Edius -- various questions

[Robert Knecht Schmidt]

After many years it seems Canopus is finally putting the finishing touches on their improved version of Rex Edit/Storm Edit. Called EDIUS, details are available on their web page.

http://www.canopus.com

It doesn't look like pricing has been announced yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's as expensive or more expensive than packages like Vegas 4. My question is, will it include a free or nearly-free upgrade to what is hopefully an imminent HD version? (It does mention "free updates and point releases"...)

The "protestor march" ad banner is humorously accurate.

[Rick Spilman]

I believe introductory pricing is $299 until August 31 with $599 thereafter.

Looks like a decent package, not ground breaking but most of what Storm and RT users have been asking for for literally years.

If it is stable, it will be great. We'll have to wait and see. Said to start shipping in May.

[Mike Rehmus]

Edius users can download Edius 1.5 for free from the Canopus web site.

[Mike Rehmus]

And it is a major improvement from my preliminary testing.

[Mark Paschke]

I have DLed their trial version to check out since they now support the JVC HD10 , I like their layout and effects and workflow but I am not liking not being able to find anything about AC-3 or 5.1 sound.

Being a Vegas 5 user this is simple stuff ,maybe I just dont know where to look since I see nothing in their Help, Forums, or anywhere.

Surely someone making a NLE for HD would not leave out its partner 5.1 sound would it?

[Peter Jefferson]

edius - no it doesnt..

as for the JVC HD... the mpg video is already muxed with compressed mp audio..
Dolby would never put their name to a unit as such until the bitrates and encoders conform to DD standards.

Some new direct to dvd handycams carry DD due to the fact that the bitrate conforms.. but that also means that the audio is ALREADY compressed, so any further processes may deteriorate the end product.

FYI These recorded bitrates are usaully in stereo, therefore theyd be runnin 192kbps to conform to DD. but even so, re processing this to 6 channels may deteriorate due to the fact that 2 channels are mixed as 6, then re compressed into 1 ac3...

As for getting the most out of the LFE channel with that bitrate, u can forget it.. youll just get a mush of low end garble.. u prolly could get away with it, bu i wouldnt bother

[Darren Kelly]

Hi folks,

At DV Expo 2004 I witnessed the unveiling of the Canopus Edius NX. I ordered one, and a computer almost upon return, and I thought I would post a little review.

I finally managed to assemble the computer over the past few weeks. I will tell you Canopus sells a bundle with a computer included and I would recommend you go that way. The computer is a little challenging to build, basically sourcing the parts and getting it right. I didn't really save much over the bundle, a few hundred in money = a few weeks of frustration.

Any way past the computer let me tell you about the system.

The Edius software has come a long way since introduction. It is a fully functioning editor, that is very easy to learn and use.

The Canopus system is capable of editing either the native MPEG2ts file, which you can capture from the camera, or convert on the fly to Canopus's HQ coedec.

The HQ codec allows more real time, and more frame accurate editing. The basic reason for capturing it in another codec is frame accuracy. You see HDV's MPEG2ts relies on a codec that cannot by nature be frame accurate.. You can use it - no probem, but the HQ codec produced little if any difference in picture.

You can edit in realtime for most of your normal functions. I've done a Picture in Picture, with Drop shadow, over an image with a 3D transition and a title in RT.

If you have to render, on a dual Xeon 3.2, you don't have time for a bathroom break.

The quality of the image is outstanding, and I have found Canopus very helpful during our build process.

In short, I would totally endourse this system. Our new DVD, The JumpStart Guide to the Sony FX1/Z1U will be edited on this system.

We are receiving a Z1U tomorrow for the DVD, so it will be great.

Cheers

DBK

[Chris Hurd]

Awesome. Thanks for the report, Darren. Back in the day before DV Info Net, I used to do a lot of contractual work for Canopus (and numerous trade shows for them) and I've always felt them to be a superb company. Hiro Yamada is a very sharp fellow whom I've always looked up to and the U.S. office in San Jose is an excellent team of folks. Glad to see they're meeting the HDV revolution head-on in typical Canopus fashion. Looking forward to more,

[Darren Kelly]

What's cool about Canopus USA is that they are 24 people, who must work their A$$'s off.

I am very impressed with the technology, and I think the scalability is a great place to start. Their rebate to Storm users is very proactive, and even on a stand alone purchase, it's a great deal.

Cheers

DBK

[Kevin Shaw]

After several weeks of fretting over how to handle HDV footage from a Sony FX1 camera, my brother and I figured out that we can do basic editing of native M2T files using Canopus Edius on modest single-processor PCs. I've been saying for a while that I didn't think working on native HDV was a good idea, but now that I've done it I see it's not that bad.

So here's how it worked out: we couldn't get capture to the Canopus HQ codec to work reliably on our current computers, so we tried capturing the native footage using the Canopus MPEGCapture utility. From there we simply pulled the M2T files into Edius and dropped them on the timeline, then played around with that to see what we could do. My brother was able to play color-adjusted clips in real time on his 3.2 GHz PC with a two-drive RAID, and that's as far as we've tried to push it for now. Clearly a dual-processor computer would be helpful for working with any HD/HDV footage, but at least we've got a functional starting solution.

[Erik Walth]

I have a question regarding canopus edius. Does the "print to tape" function work on the JVC BR-HD50 ? Direct from the timeline via firewire ? Or must the edited footage go through some format change first. The question regards HDV capture in the Canopus HQ format.
Have been searching everywhere can´t finde the answer, maby I am lucky here.
Thanks in advance
erik

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

To print to tape, you MUST render back to m2t. Canopus Edius can do this. so, you'll have to render from the NX codec to m2t so that the deck can read it.

[Erik Walth]

Thank you Douglas.

I read it and I did it, and look at the magic .!

It is nice to have a pro at hand when the going gets tough.

thanks again
Erik

[Scott Vystrcil]

Just got this email from Canopus saying that Edius 4 will be released in June 2006. It will be a $199 upgrade for current v3 users and if you bought v3 since April 1, 2006 it's free. Here is the link to the new features.

http://www.canopus.com/products/EDIU...ewfeatures.php

[David Parks]

It looks like they're making Edius a little more respectible in terms of interface. Like for example, they are adding a trim window, real audio pan functions, some color correction, better time line mode, overall it looks a lot better. I've got 3.61 and Avid Xpress HD 5.2.3. I have Edius because it does 24p from JVC HD 100, but the trimming and editing is certainly not what I;m used to in Avid.

Cheers