NO AVID SYSTEM SUPPORTS 24F. None. Period. For the record, the Academic version of MC is $295, but you CANNOT buy it unless you are an ACADEMIC FACILITY. Avid does have a graduate offer to upgrade from Xpress Pro to Media Composer for $1000, but you need to submit some materials proving you are a recent graduate.

The workaround on a PC is worse than a Mac, but basically if you can get a .m2t file captured with third party software (or a firestore), you can use the free program (MPEG STREAMCLIP) to transcode it to DNxHD which does work in Avid (although you have to add Quicktime MPEG-2 Support - $20).

Now, Canopus has the best compatabity overall for everything (I do not like the App though). They always come out with quick support for every new camera and are a good company in that area, unlike Avid who continues to screw the HDV 24 crowd. (JVC owners have been waiting 2 years...2 years, and still nothing will be resolved, even in the next update).

Well that pretty much clears it up as for what Avid is (not) compatible with. I've been leaning towards Vegas anyway. It seems more and more like that's what I'll be going with.

FYI, as for the academic discount, I also substitue teach. I believe that qualifies me for academic versions of Xpress Pro and the MC upgrade.

Thanks a lot for your help.

Only for Academic Instituitons. A Purchase Order from the School is required.

Steve, I believe that's the case for the stand alone academic version of MC, not the upgrade version (which is $1k).

Not sure if you're still checking this...but...


I use PPro 2.0 with my Canon A1 (HDV just like yours)

And I have working knowledge of most NLEs.

I would say that since you've spent your money on PPro, it is definitely worth spending the extra cash on cineform aspect hd.

I ingest HDV 24f tapes all day long, and they look/color correct/work beautifully on my machine.

I am on a core 2 duo 2.4ghz machine w/ 3gb ram. I'd say that after investing in your camera, the cineform is minor considering it will allow you to work on a familiar program FLAWLESSLY in HD. I've had no headaches, it's fast, the included transitions and effects are realtime.

I'd go with cineform. If you want to buy a mac go with Final Cut. But premiere holds it's own these days. If you plan on practicing and one day working for a big production house, learn avid.

Brent, Yes cineform is a minor investment compared with the camera, and I have been very impressed with it's performance, I was a bit stunned at how much better PP worked with HDV, though I still worry about the Adobe media encoder, and a work around has been mentioned to me, but the fact that I have to do these extra steps to make adobe work efficiently is annoying, and I always like to know what my options are.