Premiere XDCAM HD plug-in from Main Concept

[Daniel Moreno]

I had the same problem you describe here when trying to edit XDCAM HD with premiere pro 2.0 using the mainconcept plugin.
After working for a short while in the timeline with a couple of clips, doing some cuts and crossfades premiere freezes and stops responding.

I wrote to mainconcept's custumer support and got this answer:

"Yes our plugin should have no problems to edit mxf files and we never had
problems to edit this kind of files. We are working on an update for our MPEG Pro plug-in and i think that we will release it in some weeks. There are many bu fixes in it and the editing of mxf files should work better. Did you try to rename this mxf file to mpg? Is that working better? Please can you send us a short clip of your mxf source file? If it is to big to send it with e-mail then i can give you access to our ftp server."

I uploaded a short video (shot with a f330, a short mxf file, full quality, not proxy) via ftp to the mainconcept server. And got this response:
"I had a look at your file and tried to reproduce the problem here but without
any problems. Premiere didn't crash in my tests.We will release a new version of our plugin in the next days or next week. I would recommend you to wait for this new version and make a new try with the
new version. We fixed some issues there which happens with MXF files and i think that the new version will work better with your file."

Has anyone over her succeeded working with this plug-in. could it be that I need more RAM (I have 1.5 GB)?

[Alister Chapman]

When I spoke to mainconcepts tech support people they told me that they were aware of a memory handling/allocation issue. I have 2.5Gb of Ram yet if I had more than a dozen clips it would start warning me that I was running out of memory and then crash. More RAM will help, but to be honest I suspect that all you would be doing is delaying the onset of the problems. It's a shame because when it works, it works well reading and creating XDCAM HD compatible MXF's with smart rendering of cut/broken GOP's etc.

Lets hope they get the bugs ironed out soon.

[Alex Raskin]

Alister, MainConcept does not seem to even acknowledge the problem.

I asked their COO: "Question: have you fixed the bugs with the memory
handling as reviewed on DVInfo boards?" (I then linked this thread.)

And Sep 19th he replied: "I don't know when this was reviewed, but the version on the web was released about 60 days ago and so far, I have not heard from any customers about any HD problems.

Adobe has been recommending this rev to their customers so I think they
have been pretty happy wit it."

Either COO is not aware of the problems, or MainConcept is not even working on fixing them.

[Alister Chapman]

Well I spoke to Marc Hartman at tech support who acknowledged that "we have some problems with HD files and the memory management. We are working on a new version of the plugin which will solve this problem, I would recommend you wait for the new version."

That was some weeks ago yet the version on the site is still the original version 2.0.0.

I've since moved from PC's to Macs so I no longer need the Premiere plug-in.

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Alister Chapman

I've since moved from PC's to Macs so I no longer need the Premiere plug-in.

Welcome to OSX, Alister. I added Mac to my arsenal a year and a half ago. It's been an overall pleasant experience (except for the delayed support for 18/35mb bitrates). Guess wer're both waiting patiently for the end of the month and the FCP update.

-gb-

[Alister Chapman]

yes Greg, waiting for FCP, bu not nearly as long as Avid users will have to wait, and that's only if you have Media Composer.

Have to say the OSX experience has been very pleasant. For the cost of the media composer software I was able to buy a Quad G5, Final Cut Studio (via the upgrade path) and a decklink extreme Component/HDSDi card. It was a simple question of economics.

[Scott Aston]

OT.. Greg & Allister

Since you both have switched to FCP, can you tell me if the render times are as fast (Let's say with multiple layered titles) as with a PC NLE..such as Avid Liquid, or PPRO2? I see some real advantages of FCP, but with my business I do a ton of titles and I have always heard that FCP has painfully slow render times...your thoughts?

[Alister Chapman]

OT..

Straight forward renders of effects and transitions within projects are as quick as any PC application. Some of the export functions are perhaps a little slower, but the quality of rendered material is excellent. Most common standards and formats are handled in real time thanks in part to the decklink card including HDV, DV, DVCPRO, Uncompressed HD and SD. I get real-time down conversion to SD from HD, really useful for outputing to a grade 1 CRT monitor for grading of HD footage. Plus you get wonderful easy to use applications like motion and live-type for very quick, but amazing looking graphics and basic compositing.