[Roger Cassidy]

Hello Brooks, I have not yet burned a DVD – but since Sorenson gave decent output (some loss of colors in encoding as always), I don’t see a problem in creating the final DVD. As far as Editing Software on a PC, it depends on your needs. If you are planning to produce many documentaries/films, then you should stick to the two industry leaders: 1. Avid MC (very steep learning curve, more powerful). They are also offering some cool deals right now to catchup on the prosumer market with FCP. or 2. FCP (easy to learn and “cool factor” with perhaps less functionality at the very high end). FCP is probably also a little cheaper. Quicktime is also native to FCP, so it won’t convert the files unlike in Avid.
Else look at the all-in-one suites like Avid Liquid or Sony Vegas.
Goodluck!

[Roger Cassidy]

Yes, it was straightforward import and I managed to edit the footage and also successfully encode it to both HD and SD in Sorenson. However, I have not yet converted this to a DVD to see how it will play. This is my first time working with HD and I hear that there are a lot of nuances and tricks to learn. There are some tutorials on vimeo.com but all of them focus on FCP.

The Canon 5D2 produces amazing HD footage. You must have read that the downside is the lack of full manual control on the aperture and shutter speed. However, folks are now coming out with some tricks to control the aperture setting (see vimeo again). However, for a standard documentary without any fancy effects, I think this would be great fit. Especially if you don’t want to attract a lot of attention – you could be immersed in a crowd filming without anyone paying much attention and still get great footage without proper lighting if you have a fast lens. And another great side benefit if you have to produce a SD version is that SD compressed from HD looks much better.

Feel free to ask me any more questions you might have…

[Roger Cassidy]

Thank you – Scott & Terrence – for your responses. I will try out the standard import.

Just to clarify, we actually invested in the 5D2 to produce documentary films after seeing the incredible footage it produces. It doesn’t hurt that it is an incredible camera too. So in the sweet spot that I am – non-profit – and perhaps among other semi professional videographers, Canon 5D2 is going to be become very popular soon.

Good to hear that Avid has a new management. Hopefully that means a 21st century user interface soon to backup the incredible back-end capabilities.

[Roger Cassidy]

Thanks, Jon. I am traveling out of the country in Aug and I need to get up to speed on Avid immediately. I am most happy to assist you with your SF visit. I am not really knowledgeable about biking trails – just hiking trails. I will ask around and see if any of my friends know about it. Marin is so pristine and beautiful – regardless of what trail you take, I am sure you will enjoy it!

[Roger Cassidy]

Michael, Thanks for the encouragement. I really need it right now 🙂 I am in the San Francisco bay area and I am actively trying to locate someone who I can pay a consulting fee to teach me some basic organization and advanced techniques in Avid. Hopefully I can find someone soon. Thanks again.

[Roger Cassidy]

Thank you so much! Yes, that worked. I guess Avid is so focused on professional editors that they perhaps underestimate that there is a whole wave of amateurs getting into video editing for whom many of these things are not that intuitive. The delivered Avid tutorial doesn’t touch upon what you said either. Premiere seems a lot more intuitive. Again, this helps me out so much – thank you!!

[Roger Cassidy]

Thank your for your response. I will confirm the driver compatibility.

[Roger Cassidy]

Thanks for all your responses, certainly a few angles to think about… To answer an earlier query…we will probably end up using something like a Sony PD 170 or a similar model from Canon.

[Roger Cassidy]

Thanks, Eric. I will surely check out the books you have referred.

[Roger Cassidy]

Thanks, Eric. I need to author documentaries and educational discussions containing subtitles and multiple language tracks. DVD authoring is important for me as my menus will have a lot of text information. I have started looking outside of Encore 1.5 for the following reasons:

1. I cannot seem to get “true” professional quality menus with nice transitions, etc. using Encore. I get blackouts (even on the DVD player) when I transition from a first play message to the actual menu, during “tediously” created transition menus. However, I do like the interface of Encore and its integration with Photoshop.

2. For some reason, the text in my menus never comes out looking sharp on the screen…getting jagged edges. I have experimented with different colors, shadows on the text, etc. but I have not had much success. The text is not bad but not like I have seen in professional DVDs. Part of this I guess is my inexperience but I certainly think a DVD Authoring software should be able to create better looking text for the screen without guess work.

3. I am evaluating both Premiere (soley for the integration aspects) and Avid for editing and hence if I go the Avid route, then I don’t want to buy Encore standalone for $499…I don’t think it is worth that price.

I can’t see any need right now for scripting, etc. — I just need a package that can create true professional quality DVDs.

Thanks. Your thoughts will be much appreciated.