Hi everyone ,

Does anyone know if Edius 5 supports GPU second monitor preview support? or does one still need to purchase a HDSPARK PCI Express Card to get that option.

I just spent $200.00 on a GTX460 nvidia card and am thinking of making the move from Vegas pro to Edius 5 because of the everyday crashes I get from Vegas. Now i might return the nvidia card and get a spark if i have to.

Thanks,
Chris

Chris, Although I never used my graphics card to output to a second monitor with Edius, I can vouch for the HD Spark Card connected via HDMI cable to a hdtv. It has worked flawlessly for me. Just go over to Grass Valley Desktop Solutions Forums (http://ediusforum.grassvalley.com/forum/) and check what HDTVs users have. I upgraded to Edius 5 and the spark card last year thru videoguys.com. I think I paid $745 after the 5% dvinfo discount. You will need a free PCIE slot for the card. Here is my compatible gear list.

Edius 5, HDSPARK, Asus P6T Deluxe mobo, i7-920 processor, Antec 900-2 case, Corsair 650 watt p.s., Corsair 3GB XMS3 PC3-12800 DDR3, Sapphire HD4830, WD 160GB Caviar system drive, 1TD WD Caviar Black video drive, Lite-on IHAS324 DVD burner, Sound Blaster X-FI Titanium, Vista 32 bit, Amtron P2 card reader, Samsung LN19A330 HDTV.

Thanks for the info Mark! , How do you like Edius? can you compare it to Vegas Pro? Is Edius crash free? Vegas crashed all the time and it was annoying. Also rendering cineform avi files took forever.


I have an intel quad core Q9650 with 8gigs of 1066 DDR2 Ram , mushkin 60g SSD runing windows 7 and programs and 250gigers raid 0 and 1000gigers raid 0 , and a 1000gig backup


thanks ,
chris

Chris, I've only used a demo version of Vegas and didn't like it. I was a long time Adobe Premiere user (versions 4 to 6.5) before switching from SD to HD editing with Edius. My Premiere / Matrox realtime viewing card combo would usually crash once a week. I researched / tested other editing platforms for about 6 months before I decided on Edius. It was a choice which I have never regreted. It has handled everything I have thrown at it. I was a little concerned about the learning curve as I consider myself below average on learning ability. But, I picked it up pretty fast and there are a lot of free tutorials out there.

Your computer seems to be more than up to the task. I would post your specs over on the Edius forum to get some feedback. Also, I had only one "freeze up" of Edius and after doing some research it was related to my anti-virus software running in the background. Once I turned it off, all has been fine. Also, there are some nice extras bundled with Edius. The demo can be downloaded at EDIUS 5 | Grass Valley (http://www.grassvalley.com/products/edius_5)
If you can wait, Edius 6 is supposed to be out near the end of the year and is packed with many new features.

Hope this helps.

I run two Dell 24" monitors with Edius 5.5. My video card is an ATI HD3850. I have the desktop extended over the two monitors and set up the preview monitor window on the second monitor and the timeline etc windows on the other. You can still do this if you get the Spark card as the Spark will just show the preview screen out to a HDMI TV.

I also use Vegas and have no problems with either program.

Ron Evans

Hi Ron,
when you say you set up your second monitor for preview, is it full screen? or you just arranged the layout to have the entire preview tab on the other monitor and with the menu bar on top and transport buttons on the bottom?

If you have full screen how did you do that? I thought I had to have the spark to show it full screen albeit on another hdtv.

Ted

Yes I have just moved the preview screen with all the controls and menu bar to the second monitor. I can stretch it to make it as big as I want. I have it at about 1/3 size that I find pleasant to use and leaves room for the waveform monitor if I have it open.

IT would be better to have the Spark going to a real TV as the colour will be better than on a computer monitor. I may get a Spark if there is a good upgrade package with Version 6 when it comes out. Only a day and we will find out.

Ron Evans

I have the hd spark Ron and i hook it up to a 32 inch Samsung HDTV. Its really nice, butwhats added value is the video out plug ins that come with it.
It means you can monitor after effects, photoshop, 3d max, and other programs out to your HDTV via spark.

Hi Ron,
when you say you set up your second monitor for preview, is it full screen? or you just arranged the layout to have the entire preview tab on the other monitor and with the menu bar on top and transport buttons on the bottom?

If you have full screen how did you do that? I thought I had to have the spark to show it full screen albeit on another hdtv.

Ted

good question i hope gets answered. If i can save a couple bucks and use my video card as the second monitor preview. That would be great. But if it doesnt allow full 1080p at 24 frames or 60 frames with effects than ill go hdspark route.

I like the hdspark edius 5 idea because you know the drivers are going to work perfect. I want stable software that i know isnt going to crash.

Chris you do realize that getting 24p on a computer monitor is close to impossible and on a TV is specific to the TV. Refresh has to be a multiple of 24. Since most computer monitors and TV's in NA are 60hz refresh for best results, there will always be a 2:3 pulldown. So you end up watching pulldown cadence not 24p. You will need to move your refresh rate to 72hz if the monitor and video card can do this and have playback software that will recognize and deliver the correct feed to the monitor to get true 24p playback. This is also true for HDMI connections too. For LCD TV's 120hz or 240hz models with the ability to recognize 24p will be the only one's that do not employ pulldown and deliver true 24p.

Playback will always work on the second monitor at any size that your monitor will support but will be scaled and synced to the window size and refresh rate for the monitor.

I have my preview window set for 1/4 HD size 960x540 both for Edius and Vegas and they both run just fine for me. All my video is 60i for editing its really fine . The Dell 24" are 1920x1200 native.

Ron Evans

yes your right

my second monitor is a 60inch pioneer 141 elite sig plasma. Calibrated to ISF spec using my eyeone pro. it will take the 24p signal and make it 72hz.

chris

Whens Edius 6 coming out? It might be best for me to wait for that

EDIUS 6 Feature Preview | Grass Valley (http://www.grassvalley.com/products/edius_6/features) late Oct. , im going to wait for it then. In the mean time ill shoot some stuff with the new camera gear.


Does Edius have velocity envelopes to speed up and slow down video? Im sure it does but I just want to make sure.


Thanks, Chris

Chris,

Edius has time remap feature if thats what you mean.

Edius calls it time remap. Good to know , thanks,

Im using a canon xh-a1. I used to capture connecting via firewire and converting to cineform AVI exporting to vegas.


Now with Edius , will i be connecting firewire , capturing to a edius HQ codec? I wish the xh-a1 had hdmi out , but it doesnt.

thanks for all the help guys,

Chris

you can capture as is, m2t files(hdv) to save on space, since edius can edit hdv natively since v.5 i think,
you may convert to canopus hq from the bin only those clips you wish to process further, say for chroma key or compositing in AE for instance.

EDIUS 6 Features - Preview Functions | Grass Valley (http://www.grassvalley.com/products/edius_6/features/preview-functions)


it looks like edius 6 will offer full preview without the needed hdspark.

you can capture as is, m2t files(hdv) to save on space, since edius can edit hdv natively since v.5 i think,
you may convert to canopus hq from the bin only those clips you wish to process further, say for chroma key or compositing in AE for instance.

Nice , so i dont need cineform anymore. Man, i wish i new about eidus before vegas pro. i would have saved a bit of money.

Thanks for the info Ted!

Edius 6 will offer full-screen preview in up to 8 PC (non-Spark, NX, etc.) monitors.
This of course depends on the number of video cards installed on your system. (Windows supports up to 10)