[Oakmozart]

You’re not trying to put it on a title or graphic effect, are you?

All effects that are included in the Retail version of XPro are included in the Academic version.

If I were you, the first thing I’d do is uninstall/reinstall the software. See how that works. I’m sure there’s other things to try that I’m not thinking of, but if it were me, that’s what I’d do.

[Oakmozart]

Oh yes, I’m very familiar with Mr. Williams…from what I’ve seen, he’s a great guy.

Thanks for the links. Interesting that I missed it on Avid’s forums. I’ll investigate further.

Thanks.

[Oakmozart]

Where does it say that? I’ve never heard it said from anyone at Avid. Even the ACSR’s have told me to immediately disable it…even on a single-chip P4 w/hyperthreading. I’d appreciate a link to investigate this further.

[Oakmozart]

Hyperthreading is not officially supported for Xpress Pro HD (or any other Avid NLE software that I know of). It WILL run on computers that have hyperthreading enabled, but HT makes the Avid system unstable/unreliable…ESPECIALLY if you have DNA hardware hooked up to it.

Hopefully this will be resolved in near-future releases of Avid software.

[Oakmozart]

Genarts Sapphire has one. I believe it’s called something like S_Jitter. In its default setting, if I recall correctly, it makes the frame shake so much you can actually see the “edges” of the frame. This is keyframeable to change that. It’s a cool effect and I’ve used it alot. I’m sure Grinner will attest to it as well, since he’s a Sapphire junkie! If you don’t have the loot for Sapphire, I don’t know of any plugins that will allow you to create this effect, though I’m sure you can do it in AE with an expression or two.

[Oakmozart]

QuadroFX 1100 = worth the money.

QuadroFX 500 = decent card and will serve you well for $200.

Quadro4 980 XGL = decent card that’s coming down in price. Replaced by QuadroFX 1100 (I think).

[Oakmozart]

Hold off for the next release of Newscutter (likely a maintenance release). Scroll-wheel support is coming! Because of this, you won’t need a jog/shuttle wheel. I know this for a fact, since it was told to the users on the Avid Xpress Pro Forum on Avid’s website by one of the principal software engineers at Avid. If it’s coming for XPro, it’s coming for Adrenaline, Symphony Nitris, Newscutter, etc. Here’s an exact quote from the engineer:

“You’ve been asking for scroll wheel support for months now. It was also a popular request at NAB this year. A couple of us in engineering decided that we would spend some of our personal time and sneak this feature in sooner rather than later.

But we didn’t stop there. We decided that we would go a little further than what you asked for and added even more new mouse features.

Of course, you will be able to use the scroll wheel to scroll through any window that has a scroll bar. The speed of the scroll is also configurable.

But now you have access to extra capabilities while holding down the ctrl key and scrolling. Depending on which window you are in, and which gadget is highlighted, holding down the ctrl key will let you perform the following:
* Select items or columns from your bin
* Move the blue bar indicator (frame forward and back)
* Adjust the value of sliders
* Adjust your trims while in Trim Mode
* And more…
Many of these features have an

[Oakmozart]

Shoot in standard progressive-frame (or even interlaced) mode and do the speed changes in post production. You can do it in discreet combustion 4 using the new Timewarp operator (though it probably won’t produce the smoothest slow-mo), or if you have access to a higher-end Avid system, use Timewarp/Fluidmotion for smooth speed changes and set frame speeds. If you’re working on Xpress Pro, use “Optical Flow” from Boris (available in Boris Continuum Complete AVX v3 and later, or in Boris Red 3GL), or look into SpeedRamp from 3Prong. Both have decent results.

https://www.3prong.com
https://www.borisfx.com

[Oakmozart]

Check your installer CD, in the “goodies” folder. There used to be a couple leader countdowns in there. They weren’t anything great, if I recall correctly, but they’re there. There’s a couple of great leader countdowns from Artbeats, in its Film Clutter 1 library (spendy though, at least $350), as well as one from Digital Juice, in one of its earlier Jumpbacks volumes (which can be had for $99).

Shop around for other stock footage on Google and see what you can find. You might be able to download just a single countdown clip for cheap.

[Oakmozart]

Avid software only works with Avid hardware. If you buy a DeckLink or Bluefish 10bit HD card, it won’t work with Avid and will be a waste of money. Your best bet is either 1) upgrade the computer and run your old Meridien boards, 2) “upgrade” to Xpress Pro HD + Mojo (which lacks the connectors you seek), 3) buy a Media Composer Adrenaline HD (got $35K + a new computer?) or 4) ditch Avid all together and buy a Mac dual-G5 computer with Final Cut Studio and your DeckLink or Bluefish 10bit HD card. You might even consider adding an AJA IO for more i/o’s, if you need more than what’s on your HD card. I hate to recommend the competition, but if they’re offering what you need in a budget that’s competitive with XPro, then I say go for it.

Avid knows that Mojo is WAY behind the powercurve. I think they either underestimated or flat-out ignored the market segment for Mojo. I do know this: they realize that Mojo’s shortcomings are going to have to be addressed if they wish to remain competitive in the “low-end” market (told to me directly from an Avid rep at an Avid gathering I attended earlier this week). How Avid solves the problem is anyone’s guess, but he told me that it will be addressed probably in the next 1-2 years. I won’t be convinced until I see it. For now, if one wants to stay with Avid, one must either upgrade to Adrenaline or live with their Mojo crippleware until Avid gets its act together.

Wish I could preach some good news to you, but the Avid gospel is looking pretty dreary right now. NAB ’05 was a solid testament to that.