[Job Ter burg]

Dongles are not standard anymore, they are a paid option.

Software licenses need to be activated/deactivated through online access if you want to move a license from one machine to another. Dongles are just phyisical USB devices that you can simply unplug when you need to move it to another system.

Another advantage is that – for example – a Media Composer 5.5 dongle will also let you launch MC 4.x or even 3.x or 2.x, whereas a software license key works for one version only. It’s less relevant when you go Symphony, as Symphony 5.5 and earlier only worked with Nitris or Nitris DX hardware attached, so swapping dongles would only work if the older system has Nitris / Nitris DX hardware.

Many folks love having dongles, many others are more than fine with Software Licensing.

[Job Ter burg]

All Artist controllers are supported in v6. Not everyone is raving about the way Artist Color works with Symphony, but to me it is a valuable addition.

[Job Ter burg]

[i]can I CC in symphony provided I only use tools also available I MC[/i]
You can use any tools. Everything, except unrendered secondary color correction, will play back in MC.

[i]Will symphony projects work in MC?[/i]
A full 100%. There is no difference in the software, Symphony just has a few more features unlocked.

[i]is it from MC6 and on that I can use my deck link card[/i]
Yes. Won’t work with v5.5. Not sure about Tangent Wave.

[Job Ter burg]

If you’re running a dongle-based system, just upgrade to v6 but install 5.5. The dongle will let you run that.

Also, I think Avid still sells 5.5 as a special item for those still needing 32-bit.

[Job Ter burg]

You can currently only buy MC5.5 or MC6 from Avid. They don’t sell upgrades to older versions.

However, if you have XpressPro, you probably have a dongle for that. If you upgrade that dongle to the current version of Media Composer for 599, you can subsequently use that dongle to launch any older installed version of Media Composer. So an MC6 dongle will allow you to run MC4, MC5, any version.

If you buy the upgrade you will receive an activation code (for the newer software licensing system), but you can trade in that license key for a dongle updater at avid.com.upgrade. This gets you an .avd dongle updater file. You then open the Avid Dongle Manager on your system, with the dongle attached, and you update your dongle with the .avd file (done in less than a minute).

Also consider that there is a limited-time offer to upgrade your Xpress Pro or Media Composer to Symphony-software, which includes Boris Continuum Complete 8, at 995. A super sweet deal.

If you have a Final Cut Pro license, you can even use that to crossgrade to Symphony with BCC8, also for 995, and then you get to keep your Xpress Pro (and FCP) as well. See https://www.avid.com/symphonypromo for details.

[Job Ter burg]

QT Ref can sometimes be buggy. Either do a Same-As-Source export, or first do a video mixdown, then do a QT Ref export.

[Job Ter burg]

Symphony does not do 2K nor 3K, just broadcast sizes, max 1920×1070.

[Job Ter burg]

Not 100% sure, but I don’t think you get FireWire-based deck control through Mojo. If you attach the deck directly to the computer, it should work.

Usually, with such a deck, you would connect audio/video to the Mojo (SDI or Component or S-Video or Composite or DV) and use a deck control cable (with a Rosetta Stone) between the RS422 connector on the back of the deck and the RS232 connector on the CPU.

[Job Ter burg]

Look into Boris Transfer and/or Automatic Duck.

[Job Ter burg]

[i]as I understand it, Avid can do a “fast import” and simply re-wrap the prores into MXF.[/i]
True.

[i]This is much faster than transcoding.[/i]
Hardly. Transcoding ProRes to DNxHD is really fast.