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There exist various HD-SDI device to record 10-Bit 422 video data.  10 bits is useful for shallow gradients especially when expanded (steeper contrast curve) by grading, while 422 gives better detail, that can matter when pixels are big (e.g. when close to a big screen or when digital zoom employed in post).  In any case, such recorders tend to compress less than on-board camera systems, or in some cases not at all, improving the quality.  But to what extent can the various NLEs cope with this?  From my web searches it seems that the answer is “sometimes”.  For example some NLEs will accept 10-bit only in their own favourite formats, otherwise they discard two bits, interpreting the footage as 8-bit.  One might (naively) have thought the way to be sure was to experiment - but there is plenty of room for confusion when doing experiments, for example Avid’s color correction tool allegedly only displays to 8-bit resolution even when it is importing/processing/exporting at 10-bit.  Other “loopholes” may exist, like it seems (if I understand it correctly) that if you AMA or import 10-bit ProRes then Avid only sees 8-bit, implying one needs instead to transcode ProRes->DNxHD externally (e.g. via MPEG StreamClip?) and import that.  But even that might not be possible, as one post suggested DNxHD 10-bit encoding could only work from Avid, not external apps.   Furthermore, whereas all ProRes formats handle 10-bit, for DNxHD, only formats with an “x” suffix do; the only one I know of is DNxHD 220x.  There exist further subtleties/loopholes/pitfalls, hence more research to be done on this… and I’ll tread very carefully…

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When you purchase Avid Media Composer, you also get a set of other applications, whose purpose (at least to the newbie) is not immediately obvious.  So I did some investigation and produced a summary of them, as below.  I have no experience of actually using them, I just trawled ReadMe files and (mostly) the web.  Here are my (interim) conclusions:

• Avid TransferManager - Is e.g. for uploading to a Playback Server [http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/274]
• AMA - the camera-specific AMA Plugins (e.g. for Sony XDCAM) are no longer bundled with MC, you have to download and install them separately. [http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/316]
• Avid MetaSync automates the inclusion of metadata (expressed in suitable XML formats) into Avid editing systems, including synchronisation with video and audio. The metadata can be anything from subtitles / closed captioning to synchronized entertainments such as lightshows or simulator rides.   [http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/334]
• Avid MetaFuze’s primary, if not only purpose is to prep files for Media Composer use - an “outboard importer”.  Avid’s article at http://www.avid.com/US/industries/workflow/MetaFuze summarises it nicely.  Though bundled with Media Composer, it is also available free. That means for example that preprocessing work (e.g. generation of burnt-timecode proxies and online files) can be generated (e.g. in DNxHD) by anyone whether or not they have an Avid system.  Potentially then a great option for breaking up work into collaborative / parallel workflows. [http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/335]
• Sorenson Squeeze - a well-known compressor/encoder, bundled as part of Avid Media Composer (MC) but also an independent product in its own right. Avid MC5.5 specifies version v6.04 but further updates are available from Sorenson itself.  There is a free-to-Avid-users update from v6.x to v6.5.  The latest version is v7.0 (with CUDA).  Presumably these later versions are officially unsupported by Avid (but how much does that matter in practice?). [http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/337]
• Avid EDL Manager imports and exports EDL (in various flavours) - from/to a bin (e.g. thumbnails storyboard layout?) (or a Sequence or MXF file?).  It can be run stand-alone or from within Avid.  EDLs are somewhat of a hangover from the past, so it’s unlikely to be of much use in my case, but worth knowing about as an option, and as such still features in other people’s current workflows. [http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/350]
• Avid Film Scribe generates Cut Lists and Change Lists (used in transfer from video edit to film edit) in more contemporary formats than EDL, e.g. XML formats involved in VFX / DPX workflows (? I am on very unfamiliar ground here ?).  It can generate such formats from a Sequence and also it can be used to translate between some formats.[http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/352]
• Avid Log Exchange (ALE) is an Avid log file format that has become a de facto standard in the post industry. It is a text-based metadata exchange format used in applications from telecine to standalone logging applications, and is supported by many NLEs.  The ALE format is based on a Comma or Tab -delimited file format. [http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/353]
• Avid After Effects EMP is (not a disruptive elctronic weapon but) an Avid-supplied plugin for Adobe After Effects allowing that application to use a DNA family video output box such as Mojo (”ordinaire”) or Nitris to provide External Monitor Preview (EMP) on a monitor.  Helpful in order to make use of that Avid box for the Adobe After Effects application, both for convenience and consistency.  Unfortunately it does not work with the more recent DX family, such as the Mojo DX box. [http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/354]
• The Avid DNA Diags application is for diagnostics on DNA family e.g. Mojo “ordinaire” (not DX) [http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/355]
• The Avid Quicktime Codecs extend QuickTime for encoding and decoding to/from Avid codecs such as DNxHD.  Essentially they add such formats to QuickTime on your system.  The LE codecs are “Light Edition” - only needed on systems where Avid is not already installed.   [http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/356]
• Avid Media Log is a standalone app supplied with Avid systems enabling assistants on non-Avid machines to select and log raw (as opposed to RAW) footage in a manner that can easily be transferred into an Avid session/system elsewhere, where the result appears as an Avid Project.  Apparently, Media Log is much like the digitize tool on Media Composer.  But I’ve never used that either… It can output e.g. to ALE (explained below) and hence e.g to other NLEs.  [http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/357]
• Misc “Avid Downloads” (?) Looking at  my Avid Downloads page, there is a much larger list of items than I expected, and suspect that many of them are not relevant.  For example, what is Avid Deko?  It’s listed on my Avid Downloads page, though I don’t know if I would be able to activate it, or whether it would be worth the trouble.  It’s listed as Deko 2200.  So I googled and YouTubed about it…  Impression: that version (2200) is very obsolete. [http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/332]
• On my web “travels”, I discovered a great article entitled “The Avid Ecosystem” at [http://digitalfilms.wordpress.com/the-avid-ecosystem/], listing many of the resources for the Avid world: links, tutorials, filters, applications, training…
• It’s helpful to see some of the above items in the context of illustrative workflows, e.g.:
  • http://www.avid.com/static/resources/documents/solutions/REDstepbystep.pdf
  • http://www.studiodaily.com/main/minisites/avid/f/mtutorials/Streamline-Your-QuickTime-Based-Workflow-with-MetaCheater-and-Avid-Media-Composer_9547.html
  • http://pomfort.com/support/Pomfort_Metadata_workflow_AVID_Media_Composer.pdf.

Free open-source pro-class NLE: http://www.lightworksbeta.com/ .  Well-received by many.  Glimmers a little bit like FCPX, but more flexible user interface, including keyboard-compatibility options with AVID and FCP7.  Register to download it (just over 40 MB).  Further links:

• http://www.lightworksbeta.com/
• http://www.advancehdtv.com/index.php/item/lightworks-a-new-nle.html
• http://forums.creativecow.net/archivethread/134/313499
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightworks
• http://lightworks.wikidot.com/
  • Unofficial Site to help the Lightworks (Beta) NLE community share tips/tricks and documentation.
  • Before using this Wiki, read the following:
    • Lightworks Quickstart Guide
  • Maybe also read the following (longer documents):
    • Lightworks Guide 2010
    • Install Guide
• http://community.avid.com/forums/p/96606/553421.aspx
  • Avid users discussing Lightworks etc.  Seems a reasonably good reception.
  • http://community.avid.com/forums/t/82697.aspx
    • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gCDFfXUcGk
• YouTube
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gCDFfXUcGk
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu9kgRLQ7n8
• http://www.interlab-net.com/docs/lightworks/Press_Releases/LWKS_PR_NTFS.pdf
  • LightWorks courses at London’s NTFS

http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/91722

• << “Avatar” was cut on Avid Media Composer systems running software version 2.8.4. >>
• << Even with the help of stalwart first assistant Jason Gaudio, the editing team did not want to risk upgrading their NLE software in mid-project despite the fact that Media Composers have been able to playback 3D sequences directly from the timeline ever since version 3.5. >>
  • (my italicization)
• << So when they wanted to view the 48 terabytes of footage on their Avid Isis storage system holding both left and right eye tracks, they had to run both dailies footage and cut sequences through a QuVIS Acuity 3D playback platform. >>

Final Cut Pro X (ten) - FCPX.  Wannit now!!!

• http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2383503,00.asp
  • NAB 2011 (April): Final Cut Pro SuperMeet Presentation on FCPX:
    • Best recording: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-77beFICSlI
    • Photography Bay’s LiveBlog: http://www.photographybay.com/2011/04/12/final-cut-pro-user-group-supermeet-liveblog/
    • http://www.macrumors.com/2011/04/12/nab-final-cut-supermeet-coverage/

http://digitalfilms.wordpress.com/2010/06/12/will-cs5-and-mc5-toast-fcp

• Great article comparing their pragmatics for various kinds of business and workflow situation.
• Also speculating on their likely future developments.

• The mix&match feature of the Avid (e.g. MC4) assumes bringing in footage in corresponding projects. After that, you can instantly access that footage from any other project (or project type), and playback in real-time
• http://lfhd.net/2009/10/01/avid-mc-4-0-inside-look-at-mix-match
  • Your sequence setting is what you tell it.  1080i, 720p, 525i…whathaveyou.  And whatever clip you add to that that ISN’T that format, gets scaled to that format…using a filter called a MOTION ADAPTER.  This add interpolation to match the sequence settings, and this is added automatically when you add new footage that doesn’t match.  And there are all sorts of interpolation modes…these are all user selectable.  AND you can change your sequence settings to match something else later.
    
  • If you want the interpolation to better then you can “promote” the motion adapter to a full blown TIME WARP (that has been there for many years) and the footage will benefit more.
  • Works in software-only (no Mojo required) and takes advantage of multi-core (e.g. 8 core)
  • Avid’s ‘open timeline’ implementation is much better than FCP’s.  Avid MC automatically adds a plugin that is designed to do this upscale in very smart ways. It isn’t just scaling it and then repeating a frame.
  • The editor does need to have certain “switches “ turned on to see the highest quality output, such as: -Full Quality 10bit output, -HQ RT Scaling Decoder, -Advanced Polyphase image interpolation.
• For example: “you will have to import NTSC clips in an NTSC project and 720p60 clips in a 720p60 project. If you try to import 720p60 files into a 30i project, you will be downconverting upon import, which is not as nice, and will not be able to handle certain metadata correctly”
  

The Aja KiPro captures HD (& SD?) from analog or SDI to 10-bit 422 to QT-ProRes (ordinaire and HQ).   In comparison the Convergent Design products currently capture to 8-bit 422 (hi-bitrate Mpeg2).  ProRes is particularly suited to (aimed at) Final Cut.  But since ProRes decoder is freely available, including on Windows, the KiPro could be used with other NLEs.Presumably (haven’t yet tried) once the ProRes is  copied to the editing system’s media drive, it can be simply dropped into an Avid project (bin/timeline).  Some seem to find it OK e.g. “I import ProRes straight into MC all day, no problems. You’ll need FCP 7 to have access to the new 4444 codec though..” [http://community.avid.com/forums/p/76196/426097.aspx#426097].  But some people are cagey about this (on principle?) “…if I were you I would reencode the quicktimes to an Avid codec” [http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/45/866733#866733].  One re-encoding option [http://community.avid.com/forums/p/62217/407573.aspx#407573] is Mpeg StreamClip [http://www.squared5.com].  Not sure what the advantage is (or whether it is real) but some people complain of problems with levels [http://community.avid.com/forums/p/62217/407573.aspx#407573] and metadata.  I would hope that Avid’s “New Thinking” would render any such problems historical, but experience will tell.One slight nuisance - Avid doesn’t work directly with the Aja KiPro.  That is, the KiPro is not a device type recognized by Avid’s Advanced Media Architecture AMA [ http://community.avid.com/forums/t/71260.aspx?PageIndex=1 ].  Not a show-stopper, but definitely a tilting force (from Avid to FCS/FCP).The KiPro is bulkier than the Convergent Design products.  It can record from more kinds of input to more kinds of storage medium. I haven’t looked at power consumption or robustness yet. Links: 

• http://dv411.com/kipro.html 
• http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/atepper/story/ajas_kipro_records_prores422_directly_without_a_computer

http://www.avid.com/resources/qualified/MediaComposer-Qualified-Apple-Workstations.pdf

Just wondered what was happening video-wise in the linux world, for example how was Cinelerra going.  Last I looked (months or a year ago) it was possible to get Cinelerra working under Ubuntu.  So when I came across UbuntuStudio, I thought it was worth checking out, just to keep abreast of developments.

However it appears not to include Cinelerra, instead OpenMovieEditor http://www.openmovieeditor.org/

From [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuStudio/PackageList]: 

Description:

• openmovieeditor - Video editor
• ffmpeg - Multimedia player, server and encoder
• ffmpeg2theora - Theora video encoder using ffmpeg
• kino - A non-linear editor for Digital Video data
• stopmotion - A program for creating stop motion animation.
• dvgrab - Grab digital video data via IEEE1394 links

It is only available as an Installer, not LiveCD [http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=703822] . For more info:

• https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuStudio