[Ryan Jensen]

There’s a limit to the number of files that can be in the Avid Media Files Folder, that’s why there was two. If I’m understanding correctly, when you moved the 1 folder to the 2, you probably went over that max.

Separate the mxf’s into at least two folders, you can call it 1 and 2, or whatever, and make sure each folder doesn’t have over 2000 files in each. Add a third if needed. It doesn’t matter what mxf’s are in what folder, just kill off the database files and let Avid re-index it.

Hope that helps!

[Ryan Jensen]

Did this start happening when you change your GFX card?

Avid is very specific with the GFX drivers it needs.

[Ryan Jensen]

Have you tried uninstalling and then re-installing the application?

[Ryan Jensen]

Odd. It may be 7.0 compatibility with the AMA plugin. That version works fine on the older versions of MC. I may reach out to someone I know with a c300 and using 7.0 – havent heard any complaints about it. We use c300’s and may be upgrading to 7.0 soon, so I would like to see this issue cleared as well.

Have you rached out to Canon and report a potential bug in the AMA? Also, is it possible to download an older version if the plugin to see if that one works?

Something also to consider (though time-consuming) is a full re-install of Avid and download the latest version of all AMA plugins.

If you could keep this thread posted as you find out things that would be great.

[Ryan Jensen]

Canon released an AMA update (2.0.3 I believe). I saw that the one being used was the old one. This old AMA version has issues with the spanned clips and was fixed in the latest version f the plugin.

Hope that takes care of the problem!

[Ryan Jensen]

It’s probably just because it’s AVCHD. That’s a long GOP codec that you’re trying to transcode. It’s always going to take awhile when doing that.

To reduce your time, you’ll have to reduce the variables involved.

If your project know your project is XDCam EX, if you can shoot XDCam EX it will go in a lot faster, just a matter of re-wrapping.

Have you tried linking to AMA and transcoding versus just import? AMA has a newer code than import and is a lot faster.

[Ryan Jensen]

Might be corrupt database files. Have you tossed them and let Avid re-index?

Also, check to make sure you don’t have any illegal characters in the filenames of your source material: hyphens, spaces, dashes, parenthesis, colons, etc…

I’ve also heard this may come up if your media drive is full, but I’m sure you already checked that.

What exactly were you doing when this cropped up?

[Ryan Jensen]

Your graphics card may be something to look into as well. I don’t know what you’re currently using, but some of the new ones have features that can help accelerate the render / export time. Someone else will probably have to speak on this one, however. But I think nVidia would be a good place to start researching.

However, I don’t know what your budget is like, but Telestream Vantage might be a good option now or in the future. It offloads the exports to a centralized server. It requires an Avid Transfer manager (I believe), but it can automate your workflows and free up some time on your workstation. You still have to render, but the encoding would be handled by Telestream.

[Ryan Jensen]

I also came from a FCP background, so I can understand your initial frustration. But the longer I’ve been in Avid, the more I appreciate the manner it does things.

First off, the import function does what you say – imports and transcodes the footage to the corresponding Avid codecs (DNxHD, 1:1 SD, etc). Then you would edit the footage from there.

The great thing about AMA is that it operate much like what you are used to in FCP. But instead “dragging and dropping” into your project, you “link-to” your media. You can then edit with the media right there, then transcode on the back-end. It’s essentially the reverse of import.

Import: Transcode first, then edit
AMA: Edit first, then transcode

You can also just transcode in the media that you used. Say you only used the first 10 seconds of a 2 minute piece, you can set the transcode function to only bring in that first 10 seconds (and add handles to it if you like).

The equivalent codec to ProRes is DNxHD. There are different flavors of this, such as DNxHD 145, 220, or 220x. The numbers have to do data rates of the codecs.

You may be also wondering why you have to transcode at all – FCP or even Adobe Premiere allows you to just “drag and drop” like you said. But having a standardized codec within Avid prevents you from constantly rendering, it’s an industry-standard codec and frame rates, and improves overall stability. If you are in a multi-user environment, also helps with dealing with bandwidth without any loss of visual quality.

As far as importing your test footage, you could try it both ways, import and AMA, to see the difference. When using AMA, once your finished you can right-click on the sequence and select “Consolidate/Transcode.” Select transcode and whatever Avid codec you need. With something small like 640×480, your probably looking at SD codecs (1:1 is uncompressed, 3:1 is more, 9:1 is even more, etc). I’m not really sure though – haven’t edited much with 640×480 footage.

Hopefully that helps!