This is trick is from a recent Key Code Media event where I discussed Media Creation & Sharing with Final Cut Studio and Avid Media Composer 5.0. (see: Avid AMA, Telestream’s Pipeline, AJA’s KiPro)

In this demonstration, we use a Pro Res timeline in Final Cut Pro, send it to Avid without creating any new media, and have the sequence not only open, but also utilize the same media – all using Automatic Duck & Avid’s AMA feature in 5.0 – via a hidden (undocumented) trick!

Special Thanks to Avid (Casey Richards), Automatic Duck (Wes Plate), Telestream, Apple, and Key Code Media.

1. Can Avid 5.0 on Mac or PC play Pro Res?
   Yes, provided you have a recent version of Quicktime (free) installed.  This is required by Avid for installation.
2. Can Avid 5.0 EXPORT into ProRes?
   Mac: Not Natively, but yes.  Apple allows for any machine (Mac or PC) to PLAY ProRes with a current version of Quicktime, or with the free ProRes decode codecs from apple.com.  However, ENCODING into ProRes is limited to the OS having certain software(s) installed.

   This includes 1 of the following:

   • Final Cut Pro
   • Final Cut Server
   • Logic Pro
   • Compressor

   These apps install the proper ProRes component, which is needed for ProRes encoding.  There are sneaky ways around this without installing one of the 4 apps, however they all violate Apples EULA and are illegal, and can also be unreliable.…thus, don’t do it.

   PC: No.  Apple has not made it possible for any software manufacturer to do a software ProRes encode on a PC platform.

3. If I have ProRes in my timeline (Mac or PC) and create an effect, how does it render?
   Good Question.  On both Mac and PC – even if you have one of the 4 apps above installed, Avid 5.0 will NOT render into ProRes.  If you look in your media creation settings, Avid will default to another codec.
4. Then, how do I get my Avid project to FCP and vice versa?
   Wes Plate at Automatic Duck has you covered.  Automatic Duck provides for both of these scenarios.
   • Avid to FCP:  http://automaticduck.com/products/pifcp/
   • FCP to Avid: http://automaticduck.com/products/pefcp/

   Keep in mind, these are NOT yet (as of 5/20/10) qualified for Avid 5.0.  Usage of Automatic Duck with legacy media (OMF, MXF) may require some transcoding to work within the other editing system.  Depending on the workflow, the Automatic Duck software may be able to handle the transcoding for you.  See the README for each plugin.

Remember, all of this is based on an Avid 5.0 Beta – at least 30 days from release.  Features are of course, subject to change.   However, I do not forsee anything changing, due to Apple’s licensing.

On a side note, I am really, really excited about Avid 5.0.  NAB 2010 had me geeked, the beta has me jazzed, and I think this is one of the best steps Avid has taken in many years.

“I win!”

Bewildered, I respond with a puzzled “Excuse me?”

“I win!” he repeats.  “I knew you’d go Hollywood!”

Now this puzzles me.  Not only because TMZ and perezhilton.com are blocked at work, but that very day I was looking into flights to visit family and friends in Chicago, as well as planning my next trip from the Valley to Buena Park for some much needed Portillo’s.  In fact, not to much earlier that day I had made a decent Chicago pun.  (There are four directions in Chicago: Northside, Southside, Westside, and the Lake.)

“You swore you’d remember your roots, man.  But I read your blog, and you’re talking about stuff we’d probably never do in the Midwest.”

“Well, some would…” I rationalized.

“Hardly.  Didn’t you used to say the difference between L.A. and Chicago was a million dollars and 6 frames?  All of your stuff revolves around those two things.”

“Yeah, well…some people out here do 29.97…”

He cuts me off.  “They’re called Tape Ops.”

(We both chuckle.  Post geeks are an odd squad.)

So, in this post, I’ll be backing off the Hollywood-centric workflows, asinine acronyms, and strings of polysyllabic words and going back to some grass-roots issues.

On any given project, there are many editors, in many disciplines, and spread across many miles.  Therefore, getting YOUR stuff to work with THEIR stuff is imperative.  Thus, I present to you the best ways to get Final Cut Pro projects and/or media into Avid Media Composer.

First, it’s important that we understand how Avid deals with media.  As of March 2010, Avid understands media in 4 formats.  This may very well fluctuate in the next few months**, but for now, Avid understands media thusly:

1. Native Avid media – that is, captured by Avid.  Nowadays, this is usually in Avid’s DNxHD codec, which is analogous to ProRes – see chart below.  Avid, during capture into DNxHD, wraps this file in an MXF wrapper.  In legacy systems, instead of MXF, this would be a standard definition file in an OMF format. This media is understood natively by Avid, and requires no other transcoding or re-wrapping for usage within Avid.
2. Quicktime Media encoded with Avid’s DNxHD codec (with a .mov extension).  Avid can see this file, but will want to “wrap” it into an MXF wrapper before utilizing it within Avid.  This is not instantaneous, but is faster than a straight file import / conversion because it is not re-encoding the media.  Avid calls this a “fast import”. **
3. Via Avid’s AMA  – Avid Media Access. (v. 3.5 and above). P2, XDCAM, and GFCAM are understood natively (but ONLY camera native files with the mxf wrapper and original file hierarchy) **
4. Other Quicktime Media NOT encoded with the DNxHD codec, but still understood and playable by your Quicktime player.  Provided the codec is installed on your Avid machine, Avid can see it, but needs to import (transcode) and wrap the file into an MXF wrapper.  This is the longest of the techniques.

Knowing these rules, we can build several workflows which enable a FCP Project – or just the media – to get into Avid.

Just Media from FCP to Avid: Easiest Method (and Free!)

Media from FCP to Avid (click to enlarge)

• Download the Avid DNxHD Codecs (http://www.avid.com/dnxhd/ ) onto your Mac.  This enables FCP, Compressor, or any other encoding application on your same Mac to encode into DNxHD. (Remember DNxHD is a codec, so it can have a “.mov” extension).
• Export your timeline into a comperable DNxHD .mov format (see chart).  This yields a file with a .mov extension, but encode with a DNxHD codec.
• This file can be seen by Avid, who will then “fast import” it (wrapping it into an MXF wrapper), allowing you to use it in the most efficient way on the timeline.

GOTCHA: You can, of course, bypass the entire download of DNxHD codecs, just just export from FCP using the same codec FCP is using in the timeline.  This, however, complicates things for the Avid user.  What if they do not have the same codec you are using within FCP?  Worse yet, what if the codec you export with requires the other user to pay to get the codec?  For example, DVCProHD is not free for a PC!  Companies like Calibrated Software (http://www.calibratedsoftware.com/) charge $69 for a plugin to simply decode the file.  Rule Of Thumb: Make it as EASY as possible for the next person to use your media.

ADVANCED USERS:  From FCP, export a QT Reference.  Use your clustered or more robust encoding solution to encode into a .mov DNxHD file.  Quite possibly, your encoding solution may allow you to even wrap the DNxHD file into an MXF wrapper (OP1a compliant) which makes importing into Avid even faster!  (see #1)

Project AND Media from FCP to Avid (slightly not free)

Project & Media from FCP to Avid (click to enlarge)

• Purchase and download Automatic Duck Pro FCP Export ($495) http://automaticduck.com/products/pefcp/
• Download the Avid DNxHD Codecs (http://www.avid.com/dnxhd/ ) onto your Mac.  This enables FCP, Compressor, or any other encoding application on your same Mac to encode into DNxHD. (remember DNxHD is a codec, so it can have a “.mov” extension)
• Within FCP, export using Automatic Duck (see movie here: http://automaticduck.com/products/pefcp/FCPtoAvidwitMedia.mov).  In short, Automatic Duck creates a Project file Avid can understand, and you have the option within the export of converting the media to DNxHD AND wrapping it into an MXF wrapper.  All are read natively by Avid.  ALL IN ONE STEP. Can you dig it?

GOTCHA: (for you advanced users) This process can be slow, as Automatic Duck handles the media transcode and re-wrap.  This is a single threaded process, and cannot be done by another application.  This may yield a wait for longer form / media heavy projects.  In addition, there are a handful of effects that may not transfer over.  Check Automatic Duck’s documentation for limitations.

ADVANCED CONCEPT: Use Automatic Duck to export the Project.  Manually take the FCP Media and transcode into DNxHD or MXF wrapped DNxHD with your favorite encoder.  Take the converted Project file and media to the Avid.  Open the Project, and manually re-link to the transcoded media.  Depending on if the FCP media was wrapped in a MXF wrapper, Avid will either import it instantaneously, or necessitate a wrap into MXF.  While this may save time on the front end (manually doing the encode into DNxHD), you will lose that time by needing to manually re-link to the media within Avid.  Plus, you lose tons of metadata.  I am not a fan of attempting this.  But I will be glad to charge you for consulting on it.

NOTE: This workflow ensures the most amount of metadata transferring over.  Sure, you can save yourself $495, and try to work some magic with a generic EDL.  I’ve had zero consistent success with this, and only massive amounts of metadata loss, headaches, and a severe limitation in terms of effects transferring over.  Take it from Nancy Reagan: JUST SAY NO.

FOOTNOTE:  Quality loss is always a big concern.  There are hundreds of codecs out there – so I cannot possibly mention each one.  However, I can tell you what standard codecs in FCP equate to what codecs in Avid:

**Most likely in mid 2010, the line between #2 & #3  will become blurred.  That is, AMA being enabled to understand ANY codec Quicktime can read.  This means that Avid can play almost any media file you throw at it, so long as Quicktime on the same machine can play it.  While this is a fantastic concept, Avid will always perform better when dealing with multiple streams of video when all formats are in an Avid codec.  Avid only guarantees 3 streams of broadcast quality video via AMA, and I do not expect that to change once AMA is opened up fully to Quicktime.

***Avid’s DNxHD codec has “families”, for ease of use (snort) in terms of naming conventions (left column above). Depending on your frame rate, the bitrates (the last numeric digits) of the file can fluctuate slightly.  For example, DNxHD36 is for 23.976 fps material.  This “family” also encompasses 29.97 fps material encoded with the same codec, yet yields a file (technically) at DNxHD45.  Yes, I know: uber-confusing.  Look for a blog post on this soon.

Hope this helps.  Have any input?  I’d love to hear it.

*This document is applicable for Avid Media Composer 4.0.5 as well.  Check out the slight changes in the Avid Media Composer 4.0.5 README for more information.

Avid Media Composer Cheatsheet Version 4.0.4

Matt Stratton turned me on to Clicky Stats awhile ago, and through Clicky, I’m able to see what web searches come up with my blog as a result. I also see when these searches lead them to my blog – but then they leave because they didn’t find the answer. I thought since the search engines think I already have it on my site, perhaps I should.   Below is a sampling of the search queries that my website supposedly already has the answers for.  So, I present to you:

It came from the Searches, Volume 1.

dnx-36 firewire 400 and bandwidth requirements DNX36
Yes, DNxHD36  (aka DNx36) can certainly work through a firewire400 pipe. DNxHD36 runs at a 36mbps, while firewire400 has a theoretical max of 400mbps. This makes firewire400 a fine choice as a transport for DNx36 offline workflows.

29.97 and dnx36
This is a source of confusion for many Avid users, and I’m in the process of authoring a blog on this. DNxHD36 is a “family” according to Avid. While the “36″ label refers to the data rate for 23.976 material, the DNxHD36 “family” codec can be applied to 29.97 material. This would be technically known as DNxHD45 (45mbps as opposed to 36mbps).

“episode engine” cpu restriction
This is kind of vague. Within Episode, you can assign priority of encodes and cpu usage. Quicktime already is pretty poor with processor usage to begin with, however.

Metafuze Lossy?
Yes. After all, you’re transcoding from one codec to another – there will always be quality loss. In addition, DNxHD is a lossy codec – so, yes.

edit room day rate
This varies wildly. Depends what gear is in the room, what the room is used for (editorial, audio, finishing, color, etc.) your experience, and geographical location – and hell, what your rent is! Normally a reputable rental rate at a good facility would be a couple hundred bucks per hour or even much more.   As a side note / soap box,  don’t sell out the rest of the industry by undercutting other facilities.  Talent and experience are worth the money.  That’s a majority of what the client is paying for – not the gear.  By undercutting everyone else, the industry is forced to adopt your lower rate as a standard, then everyone has to drop their prices.  And the cycle continues. You’re shooting yourself in the foot.

Does clipster support facilis
Clipster runs on Windows XP 64bit, which Facilis has a client for. Fibre is the best choice (Ethernet won’t deliver the bandwidth needed), and it should be a recent version of Facilis software to enable file locking – volume locking will cause organization issues, but can be done.

convert red footage cluster setup
I wish I could do it better than these guys have:
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/compressor_multi_cores_stitzer.html
http://www.fcsoutlet.com/home/Studio_Outlet/Entries/2008/9/1_Virtual_Clusters_-_Compressor.html

fcserver script
Good luck. Most everything is manual at this point. Try CATDV as a more GUI based alternative.

QIO-PCIE sonnet tech
The QIO comes with either a PCIE host card or a E34 (Express slot) host card. Unveiled at NAB 2009, and finally shipping now! Mac only support for now. List Price is about $1000.

FTP, KiPro
Well, once the KiPro encodes to ProRes, you can certainly FTP the file – although it’s gonna be huge. Your best bet is to offload it to a portable drive for transport or use a transfer solution like StorageDNA.

share msm database avid
I can only assume you’d like two or more machines to access the same Avid Database at the same time, in order to share media. Nope – the functionality you are attempting to do is achieved through Avid Unity, ISIS, and Interplay.

final cut server frontend
Final Cut Server (FCSvr) clients have a front-end based in Java; it looks the same on Mac or PC – and the administrator can restrict what functions a client can have. A popular alternative is creating a web page interface which ties into the database and media of FCSvr. The functions on thew web page are usually limited and typically only used for “review and approval” functionality. Several companies out there can create a custom web based interface – although it is far from cheap.

episode pro pro res 422
Yes, If Episode is running on a Mac, you can encode and decode into any of the flavors of “ProRes” (1 word). Decoding is only available (currently) on the Windows version.

I’ve called this meeting today because I love you. And I want you to get help. You deserve it. We deserve it. As part of your family (albeit a lengthy alphanumeric system ID in your database), it’s my job to stick by you when the going gets tough. And tell you when you’re screwing the pooch.

This past year has seen a decline in sales around 25% across the entire Avid brand. While the economy is obviously is a large factor, let’s face it – the sales have been declining for a while. This is horrible – you were the originator; the gold standard; and still have some of the most fantastic and innovative tools and workflows around. But that’s not at all what I’m concerned about.

Avid, I could ramble on about cost, just where the heck you position yourself in the market (Pinnacle what?) and the proprietary hardware thing, but I’ll hold back on that. For now.

Avid, you’re just not…cool. There, I said it. You’re square. You’re boring. You’re dull. Like an instructional manual, you may have most of the answers, but you sure as heck don’t inspire me.

Your competitor, unfortunately, has the living embodiment of a deity as a figurehead, with the rounded corners and iGloss to seal the deal. While I don’t ask you to be the coolest kid around, I do wish you were a bit more hip. Hip with your already more than adequate functionality. People take notice when you’ve got the complete package. This reminds us that we are capable of abilities beyond ourselves and take the risks we may not normally take. They inspire. William Wallace. Benjamin Franklin. The Fonz. Who do you have, Avid? A new logo doesn’t cut it.

I’d like to see more flash. Be loud. Be sassy. Have some sizzle to that steak, yo.

Your product is unquestionably great. Your workflows and collaboration tools are still industry leading. But these qualities are often overshadowed by the awesomeness factor elsewhere. I know it sucks, but sometimes it’s like High School up in here.

What troubles me the most is you, Digi. I’ve been meaning to ask – are you a fan of the Chicago Cubs? I’ve always been more of a White Sox fan myself. However, coming from Chicago, I’ve long realized that the Cubs front office can field just about any team and still sell-out Wrigley Field daily. So, what’s the incentive to revamp things? The existing fan base is there regardless. They can spend less money and still be numero uno in Chicago. But does that really – really – make the fans happy? Avid Audio / Digi, are you listening? It’s been eight years since there was a professional solution refresh. Eight. In that time:

• Facebook has been invented and grown to over 400 million active users.
• American Idol has crowned 8 winners, and helped sell over 49 million albums.
• I’ve used the term “sonofabitch” (or some variant thereof) 3000 times (est.)
• Law & Order and subsequent spin-offs have aired over 500 new episodes.
• Apple has released 6 full desktop OS versions, while Microsoft has released…I lost track (I actually spent a large amount of time researching this, and the number – with all of the variants – lies somewhere between 2 and 31)
• Two presidential elections have occurred.
• You’ve had 1 professional solution.

It’s time, Digi. I don’t want to see you topple. How would you feel if some small time audio app suddenly captured the hearts and minds of the audio community and usurped your reign? Like Final Cut did with…oh wait. Nevermind.

So. Avid. And your many divisions. I pledge to continue to push you where I can. I’ll recommend you, and even stick with you when things are bad. But I’m worried for your future family. Will they even be there? Or will they abandon you in the retirement home?

Geek quotient increases several minutes in.

Avid Announces Support for New Apple® Mac Pro Computers for
Avid Media Composer® and Avid Symphony™

Qualified Configurations:

Apple Mac Pro Configuration One
- Two 2.66 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
- 6GB of DDR3 ECC SDRAM (6×1GB)
- 640GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512MB
- One 18x SuperDrive

Apple Mac Pro Configuration Two
- Two 2.93 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
- 6GB of DDR3 ECC SDRAM (6×1GB)
- 640GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512MB
- One 18x SuperDrive

Notes
• Avid will not support the single Quad-Core models, or the dual Quad-Core 2.26GHz model
• Configuration testing was done with Mojo-SDI, Adrenaline, Mojo DX, and Nitris DX.
• Qualified local storage includes Avid VideoRAID® ST, VideoRAID SR, and VideoRAID RTR.

Among the goodies:

Final Cut Studio 3: Increased RED support (confirmed), as well as no support for blu-ray within DVD Studio Pro. I am unsure if this means no authoring ability or the user not being able to even build a project.

Avid: Specs for Nehalem support. This is, of course, unofficial.

Nehalem Mac Pro

OS 10.5.6

2.66 or 2.93 Quad

Core Intel Xeon processors (8-core)

6BG of 1066 DDR3 ECC SDRAM

NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512MB**

640GB 7200-rpm SATA 3Gb/s

**It should be mentioned that I did not see any Mini Display Port extenders on the NAB show floor, which make any Nehalem Mac install extraordinarily difficult.  One can, of course, convert to DVI, as a fallback.

More as they trickle in.

I have only tried with DNxHD and on Unity (so everyone can see the same media), and verified all qt ref export settings with Avid…i.e. use network media resources, etc. I can recreate the issue as well.

My thoughts are that Avid Codecs changed in 3.5 from earlier revs (maybe for stereoscopic) and are not backwards compatible AND/OR the latest Avid downloadable codecs (1.10, from 1.9) do not have the same codecs as 3.5.

UPDATE #1: Examining the installer package from 3.5.1 shows the Avid PE and LE codec package as being 2.0.0, which is NOT available on Avids download site (avid.com/dnxhd).

SUMMARY: Avid apparently tweaked the codecs from 3.1.x to 3.5, and no one seems to have noticed yet. Theoretically, one should be able to take the codec installer (2.0.0) from the 3.5.1 editor install and use that on any system that needs to view media exported from a 3.5 editor machine. That does an end user no good who doesn’t have a copy of 3.5.1.

Update #2: The plot thickens. Avid has posted a link to the 2.0 codecs included within Media Composer 3.5.x (link here) however it is still *not* linked at the http://www.avid.com/dnxhd microsite. Bigger still is the fact that Avid has uncovered this is also a Unity issue. This has been escalated to top priority within Avid Engineering, and I’ve provided them with some sample footage. Until this is resolved, it appears QT Refs with 3.5.x are kaput. In addition both of the 3.5.1 releases (first rev of .1 AND 2nd rev of .1) do not address this issue.

Update #3: Avid Engineering informs me that revving to the as-yet-unsupported QT 7.6 should fix the issue, as wella s downloading the 2.0 codecs, both which appear to work.  Both the OS and my encoding solution(s) see the file and can play it / manipulate.

*whew*