[John Pale]

In Avid 8.x there is a checkbox in the transcode window to retain the original frame rate. You are not forced to automatically conform to the project rate. I am not in front of a system right now so I can’t tell you the exact wording of the option

[John Pale]

If the clip does not match project frame rate or field order a Motion Adapter is automatically applied. A Motion Adapter is essentially a Time Warp effect and performs the necessary rate conversion/field conversion on the fly. Because of this, you cannot apply a Time Warp effect to your clip because, one already exists.

So yes, if you AMA Link, then transcode your clips tho the project frame rate/field order first, you will be able to apply TimeWarp effects normally.

[John Pale]

When you get a chance to test, I would love to hear about trimming performance (especially in trim mode). That’s always been the real issue with BMD products and Avid. I ended up switching back to AJA because of the constant bugginess of the drivers in this regard.

[John Pale]

Michael, this is beyond awesome. Thanks for doing this,.

[John Pale]

Shane’s advice is sound, but some things to consider since you mentioned you mentioned image quality in color grading…

I believe your cameras codecs are 8 bit. Transcoding to Avid DNX 175X may be of value there, It won’t improve the base image quality, but will give you more latitude in Color grading to avoid banding. However, If you are color grading within Avid, you can accomplish the same thing by just simply changing your render codec in the Media Creation settings to DNX 175x, and your renders will be 10 bit DNX175x.

One other thing to consider. Long GOP codecs might make your system sluggish, even if consolidated to Avid media. This is because it’s more processor intensive to decode. If your system isn’t up to it, you might want to consider transcoding to DNX 175x, if you have the drive space and your drives are fast enough.

[John Pale]

Make sure the audio is uncompressed. Get Info in QuickTime Player should tell you that (or look on the FCP bin).

[John Pale]

Avid, Adobe CC and even FCPX all have issues with El Capitan. If you edit, basically don’t upgrade until compatible versions are available. Have no idea about Lightworks 🙂

Can’t say I have never been a trailblazer and tried and unsupported update…but if you want to do that, it’s a must that you clone your boot drive first, so switching back is not so painful.

[John Pale]

You download them from the avid download center. Set up your account at avid.com if you have not done so.

[John Pale]

Agreed, it’s kind of a mess for new users. I think Avid fails to appreciate how utterly weird the ingest process is for someone unfamiliar with what’s been going on in Avidville for the past decade.

AMA (now simply called Link) has been around a fairly long time now. When it was first introduced, it wasn’t very capable and people still used Import for most things. Gradually, it’s gotten to the point where you can use it for most everything. Import needs to stay there for backwards compatibility with old projects at the very least. Personally, I still use Import for audio files and graphic files with alpha channels, as I find the behavior more reliable. Unfortunately Import still uses the old QuickTime engine to do its thing (relying on tech that Apple itself has deprecated). It’s been largely unchanged for years. It’s not just a DSLR issue.

[John Pale]

Wait….you were importing DSLR footage? Good grief…don’t do that. AMA link then transcode. Its more modern, accurate..and also faster.