Get your FCP Project and Media into Avid without any transcoding via Automatic Duck and Avid AMA
Gonna mix it up a bit with this post, and go video on ya.
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.
Final Cut Pro 8: A Wish List
On the heels of the recent uncharacteristically Apple statement about the future of Final Cut Pro, and then a fantastic post by a fellow Hollywood Tech Neighbor Philip Hodgetts, speculation has one again fanned the flames of excitement within the collective Final Cut Pro Kool-Aid drinkers. Thus, I thought I would examine the current gaps I see in the product. A wish list, as it were. And no, not minor keyboard shortcuts and the like, but fundamental features which I believe are needed to kick ass and chew bubblegum. Admittedly, many of these keep the “Pro” in “Pro Apps.”
Unfortunately, this *needs* to be said: None of the views expressed within this entry constitute any advanced product knowledge nor anything more than an educated guess. It’s Apple, you should know this by now. If I knew anything, I’d be shot.
Here are my top 20:
- 64-bit. Yeah, we all know it’s happening. Good.
- Stereoscopic Built in. FCP needs a filter – much like 3D toolbox – which allows for a video track to have a second video track overlayed and locked to it at the same time. This filter needs various flavors of 3D (side by side, over/under, interlaced, anaglyph, etc.) convergence, sync points, and basic color controls – all keyframeable. These “tweaks” and timecode (plus other metadata) needs to be exportable via XML or EDL for use with other systems.Yes, I know 3D Toolbox and Cineform do this, but native support is, of course, welcomed. This is a massive feature that Avid has and FCP doesn’t, and I don’t expect Mr. Jobs to ignore the fact that Hollywood uses Avid for this fact – and not FCP.
- blah blah blah send to mobile me which sends to Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, grandma’s rotary phone with one click blah blah blah also send to iTunes cloud for sharing your video and video playlists with friends blah blah blah.
- Unlimited RT was cool for a couple years, but now, c’mon – just support more native formats in the timeline. Log & Transfer has still has some good uses when you don’t want to edit in the native camera codec, but realistically, every other NLE supports more and more native camera formats in the timeline. If Apple wants to continue to make their apps more geared towards consumers, then support what consumers are generating. That being said, native DPX and image sequence support would be very, very, very nice.
- Add mixing of frame rates, frame sizes, and audio sample rates without needing Unlimited RT.
- Shared projects. FCP has always been a single user environment. Aside from XML exchanges, (which – let’s face it – bloat your project quickly) FCP really needs some kind of shared project environment, a la Avid Unity. I concede I can see where this may be rolled into an XSan environment, but collaboration is being stifled by this limitation.
- Break the large frame size restriction. Large graphics and frame sizes will bring FCP to it’s knees. I’m sure 64-bit will help to remedy this.
- More efficient round tripping without exporting. The Motion roundtrip is great. The Soundtrack Pro is not.
- More efficient Compressor CPU utilization (have you seen how bad it is?) and a more reliable QMaster for distributed rendering. QMaster breaks or loses track of nodes way to often and is not nearly as efficient as it could be. I’d love to see a PC verison of QMaster to add PC’s into the mix (Hey, Apple *has* made a few Windows apps)
- Distributed Rendering – not just Compressor encode based. Maybe even background rendering whenever the mouse isn’t moving. (i.e. the system is never idling – always rendering)
- Better support for uber high powered video cards (NVidia 4800, 5600, 5800, etc) with or without SDI, plus better leveraging of the card’s GPU. I’d love to get a high end video card and have the option of using SDI for output instead of a Kona or Blackmagic card.
- Blah blah FCP project blah blah iPad blah blah look at what I’m doing to this video in real time blah blah blah get video from iPhone too blah blah blah roundtrip video from apple mobile devices along with comments blah blah blah
- Initial deployment of cloud based editing. C’mon, the writing is on the wall. It may not be ready for primetime, but there has got to be some hooks to edit material already sitting in the cloud.
- Email notifications for everything. Renders, exports, media moving, FTPing, etc.
- Skinnable and/or color scheme changes, and more control over ALL text and button sizes – not just Browser and Timeline text.
- Versioning, not just incremental autosaves.
- Facial and verbal recognition and tagging of this in FCP, which populates the metadata fields in the browser, with markers. Couple this with a form of Script Sync, and we now have a way to associate searchable media and text for faster usage. Facial recognition has been out for a few years with iPhoto, many applications out there have decent verbal recognition, and Script Sync…well, the other “A” company has had it for many, many years.
- Edit while live capturing of the same footage. Several other plug-ins have already been doing it for years.
- R3D native support. Wavelets got FCP on the map with RED users, but the hand tieing because of the extractions made it a pain.
- Real Time LUT based filters. Apply a filter that reads LUTs and BOOM, instant RT “looks” for the Editor. Maybe even applying a LUT while capturing or during Log & Transfer for permanent bake-in….?
Avid 5.0, ProRes, and You
I’ve been getting massive web traffic and emails from people looking to use ProRes within Avid, as well as outputting ProRes from Avid. With Avid Media Composer 5.0 due to be released next month, the two playing nice with one another will be paramount. I drew up this short Q&A for fellow coworkers at Key Code Media, and I thought I’d share it here.
- 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. - 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.
- 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. - 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.
My NAB 2010 Hit List
Once a year, us posties flock to our mecca, and plant ourselves within the bowels of sin city to suckle from the geek teet, and bask in all it’s acronym run glory. We spend too much on cheap food. We spend way more on alcohol, and desperately try and find which one of the vendors will have the best afterparty. Walking each hall and floor tenderizes our feet as if Rocky Balboa was in training. We hoard swag in the several free branded bags slung over both shoulders. We shout over the tens of thousands of other people asking the same questions, and demand specifications about balsawood products that won’t ship until next year. We play business card roulette and find out who is where. We reminisce about older, bulkier and more expensive technological solutions, the same way we’ll chuckle over this years offerings in 10 years.
Aren’t you psyched? I’ve been packed since Thanksgiving.
I’m lucky enough to be a part of many of the vendor meetings (yes, I still feel lucky) to hear some behind the scenes and roadmap information. This year, I even get the added bonus to be a special corresspondant for the Digital Production BuZZ; the official (and on the show floor) podcast of NAB. With this impending information overload, I’ve made a short list of the biggies I need to be sure to check out.
AJA: PCIe cards with 3G. That would be friggin’ sweet. Imagine your Kona 3 having two 3G outputs. This kind of bandwidth would allow for for Dual Link 4:4:4 and perhaps even full frame Left and Right Eye 3D – at resolutions at or above 2K. Michael likey. I’m also hoping to see a more enhanced KiPro; perhaps a more robust web interface for metadata, extra storage, and *maybe* other codecs.
Avid: Of course. With Apple (still) not having a booth, that leaves Avid as the sole NLE juggernaut on the floor. Due to NDA, I have to dance around the Media Composer 5.0 offerings, but I am excited about what will be shown. Several game changers, in terms of media usage, management, and viewing. Avid is really making a push, across the board, to be a bit more open. Kudos. I’d love to see Metafuze become (easily) cluster-able, and be a bit more efficient – if that is, indeed, how Avid will continue to utilize 3D. The smell of a Unity revamp is in the air, and I can only imagine an ISIS / Unity / Cuisinart hybrid.
Blackmagic: DaVinci. Lots of rumors about what the product is being morphed into since the purchase. What will Resolve become?
NewTek: TriCaster, natch. The Standard Definition units and now the XD300 are some of the few products in the past few years that have really knocked my nerd socks off. We lost 3 baseband inputs when the jump was made to HD – but I completely understand the limits of technology. To do all TriCaster does – in real time – hey, ya gotta make some sacrifices. A guy can hope that a unit with more inputs will be available. I’d also love to see an easier way to make 3D sets; much like the old Virtual Set Constructor NewTek had. However, perhaps an app that allowed for HD virtual set construction with user defined areas for super imposition / PIP, as well as reflections – like their pre-baked sets have. Creating these without Lightwave would be a huge benefit.
Cineform: I am totally in love with Neo3D for stereoscopic monitoring in Final Cut Pro. I’m hoping for a more reliable way to reconform, rather than just pulling timecode from the “paired” file. I’d also love to see distributed encoding into the cineform codec, so we can flip files faster. Perhaps the ability to have different views between the Canvas and the video hardware I/O output. Maybe more editing ability – like the 3D Stereo Tool box plug-in has.
Root6: I’ve been jonesin’ for the ability to have web based interaction with Content Agent. I’m also hoping to see some abilities to utilize more P2 based file formats that we use here in the States, but hasn’t taken off in the UK. I’d also like to see the incorporation of Digital Rapids 3.x software into the fold. Stream 3.0 introduced a host of features, and Content Agent is still utilizing Stream 2.5.x.
CatDV: Another piece of enabling software that is part DAM/MAM and part friggin’ awesome. I don’t expect anything more than further ass kicking. Automatic Duck: Wes has always been finding new and creative ways for project and media interchange. I can only hope that he’s been a bloodhound on the Avid 5.0 scent and will be ready to rock and roll. (If not – Wes, call me Monday at 9.01am. I have some ideas. We’ll make MILLION$).
Telestream: Can’t say much. Just go to the booth. Game changer(s).
Apple: Yes, I know you don’t have a booth, but you WILL be there…in some suite. A shiny one, I bet. Lurking. Taunting. iPadding. I’d love to nibble on the cheese in the mousetrap of Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Server. Who am I kidding? It won’t happen. But I can hope that maybe after the 5th or 6th round of Apple martinis, something will slip. And if that fails, there’s always roofies and knifepoint.
Autodesk: SMAC – Smoke 2010 for Mac OS X – is generating a ton of buzz. I’m hoping more modules will be written, and enhanced codec support.
Facilis: File Level locking is here! Hooray! But not for everyone. Mac 64 bit, and a few other choice configs – not so much. What say you, Facilis?
Assimilate: Lucas Wilson is the MAN. When he and Tony get together, stars align. Plus, their boss is named Taco… 
How can that trifecta be ignored? I’m gonna be looking for additional hardware options and configs for Scratch, and perhaps a wee bit more editorial options and project interchange. Howabout more efficient use of the Red Rocket card and hey RED, howabout stability on a Mac?
Other Hot Topics I’ll be sniffing out:
Easier and less expensive Blu-ray authoring for Mac and PC.
Larger Stereoscopic monitors at lower price points, both in Active and Passive varieties.
Anyone who wants to buy me a drink.
It Came From The Searches Volume 2
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 I can decipher from cryptic keyword searches) that my website supposedly already has the answers for. So, I present to you:
It came from the Searches, Volume 2.
March 10th, 2010 – March 18th, 2010.
optimum use of cores on macpro using redrushes
As many as humanly possible. Unfortunately, Red Rushes is not as optimized as it could be, so there will be plenty of horsepower left over, even when red rushes is chugging away. We have to wait for Red to enable distributed transcoding, or, use another encoding solution.
FinalCutServer Slows down
What is slow? The transcoding? Check in / check out? Network traffic will slow check in / check out. Background processes and concurrent users will slow down Final Cut Server – especially if transcoding is happening in the background.
“Prores Avid Import” , “importing FCP into Avid MC” , “convert DNXhd to pro res 422” , “how to import mac prores into avid”
Right here: http://michaelkammes.com/editorial/getting-final-cut-pro-projects-andor-media-into-avid-media-composer/
P2 or DNxHD?
What flavor of P2? You can edit more tracks within Media Composer in real time with DNxHD. You also have more latitude when color grading and compositing, but files sizes are traditionally larger (assuming DNxHD 145 or greater).
unity nab rumours
Yeah, sorry. NDA.
avid dnxhd convert to prores
I assume you are on a PC. Windows cannot encode into ProRes – Apples limitations. If you’re on a Mac, you can export to ProRes from the Export menu, and change your codec / compression to ProRes.
Avid-qualified Windows-based with quad core processors
http://www.avid.com/products/Media-Composer-Software/system-requirements.asp
I will caution that if this a single quad (and not a dual quad) then only the newest Nehalem based Processors (HP z400, for example) can handle DNxHD encoding in RT.
Avid Mass Storage
Avid has several flavors of their own storage –VideoRaid SR (local) and Unity (shared) and ISIS (enterprise shared). However, Avid can use just about any storage that your OS can understand. I recommend firewire400 at the bare minimum (no USB) and esata, infiniband, or fibre if you can afford it.
“michael kammes”, “mkdc”, “micahel kammes”, “Michael Kammes Burbank”
Why yes, that’s me. Whats up? Say hi to your mother for me.
“DNxHD PE codecs IN FCP 6” , “quicktime output avid media composer for final cut hq“
Ya gotta download them.
http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=263545
FCP can export to any codec QuickTime understands…so, once you download the codec you’re golden. Keep in mind , this will export a DNxHD .mov file, NOT a DNxHD .mov in an MXF wrapper, which is what Avid needs to understand a file without transcoding or a quick import.
getting broadcast quality for fcp mov
That’s tough. ProRes is not a SMPTE standard, therefore, delivering a ProRes file will never be required for a broadcast deliverable. So, you can either A) lay it off to tape or B) transcode to a SMPTE compliant file. DNxHD, for example, is a SMPTE standard. DNxHD 145 closest in quality to ProRes 422.
“”final cut” network storage best practice” , “final cut server edit in place”
Permanent storage, like fibre. FCSvr does not like storage to go offline. Ever. Thus, get permanent storage, and set it as an “Edit in Place”, so FCSvr does not need to copy media to and from it to do conversions. EiP tells FCSvr that the storage is permanent. I recommend a RAID and several spindles, A) for speed B) for redundancy and C) faster performance for multiple users.
inexpensive final cut pro server
Buy a new, base level Xserve. Buy a 10 seat FCSvr license, buy a small RAID5 array, and buy Matt Geller’s book “Getting Started with Final Cut Server.” For anything more advanced, you’ll probably have to contract out.
the best fibre storage for final cut server
How much do you need? I’ve always been a fan of Sonnet or G-Tech.
better than final cut server
CATDV, in most cases. http://www.squarebox.co.uk/
edit in place final cut server rights share
If I understand this correctly…. Yes, you need to have Read AND Write permission to any volumes FCSvr will use. Yes – even if you don’t intend on writing to the volume, you still need that ability. It’s a limitation of FCSvr.
mxf wrap dnxhd
High(er) end encoding solutions can handle it, like most of Telestreams product line.
do stereoscopic 3d mxf files take up more storage space
Nope. Avid dumps half of the picture information to get to signals (left eye and right eye) into 1 HD Frame size. The remaining 2 halves, when combines, equal one regular frame. Thus, same file size.
“avid media” samba share
Nope, can’t do it – if you’re trying to share an OMFI or MXF folder within Avid.
Mac Pro 8 Core 2.93 Nehalem install red rocket
Red Rocket is not entirely stable on Mac, and the workflow is kluge. Wait a little bit.
difference between pro res 422 & pro res 422HQ
Higher bitrate. Both are 10bit, but HQ has the ability for higher quality because of less compression.
quality loss transcode to 220x?
What was the original source? If uncompressed, you should see no difference on the scopes.
“Ruby on rails and final cut server” , “final cut server Web-Based Review and Approval issues”
One of my favorite “wow!”s during a demo. Ruby on Rails released a “module” for FCSvr which gives basic functionality and framework for a web based review and approval process. It’s buggy and kinda unreliable, but gives people a GUI concept of what FCSvr can do.
dnx36 file format
Great Avid Offline Codec. Not broadcast quality, but looks great. DNxHD36 is for 23.976fps material, DNxHD45 is for 29.97fps material – but both belong to the DNX36 family.
optimum compressor config for final cut server
Use those virtual clusters!
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
Hum in Avid sdi Mojo analog audio signals
Sounds like (ha!) you have unbalanced audio going into your Mojo SDI. This is common – with no ground, hums (60Hz, usually) often occur because of dirty power and/or a power cable being to close to your audio gear. Put a ground lift on your AC plugs or power-strips
encode red r3d episode engine
As long as you have the codecs on your machine, yes. However, it’s the Wavelet extraction only, at 2K.
final cut pro and avid unity bugs
Decreased performance for starters. But that’s been known. Expect a 20-30% speed drop-off when using FCP on Unity.
p2 versus xdcam HD in Avid MC 4.0.5 2010
What flavor of P2? I like how XDCAM HD 35mbit looks compared to DV100. However, I like the way AVC based P2 Media looks, but it needs transcoding (for now)
“Macbook Pro”+”dual boot”+Avid+FCP
Yes! I do it on my laptop. You need to blow your HDD and OS away, and partition the drive off into at least 2 partitions, and install an OS on each one. Then, install FCP on one partition and Avid on the other. I do this so I can independently update my OSes without hosing up the other. Hold down the Apple key on boot to select which partition to boot into.
HD AT dnx36 broadcast quality
No. DNxHD145 is the baseline for broadcast quality. Yes, you can transcode DNX36 material to DNX145, but while that may meet the deliverable spec, it won’t look good.
final cut server metadata dnxhd
If it’s DNxHD in an MXF wrapper – no. Final Cut Server cannot parse all of the metadata in an MXF wrapper –currently.
“mac mini” NLE
Yikes. Holy horsepower Batman. You’re gonna need it, and the mini doesn’t have it. I’m not even sure FCP will install.
edit dnxhd in fcp
Not natively. Downlaod the DNxHD codecs, and put the timeline in unlimited. Or, pre-render into Pro Res for an easier time editing.
DIGITAL PRODUCTION BUZZ Interview Summary – 3/4/10
Digital Production Buzz – http://www.digitalproductionbuzz.com
March 4th, 6pm PST
Hosts: Larry Jordan and Michael Horton
Listen Here: (15 min) Michael Kammes on the Digital Production Buzz
Below are links to some of the companies, products, techniques, and workflows we discussed during the interview.
- Key Code Media: Industry leader in digital media – acquisition through post production: consulting, sales, integration, installation, training, and service. http://www.keycodemedia.com
- Automatic Duck: Conversion software to interchange between your Avid and FCP projects. http://automaticduck.com/products/
- Avid AMA: Avid Media Access, which allows Avid to edit and use XDCAM, P2 and GFCAM natively in Avid – no transcoding! BUilt into all flavors of Avid Media Composer: http://www.avid.com/ama/
Stereoscopic / 3D:
- Using MetaFuze to create Avid compliant Stereoscopic files : http://www.avid.com/metafuze/
- Using a pre-release of REDCINE-X to create Avid compliant Stereoscopic files: http://www.red.com/support/index
- Cine-tal Davio: The Davio allows LUTs to be applied in Real Time, as well as decode (Stereoscopic) 3D signals, via HD-SDI & 3G. http://www.cine-tal.com/products/davio_main.asp
Increasing productivity & collaboration and handling data redundancy in post:
- Cache-A: Portable network based back-up appliance for media and files, onset or In the bat to LTO4A digital tape: http://cache-a.com/ Also, I have a video about it at: http://michaelkammes.com/post-production/video/
- StorageDNA: Point to Point accelerated transfer of data, with delta differencing and automation; a true replacement for FTP: http://storagedna.com/
Post NAB Rumors
I know it’s customary to hear rumors prior to a show, not after…but it’s quite interesting when the brain trusts of the industry get together and swap stories.
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.
NAB 2009: Wrap Up
Thousands of vendors, and hundreds of thousands of square feet later, I am back in SoCal, with some highlights from the 2009 NAB convention.
Sonnet: Following the success of the F2 portable RAID HDD solution, the previously announced F3 is slated to finally begin shipping by 5/15. The F3, like the F2, is designed for road warriors who routinely deal with vibration, cramped quarters, and who rely on RAID storage and high bandwidth performance. The F3 features multiple interface compatibility, including USB, Firewire 400 & 800, eSATA, and works fantastically with the Mac Book Pro. I frequently use the F2 when on mobile demos with my MBP, and easily get 120MB/Sec.
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On the desktop side, an update to the R400Q “family”, is the R400QR5. Same form factor, only now with more storage space AND with RAID 5. This inexpensive mass storage we’ve used for inexpensive 2K playout. Using Machina software (free from AJA) with an AJA card, along with this Sonnet storage is a very inexpensive 2K playout solution. Turning an assist station or even a machine in your machine room into a layoff/back system is now possible – on the cheap.
Qio, a multi-format card reader (P2, SxS, 21 other various formats) features Read and Write ability to the aforementioned formats, all I one box, and under $1K. Simple and elegant.
One down note: I have been a proponent of the Sonnet CPU upgrade cards for some time (I cut feature films on my Quicksilver Mac for many years past what the system should have been able to handle; a single proc 733MHz for $600 became a Dual 1.8GHz with their Encore/Duet upgrade). It appears that this is no longer a focus of Sonnet, and is being phased out until remaining stock is sold. Bummer.
AJA: New products, natch. Of notable mention: The KiPro, Kona LHi, IO Express, and several converters.
The Ki Pro is a portable recording device that takes in SD/HD-SDI, HDMI, and analog formats and records the footage directly to ProRes to an onboard HDD. This makes post much easier – no more RT capture or mixing formats in a timeline. Control via a laptop or iPhone (WiFi) is also supported.
The IO Express, aside from appearing unsuspecting, packs a punch. As the name suggests, it is a little brother to the IO HD. Designed for mobile usage, it’s ExpressCard or PCIe interface allow for SD/HD-SDI and LTC/Ref input, and Component, Composite, HDMI, and unbalanced audio output. I see this being extraordinarily useful in file-based workflows and for inexpensive, yet high quality video monitoring. It was in a glass case on the show floor, so ship date is up in the air.
A gap in the AJA product line was HDMI monitoring. None of the I/O cards had the ability for HDMI output with (of course) an AJA converter. With the lowering of the price for their base model card (LSe or LSe) there was a $1400 gap in product pricing as well. Enter the LHi, bringing some features from the Kona3 (RT up / down / cross converting) and adding HDMI 1.3 in and out plus the new(er) 3G SDI protocol.
I’d also recommend checking out 2 of their new converters, the Hi5-3G, which converts the previously mentioned 3G SDI protocol (simply: Dual SDI, commonly used for 4:4:4, on one SDI spigot) to HDMI v1.3 with analog audio. This is excellent, as many camera manufacturers (Sony, for example) are adopting 3G. AJA also showcased the HDP2, which converts SD/HD-SDI to DVI-D and HDMI; perfect for converting your baseband output to a digital display.
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It’s no secret that I’ve been a huge Facilis fan for quite a while. Not only is the performance well above par, its simplicity for the end user (as well as administering) is unmatched. The only downside was that is volume locking – not file locking – which made it an immediate no-go for some shared storage environments. Although showcased last year, the reseller meeting and booth this year focused heavily on the file locking ability of the new software release, v. 4. Although strictly on the Windows side until Q4, the file locking seems to work well – and was demonstrated mimicking the shared project ability of Avid. A first, as no other SAN solution offers the same concurrent project sharing as Unity. I am, however, concerned how it’s done. With a fibre jumper cable of 3 meters looped back to itself on the client? That concerns me as a band-aid type feature. With Apple support not planned until Q4, I’m worried that there still may be some bugs or hurdles that may not be effectively overcome. Facilis is on a roll, and I’d hate to see such a rich feature set, such as file locking, falter.
Avid: I find it difficult to put into words just how disappointed I was in a good portion of the “offerings” Avid had at NAB.
The Avid Reseller Meeting, a closed door event strictly for…well, Avid Resellers, consisted of 2 hours of lecturing about the restructure of Avid internally, aligning all of the product lines under Avid as a brand rather than Avid “overseeing” the other acquired names. “New Thinking” redux, me thinks. We’ve seen a huge change in personnel and positions from a reseller viewpoint – and we understand that changes of this scale require time and patience. I don’t believe it’s an understatement to be concerned about these changes and what the future holds for Avid.
Avid rolled out a new logo , website, as well as tiered support contracts…very similar to Apple’s Enterprise support contracts, based on uptime and “levels” of urgency. The new logo reminds me of something from Tron; I am not pleased.
As far as new tools, Avid announced support for Final Cut Pro on Unity and ISIS. I caught wind of this several months ago, but didn’t think it would be rolled out this quick, and apparently without any restrictions or throughput limitations.
The floor show was excellent, however, showing interop with Media Composer, Video Satellite and ProTools. Cutting 3D picture, adding sound effects, music, and roundtripping them all in a 10 minute show was fantastic.
I think perhaps holding off on v3.5 for 45 days until NAB may have given Avid more of a Shock and Awe factor at the show. But hey, that’s me.
Autodesk: Great booth! Autodesk showcased their previously announced Flare (insert obligatory Office Space joke here), a software only visual effects package, which contains many of the same features found in their Flame and Inferno systems, which cost up to 80% more. For assist stations, or junior effects jockeys, this would be fantastic. I understand, however, this is only available to facilities that already have Flame or Inferno in their workflow.
Fairlight and Euphonix: Both now have their controllers able to manipulate Final Cut Pro – albeit expensive, they can control the UI. Suggested to Fairlight: if Avid and Digi have Video Satellite, what about using Fairlight to control Final Cut Pro as a Video Satellite-esqe workflow?
RED ROCKET: more info as it becomes available, from POST magazine:
- R3D Decode, debayer and playback high quality realtime 4k at 30fps (or 5K at 25fps).
- Will accelerate FCP, Premiere, After Effects, RED Alert!, REDCINE, REDrushes or any application using the REDCODE SDK.
- PCI-Express, Output interfaces will include Quad-DVI and Quad-HD-SDI. Works with Mac, PC and Linux.
- Under $5k.
This is the same technology that DVS is showing at the show on their Clipster system. What this means is that 4K realtime from small files is an affordable reality. This also means that almost any third-party post tool can become 4K enabled.
More information as I sort through my notes!
HDV: More Tricks
HDV looks great, but can be a bear in post production. HDV is typically not frame accurate, which makes batch capture difficult. HDV is also a long-GOP frame structure, which makes it CPU intensive and susceptible to rapid image degradation. Some workarounds:
- Use a converter, such as a Miranda HD-Bridge DEC. This device converts your HDV signal (deck or camera) into a baseband video stream – SDI. It also converts the deck control on that same firewire cable to industry standard RS-422 (serial). Capturing via SDI (separate capture card required) allows the user to choose what codec they want to capture and edit in.
- Some of the higher end HDV decks (Sony M35U, for example) have SDI spigots built right in to the deck. No need for a converter! Simply capture a baseband source as listed above into your codec of choice.
- Many camera manufacturers have proprietary frame rates (usually a variant of 24fps) which decks cannot understand. Canon, most notably. Just because a camera uses HDV tapes doesn’t mean an HDV deck can play those same tapes. Always check to make sure the NLE you will use in post A) supports the frame rate & resolution you are shooting at and B) the deck you will use for capture can playback that format. Avid and Apple both provide supported devices guides.
Tech Tip: Dual Boot
Most intensive NLE applications are closely tied to the versions of various software installed on the machine. Typically this is at the OS level, but also can encompass such third party applications as Quicktime. This bottleneck can be remedied by creating a dual boot system – something developers have been doing for years.
This is especially useful under Mac OS X. Since the OS is not serialized – that is, you can install it as many times as you want on the same machine, thus creating multiple boot partitions – without violating licensing agreements. The Mac OS installer, when launched, has the Disk Utility application, which allows a user to partition one hard drive into multiple virtual drives – partitions. Slicing up 1 hard drive (or simply installing OS X on multiple physical drives) allows for each instance of the OS to have updates applied without conflicting with the other. This means those updates you need to apply for Adobe CS4 won’t break, for example, your older version of Avid. You can even create a “test” partition – a space just to experiment with software and updates. As an example, my MacBook Pro has 3 partitions: 1 with Final Cut Pro, 1 with Avid, and 1 with Pro Tools.
Of course, read the fine print with your software to verify multiple installs on the same CPU are allowed under their license agreement.
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