[Job Ter burg]

Go to the Effect Palette (CTRL-8 / CMD-8), find the Generator Tab and choose Timecode. There, you can choose to burn in up to 4 displays of timecode or other data.

[Job Ter burg]

When you get a new system, you might be able to get a trade-in discount, though. The trade-in discount for my Meridien v12 to Symphony Nitris 1.7 was way more than the actual street value of the Meridien back then.

[Job Ter burg]

Actually, you might be able to pull it off.

Here’s the thing: the ABVB-based MediaComposer 7.x was one of the best editing stations Avid ever released. Rock solid, feature rich. It was a milestone. Since these machines are pretty old, you won’t have USB and such. That does not make the machine a dog, IMO.

MC7.x was based on the ABVB board, and does not handle Meridien resolutions (2:1, 10:1, 14:1p and such), but the older Avid ABVB-based AVR resolutions, labeled AVR3s, AVR12, AVR77, and such.

The upside is that modern MC’s can still READ and PLAYBACK those resolutions (but cannot create them). One issue I found was that functions like Relink don’t take into account the “foreign” resolutions.

Generally, it is wiser to share bins than it is to share projects, when sharing between different revisions. Projects are slightly more complex. Often it works, but there’s little gain, and it would be easier to exchange bins.

Also, the 7.2v4 release was meant to create project/bin compatibility with the (then newer) Meridien systems. In those days, I was often offlining on a Meridien system, and onlining on a system just like yours, using that 7.2v4 revision. Worked fine.

However, I’m not sure about how compatible the latest releases are with the old bins and projects. For one, you’d have to consider that there are loads of features in the newer version that the older version didn’t have and therefore will not recognise. However, why not do a simple test, and try to open a bin with some footage and one with sequences, created on a current MC system, and see if your ABVB system will read them.

As for exhanging media, it should be possible, as long as you use SCSI media. That would mean including a SCSI board on the newer system, or using an intermediate system that has both SCSI and FireWire, and transferring all media from one system to the next. However, any media created on the new system would not be recognisable on the old system.

For the exhange of bins, you might use a network, or if you can find an old SCSI-based CD-Recorder (I might have one in the basement), you might use CD-RW. Or use a USB floppy drive on the Powerbook, and keep your bins under 1.4 MB 😉 (the smiley means: you won’t have any sequence bins created in current MC’s that are that small).

From what I’ve heard is that FCP projects and sequences between various revisions of FCP are completely incompatible. Avid bins are generally way more upwards/backwards compatible between different revisions of the software. I’ve shared stuff between MC10 and MC7, between MC5 and MC7, MC11 and various Adrenalines, MC12 and AXP 4.6 and 4.8.

Another thing to consider is that if you need to use multiple systems, and you are currently relying on the ABVB system, you might try and spring up some cash to get a new MC-soft, a Mac or PC and a Mojo or Mojo SDI, and have all ABVB features on a more versatile, faster more current system, for a fraction of the original cost of the ABVB system, and use a laptop with MC-Soft to go with that.

It’s a little depending on how complex your workflow demands are going to be.

Hope this helps.

[Job Ter burg]

I think you would need to provide more details. Hardware specs and all.

[Job Ter burg]

What kind of LCD panels did you get?
I’m pretty sure you should be able to run 1280×1024 monitors @60Hz on a Meridien system. I did just that, at least.

[Job Ter burg]

https://www.nlesystems.com/_e/Avid_Accessories/product/0070-00507-01/Avid_PC_Deck_Control_Cable_RS232_RS422.htm

[Job Ter burg]

You need a deck control cable to control your DSR1800. It’s a Rosetta stone RS232 to RS422 converter.

[Job Ter burg]

A few things.

In your bin or in the Media Tool, you can choose to display headings, one of them is labeled “Offline”, and it will tell you which of tracks of the clip are offline. So you might have a clip that still has sound, but offline video. Reveal File will bring you to the audiofile(s), but the video will be offline.

Whenever you are deleting stuff from the Media Tool, make sure to have the ‘Project’ heading visible.

There is nothing actually destructive about rebuilding the media databases, but you need to take some precautions: Whenever you have huge amounts of files in a folder, rebuilding media databases may take a long time. Also, rebuilding the media databases eats RAM, so if you are rebuilding huge partitions or lots of folders, do them one by one. You can hide mediafiles folders by renaming them, prior to launching the Avid.

OMFI MediaFiles folders can get really big, try to keep less than 5000 files in a folder an any time (although I have used 15000 files in a folder, but things get really slow). MXF folders automatically max out at 5000 files, and a new folder gets created.

[Job Ter burg]

That should definitely work.
However, you mention burning to DVD. Not sure how you about that, but maybe something goes wrong there. Give it a try with a USB memory stick or an external USB or FW drive.
Other than that, if it works on all other computers except on your Mac, there may be something wrong with your Mac. Is the file extension “.mov” present?

[Job Ter burg]

Only with an extra machine and both hooked up to some form of shared storage.