Now that the cat is out of the bag, I can share with you dear readers a comprehensive list of what is new and groovy inside the latest offering from Avid.  Like what you see?  Join me for a more in-depth webinar on all that is contained therein plus a huge helping of bonus material on November 22nd.  More details here.

Until then, let’s whet your appetite, shall we?

Announced today, Media Composer 6, Symphony 6, and NewsCutter 10 will begin to ship November 15^th.  Lots of good stuff in this release, so in order to more easily digest them, I’ve organized them thusly:

1. Supported, Not Supported and End of Life
2. Top New Features
3. Other New Features
4. Pricing

Supported, Not Supported and End of Life

OS:  Windows 7 Professional SP1 64bit is supported, as is Mac OS 10.7 in a 64bit kernel.  However, early betas worked in 10.6.8, and the last beta I worked with recommends during the install process to move to a supported 10.7 OS, but the application will install under 10.6.8.  My performance, however, has been very poor.  I do not recommend it.  As always, stick with recommended configs.

CPU: specs have not changed much from what is already current with 5.5: the only difference is a 64bit OS, and of course, more RAM is recommended.  Avid has an up-to-date listing of what is current and is probably one my most visited sites: http://www.avid.com/US/products/Media-Composer/system-requirements

Storage: Fibre based Unity clients are supported with client versions v5.4 (Windows) and 5.5(Mac).  Ethernet Port Server clients are no longer supported.

End of Life: Nitris Classic, Media Composer & Newscutter with Adrenaline or Mojo SDI, as well as 32bit Media Composer, Symphony, and NewsCutter are EOL.  They will no longer be developed for.  MC 5.5 will be sold for a limited time to give users time to move to a 64bit OS and to possibly squeeze some last life out of the above products.

Top New Features

By far, the biggest news is the open I/O architecture.  From day 1, virtually every release of Media Composer has relied on Avid branded I/O.  And while this closed eco-system allowed for a high level of tight interoperability and thus increased performance, the sometimes hefty pricetag left many users out in the cold – or making sacrifices.  Incorporating 3^rd party hardware has also been the #1 user requested feature to Avid.  Couple these factors with a large FCP user base with currently no I/O in FCP X, and you now have a perfect storm.

Avid’s response:  Build in an open architecture and release an SDK for Media Composer which allows 3^rd party companies to write plug-ins for Avid which allow their hardware to work in conjunction with Media Composer for ingest and output.

Those early adopters to the program are the usual suspects you’d come to find in the NLE realm:  AJA and Blackmagic.  Matrox, MOTU and Bluefish444 round out the group.

Each manufacturer is writing drivers for their own devices.  The list (as of now – check with Avid or the manufacturers for updates) includes:

Open I/O in Media Composer 6: AJA Kona 3 and it's Control Panel (Click to enlarge)

AJA: Kona LHi, Kona 3, Kona 3G, IO Express

Blackmagic: UltraStudio 3D, Decklink, Multibridge, Intensity, H.264 Pro Recorder

MOTU: HDX-SDI, HD Express

Bluefish444: Create 3D Ultra, Symmetry (as of this writing, PC only)

Matrox: MXO2 Rack Max, MXO2 Mini & MXO2 Mini Max, MXO2 LE & MXO2 LE Max, MXO2 & MXO2 Max, Mojito Max (new!)

Again, I stress you consult with a reseller, I/O manufacturer or Avid to ensure your device is supported.

As many of you know, some of these I/O cards have typically required the user to access a control panel or separate app to further “instruct” the card what to do.  Avid has incorporated some of this functionality into the Avid capture tool with a gear icon which launches the hardware’s I/O config.  I understand that this is further being developed by the 3^rd party device manufacturers to minimize as much outside app intervention as possible.

Each device has their caveats and gotchas – especially with this first version, so I strongly suggest research prior to making an I/O decision.  I can say that the fine folks at Bluefish let me kick the tires with their Create Ultra 3D card, and the image quality was fantastic.  Their cards are really workhorses.

ProRes capture available on Media Composer 6 (Mac Only) (Click to enlarge)

While we’re on the subject of capture, another huge feature is the ability to capture into ProRes.  Yes, ProRes.  Proxy, LT, 422, 422 HQ and 4444.  And not only ProRes, but ProRes within an MXF wrapper. This allows the user to have the codec they dig, but also the enhanced media and metadata management ability of the Avid MXF wrapper.  However, this appears to be Mac only.  Preliminary documentation doesn’t explicitly state this, but my PC version does NOT show ProRes as an available option for media creation or capture.  As a side note, those of you who rely on fast import to get DNxHD media into Media Composer quickly will rejoice in that I’ve found ProRes can be fast imported into Avid – just like it’s DNxHD cousin.  No more lengthy transcodes on import or potential snafus with AMA.  Awesome.

It should be noted that the Avid Codec Engine (ACE) – the low level software which allows Avid to playback media (and thus not relying on the monster that is Quicktime) – is still hard coded to utilize DNxHD much better than any other codec you can throw at it.  Capturing (and playing back) ProRes is still using Quicktime as an intermediary gateway for encode / decode.  What does this mean?  DNxHD will still perform more efficiently within Avid than any other non-Avid based codec.

While on the subject of codecs, Avid has also introduced a DNxHD444 RGB codec for use within HD projects.  No longer is uncompressed RGB the only option.   This saves a ton of drive space and does not require nearly as much throughput.

Epic 5K files can now be used within Avid.  I can’t say I’ve tried this (no Epic footage at my disposal) but I understand that currently the HDRx resolution is not supported.  While we discuss RED, Avid has added additional RED Source Settings. REDColor2, REDGamma2, REDLogFilm & White Balance are now available.  Yes, RED is the only codec that supports these source side features only.  Media Composer & Symphony are still locked to SD or HD frame sizes (no 2K, 4K, etc.) and thus the ability to reframe the HD frame size within the RED file frame size is still intact.

AVCHD – the tightly compressed HD codec – which was previously only available by (a very long) import process, can now be linked via AMA.  While this will be a great addition for some users, it should be noted that AVCHD is very CPU intensive.  Older CPUs will have some issues during playback. AVCHD is just a tough nut to crack.

Next, Avid has rewritten a good chunk of the software to the point where the application has now been ported over to function in a 64bit OS.  This means: more RAM is available for the application.  I’ve also noticed that Avid is now better utilizing multi core machines.  All my cores are lighting up significantly higher during playback.  During a difficult sequence, I saw my XW8600 hit 60% usage across all 8 cores, and comparable results on my MacPro 12 core.  This means less sit-and-wait edit sessions.  More power is never a bad thing, eh?

Next, a topic close to my heart: Stereoscopic.  Avid was the first NLE to have a complete 3D workflow.  Although it was somewhat kluge, it worked.

Creation of a stereoscopic project inside Media Composer 6 (Click to enlarge)

With 6.0, Avid has finally made 3D editorial in a single application a reality.  If you were at the Avid Technology preview at NAB 2011 (or watched the bonus material of my ‘Stereo 3D Editing with Media Composer’ webinar) you may have seen many of these new features.  In a nutshell, these features include:

1. Creation of a Stereoscopic project, along with the type of camera rig, is available when you start a new project – or, these settings can be invoked at any point within a 2D project.  As a bonus, stereoscopic video can be viewed in software only mode (via the NVIDIA graphics card) or via Avid I/O or  3^rd party I/O.
2. 

   Creating a stereoscopic clip from left and right AMA'd files (Click to enlarge)

   3D editing is now (almost) as easy as 2D editing.  This includes mixing and matching of 2D, 3D and different frame rates in the same project.

3. Ability to take ‘mono’ files (single eyes) and ‘gang’ them within Media Composer in the form of a special clip pairing (think of it like a grouped clip) .  This can be done with any Quicktime AMA’d file, or with Avid MXF files – no longer a need for Metafuze for this process.  This is all dynamic – clips can be linked and relinked easily.
4. 

   Stereo aware effects and titles in Media Composer 6 (Click to enlarge)

   Stereoscopic aware text and effects.  When text or certain effects are placed on stereoscopic footage, MC applies these to each individual eye.  Spatial, temporal, color, depth and alignment adjustments are also available.

5. 

   Viewing options of stereoscopic footage in Media Composer 6 (Click to enlarge)

   On the fly changing of the layout of the 2 eyes (SbS, O/U, etc) in the composer window AND on the output of your I/O device.  As a bonus, the Nitris DX allows for full frame ingest and output – full raster of each eye on discreet SDI spigots (dual HD-SDI). Be careful, other I/O each have their own Stereoscopic I/O restrictions.

6. The ability to purchase the new Avid Nitris DX Option card that gives the Nitris DX another channel of DNxHD acceleration to pair with the exiting built in channel.  These 2 cards when used in tandem allow for the aforementioned Dual HDSDI stereo capture.
7. Metafuze does still exist (It’s code base comes from DS…DS is still around, isn’t it?) and can be used for to transcode formats that Avid does not understand natively or via AMA – into DNxHD MXF files.

Further adopting the (former) Euphonix line of panels, the EUCON protocol for the Avid Artist Series Color panel is now available inside Media Composer & Symphony v6.  No more mouse dragging on the color wheel –you now have controls much more akin to the color grade surfaces you’d find in a color bay. Those of you who are using a Tangent WAVE panel may want to look into the COLOR panel – it blows the WAVE away. Plus, it looks cool.

Avid has also unveiled a new way of purchasing stock footage, audio & video plug-ins, acquiring support and training and even purchasing other Avid products: The Avid Marketplace.  From inside the Media Composer or Symphony v6 application, all of these items can be browsed and purchased with no need for a separate application.  If a user is interested in stock footage, users can download a proxy which they can work with, and Avid will automatically link to the high res media when it has been purchased and downloaded. Equity Motion and ITN Source provide the media content for the video libraries – and Flash 11 is required.

Media Composer 6 Interface (Click to enlarge)

The UI has also received a much-needed facelift.  Changing layouts in any application has always been a sticky situation for a manufacturer.  Update it and you run the risk of alienating the veterans.  Leave it as it and your look becomes dated.  Avid has made a leap into the (current) new millennium, while retaining the same muscle memory needed to appease the dyed-ion-the-wool editors.

Changes include a sleeker grey color scheme and interface, along with some slightly redesigned icons, and colorful close / minimize / grow buttons on each window. AMA clips are no longer displayed as yellow, but rather appear as locked icon for audio and video.  Tabs are also dockable to their parent window.  Premiere and After Effects (among others) have done this for years, and helps to eliminate the space taken up by having dozens of bins open.  This is aided by the new ability to drag tools onto a single tab window.

Other New Features

This is by no means a complete list, but they include:

Symphony can now be run in software only mode.  Previously, a Nitris DX was needed to launch the application.  Now, Symphony can go with you on the road…for all of you that need secondary color correction when you’re on a plane.

Geeks rejoice: Windows UNC paths are now supported!  This means all you AMA users who move your AMA bins and media around between Macs and PCs will now have less of a headache!   This, of course, goes on the assumption everyone remembers the limitations of FAT/NTFS/HFS/exFAT, eh?

The title tool is now a standalone app – however, it is launched WITHIN the Avid application.  It is a separate process.

XML Site settings.  As you launch or quit a project, the user settings have historically been stored into an AVS file.  Now, they are saved to an XML file.  While on the surface this means very little for the user (the only difference is the XML file takes a little bit longer to save) I like seeing Avid starting to use more XML – even in this limited fashion.

Relinking is now interchangeable between tape and file based media – which has been a bane for many of us that either work with legacy media and/or offline media which originate from tape.

Audio: 5.1 and 7.1 Surround capturing and importing (with a new surround panner) via baseband or import / AMA – which translate to Pro Tools.  Also, many other interoperability enhancements with Pro Tools, including Dolby E encode & decode plugins, and enhancements with AAF (or legacy OMF) exports.  Audio mapping via AMA has also been added.

True P Output mode via HDMI:  the Nitris and Mojo DX have never pushed out true progressive frame rates.  This meant a real time cross conversion, or a conversion device.  This is no longer neccessary.

Pricing:

Some massive price drops and new bundles:

1. Media Composer 6 and Mojo DX bundle = $4499
2. Media Composer 6 and Nitris DX  = $6999
3. Mojo DX standalone = $2999 (new)
4. Nitris DX standalone = $5499 (new)
5. Symphony Software = $5999
6. New Symphony Artist Package (Symphony software, Nitris DX, Avid Artist Color panel) = $13999
7. Media Composer 6 – Educational (4 years of free upgrades) =  $295
8. FCP v1-v7 Crossgrade is $1499 (now permanent)
9. A brand spankin’ new version of Media Composer 6 is still $2499
10. Media Compose upgrade from Media Composer X.X is TBD (at least to me) at this time.  There will be tiered pricing (i.e. older versions pay more to upgrade than more recent versions of Media Composer)
11. And finally, there is now Volume licensing for EDU.

Over the past few years, Avid’s releases have been timely, well thought out, and chocked full o’ stuff that the industry has been clamoring for.  This release is no exception.  I expect after 6.0 has been out in the wild, and the first release hiccups (after all, this is a partly rewritten application with new open architecture – that’s a lot to bite off in 1 release) have been remedied, this will be a fantastic tool to your arsenal.

*Update April 12, 2011: Avid has given some feedback on the blog post, and I have posted their comments inline in bold.Thanks Avid!

PhraseFind is a phonetic matching algorithm, developed by Nexidia. It’s been wildly successful, serving as the basis of AV3’s “Get” software, which is used in conjunction with Final Cut Pro. Avid has licensed the technology and has branded it “PhraseFind”. It is available for $495, or $1295 when bundled with ScriptSync. Additional language packs can be purchased for $149.

“There are some differences between GET and PhraseFind:

This all translates into a much faster workflow with PhraseFind.”

Avid also adds:

“Nexidia develops the indexing engine – Avid develops PhraseFind and ScriptSync, AV3 develops get
The ability to search this way was pioneered with ScriptSync, and now PhraseFind offers the searching built into the Find tool without the need to spend on the extra scripting abilities in ScriptSync.”

See Avid’s indepth FAQ here: http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=389887&ssdFilterCommunity15=1408&ssdFilterCommunity10=369&ssdFilter_SearchKeyWord=&Hilite=#a10

Since this is the first incarnation of Avid integration, there are a few gotchas.

1. PhraseFind is currently only supported with Avid Media Composer 5.5.1 (Mac or PC), Symphony 5.5.1 (Mac or PC) or Newscutter 9.5.1 (PC). Earlier versions are not supported.
2. The database Phrasefind creates cannot currently be shared. Thus, every station accessing files must independently index the files. From Avid.com: In each Project folder, you will see a new folder called SearchData which contains a file called _SearchDB_. This file is the database created by Find when it indexes the bins within your project. If you have PhraseFind installed, you will also see a folder called PhoneticData which contains a number of files with a .pat extension; these files contain the phonetic information for each of the audio clips within your project. One .pat file will be created per clip.
3. Linking via an AMA file or even importing does NOT cause PhaseFind to index the file. The Bin must be saved before PhraseFind begins .
4. PhraseFind indexing also does not appear to be multithreaded. Routinely, one processor can be seen (barely) being taxed during indexing. “The benefit of this approach is that indexing doesn’t interfere with the performance of basic editing operations.”
5. In my tests, anything Phrasefind search returns over 60% probability seems to usually be spot on. This decreases sharply as the audio fidelity and annunciation decreases.
   
   I used Barack Obama’s “A More Prefect Union” speech for accuracy testing. This offered an excellent testing opportunity, as I not only had the full speech, but also a word for word transcript of the speech to compare against. I searched for the word “Dreams”. The transcript from the speech told me the word “dreams” was used a total of 5 times. With PhraseFind, 15 hits were returned, all above 50%. The top 6 hits were ranked as 56% accurate or better. They all turned out to be correct, including a hit for the word “dream” (singular).
   
   Next, I tried the word “education”. It was spoken 6 times, and PhraseFind found all 6 instances at 85% or higher degree of certainty.
6. Moving the files from one bin to another, as well as renaming the bin, causes PhraseFind to momentarily rewrite it’s database. It’s not re-indexing the files, it’s simply rewriting it’s database.
7. If a clip is deleted from the project, the associated PhraseFind entry is also deleted.“Taking media offline does NOT remove the index entry for that clip, so that offline media can still be searched. (It might not be online, but you know where it is.)”
8. Approx 13minutes = 1MB for a PhraseFind .pat file.
9. Get used to NOT hitting “RETURN” on the keyboard after bringing up the SEARCH box. That searches just  text. You need to click on the PhraseFind button.
10. Index time is impacted by AMA linking vs native DNxHD (MXF) files. This seems to vary wildly depending on the codec associated with the AMA file.

Examples:

All test performed with:

Mac Pro 2 x 2.66GHz 6 Core Intel Xeon (Westmere)
8GB RAM
32Bit Kernel
OS 10.6.6
Media Composer 5.5.1
Phrasefind 1.0
3 Drive/ 6TB internal RAID 0 as Avid MediaFiles space

Avid has unveiled the latest update to their editing suite family: Media Composer & Symphony 5.5, as well as DS 5.5.  Below are some of the biggest features to the Media Composer and Symphony 5.5 releases.

1. Video I/O: AJA I/O Express.
   Easily the biggest announcement.  Avid has traditionally restricted baseband video input and output to Avid built hardware.  We saw a glimpse last year of the move off this paradigm with the adoption of the Matrox MXO2 Mini.  This toe in the 3^rd party wading pool allowed users to output broadcast quality reference video through a sub $500 box.  While some functions – like capture and deck control – were not available; it was an instant success for smaller setups (aside from some pesky frame rates; more on that later)
   
   The AJA IO Express, unlike the Matrox MXO 2 Mini, is unrestricted by Avid to capture into Media Composer via HDSDI & HDMI, and output via HDSDI, Component, and HDMI.  It sports an RS-422 com port for deck control – and yes, digital cuts are supported.  Like the Matrox unit and the Avid branded I/O devices, it connects to your CPU via an included host (HBA) Card.  As of the initial 5.5 release, Ancillary Data and LTC are not supported…yet.
   
   I’m an AJA fanboy, and I think partnering with the best in the industry is a fantastic move.
   
   UPDATE: Avid has some new links to better illustrate this:
   Webpage FAQ
   Avid I/O comparions & PDF
2. AVC-Intra is a reality.
   One of the newer codecs – AVC-Intra – delivers excellent visual quality at lower data rates, and has been popping up more and more in prosumer and professional cameras.  Beauty and brains does have a downside, however: it’s extraordinarily CPU intensive.  Avid now has a solution for you.
   
   For $2495, you can purchase an AVC-Intra accelerator card for your Media Composer Nitris DX.  This small hardware card gets installed inside your Nitris DX Box, and allows for AVC-Intra encoding during capture – as well as assisting during decoding: edit, monitoring, and processing.  Sorry Mojo DX users, this cannot be used with your I/O; as the the Mojo DX offers no hardware expandability. Eye ballin’ a new Symphony Nitris DX?  Another reason to buy: The AVC-Intra card comes included with a new purchase of a Symphony Nitris DX.  Check out the Media Composer Nitris DX AVC-Intra here.
3. Say What?
   Don’t you constantly rely on the Search function of your OS? (I use my Apple + F search religiously.) Most of us would be unable to function without it.  Avid has taken two steps to improve the effective of it’s search tools.  First, the standard text search tool has been expanded to search across more metadata within your project: clips, sequences, script text, the timeline, and your monitors.

 As if that were not enough, Media Composer now has an ability to search via phonetic matching, a new feature called PhraseFind.  Media Composer automatically analyzes clips and indexes all dialog in your project’s media phonetically, so you can quickly find clips by simply typing a word or phrase—right from within your edit session. Plus, it works in the background so as not to tie up your editing bay. Bonus! Coupled with ScriptSync, this becomes a massively powerful tool to reduce the time lost to logging and assemblies and finding that illusive lost clip.  PhraseFind, as well as ScriptSync, come at an additional cost ($495 & $995, respectively) or bundle both for only $1295.
4. Hear That?  Enhanced Audio Monitoring.
   Avid has incorporated the ability to utilize Pro Tools hardware for monitoring of your Media Composer.  Pro Tools HD hardware, as well as select flavors of the MBox family can be used for audio playback.  (MBox3 for sure, I’m unsure if MBox 2 is supported. The original MBox is not) AIR plug-ins will also be supported within Media Composer 5.5.
5. AMA Enhancements.
   AMA is probably the single greatest thing Avid has rolled out in recent history, and with 5.5, Media Composer continues down that path.  The HDCAM SR Lite codec is now supported.  First incarnations of support do not include writeback to HDCAM SR, however.  Transcoding / mixdown is necessary.
   
   Those of you who insist on using Long GOP video files (you know who you bastards are) will be thrilled to learn that Avid has beefed up Media Composer’s ability to play these in real time.  While it is impossible to qualify every hardware and software configuration when dealing with AMA, v5.5 will handle your Long GOP files better than 5.0.  Plus, Media Composer has also enabled Long GOP Quicktime reference exports (this last feature was quietly available not to long ago in 5.0.3 versions)  In case you didn’t know, Media Composer uses your GPU – Graphics card – to during playback to take load off of your CPU.  So, always consider beefing up your Graphics card to speed up your system…staying within the approved list of cards, of course.
   
   You’ll also see a change in how AMA is installed on machines.  AMA, as you may know, is a plug-in architecture.  XDCAM, P2, Quicktime, GFCAM, etc., are all separate AMA plug-ins.  As is the case with most plug-ins, development can continue on these separate of changes to the host application itself.  Because of this, AMA plug-ins are now going to be hosted on Avid’s website for download.  (Yes, they are free.)  This ensures that the user can always get the most up to date plug-in ‘builds’.  Media Composer 5.5 will come bundled with the Quicktime AMA plug-in only.

Miscellaneous notes:

1. Media Composer 5.5 will be the last version that supports the Adrenaline hardware.  It will also be the last 32bit build of Media Composer.
2. Unity MediaNet 4.x is no longer supported.  Have you looked into the next generation of Avid Shared storage – the ISIS 5000 and ISIS 7000?  Ethernet is the new Fibre, yo.
3. 4GB of RAM is required for operation.
4. The Matrox MXO2 Mini is now able to output true Progressive (P) frame rates, and the h.264 MAX option is now supported to accelerate Matrox h.264 exports out of Media Composer.  This means faster exports for web and mobile devices directly out of Media Composer.
5. The Avid (Euphonix) Artist Series (Artist Control, Artist Mix, and Artist Transport) controllers are supported within Media Composer 5.5.
6. Enchanced Smart tool: Adjust a transition’s timing within the Timeline without stepping into the effects palette.
7. There is *no* change in the Avid Stereoscopic workflow.  Metafuze is still used to mux left and right eyes into a single HD frame size.  Only single link output from an I/O device is available, in the same flavor it was Metafuze’d in.
8. Mea Culpa: A misconception (and one that I’ve been guilty of) about Avid hardware needs to be rectified.  The Mojo DX offers no hardware acceleration, during capture or playback.  The Nitris DX offers DNxHD hardware acceleration during capture and playback. Marketing literature has been vague on this point.

It’s all happened to us what time or another – we find our storage drives are overflowing with media goodness.  This limits the amount of media we can put on the drive for another project;  as well as decreasing the performance of said media drives.

Avid’s ability to track media is excellent, and this ability is partly responsible for it’s pseudo proprietary format – the Avid flavor of the MXF wrapper (a tweaked Op-Atom MXF, in case you were wondering).  This wrapper prevents most media players (Quicktime, VLC, for starters) from being able to play the media.  Avid’s tracking of the file during import also alters the file name to the point where sometimes you cannot identify the media by file name alone.  This means you have to open up Avid, and view each clip.  This is time consuming and quite frankly, a pain in the ars.

Sure, you can fork out a few bucks for codecs which allows these files be played (Calibrated Software, for example), but wouldn’t you like the ability  for *free*?

It turns out, the ability to view these files can be found at the core of several popular application that *prevents* you from doing so – VLC Media Player, Handbrake, and MPlayer.

The VLC Media Player is based off the open source, cross platform project known as FFmpeg.  This highly customizable code base is a step below a basic GUI, and has usually only found usage by coders.  However, with a few tweaks, it can play Avid MXF files, on your PC desktop.

The trick revolves around forcing FFmpeg to play the file.  See, most players, upon encountering a file they don’t immediately understand – simply abort the process.  FFmpeg has a switch (a command line argument) which forces the application to play the file.  Since Avid MXF is an MXF variant, the ability to read the MXF file is inherent to the application.

Things you’ll need:

• - Avid Codecs (FREE – http://www.avid.com/dnxhd)

This ZIP file containing:

• – FFmpeg EXE file (ffplay.exe)
• – Batch file, providing the command line switches to play the file (ffplay2.bat)
• – DLL Driver (sdl.dll)

The batch file launches the FFmpeg application and forces the application to play the MXF file, while being told what codec the media file should be played back with. (DNxHD).

Assumptions:

A)  You’re running on a PC. (although, FFmpeg is cross platform, so you could write an equivalent on the Mac…)
B)  The file you wish to view is an Avid MXF file, using the DNxHD Codec (what Avid has used as standard for a few years now)
C)  There is no support for this trick.  In fact, I wish I could take credit for this.  This trick was shared with me by one hellova guy (Bob Kertez – bluescreen guru and great storyteller), who massaged the trick from Jamie Parry.

Directions:

1. All the files contained within the ZIP file are placed into the c:\utilities folder  (easy to change as a command line switch in notepad.  You can also alter the  -X and -Y parameters to resize playback.)
2. Right-click on an MXF file, choose Open with… and point it to ffplay2.bat.  To streamline things  further, click on Always Use This File or Default Program, and from then on, double clicking on an MXF file will play it immediately.

Watch your media come to life!

Ho Ho Ho and happy editing, err, cleaning!

No mainstream editorial platform truly understands 3D natively. Through trickery, masking, and video hide-and-seek, we can manipulate our editing platform of choice to limp along for stereoscopic editorial. I’m a firm believer in the right tool for the right job, and choosing the tool requires a fair amount of research.

We’ll examine the 2 top choices in today’s professional post arena: Avid’s Media Composer and Apple’s Final Cut Pro. While Avid has a built in ability for 3D tomfoolery, Apple must rely on 3rd party products.

For this analysis, I am using Cineforms Neo3D for FCP, as it allows for a complete (broadcast quality or greater) baseband and file output. I will also be relying on the Avid sanctioned stereoscopic workflow when utilizing Avid for a 3D project. While Cineform does have the ability for interop with Avid, a major pain point for productions (and deadlines!) are unexpected issues when going “off book”. Whenever possible, I endorse playing by the rules – unless time, budget, and patience allow for the alternative.

I’ve narrowed the criteria to 6 facets: Cost, Quality, Workflow, Speed, Flexibility, Location.

Lets start with what ends up being the last questions answered…and more often than not, the deciding factor: Cost. (see also: the race to zero).

.:: Cost ::.

Let’s go on the assumption that for each of the solutions – Avid and Final Cut Pro – you use the same CPU, hard drives, beefy graphics card, additional RAM, 2 computer monitors and a small, fast RAID array. Ballpark $15,000 for the system, and $20,000 – $25,000 if you get a 3D capable monitor. All of this is before you even begin to edit. Below are ballpark prices:

Avid:

Media Composer Software and separate Matrox MXO2 Mini (output functionality only) = $3,000
or
Media Composer Software with Avid Mojo DX Hardware = $8,000
or
Media Composer Software with Avid Nitris DX Hardware = $14,000

Apple:

Final Cut Pro Software: $1,000
AJA Kona 3: $2,000
Neo3D Plug-in: $3,000
———–
$6,000

Avid wins on the lowest end. However, the Matrox MXO2 Mini cannot be used for ingest in Avid (Avid imposed limitation), does not provide SDI output, and is not compatible with all frames rates that Avid can handle. I personally feel that theAJA Kona 3 is fantastic bang for the buck, despite the $3,000 delta in pricing. Although it does not have HDMI output, The AJA Kona 3G (shipping around the end of November 2010) remedies that shortcoming. A Final Cut Pro solution wins out as well on price at the next 2 levels.

Winner: Final Cut Pro

.:: Quality ::.

To clarify, this is visual quality throughout the editorial and finishing process; not the finished product alone.

Avid requires the use of Metafuze to create stereoscopic material. Within each video stream for each eye, Metafuze takes 2 frames (left eye and right eye) and compresses these into 1 frame. This compression allows Avid to see 1 video track. In order to do this, Metafuze throws out half of each frames information. This – even at it’s highest quality – it not fit for broadcast, and necessitates an offline / online workflow. So, while the end product looks good, it requires several extra steps. The one shining point, is that if the resolution for output is above 2K, Avid has the DS product. While the output quality from the DS may be the same as other finishing systems, a Media Composer offline to a DS for the online stays in the Avid eco-system, which minimizes accidental metadata color hiccups between multiple systems.

Final Cut Pro, utilizing Neo3D, can retain full frame sizes up to 2K, all while utilizing the Cineform codec. The Cineform codec is not only better than Pro Res, but has been used for several years as a DI codec and is commonly used as the codec of choice for restoration. Using the AJA Kona card, users can retain this quality all the way to layoff / export. Thus, the FCP workflow keeps an extraordinarily high level of quality throughout editorial. No offline / online workflow needed (up to 2K). However, if you desire your project to above 2K, then you must generate a cutlist and move it and the media to a finishing system, which puts you in the relatively same position as Avid; i.e. multiple systems to complete the project.

Winner: Final Cut Pro up to 2K resolution, Avid for all other resolutions.

.:: Workflow ::.

Avid’s Metafuze reads most camera formats. This one simple application creates the media and metadata (ALE’s) for Avid. Since Avid also has Symphony as well as DS, little, if any, metadata is lost when moving between applications, as it is an Avid workflow from start to finish.

As two slight asides, Avid’s HD Codec – DNxHD – is 100% free to encode and decode with and takes less CPU horsepower to encode & decode with than the Cineform equivalent. In addition, when using the Avid Mojo DX or Nitris DX for I/O, a user eliminates incompatibilities or issues with 3rd party hardware. When I am attempting to hit a deadline, the last thing I need to deal with is driver mismatches and conversions.

Neo3D for Final Cut Pro, usually requires 2 programs prior to the footage even getting into FCP. Re-Master, to convert raw footage into the Cineform Codec, and FirstLight to “wrap” the previously Re-Mastered created Cineform left and right files into 1 video file, plus adds RT convergence and color tools – something Metafuze cannot do. Apple does not have a finishing solution, thus the project and media needs to be output and then opened (interpreted) by another system, or, First Light has to be purchased and loaded on the Finishing system to continue with the adjustments made during editorial. Thus, while Neo3D does give more functionality during editorial, it’s still a several step process with multiple manufacturers (hardware and software), and thus more chances for loss of metadata and breakdowns in the process.

Winner: A toss up, and the toughest judgment call on the list. If onlining, Avid. If not, FCP.

.:: Speed ::.

Metafuze is slow. Really slow. And only on PC.

Neo3D lights up the processors. However, as previously mentioned, it’s usually a 2 step process. However, I still find the 2 step process is slightly faster, AND it can be done on a Mac or PC.

Winner: Final Cut Pro

.:: Flexibility ::.

When using Metafuze, you choose the ‘flavor’ or 3D: Side-by-side, over/under, interlaced, etc. This cannot be changed without re-encoding.

The Neo3D plug-in for FCP allows for side-by-side, over/under, interlaced, not to mention, onion skin, anaglyph, etc – all on the fly. In addition, active metadata allows for color adjustments and convergence – in real time.

Winner: Final Cut Pro

.:: Location ::.

Hollywood is still a predominantly an Avid town. Studios and post facilities infrastructure and existing workflow will probably be setup with Avid related machines, gear, I/O, SANs…not to mentioned editors. So, if you’re working on a big budget feature, most likely Avid will be your weapon of choice.

If you’re outside of Hollywood, or not working on a big budget film, FCP will probably be in your arsenal.

Winner: Avid for big budget, FCP everywhere else.

Feedback. Healthy discussion never hurt anyone!

Discussing the points in this very article: Presenting 3D in Avid & FCP Workflows at the Createasphere 3D Workshop: Burbank, Ca. November 2010

This is trick is from a recent Key Code Media event where I discussed Media Creation & Sharing with Final Cut Studio and Avid Media Composer 5.0. (see: Avid AMA, Telestream’s Pipeline, AJA’s KiPro)

In this demonstration, we use a Pro Res timeline in Final Cut Pro, send it to Avid without creating any new media, and have the sequence not only open, but also utilize the same media – all using Automatic Duck & Avid’s AMA feature in 5.0 – via a hidden (undocumented) trick!

Special Thanks to Avid (Casey Richards), Automatic Duck (Wes Plate), Telestream, Apple, and Key Code Media.

Update: 11/11/10 Wes Plate of Automatic Duck, has updated Pro Export FCP to 4.05, and has a video to go along with it!

1. Can Avid 5.0 on Mac or PC play Pro Res?
   Yes, provided you have a recent version of Quicktime (free) installed.  This is required by Avid for installation.
2. Can Avid 5.0 EXPORT into ProRes?
   Mac: Not Natively, but yes.  Apple allows for any machine (Mac or PC) to PLAY ProRes with a current version of Quicktime, or with the free ProRes decode codecs from apple.com.  However, ENCODING into ProRes is limited to the OS having certain software(s) installed.

   This includes 1 of the following:

   • Final Cut Pro
   • Final Cut Server
   • Logic Pro
   • Compressor

   These apps install the proper ProRes component, which is needed for ProRes encoding.  There are sneaky ways around this without installing one of the 4 apps, however they all violate Apples EULA and are illegal, and can also be unreliable.…thus, don’t do it.

   PC: No.  Apple has not made it possible for any software manufacturer to do a software ProRes encode on a PC platform. UPDATE 9/2010: This has changed. Cinedeck now does it in software, as does Control Dailies

3. If I have ProRes in my timeline (Mac or PC) and create an effect, how does it render?
   Good Question.  On both Mac and PC – even if you have one of the 4 apps above installed, Avid 5.0 will NOT render into ProRes.  If you look in your media creation settings, Avid will default to another codec.
4. Then, how do I get my Avid project to FCP and vice versa?
   Wes Plate at Automatic Duck has you covered.  Automatic Duck provides for both of these scenarios.
   • Avid to FCP:  http://automaticduck.com/products/pifcp/
   • FCP to Avid: http://automaticduck.com/products/pefcp/

   Keep in mind, these are NOT yet (as of 5/20/10) qualified for Avid 5.0.  Usage of Automatic Duck with legacy media (OMF, MXF) may require some transcoding to work within the other editing system.  Depending on the workflow, the Automatic Duck software may be able to handle the transcoding for you.  See the README for each plugin.

Remember, all of this is based on an Avid 5.0 Beta – at least 30 days from release.  Features are of course, subject to change.   However, I do not forsee anything changing, due to Apple’s licensing.

On a side note, I am really, really excited about Avid 5.0.  NAB 2010 had me geeked, the beta has me jazzed, and I think this is one of the best steps Avid has taken in many years.

“I win!”

Bewildered, I respond with a puzzled “Excuse me?”

“I win!” he repeats.  “I knew you’d go Hollywood!”

Now this puzzles me.  Not only because TMZ and perezhilton.com are blocked at work, but that very day I was looking into flights to visit family and friends in Chicago, as well as planning my next trip from the Valley to Buena Park for some much needed Portillo’s.  In fact, not to much earlier that day I had made a decent Chicago pun.  (There are four directions in Chicago: Northside, Southside, Westside, and the Lake.)

“You swore you’d remember your roots, man.  But I read your blog, and you’re talking about stuff we’d probably never do in the Midwest.”

“Well, some would…” I rationalized.

“Hardly.  Didn’t you used to say the difference between L.A. and Chicago was a million dollars and 6 frames?  All of your stuff revolves around those two things.”

“Yeah, well…some people out here do 29.97…”

He cuts me off.  “They’re called Tape Ops.”

(We both chuckle.  Post geeks are an odd squad.)

So, in this post, I’ll be backing off the Hollywood-centric workflows, asinine acronyms, and strings of polysyllabic words and going back to some grass-roots issues.

On any given project, there are many editors, in many disciplines, and spread across many miles.  Therefore, getting YOUR stuff to work with THEIR stuff is imperative.  Thus, I present to you the best ways to get Final Cut Pro projects and/or media into Avid Media Composer.

First, it’s important that we understand how Avid deals with media.  As of March 2010, Avid understands media in 4 formats.  This may very well fluctuate in the next few months**, but for now, Avid understands media thusly:

1. Native Avid media – that is, captured by Avid.  Nowadays, this is usually in Avid’s DNxHD codec, which is analogous to ProRes – see chart below.  Avid, during capture into DNxHD, wraps this file in an MXF wrapper.  In legacy systems, instead of MXF, this would be a standard definition file in an OMF format. This media is understood natively by Avid, and requires no other transcoding or re-wrapping for usage within Avid.
2. Quicktime Media encoded with Avid’s DNxHD codec (with a .mov extension).  Avid can see this file, but will want to “wrap” it into an MXF wrapper before utilizing it within Avid.  This is not instantaneous, but is faster than a straight file import / conversion because it is not re-encoding the media.  Avid calls this a “fast import”. **
3. Via Avid’s AMA  – Avid Media Access. (v. 3.5 and above). P2, XDCAM, and GFCAM are understood natively (but ONLY camera native files with the mxf wrapper and original file hierarchy) **
4. Other Quicktime Media NOT encoded with the DNxHD codec, but still understood and playable by your Quicktime player.  Provided the codec is installed on your Avid machine, Avid can see it, but needs to import (transcode) and wrap the file into an MXF wrapper.  This is the longest of the techniques.

Knowing these rules, we can build several workflows which enable a FCP Project – or just the media – to get into Avid.

Just Media from FCP to Avid: Easiest Method (and Free!)

Media from FCP to Avid (click to enlarge)

• Download the Avid DNxHD Codecs (http://www.avid.com/dnxhd/ ) onto your Mac.  This enables FCP, Compressor, or any other encoding application on your same Mac to encode into DNxHD. (Remember DNxHD is a codec, so it can have a “.mov” extension).
• Export your timeline into a comperable DNxHD .mov format (see chart).  This yields a file with a .mov extension, but encode with a DNxHD codec.
• This file can be seen by Avid, who will then “fast import” it (wrapping it into an MXF wrapper), allowing you to use it in the most efficient way on the timeline.

GOTCHA: You can, of course, bypass the entire download of DNxHD codecs, just just export from FCP using the same codec FCP is using in the timeline.  This, however, complicates things for the Avid user.  What if they do not have the same codec you are using within FCP?  Worse yet, what if the codec you export with requires the other user to pay to get the codec?  For example, DVCProHD is not free for a PC!  Companies like Calibrated Software (http://www.calibratedsoftware.com/) charge $69 for a plugin to simply decode the file.  Rule Of Thumb: Make it as EASY as possible for the next person to use your media.

ADVANCED USERS:  From FCP, export a QT Reference.  Use your clustered or more robust encoding solution to encode into a .mov DNxHD file.  Quite possibly, your encoding solution may allow you to even wrap the DNxHD file into an MXF wrapper (OP1a compliant) which makes importing into Avid even faster!  (see #1)

Project AND Media from FCP to Avid (slightly not free)

Project & Media from FCP to Avid (click to enlarge)

• Purchase and download Automatic Duck Pro FCP Export ($495) http://automaticduck.com/products/pefcp/
• Download the Avid DNxHD Codecs (http://www.avid.com/dnxhd/ ) onto your Mac.  This enables FCP, Compressor, or any other encoding application on your same Mac to encode into DNxHD. (remember DNxHD is a codec, so it can have a “.mov” extension)
• Within FCP, export using Automatic Duck (see movie here: http://automaticduck.com/products/pefcp/FCPtoAvidwitMedia.mov).  In short, Automatic Duck creates a Project file Avid can understand, and you have the option within the export of converting the media to DNxHD AND wrapping it into an MXF wrapper.  All are read natively by Avid.  ALL IN ONE STEP. Can you dig it?

GOTCHA: (for you advanced users) This process can be slow, as Automatic Duck handles the media transcode and re-wrap.  This is a single threaded process, and cannot be done by another application.  This may yield a wait for longer form / media heavy projects.  In addition, there are a handful of effects that may not transfer over.  Check Automatic Duck’s documentation for limitations.

ADVANCED CONCEPT: Use Automatic Duck to export the Project.  Manually take the FCP Media and transcode into DNxHD or MXF wrapped DNxHD with your favorite encoder.  Take the converted Project file and media to the Avid.  Open the Project, and manually re-link to the transcoded media.  Depending on if the FCP media was wrapped in a MXF wrapper, Avid will either import it instantaneously, or necessitate a wrap into MXF.  While this may save time on the front end (manually doing the encode into DNxHD), you will lose that time by needing to manually re-link to the media within Avid.  Plus, you lose tons of metadata.  I am not a fan of attempting this.  But I will be glad to charge you for consulting on it.

NOTE: This workflow ensures the most amount of metadata transferring over.  Sure, you can save yourself $495, and try to work some magic with a generic EDL.  I’ve had zero consistent success with this, and only massive amounts of metadata loss, headaches, and a severe limitation in terms of effects transferring over.  Take it from Nancy Reagan: JUST SAY NO.

FOOTNOTE:  Quality loss is always a big concern.  There are hundreds of codecs out there – so I cannot possibly mention each one.  However, I can tell you what standard codecs in FCP equate to what codecs in Avid:

**Most likely in mid 2010, the line between #2 & #3  will become blurred.  That is, AMA being enabled to understand ANY codec Quicktime can read.  This means that Avid can play almost any media file you throw at it, so long as Quicktime on the same machine can play it.  While this is a fantastic concept, Avid will always perform better when dealing with multiple streams of video when all formats are in an Avid codec.  Avid only guarantees 3 streams of broadcast quality video via AMA, and I do not expect that to change once AMA is opened up fully to Quicktime.

***Avid’s DNxHD codec has “families”, for ease of use (snort) in terms of naming conventions (left column above). Depending on your frame rate, the bitrates (the last numeric digits) of the file can fluctuate slightly.  For example, DNxHD36 is for 23.976 fps material.  This “family” also encompasses 29.97 fps material encoded with the same codec, yet yields a file (technically) at DNxHD45.  Yes, I know: uber-confusing.  Look for a blog post on this soon.

Hope this helps.  Have any input?  I’d love to hear it.

*This document is applicable for Avid Media Composer 4.0.5 as well.  Check out the slight changes in the Avid Media Composer 4.0.5 README for more information.

Avid Media Composer Cheatsheet Version 4.0.4

Matt Stratton turned me on to Clicky Stats awhile ago, and through Clicky, I’m able to see what web searches come up with my blog as a result. I also see when these searches lead them to my blog – but then they leave because they didn’t find the answer. I thought since the search engines think I already have it on my site, perhaps I should.   Below is a sampling of the search queries that my website supposedly already has the answers for.  So, I present to you:

It came from the Searches, Volume 1.

dnx-36 firewire 400 and bandwidth requirements DNX36
Yes, DNxHD36  (aka DNx36) can certainly work through a firewire400 pipe. DNxHD36 runs at a 36mbps, while firewire400 has a theoretical max of 400mbps. This makes firewire400 a fine choice as a transport for DNx36 offline workflows.

29.97 and dnx36
This is a source of confusion for many Avid users, and I’m in the process of authoring a blog on this. DNxHD36 is a “family” according to Avid. While the “36″ label refers to the data rate for 23.976 material, the DNxHD36 “family” codec can be applied to 29.97 material. This would be technically known as DNxHD45 (45mbps as opposed to 36mbps).

“episode engine” cpu restriction
This is kind of vague. Within Episode, you can assign priority of encodes and cpu usage. Quicktime already is pretty poor with processor usage to begin with, however.

Metafuze Lossy?
Yes. After all, you’re transcoding from one codec to another – there will always be quality loss. In addition, DNxHD is a lossy codec – so, yes.

edit room day rate
This varies wildly. Depends what gear is in the room, what the room is used for (editorial, audio, finishing, color, etc.) your experience, and geographical location – and hell, what your rent is! Normally a reputable rental rate at a good facility would be a couple hundred bucks per hour or even much more.   As a side note / soap box,  don’t sell out the rest of the industry by undercutting other facilities.  Talent and experience are worth the money.  That’s a majority of what the client is paying for – not the gear.  By undercutting everyone else, the industry is forced to adopt your lower rate as a standard, then everyone has to drop their prices.  And the cycle continues. You’re shooting yourself in the foot.

Does clipster support facilis
Clipster runs on Windows XP 64bit, which Facilis has a client for. Fibre is the best choice (Ethernet won’t deliver the bandwidth needed), and it should be a recent version of Facilis software to enable file locking – volume locking will cause organization issues, but can be done.

convert red footage cluster setup
I wish I could do it better than these guys have:
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/compressor_multi_cores_stitzer.html
http://www.fcsoutlet.com/home/Studio_Outlet/Entries/2008/9/1_Virtual_Clusters_-_Compressor.html

fcserver script
Good luck. Most everything is manual at this point. Try CATDV as a more GUI based alternative.

QIO-PCIE sonnet tech
The QIO comes with either a PCIE host card or a E34 (Express slot) host card. Unveiled at NAB 2009, and finally shipping now! Mac only support for now. List Price is about $1000.

FTP, KiPro
Well, once the KiPro encodes to ProRes, you can certainly FTP the file – although it’s gonna be huge. Your best bet is to offload it to a portable drive for transport or use a transfer solution like StorageDNA.

share msm database avid
I can only assume you’d like two or more machines to access the same Avid Database at the same time, in order to share media. Nope – the functionality you are attempting to do is achieved through Avid Unity, ISIS, and Interplay.

final cut server frontend
Final Cut Server (FCSvr) clients have a front-end based in Java; it looks the same on Mac or PC – and the administrator can restrict what functions a client can have. A popular alternative is creating a web page interface which ties into the database and media of FCSvr. The functions on thew web page are usually limited and typically only used for “review and approval” functionality. Several companies out there can create a custom web based interface – although it is far from cheap.

episode pro pro res 422
Yes, If Episode is running on a Mac, you can encode and decode into any of the flavors of “ProRes” (1 word). Decoding is only available (currently) on the Windows version.