[Stuart Haight]

Change your Log and Transfer settings to ProRes LT, should be less you don’t need full quality ProRes for AVCHD.

Student, started on Avid, learning FCP. Tapping into online/offline workflows & using XML/EDL between systems.

[Stuart Haight]

I still have a LOT to learn.

Thanks for the info.

I’m trying to get more active in the forums and up my knowledge of Avid and colaberative workflows. When it comes to this stuff I’ll let others explain it.

Student, started on Avid, learning FCP. Tapping into online/offline workflows & using XML/EDL between systems.

[Stuart Haight]

Well chances are you’re not going to be buying another laptop anyways whether or not you buy the [student] Avid software.

Basically it doesn’t matter. Just get the software, see if it will install, it should knowing Mac computers, if not, oh well then it’s time to upgrade so you can start editing.

When I got ready for my Avid purchase (student edition), I went straight to PC. Built up a completely capabile desktop for $1200 [Q6600 Quad 2.66GHz, 4GB 800MHz ram, QuadroFX1500, some legit motherboard, XP Pro] 3 years later today, I’m running Avid MC5 without a problem.

It’s up to you. Go Mac and spend $$$ and be set for a while AND have FCP at the same time. Or be me and spend $ on a PC, learn FCP later [and quickly realize that FCP is just a video editor, nothing else].

Student, started on Avid, learning FCP. Tapping into online/offline workflows & using XML/EDL between systems.

[Stuart Haight]

As Michael already mentioned…

Software version (student version) does not have Boris FX/Squeeze program.

BUT, as far as everything being in-house, the Avid MC program is a seeeriously powerful program.

Sure, all programs can edit, but…

Avid’s style of editing is more intuitive, more keyboard & less cliking and dragging = way faster and less painful.

My favorite in-house effects/tools include:
-motion tracking (up to 4 per effect, which can be submerged, meaning you can have a ton of trackers on hand)
-spot color effect (don’t just ‘apply’ but mearly CREATE/paint your image composition by making certain parts of an image brighter/contrastier/flatter/darker/saturated/RGB adjusted/color-match, all of which can have it’s own motion tracker so say goodby to keyframing
-paint effect, I don’t even know where to begin on this one
-color correction, blows FCP out of the water, non of this Drag and drop for 5 different things, it’s all there in one sweep, and you can use color correction effects like a video clip and drag and drop it where ever you want and fade them in and out or make a ‘flash’ cut
-create huge sequences within a sequence in one layer of video, FCP can do this but it requires making another sequence, going to that sequence to edit it then going back to the master sequence
-native .mxf support = instant access to XDCamEX/P2 footage including all the metadata that was inputed in the field BEFORE it was brought into the Avid

FCP has nothing like this. Yes it has color, but that requires ‘locking’ you edit, then sending it to Color, exporting it, then realizing your client wants something different, then you go back into FCP, make the change, then send it AGAIN to color, re-do everything, and repeat…

SO you have really everything you could ever want without stopping and sending a certain clip to a 3rd party program then re-importing it and re-linking it then managing where your files are bla bla bla.

None of that when you work on Avid, start and finish in Avid for almost any project requires a speedy delivery.

Oh and it works on PC = 1/2 the $ of a Mac, enough to buy a small light and audio equipment kit to go with that camera of yours.

Negitives of Avid:

AMA’ing is tricky with some files, this style of editing is new to Avid (it’s like FCP’s style), don’t try and edit h264 files natively, just don’t.

Student, started on Avid, learning FCP. Tapping into online/offline workflows & using XML/EDL between systems.

[Stuart Haight]

From H.264 5D files, AMA’d in Avid, then to Color, then to AE, then to DVD Studio 4.

“I can’t seem to find a solution for following workflow.”

For those who stumble across this, this is a very un-realistic.

Your biggest hickup is what you’ve shot on, a 5D, using H.264 files.

Equipment that you ‘apparently’ have on hand, but ‘somehow’ can’t afford Autoduck???

-Avid
-FCP/Color
-AE

SOLUTION 1:

1. Log-and-Transfer to ProRes 422/422HQ all your media
2. AMA link your ProRes media in Avid
3. Edit in Avid
4. *Lock the edit in Avid
5. Export AAF or EDL or whatever is preferred (I’m still learning these)
6. Use Autoduck to create FCP EDL/AAF/ALE or whatever
7. Import that sequence in FCP
8. *Double check/watch the sequence in FCP to Lock the edit or make minute changes (because you’re referencing to the original ProRes media, minute changes aren’t that big of a deal, but you should have finalized the edit before leaving Avid in the first place)
9. In FCP “Send Sequence to Color”
10. Color in Color
11. From Color, export a master ProRes 422 file.

As you noticed with this style of workflow, you only have a transcoding process happening 1 time = lots of win, and that was when you Log-and-Transferred the original h264 files in FCP, that way Color can see the ALE of the sequence containing ProRes media you edited in Avid

Problems with working with AMA’d ProRes in Avid, not any that I’ve run into other than the weird audio thing where it’ll repeat 3 frames and do that for 5 seconds, which doesn’t happen often but can get REALLY annoying.

Solution 2:

1. Transcode all material to DNxHD (either apon import, or…)
2a. Use 3rd party program to convert h264 into DNx
2b. “Fast Import” to Avid’s flawless .mxf environment
3. Cut in Avid
4. Lock the edit
5. Export same as source (quite fast)
6. Convert that DNxHD final version into ProRes
7. Import in Color
8. Finish and export in Color

With this, you only have a transcoding process happening 1 time but after you export, you have to convert again for import into Color, problem is that’s dumb because you’ll end up with one gigantic clip in color, not individual clips.

If you haven’t noticed, you are battling with Apple’s Color program because they don’t want to use the DNxHD codec (not that I know but from what I’ve read) and because you want to use Avid to edit…

Solution 3:

Some kind of Online/Offline workflow using DV25 as the offline (DV so that transcode times are faster), then re-link to the AMA’d files. Export EDL/AAF/ALE for Autoduck, then into FCP then to Color. I’ve had trouble doing this, I’m currently trying this style myself.

No matter what Avid and FCP just caaanot play nice at all… personally, both companies are somewhat both to blame, however more blame is on Color for not working with DNx .mxf files from Avid, and less so on Avid because of AMA’ing ProRes.

I would cut on Avid any day over FCP, but in this case you’ve got a funky workflow ahead of you especially if you want to correct h.264 files natively, which I might add, is only a 4:2:0 colorspace.

Student, started on Avid, learning FCP. Tapping into online/offline workflows & using XML/EDL between systems.