What do the Big Boys use?

[steelborn]

Avid Xpress Pro will be the succesor to XDV, and it supposedly has more DVD capabilities. I'll be upgrading to that when it comes out.

I work with Avid MC professionally, but when it comes to doing things like making my own dvds, I'm a novice. At work, all I have to do is output a completed show to digi-beta for broadcast.

[subq]

Well I planned on checking out either Avid Xpress Pro or Vegas+DVD.

I will be using a bit myself and deploying it for pros to use on productions I need.


BJ_M,

Since you seem to be well versed in them what would be your opinion on Avid Xpress PRO vs Vegas+DVD? As far as I am concerned they are both within my price range.

I have seen comment from some old timers that only consider Avid and FCP pro quality and not Vegas (I wouldn't know).

[steelborn]

To be honest I've never heard of Vegas. It's not used on any television show I've ever worked on.

I don't even know how much FCP is used in television. I know it's used for promos, and dvd documentaries, but no one I know uses it for an entire show.

FCP users love it, but I know that it has been hard for some Avid folks to get used to it. I bought a powerbook just to try FCP out, and I really didn't like it. I was set in my ways with Avid. The arguements are similar to those of PC people versus Mac people. For me, I have both, and they all have their flaws and strengths.

Xpress Pro isn't out yet, and I'll probably have to upgrade my system, or build a new one to make it compatible.

But to answer your question, if you haven't used any of them, go get a demo on them. If you live in LA you could go to Promax to check out Avid and FCP.

[thxkid]

Plus with my experience of burning about 300 DVD+R's using my HP I have had 100% playback on any and all DVD players I have tried, not one customer has come back and said it would not play on their DVD players, its all on how you setup your burns and what programs you used and I have tried my DVD+R's on about 50-70 different brands and models of DVD players, they even play on DVD recorders and players that specifically state that they will not play DVD+R, just need to know how to get around that and its very easy. The only time I ever had DVD's fail to play on a DVD player was when it was a DVD-R and that was only 3 different players.

[subq]

steelborn,

So basically your saying Avid Xpress is the way to go if you want the ability to move up into full productions and not just commercials and whatnot? (not too keen on getting a MAC just for FCP, Avid comes in both flavors, Vegas is PC only)

I noticed there is a promo if you buy Xpress now you get a discount on the PRO upgrade due out next month.

I am kind of gathering from your comment that Vegas will work for small productions, commercials, tv spots, etc... but you don't know anyone using it for larger scale productions and maybe Avid Xpress can do everything Vegas+DVD can and more? I know most of those people probably don't use Avid Xpress either but some higher end Avid unit, however, those are well outside my scope (and budget) at this point.



thxkid,

What program are you using...I did not see you mention that...just that you have good compatibility.

[steelborn]

Well, there's Avid Xpress and Avid Xpress DV (soon to be Pro). At home I have Xpress DV and have had it since version 2. But that's because I'm an Avid editor and didn't want to bother with a learning curve.

What you have with Xpress DV is full compatability with all other Avid products. I could actually offline a show here in my home, then bring the sequence over to a Symphony or Meridien, and online the show for broadcast.

Avid's DNA program is coming out, and the Mojo (for Xpress Pro), will allow me to digitize footage that can actually be read by a higher end Avid.

I do know that Xpress DV has been used on at least two Bravo Channel series (that's not network, but it's something). I'm not saying XDV is perfect, but it gets better with each new version. I'm hoping Pro will take care of some more pet peeves.

As I said, I never heard of Vegas, so I don't know what to tell you about it. Premiere is another program that people use. It really comes down to what you plan on doing. Do you want to move up to being an industry editor? Then I suggest Avid. However, I would suggest learning FCP as well, because a lot of companies are using it and it would be a good skill to have (I'm too stubborn to try).

I hope I answered some questions. There's a forum over at:
http://www.dmnforums.com/htm/homeset.htm
that is devoted to XPress DV. Any other questions, they'd be able to help you out with.

good luck

[subq]

steelborn,

Thanks that is quite helpful...I personally won't be doing much editing myself, I will be hiring people to do that. I have to have a general overview of what is in use though and I am the one that needs to decide what program to start with...so I thought I would ask people in here that really know what they are doing. We will mainly be doing DVD productions (the simple to broadcast quality) and commercials.

Thanks again!

[housepig]

subq -

do a google search and find the Creative Cow forums, once you are there check out the Vegas forum - you'll get a good sense of what kind of professional uses Vegas is being put to.

(BTW, they also have forums for most other video and graphics progs... I don't like the physical way their forums are laid out, but they have some good info in there...)

[Gazorgan]

GMatov hit the nail on the head why some cheap media works at 1x but not 2x recording for DVDR's. Same thing applies to CDR's: Faster burn speed means hotter laser means more latent heat buildup means more chance for layer seperation.

The ultimate answer to the original question is: You can produce a "Professional Quality" DVD video with knowledge gleamed on this site, but you can't produce the actual Disk. You can put it on DVDR, or tape (DLT isn['t that expensive). And I've seen some pretty crappy disks out of Hollywood.