Avid / Pinnacle discussions from 2005

[Chris Hurd]

Any DV deck can play back that material. It's okay to use your camera as a deck.

[Jose Cassella]

Thanks Chris,

And now a final silly question.

I know I decided to capture at 24p standard because I know my final prouct will stay in TV and DVD land, I will not transfer to film at any point.

Even though I shot at 24P, I should stay with a 30fps timeline all the way, right?
Or do I have to ask the Avid to recognize that this is 24p footage, extract these frames or something like that. Just like when using 24p advanced.

What I am getting at is, I just want to make sure that I am getting the full quality of what I originally intended, 24p to be viewed through a DVD or with a regular TV.

Once I have the footage loaded, I should just treat it like regular 30 fps footage or should I tell the system this is 24P?

Jose

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

Any DV deck can play back that material. It's okay to use your camera as a deck.

Sadly Chris, I have to report that I recently attempted to playback some material recorded by the XL-2 using my Pana 953 camera. The audio was all but non-existent and would fade in and out. Played back by either 2 of my XL-2 cameras, there was no problem with the audio. There has been some speculation about thinner track pitch on the XL-2 recording heads. I don't know what the problem is exactly.

But, we both know that it should theoretically possible to playback those XL-2 tapes on any mini-dv deck.

=gb=

[Chris Hurd]

Wow, really? I had no idea! Well, thanks for the update, Greg. There's usually some form of consensus around here against using an expensive primary camera such as an XL2 as a playback deck, but in my opinion, as long as it's not used in that capacity *too* much, then there's nothing wrong with that practice.

[Patrick King]

I noticed in the news that the stockholders for Avid are mad about the purchase of Pinnacle. I guess I would be too if I was expecting a juicy dividend for the year and the company instead used the captial to buy another company.

Anyway, their stock is very depressed right now, and it seems artifically low because of the Pinnacle purchase. I'm seriously considering buying some as I can't see Avid losing market share, especially after buying a low-end A/V toolset like the Pinnacle line. Am I missing something, is Avid on a gradual and continuous decline as a company? Or is Avid still an industry mainstay and this is just an anomoly based on the stockholder displeasure with loosing their precious dividend in favor of gaining marketshare for long-term growth?

Any insights?

[Ken Tanaka]

Patrick,
Whether or not Avid represents a viable investment is a topic outside the realm of DVInfo. It's best to research the topic through financial sites and through investment-oriented resources.

I can say, however, that Morningstar gives them a 5-star (out of 5) rating and gives them a fair market valuation of $56, quite a bit above their current $43 price. If you subscribe to Morningstar you can access the full analyst report.

[Patrick King]

Ken,

I also subscribe to a couple of investment tools/newsletters. I was really wanting to get a sense from people who use Avid tools about whether they thought Avid was loosing its "industry standard" position.

I think the stock is quite under-valued, but whether they regain value lost during the Pinnacle buyout depends on the viability of their product line. And since Avid is the name-brand and the product, I thought I'd ask folks who use it if they thought the company was on the way out or on the way up.

[Sean McHenry]

As an insider, yes. Lot's of users think they went the wrong way. They should have sided a long time ago with Matrox. Matrox is going to whip some booty with Axio. Full HD uncompressed with (real) realtime effects like color correction, etc. I was in on the early demos. The company I worked for a few months back sells Avid, FCP and now - Axio. It should take the midlle ground by storm. The folks that were looking at Adrenaline are going to miss out if they don't at least look at the Axio.

In short, yes, the Pinnacle move was not favorable from the inside of their outside sales folks. Pinnacle was buggy, lower end and on the way out frankly. The DV 500 was a mess from the begining it seemed.

Anyway, I wish them all luck as they bed down for the future.

Sean McHenry (Still an Avid editor)

[Joe Carney]

Matrox always looks good on paper and in controlled demos. They've been promising to kick butt for several years now. Buggy software and poor support has been their bane.
Maybe they got it right this time. but I'm skeptical.

[Zack Birlew]

I don't think Avid has been very price friendly either compared to others. The FCP Studio package is, from what I hear, a much better deal too. Vegas and Adobe are doing mighty fine themselves even in the higher end. I think Avid's problem is both support and pricing. Plus, what did Avid have to gain by buying Pinnacle? I don't know anyone who uses Pinnacle other than the usual hobbyist and the computer guys that buy the big expensive videocards and recieve it for free (mostly ATI Radeon All-in-Wonder sales). Dumb move in my opinion.

[Tim Borek]

Thanks for the update, Gary.

Is there any word on how long Avid Xpress DV will be supported? I am considering migrating to Avid Xpress DV but am concerned that, as a result of the Pinnacle acquisition, Xpress DV may be dropped soon. Think about it. Its price point puts it up against Liquid Edition 6 and Sony Vegas, which on paper offer more bang for the buck. In today's marketplace, $500 for a DV25-only editor is excessive. When Final Cut Express HD and Sony Vegas 6 can edit DV and HDV for only $299 and $399 respectively, Avid should consider again lowering the price of Xpress DV 4 to unload its inventory while advanced users move on to Xpress Pro and other high-end apps. Call me crazy, but I think $200 is a fair price.

[Chris Wilkerson]

I'm having some issues trying to capture footage from my XL2 using Avid Xpress Pro. Here's the rundown.

Windows XP recognizes my camera when I plug it in and I am able to capture video using the crappy built-in program that comes with windows (movie maker?)

Premiere Pro recognizes my camera and I am able to control the camera like a deck, but I usually get errors when I try to capture.

Avid Xpress Pro 5.0 does not recognize my camera at all.

I googled the problem, and the only information I could find was a database of cameras that Xpress pro 5.0 supports. The XL2 was indeed listed as being supported...so I have no idea what the problem is.

Has anyone else been able to get XpressDV or Xpress Pro to recognize their XL2? And if so, were there any special steps you had to take?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Richard Alvarez]

No help, I know... cause I'm not running 5.0, but 4.31 sees my Canon. Should be in your pull down list in 'deck configuration', is it not there?

[John Hartney]

Matrox is a paper tiger imho. Avid is in most newsrooms internationally and most movies are cut on their systems. As long as they keep providing the product, the market will remain theirs. The pinnicle deal is simply to have a product at the consumer/prosumer level.

[Paul Leung]

I was planning to buy their stocks the day before it dropped. Lucky that I did not buy it. I always get the impression that Avid is leading the broadcast industry and the increase demand in HD will lift Avid to new highs.

Anyone working in Network TV, etc. Are broadcasters planning to pour much money in HD equipment, or most are HD well equipped already??

Originally Posted by Patrick King

Ken,

I also subscribe to a couple of investment tools/newsletters. I was really wanting to get a sense from people who use Avid tools about whether they thought Avid was loosing its "industry standard" position.

I think the stock is quite under-valued, but whether they regain value lost during the Pinnacle buyout depends on the viability of their product line. And since Avid is the name-brand and the product, I thought I'd ask folks who use it if they thought the company was on the way out or on the way up.