovered that I have pillar boxed images which I would love to find a workaround for if at all possible without losing any of the frame or resolution”

if you shot 4/3 and framed 4/3 (not sure why would the DP do that) and you didn’t use any sort of anamorphic lens, then you have to stay 4/3, or reframe in post, consequently losing picture, eventually resolution.

as there are no large 4/3 formats, you will have to go pillarbox for projection purposes, or down convert to SD (and in that case if more footage is on the way maybe ask for it as prores SD from the start)

however, it is more probable you would eventually want to go letterbox, lose part of your image but get a better, more cinematic look to it. did you ask if it was framed this way on purpose?

you will have to process all your files through some other application (AE maybe) to get them to the right size and aspect ratio, or just edit this way, and do it at the end, on your final sequence only

if it looks right to you, you can do it in avid too, i don’t think its the best tool for it (resizing).

if you do decide to letterbox, and picked the center crop option, the lab could maybe blow it a bit up and give you the files already cropped and save you the need to digitally resize

Or, you could go down to 720P with freedom to reframe without resolution loss.

goodluck

Hector Berrebi
Schibber Group
prePost Consulting

[Hector Berrebi]

hi Nick

its not a direct export

goes through MetaSync publisher (installed with your avid)

you need to feed him an AAF

there are detailed workflows in the Help section, do a search for XML or MetaSync

hope this helps

Hector Berrebi
Schibber Group
prePost Consulting

[Hector Berrebi]

i am 🙂

was just showing it today (the io express) to a client at a local pro video event and telling him how i wished avid would go AjA, making the io express a mac/pc desktop/laptop all apps solution… my prediction was april 🙂

that said… the “whats new” list is somewhat disappointing,
and not in an all-whats-new-lists-are kind of way

i just hope many things are (as usual) left unmentioned
was waiting for this update. MC5 has some weak spots, much under the hood work to do.

and with the rise of the AG 100/1, better avchd support could have been nice too. theres gona be a lot of that coming

oh well…

Hector Berrebi
Schibber Group
prePost Consulting

[Hector Berrebi]

hi Michael

on a strong machine with fast drives maybe you can get the prores files to work natively via AMA. i’ve got mixed results. but if it works for you, you can edit natively then export your sequence uncompressed for grading

as prores is 220 Mbs then your only option in PAL world would be DNX 185
although HDCAM is 8 bit, prores is 10, so you should probably go 185X

i would still think recapturing the final sequence from HDCAM to DNX at the end would yield better results than you’ll get when transcoding the prores files to DNX.

mind that you will need a Nitris (hardware) to do it

hector

Hector Berrebi
Schibber Group
prePost Consulting

[Hector Berrebi]

yup… uncompressed and a very fast raid would be the only option…

maybe this coming NAB will introduce the much anticipated (at least for me) DNX-RGB or 444 or whatever Avid wants to call it.

you could see how well your drives respond to prores 4×4 files via AMA then capture to a final cut system

hector

Hector Berrebi
Schibber Group
prePost Consulting