HD For Indies

NAB 2006 Editing Software Wrap Up:
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Hey all - so at long last, here's my NAB 2006 Editing Software wrap up notes. It took me so long to get all this transcribed from audio, emailed press releases sifted, brochures sponged for actual facts instead of "marketing copy', that I don't have the time/energy/inclination to go through another pass and format all this. So here it all is, a big gob of data, not in any particular order of preference:

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Update: OK, I'll summarize a bit for you:

Adobe: no new editing software
Apple: new 17" MacBook Pro, but no new Final Cut, just tech previews of XDCAM HD, Canon 24F HDV, and JVC 24p HDV capture, but other interesting things in the booth
Avid: XPress Pro, Mojo SDI, and InterPlay, as well as $5K software only Media Composer

I previously covered some notes on Sony's XPRI & Vegas (8 bit only pipeline for Vegas) in my Sony Booth visit section of the Cameras & Shooting Gear post from two days ago.

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Adobe

-my time was VERY limited in the Adobe booth (had a scheduled interview shortly thereafter) so I might have missed thigns of note. If I did, please let me know/send me a link and I'll update this

-no new versions of After Effects or Premiere Pro or Creative Suite - so that was pretty much it in terms of video manipulation stuff that I cared about in the Adobe booth

Adobe Reader has Clipnotes with video - worthy of further exploration as a groupware/workflow addition for commenting on projects amongst a technically savvy group (NOT the typical client)

Gridiron was showing improved performance with GridIron Nucleo for After Effects rendering. $150/rendering seat. X-Factor is priced at $495 for a Plus 6-Pack license. Mac OS X (PPC) and Windows XP. No MacIntel support, since no MacIntel After Effects until next year at the earliest.

Maxon was also showing a cool tool for integration between Cinema4D and After Effects.

Adobe - Premiere Pro 2 - anything new? Not that I can tell as compared to the shipping version...new Xena cards from AJA are great, but no new software from Adobe that I can telll...

CS2, AE7, PPro2...doesn't look like anything new from what we already had

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APPLE BOOTH - FCP RELATED:

Apple didn't have a new version of FCP to show. Big bummer, but as I predicted. BUT...they were showing "technology previews" of stuff - XDCAM HD import (plugin from Sony), Canon XL H1 capture in 24F HDV mode, and JVC HDV 24p capture. All could be edited on the timeline in FCP as well with RT effects. (But for the XDCAM HD, the 25mbit CBR setting was recommended for RT FX, the 18 and 35mbit VBRs seemed like they would NOT have RT FX). Apple usually doesn't do tech previews until stuff is pretty close, so "not too long to wait" from what I overheard. Based on other things I heard around NAB, I'm guessing some minor version bump in the June/July timeframe. Maybe. (Or maybe at WWDC with Intel based towers in August?).

Apple released new 17" MacBook Pros at NAB - same as the 15's except for bigger screens (1680x1050), a FireWire 800 port (big deal!), and an extra (3 not 2) USB 2.0 port. Oh! And a dual layer 8x DVD burner - better than the 15" model's.

The rest of the Final Cut Studio applications were shown as had shipped a few weeks before with version 5.1.

Here's my earlier post on the Apple booth at NAB.

Other stuff in the booth.

-Digital Heaven's AutoMotion in the Apple booth - cool animated script based thing to do cool stuff in Motion. From their website - AutoMotion is a groundbreaking new application which automates the production and management of multiple graphics in conjunction with Apple’s Motion. So it's a standalone adjunct is the way they make it sound. I saw a very brief demo of it, looked cool. So if you need to crank out a bunch of title graphics all formatted the same way, here's your ticket is what they're trying to pitch this as.

-DVD Studio Pro - showing version 4.1 in the booth - same version we already had as of a few weeks ago. Key benefits - now includes HD DVD v1.0 (final) specifications, so discs authored w/v4.0.3 or 4.1 should play back correctly on the shipping HD DVD players. Oh, and since is a Universal binary, runs on Intel and G4/G5 based Macs. (PDF with v4.1 release notes is here
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Live editing during ingest with PictureReady was shown on the show floor - enables real time replay and editing of footage as it is recorded. Good for live event/news production. Here's a link to an Apple page discussing its use during Tour de France.
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Video Asset Management with Proximity Artbox - Proximity Artbox is a video asset manager:
-$20K setup
-for big shops
-client/server setup
-does low res proxies for your shots and clips
-what indies might this be viable for? Big production, well funded docs might want to use this to go through all of their shots in a hurry, but for most indies this is overkill

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Sony XDCAM HD import (& export?) into FCP
-Sony XDCAM HD import - go to a File Import==> XDCAMHD, it launches Sony XDCAM Transfer, a little standalone application (SEE & LINK PICS)
-you get little preview clips of the shots
-you can play back these low res proxies
-can preview and set ins and outs and acquire just the parts you want
-you can set MULTIPLE ins and outs and grab just the chunks you want - you have a little queue you can build up from
-one implementation annoyance - while CAN import in background, the window leaps to front every time it finishes a clip (or perhaps subclip as well)
-you connect to the camera via FireWire
-proxies come in as low res proxies at about 40x realtime
-while it is pulling in other proxies, you can already be editing other stuff that's already in
-it is a Sony product, not shipping yet, will by from Sony it would appear
-CAN do 35mbit on the timeline - will require a newer version of FCP. The version of FCP that will support this isn't shipping yet (DEFINITELY need a new version for 24p support), and the Sony XDCAM Transfer app isn't shipping yet either. A month-ish was the demo guy's guesstimate I think (that's from top of head not notes, so could be wildly off base there)
-Sony XDCAM HD stuff, may or may not need a new version of FCP for XDCAM HD stuff, and it won't be too long of a wait somebody somewhere said. No idea how official or informed that statement was.
-timecode on the XDCAM HD stuff does build as you go, and the transfer app works with SD & HD footage, 18, 25, and 35 mbit
-it'll require v5.1 FCP with some new codec update that's coming in a few weeks or whatever, the Sony Transfer app is in beta and is expected to ship in a few weeks (or whatever). No solid dates there, just general guidelines
-25mbit is Apple's recommended, with 18 & 35mbit won't get RT effects at present, perhaps some future version will give RT support. But for now, if concerned about RT FX w/FCP, 25 megabit CBR on XDCAM HD is the recommended way to go for FCP.

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AVID

Xpress Pro - the Avid editor for indies is how he described it
-the show news - full Avid editing toolset on the G5 - they brought HD, HDV, DVCPRO HD, DNxHD, (sounds like a DNxHD QT codec now? YES), can do After Effects and write to DNxHD now, XDCAM HD support as well, FireWire ingest for all those.
-since FireWire ingest for all these, can now do full screen output for previews
-for portable editing, since can FireWire ingest, a
-can use screen for monitoring video
-Xpress Pro 5.5
-telecine metadata integrated directly for keycode etc., all that works in Xpress Pro
-the little things - normal and advanced pulldown, 23.976 to 24.0 conversion,
-autosync for dual system sound to marry up 2-pops to slates to sync it directly
-HDV - there is a single Mac/PC release, any release has one license that'll run on both, has a hardware key (dongle) to limit to one running seat at a time
-Media management can let you use a FireWire drive for whole production for Mac & PC
-projects can move back and forth Mac/PC
-24p & 24F support for HDV? NOT yet, just NTSC and PAL frame rates, but do have 24p for DVCPRO HD, and for DVCPRO range for Varicam, 1200A deck, FireWire ingest, it'll pull out the flags for 720p24 as well as over/undercrank
-HDV - no 24p yet
-P2 support for HVX? YES
-support for the new JVCs? NO SUPPORT YET
-Canon - no 24F support yet either, just 50i and 60i
-what's above Xpress Pro?
-software only version of Media Composer
-Avid Interplay is a big new thing - "a whole collaborative production environment" - for workgroup stuff
-Interplay is about helping people collaborate, it is a common asset manager sitting on Avid Unity for example. Is a database and more, allows handoff and assigning sub parts to others, signing assets in and out - like Content Management Systems for video, this'll be great for large workgroups and facilities. Like CMS, version control, version history, check in and check out. Hangs onto previous versions so you have version control. Multi-resolution too. Integrated tool can see from Media Composer, tools for producers and assist stations, MPEG-4 for logging etc. For people like doc makers, can have a simple logging app for low bandwidth proxies for logging info.
-that leads into Media Composer in terms of workflow - when creating a collaborative environment, need it to be accessible. Media Composer as a software client, connects that broad base production environment. For those that are familiar with Media Composer, can run it Mac or PC and is handy for them
-Media Composer vs. XPress Pro, is a price point issue - more tools, resolutions, format support in Media Composer software only. Xpress Pro takes you 90% of the way
-XPress Pro is $1695, $4995 for the software only Media Composer
-Media Composer hardware - is Adrenaline, but new stuff for Xpress Pro and Media Composer is Mojo SDI, it is same form factor and connectivity (FW400), can take from Digital Betacam, etc., now has SDI (not HD-SDI). HD typically comes in over FireWire for HDV and DVCPRO HD. From the Avid website:

Avid Mojo SDI provides the highest quality professional SD connections to facility-class cameras, decks and digital pipelines. In addition to serial digital video, Avid Mojo SDI also provides I/O for IEEE-1394, and either component or composite and S-video. Mojo SDI supports up to 8 channels of embedded audio over SDI and 2 channels of optical S/PDIF audio, with additional connections for 4 channels of AES/EBU audio.

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(note added later: but could you get half the benefit from Matrox MXO? Avid has fullscreen playback now, right? But would the QT drivers work right with Avid, since they might not have selectable QT output modules?)

-for HD, gotta use DNxHD and HD-SDI for Adrenaline (or uncompressed) at 145 or 220 mbit for DNxHD
-DNxHD is wavelet based? No, is motion JPEG type, DCT based
-new DNx intro'd at the show, which is DNxHD 36, 36mbit/sec, for offline DNxHD throughputs. Found lots of folks wanted HD res offline, folks were having issues using DV etc., so now you have a full raster 36 mbit offline, and don't have to deal with weird aspect ratios etc. Can EDIT on Xpress Pro, but gotta have Media Composer level stuff to capture it.
-can you transcode in software to DNxHD 36? He thinks so, should be able to do that
-new Studio Toolkit option, is 3 apps with Media Composer or Xpress Pro: Avid DVD, Avid 3D and Avid Effects (guess at what they do based on names), big news there is Avid DVD now supports Blu Ray. Why Blu Ray? Because Blu Ray burners are out first, so that's why they are supporting it first. HD DVD to follow later, just what's out now. Hope to release this in July, will be first time you can capture HDV (or DVCPRO HD), edit it and burn it to Blu Ray disc.
-players are coming out this fall for Blu Ray
-HD DVD in the future? "Absolutely, we'll support that, there's nothing we can do now with the absence of an HD DVD burner." Avid has licensed their tech from Sonic, and Sonic is showing both HD DVD and Blu Ray burning. There's no political taking sides going on, just that Blu Ray burners are out first.
-Nice updates to Avid 3D, it isn't about 3D modelling (go SoftImage XSI for that), it is for flying text around, or bringing in an existing 3D object and flying around and stuff, it's for graphics and titles not traditional 3D animation. To make bringing in a 3D model as "no big deal" as bringing in a Targa still and doing stuff with it.
-for finishing - if want 1080p 10bit 4:4:4, gotta get into DS Nitris v8, now have dual link support for 10 bit RGB. What about 10 bit log? I was talking to the wrong guy for that, that's somebody else.

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I apparently didn't hit nearly all the options, but Digital Producer did, and their article contains more details on what is up with:

-Autodesk (revised Smoke, Toxik (RGB 4:4:4 capable), Incinerator (clustering for primary & secondary color grading on Lustre)
-1 Beyond/1st Design - "enterprise level storage at desktop prices" - Intelliaid FC, mobile editing of uncompressed HD (??)
-Boris - Media 100 (pfah!), as well as Boris Blue mentioned above
-I heard about but didn't see Boxx's new 16 core APEXX 8 workstation, which can hold up to 128 GB of RAM and is very quiet as well
-Grass Valley now owns Edius 3 from Canopus, uncompressed SD, HD, HDV, DV, MPEG-1, MEPG-2 on same timeline if I'm reading this right
-more details on DVS Clipster
-Axio LE - lower end version of Axio, but sounds pretty powerful on it's own
-Quantel showed TimeMagic (dunno what it does specifically), as well as Pablo - their heav edit/grade system
-Sony has new tricks with XPRI, but I still don't care about it for the demographic I serve
-plus lots more details worth reading, as well as a bunch of stuff I skipped for brevity's sake

There's also this article which is a good wrap up of All Things Mac at NAB 2006
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OK, that's all for today kids. Tomorrow is my NAB 2006 Storage Round Up - there's some gooooood stuff in there - one vendor has a RAID that'll sustain about 600 MB/sec. Think that's good? Another vendor has a single smaller-than-G5 sized enclosure that'll sustain 1.3 gigaBYTES per second (1300 MB/sec). Who is it? Tune in tomorrow for another exciting episode...

-mike