[Mcqueen]

Thanks Dave. I am getting there now. Slowly though.

[Mcqueen]

Still can’t determine how to set the field dominance for output on either 32 bit .avi or .mov files

[Mcqueen]

Well? Can no-one help?

[Mcqueen]

I was happily using Avid Xpress 4.6 for four years and last month decided to upgrade to 5.7. It was a complete and utter disaster.
There are so many errors in 5.7 it is unbelievable.
They have changed the field dominance to upper field first which makes it impossible to import any 32 bit animations/titles you may already have.
It is also impossible to import files of any resolution other than 720 x 576 thus rendering the widescreen useless.
Avid are completely aware of this problem and have been for some time but being Avid they ignore it.
For arrogance and ignorance they are matchless.
Calls to technical support are

[Mcqueen]

Avid DV 3.5, Avid Xpress Pro 4.6 both treated PAL DV correctly as lower field first.
For some reason best known to Avid Xpress Pro 5.1.8 treated PAL DV incorrectly as upper field first then in version 5.2.4 it was back to the correct lower Field first but with 5.7.2 Avid has again reversed the dominance. I wouldn’t mind if they were consistently wrong but all these changes are ridiculous from a company masquerading as the industry leader.

[Mcqueen]

I don’t know whether India is PAL but if it is then most probably the Field Dominance has been mucked up by Avid.

The way I test for field dominance in software is to create a still non-interlaced image in Photoshop an old photo will do and import it first as Lower Field First then put it on the timeline for 30 secs. and watch the playout on a TV monitor. If it is stable then the software is Lower Field First. If on the other hand it jitters on playback then then import it as Upper Field First put it on the timeline and play it out it should be stable.

Once you have ascertained which Field is First then proceed accordingly.

In PAL DV the field dominance should be Lower Field First. Avid have without notice in their version 5.7.2 of Xpress Pro changed it.

[Mcqueen]

They have changed the field dominance in 25i PAL from the correct Lower Frame First to Upper Frame First. This of course means that all stock animations and titles properly saved as Lower Frame First as 32 bit AVI or QT files will not load.
If you want to use them you first have to re-render them as Upper Frame First. Then having imported them you discover that the alpha channel is lost and you cannot overlay them.

[Mcqueen]

Must be something to do with the alpha channel as I can import 1048 x 576 uncompressed AVI’s and QT’s at 24 bits.

The 32 bit anims still work in premiere as I installed an old version just to check.

[Mcqueen]

I purchased the 5.7 upgrade last week and have the following problems.

In a PAL DV project importing a still image has to be done as upper field first or it plays out jittery.

I am unable to import uncompressed AVI and QT animation files with alpha channels unless they are prepared as 720 x 576 Upper Field First which is fine for 4:3 but useless for 16:9. In version 4.6 I prepared my animations at a resolution of 1048 x 576 so that they would play out properly in widescreen.

Fortunately I formatted a spare HDD I had, installed Windows XP Pro then Xpress Pro 5.7 in case of problemsso I still have 4.6 on my other drive.
I have QT version 7.1.06 and Media Player 10 just as I had on the working system.

I have posted on the Avid forum without any luck and Avid themselves refer to Xpress users as lower end users.

[Mcqueen]

I was always under the understanding that PAL was Lower Field First until I met AVID.
My first version of Xpress Pro 3.5 I think was Upper Field First then when I upgraded to 4.6 it was Lower Frame First. Now with 5.7 it is Upper Field First again.
I am still using the same versions of QT and Windows Media Player so it must be Avid that have changed again.
This of course means all the stock titles etc that I have are all useless. Still having problems importing uncompressed AVI’s and QT’s in any other resolution than 726 x 576 in a DV project. In 4.6 I made my widescreen titles/animations 1048 x 576 and never had a problem.
I spoke to an avid sales rep recently and he referred to Xpress Pro users as the lower end of the market. This sums up Avid.