I have a client wo would like to change something in their film's opening credit sequence that was done on an Avid originally (don't know what flavor Avid machine). We have been trying to figure out how (or even if) we could do this for her when we found out about Avid freeDV and downloaded it today, only to find there is no way so far to open the older project files off the director's hard drive that has the film archived. Of course it's essential to have the original project open to change it so we can change the actual text files without having to try a wacky workaround.

I've looked all over the web and the Avid freeDV forums and cannot find a straight answer saying I cannot open the old project ever because it was created on a full Avid version or something. But considering the error message ("cannot open the file .avb") and the things I have read about limitations (rendered quicktime export only from free DV) of the software I'm starting to think it can't help me. Just want to know for sure I f I have to tell them to pay for Avid time now.

Seems the Avid freeDV site should have clear answers about limitations, but there aren't any. Anyone know about or tried this before? Thanks

NO can do. Avid FREE DV is not compatible with other 'pay for play' projects. It's just a very restricted stripped down version. You won't be able to use it to edit or modify other projects unless they were made in FreeDV.

From the AVID FREE DV forum FAQ!
Are Avid Free DV projects compatible with Avid Xpress Pro?
No, Avid Free DV is a free, stand alone opportunity to experience the Avid editing interface. [top]