Editing HD100 Footage

[Jack Walker]

Originally Posted by Stephen Knapp

Keith, how high end is "really high." I'm running a 3.46 Ghz Hyperthreaded P4 CPU which is interpreted as a dual but isn't really dual core; with a 400 Gig dedicated drive and a 250Gig boot drive, both SATA, 7200 rpm; 3.0 Gig of dual channel DDR memory. I just added a Matrox Parhelia APVe PCI-ex 16x dual DVI for multiple monitor HD output (which would be wasted with Liquid Pro, I think). I intend next to add another 400 Gig SATA which will be configured with the other in the system in a RAID 0, but don't have that just yet. Am I already good to go, or do I need more oomph in the CPU? Anything else I need to look at?

There are a couple of people on the Avid Liquid forum who use the HD100 who moderate and can give you fairly precise info on any problems with your system.
http://www.avid.com/exchange/forums/54/ShowForum.aspx

There is an Avid Liquid trial download, and separate download with clips, so you can try Liquid on your system:
http://www.avid.com/products/tryout.html
Here is the promo link:
http://www.avid.com/promos/index.asp

I believe your processor is fine for ProHD (720p). However, for HDV2 (1080i) you may want more power. ProHD edits "about" like DV.

The most important aspect of the video card is that it needs a hardware implementation of DirectX 9 and should be at least 256mb.

However, posting your specs on the Avid Liquid forum will get you specific comments from people who have a lot of experience.

[K. Forman]

You can go to the Avid site and check out the requirements. I just got a AMD 3200+ , and it looks like they recommend 3800 and higher, plus a lot more ram than I have. Even DSE said it needs a pretty fast machine, and it looks like he was right.

[Jon Jaschob]

Hi,
My 2 cents...
I just got a HD100. I am running an older
P4 3.06Mhz HT cpu
2 gig ram
APp1.5
AspectHD

Editing is fine, all the AHD RT plugins work great.
Havn't been able to import AHD avi into After Effects 6.5 pro.
QT won't compile from AHD, APp1.5 into mov files for AE.
I did run some trial software. APp2 and AE7, both worked with the AHD avi.
I was able to get a short piece out to FLV, it stutters a bit, don't know why, none of the source footage stutters.....
http://www.fotgfilms.com/gyhd.html (1/2 size)

[Stephen L. Noe]

Originally Posted by Antony Michael Wilson

I reckon you're right that MC and AXPro don't sit to well together now there's a software only version of Composer. Yes, AXPro might disappear as we know it and MC might get a bit cheaper over time. But, if Liquid stays, I reckon it will live on only as a consumer/pro-sumer product, which is a terrible shame. The more expensive Liquid products are in direct competition with the established Avid products so I really don't see them staying. Either way, Avid already has an NLE that is much better than the Fast interface so why develop the latter? I wish someone other than Pinnacle had bought it in the first place and then we might have a good competitor to Avid by now and not just the FCP alternative.

It's funny but we have a Media Composer Adrenalin, FCP and Liquid system at our disposal and all of the ProHD work goes to the Liquid system. It just works, and I don't see Avid backing off of anything. Why should they? They currently have almost every market sector sewed up.

Have fun editing!

[Antony Michael Wilson]

Well, if I had those systems at my disposal and I was editing ProHD, I'd go for Liquid as well. But that would have more to do with the fact that Liquid is the only one with full HDV1 support. Once support is there on AXPro MC etc. then Liquid wouldn't even be considered here up against the other systems you mention. We're using Edius here and there for stuff shot on the HD100 - not because we think it's really that great but just because you CAN use it.

I'm not sure that Avid really does have the editing market properly sewn up. If it does dominate in certain areas, I'm not sure it's down to the Pinnacle acquisition. Large numbers of installed bases at what's become the higher end of the market and long years of product development and talent base on the MC interface probably have more to do with Avid's muscle than what's left of Fast's product.

That said, I'm really glad that Liquid is proving to work and work well and I definitely don't want to see it go (or go the way of the consumer level). Years ago, before we bought a couple of Symphony systems, we were looking seriously at Fast Blue and Silver and we were very impressed. We felt that - at last - here was a system which might develop to give Avid a run for their money, which could only be good. The Pinnacle acquisition followed soon after and we steered well clear as soon as we found out about that. I was unhappy about the Avid acquisition because I feared that they would do to the Fast interface what they did to Lightworks way back when. Btw, when the Avid/Tektronix deal was thrashed out there was a lot of talk about keeping the Lightworks going along with Media Composer...

What I'd really like to see is a fully featured and focused editing tool to rival AXPro/Media Composer from a dynamic and customer-focused company that does not limit you to one platform (FCP). Under Avid ownership, the Fast/Liquid interface will not be this product and that's a shame for all of us.

[Steve Benner]

Originally Posted by Jack Walker

-- In this kind of situation, a pilot and episodes, it is likely that you will want to go back and make changes to the very end. Take the example of "24." Since the show airs in January, all shooting is completed before air. This enables them to make significant changes at the end of shooting that ripple through the season because they can go back and make script changes in the very first show, re-shoot and re-edit. You may not reshoot, but because of some magic moment in Episode 2, you may want to change the setup in the Pilot, etc. This all becomes easier when you have it setup on your system with easy access to everything.

I am pretty sure that "24" gets filmed a little before the Season Airs, but also continues to shoot for some time throughout as the season airs. I am not 100% on this, but on the Behind The Scenes DVD of Season 3, the last two episodes were filmed just weeks before they aired.

[Steve Benner]

Originally Posted by Jack Walker

-- In this kind of situation, a pilot and episodes, it is likely that you will want to go back and make changes to the very end. Take the example of "24." Since the show airs in January, all shooting is completed before air. This enables them to make significant changes at the end of shooting that ripple through the season because they can go back and make script changes in the very first show, re-shoot and re-edit. You may not reshoot, but because of some magic moment in Episode 2, you may want to change the setup in the Pilot, etc. This all becomes easier when you have it setup on your system with easy access to everything.

I am pretty sure that "24" gets filmed a little before the Season Airs, but also continues to shoot for some time throughout as the season airs. I am not 100% on this, but on the Behind The Scenes DVD of Season 3, the last two episodes were filmed just weeks before they aired.

[Jack Walker]

Originally Posted by Steve Benner

I am pretty sure that "24" gets filmed a little before the Season Airs, but also continues to shoot for some time throughout as the season airs. I am not 100% on this, but on the Behind The Scenes DVD of Season 3, the last two episodes were filmed just weeks before they aired.

I'm not sure which season it was, but when "24" waited to go to air until the end of January, then run all episodes week after week with no break, I believe they had everything shot before the first air date. If they did pick-ups or were still editing, I don't know.

The first season (and don't know how many, if any others) went to air in September then had a break in December and January, then went back on the air for the last half of the epsisodes. Because the first shows had aired when the last shows were being written, there were things in the first shows that hindered choices for the later episodes.

Waiting until January served two ends:
1. It gave the audience all the episodes in one shot, and I am sure it helped keep the audience better than when there was a break.
2. It gave the show a chance to improve and cleanup the storyline by going back and reshooting scenes from early episodes.

I believe that when they start shooting, the storyline is only roughed out, and there are major decisions and changes as shooting progresses. Things happen during shooting that dictate where the story should go, which characters should be upfront and which ones aren't working.

I am sure that when things are shot, powerful scenes come out that weren't fully planned that dictate what characters and plotlines should be developed. An example would be the scene where Chloe first goes into the field and ends up pulling her gun and killing the bad guys coming after her in a car. In context this was a stunning and powerful scene, historic television, and I think it is the scene that made Chloe a star. She showed here the first signs of being of the same soul as Jack Bauer, absolute perfection and steel under absolute pressure, no matter what weird personality quirks she has. I am sure the creators thought this would be a good scene, but I don't think they could have predicted how powerful it would be when finally shot and edited. Chloe became a major player, more than ever before, and the storyline had to reflect this.

(I have no idea, and I'm sure I'm wrong, but what if Day 6 starts with Chloe undercover in the field, on a mission to save Jack and stop a plot to cripple the U.S. communication network and electronic defense systems that would leave the U.S. vulnerable to a long range missle attack... from somewhere in Asia?)

Well, a little off topic there at the end.