Avid FreeDV?

I tried it early but had severe crash issues on two separate machines. It was good enough to cut some DV and learn the interface but wasn't stable enough for real work.

I'll try it again when I get time. Never got it to encode so can't comment on the codec yet.

A real AVID install is best done on a dedicated machine. Unlike Vegas and Premiere, it doesn't play as well with others.

As far as I recall with AVID Xpress DV, the AVID DV codec could not be used with mattes or alpha unless everything was fully decompressed first to a Tiff sequence, but this may have been fixed long ago.

The version of Xpress DV that I installed used thrid party MPeg codecs, I think Sonic.

Free yes , user ability = holly crapola .

I would recommend it for a dedicated pc only ... it can suck the life out of a pc ... and there are other product's that perform better that cause less drain on a pc , granted you might require four other program's to do the same thing , but this program literally suck's the life out of your pc ... no joking .

The product also overstep's the boundaries as to what a company may request from a user ... ie , name , email address , phone number , address .

This information has been protected under australian law ... something they should take into account ... it will soon be a finable offence ... being from another country will nolonger provide a safe haven for such companies in the future .

As for guide's , grab those from the site ... do a search as well ... if the future is any brighter , I might see my way to some guide's ... much later ... other's to finish yet for other product's .

Originally Posted by stiltman

I have to admit, Avid does have some pretty STEEEEP specs for a PC. But then again Avid is the commecial side of the biz, where as Pinnacle is the consumer side of the biz. If you want to run a true Commercial product on your PC, you better be willing to give up some of the Consumer junk......Namely, don't run ANY virus protection.....Also you need to read Avid's XP optomization recommendations.

For anyone wanting to experience the "good old days" of late 90's Premiere and similar products, ... the inadequate MAC/PC resources, the repeated lockups ... then AVID Free DV is for you. It's a bit of history and just goes to show how inefficient AVID software is vs. Vegas and others. Premiere has again turned up the heat with v2.0. Save up for adequate hardware.

Originally Posted by stiltman

However, I'll bet you what 70% of production houses and Broadcast uses now.....


I saw the list of all the movies edited with Avid....couldn't believe it


BTW, I have Avid free running fine on my syetem.....God and the BSA only knows whats been installed on this thing

S-man- is it still running fine? could you come to this other thread & post about your machine setup?
I need some help with setting up the (kinda undocumented) output options.

Originally Posted by stiltman

I saw the list of all the movies edited with Avid....couldn't believe it

Could you give me a link? Thanks.

Originally Posted by stiltman

However, I'll bet you what 70% of production houses and Broadcast uses now.....


I saw the list of all the movies edited with Avid....couldn't believe it


BTW, I have Avid free running fine on my syetem.....God and the BSA only knows whats been installed on this thing

And you think this has anything to do with you and what you are doing?

If you intend to work for one of these companies best to get a job as an intern and learn on their dime. AVID software is mostly about workflow in a large facility were a project is split into many specialties and then converged into a final edit. That is the video side. The film side is still mostly an off-line edit decision workflow. The new 24p HDTV video workflow is beginning to bridge TV series, advertising and low budget film production.

If you look at the credits at the end of a movie, you will get a hint how many people are envolved. If your goal is independent film, best to study their process flows and compromises.

it turns out if you spell Avid Free DV differently, like AVIDfree, you get completely different results on Google.

anyway... here is a big screenshot spread & review from Australia that might give you some idea why I am learning it.
http://www.avidaustralia.com.au/content/files/Free%20DV.pdf

anyone who wants to precisely control audio (or do music lipsync, or layer long dissolves, or play with split screen) should read the fine print in this review.