[Matthew Skeris]

We’ve covered alot of ground in one day, thanks again,Erik.

Alright- here’s some follow up: Where do I get the DNxHD 145 codec and will it work in XpressProHD? If you think it looks better than
an uncompressed AVI, I’ll take your word for it. I had made a 48 sec. uncompressed AVI that was in a 24fps 1920×1080 comp- the rendered file weighed in at 7GB. Any idea what the size-savings is with the Avid 145 codec? (I’ll look for it and info on avid.com)

You mentioned several terrabytes- I have started to fill my third 400GB drive with images, but I believe these edit systems will need to look for importable files from one “drive”. I think this is what you are driving at.

Back to possible workflows: I am now wondering if rather than first rendering anything and everything in AE (with the 145codec or uncompressed), what if I offline in HDV with wide-stretched Avid sequential jpeg imports, but viewing/editing with the Composer monitor in 4×3 and some kind of 16×9 mask, just to get started. Then, if Automatic Duck allows for it- I will bring my first draft to AE where I hopefully can somehow wind up only importing the sequential Jpegs used in that draft. How does that sound?

[Matthew Skeris]

Thanks again for your workflow advice, Erik.

I am guessing, but suspect, that even after I use Avid’s consolidate on my first draft, I would still need to uprez/re-render the full version of the various Comps still used in order for them to Relink to my timeline after I delete the low-rez media. Does that sound correct?

This is where I start getting interested in exploring Automatic Duck, to learn if it can reduce the amount of uprezzing I would need to do- making the uprez more efficient in terms of time and storage.

[Matthew Skeris]

Thanks for the detail. So what about offlining in XProHD with that in mind? Is there a way for me to do all those time-consuming
re-positionings during an offline and have those FX (as well as dissolves, timewarps) come across into a DS project?

I was thinking of offlining in an HDV Project. With the possible exception of viewing my full-frame-but stretched-wide imported Jpg sequences in 4:3 mode (to squeeze them back to normal) and applying PiPs to reposition clips up or down, I can’t imagine how to do it- except with the DS editor taking over on a shot-by-shot basis.

I’m gonna lay my eyes on a DS one of these days– good to know it’s an option. I imagine the media storage costs are not trivial for a feature length project.

I’m still interested in AE and other workflows, especially if I can do the nudging and noodling myself.

[Matthew Skeris]

Thankyou, Grinner. I am willing to do whatever prepwork it takes if it allows me to function in a creatively flexible way. I know avid editing, but I don’t know HD or AE well at all. If the smart choice, as you suggest, is to render my JPG sequences as uncompressed AVI and do imports into the AvidXpressProHD, I can see how that makes sense.
(I’ve got upwards of 750GB in Jpgs)

Note to self: does Consolidating a first draft in Avid also reduce the size of the original uncompressed AVI? Answer to self: probably not.

At some point I need to clarify what Automatic Duck does in terms of my project. from what I gather, it will create comps that mimick my avid timeline, but will it allow me to “uprez”. (see my last post)

p.s. I may not be following you about DS- were you talking about single images only, or would “move it around as ya like” also apply to
Jpegs Sequence imports that may exceed the 1920×1080 frame?

[Matthew Skeris]

Thanks again, Erik. AE is an option, but I am dealing with over 800GB of jpgs that I shot over the past year. If I render an uncompressed AVI at 1920×1080, it creates a file that may be rather large, especially if I add slow-downs at that stage. Plus, the avid mediafiles will take up some room, too. I don’t mind investing in more drives, but I am asking for a proven workflow so I don’t just wing it.

A friend once showed me on his AE system how he could set up a Comp to render at low-res, like DV25. Possibly HDV-size. That makes sense, but I just can’t put the pieces together in terms of how I would get an Avid (XpressProHD or above)to communicate with AE so that I can re-render each original Comp back to full uncompressed AVI, then “Relink”. And hopefully just the bits I need after I Consolidate a first draft.

p.s. I don’t understand what you are saying about importing into “pan and Zoom”. As far as I know, that’s a tool for single Jpgs.

[Matthew Skeris]

Erik, thanks for the explanation. My graphics are indeed the wrong ratio for HD/HDV, but as individual jpgs, before turning them into “sequentially imported masterclips” they exceed 1920×1080.

I guess I was wondering if there was a 5th import option, one that would perfectly fit the widest dimension (2816) and throw away some part of the shortest dimension (2112).
With an option like that, I wouldn’t need to “Pan and Scan”, which as I understand it, degrades an image by zooming in on that 1920×1080 masterclip. (btw, does XproHD even offer Pan and Scan?). Yes, I’m doing an offline, so image-quality shouldn’t matter all that much, however I do not understand the workflow. Which online avid product would permit the image sequences I import in XproHD to maximize their “pixel potential” and avoid any upscaling upon import.
Is this what DS does?

[Matthew Skeris]

Just to clarify- the newly captured clips’ TC doesn’t need to match exactly the original TC in order to Relink- they will still Relink if the Starting TC is earlier and/or the Ending TC is later.

Also, the clip must have the same DF or NDF status as the original.

[Matthew Skeris]

Yes, you can get Avid to Relink clips used in an offline sequence, if the newly captured clips have the same Tape Name and the Starting TC and Ending TC is equal to or greater than the original. This is done by using “Relink to Selected” (or wording like that)when the offline sequence and the new clip are highlighted in a bin.

So what you can do is make a duplicate of your offline sequence into a new bin and add just one of your clips into the same bin, highlight them both and watch it work.

[Matthew Skeris]

Custom Sift for text in Script boxes does work in v4.6. You can try a test using a New User and/or New Project, maybe your software is funky, corrupt or has a bug.

Spell check, wildcards, sifting of clips that contain Locator text- all these well-intentioned requests have been made over and over again and ignored over and over again for so long, it’s just funny.

OTOH, if you get into this product, https://www.avid.com/products/datasheets/Interplay_SolutionsBrief.pdf
you might find the cutting-edge search tools you expect. Check out the sales pitch: “A deep database with a friendly face. The internet access client offers multiple views of search results with detailed information about attributes and organized the way the user prefers…”

sounds good, no?

[Matthew Skeris]

How can “three taps” or pressing Ctrl+Shift+A be easier than simply pressing ONE button, which when mapped properly does the exact same thing? Hey, to each his own…