Avid Media Composer/5D Mark II

[Heidi Strand]

I have used my 5D Mark II and now I want to start a new project in Avid media composer, do I choose 25p? I have filmed with 50 frames pr sec.

 

And.. how can I import the files with less quality for faster editing? And how do I go back to full quality when finished?

[Hal Smith]

Not sure about 25P/50i but what version of MC are you on?

 

MC5 will ingest Canon HDSLR files directly to the time line but MC5 also as a result requires more computer power than earlier versions. I'm in the process of upgrading my HP XW8200 computer to an HP XW8400 because MC5 requires at least a dual core Xeon processor computer to meet Avid's specifications. The 8400 is on Avid's Certified Workstation list for MC5, the 8200 is only certified through MC4.

 

Fortunately I got lucky and found a working XW8400 on the web that's not very pretty for $450! And, best of all, 8400's and 8200's share the same case and I can "borrow" case parts off my 8200 to improve the 8400's appearance. I'm also going to install an internal CF card reader to speed up ingest. I use Sandisk Ultra CF 30MB/s cards in my 7D and I hope to be able to ingest 12 minutes worth of video in two or three minutes after all the upgrades. At least that's the plan.

[Heidi Strand]

I use MC3. I have noticed that when I import as mxf 36 instead of mxf 185 it playes smooth. But how can I export it in full quality?

[Oliver Christoph Kochs]

Heidi, You can't shoot with 50 fps on the 5Dmark2. If you shot with 30 fps you need to properly bring it to 25p for PAL editing. For Media Composer 3 (as for any editing system) it's the best to transcode the footage to the codec you use in your timeline (i.e DNxHD on Avid, ProRes on FCP etc.). Best with Mpeg Streamclip or Apple Compressor. Unfortunately the h264 footage will not play natively in any editing system without transcoding. Sigh!

Good luck, Oliver

[Frank Glencairn]

...unless you have Premiere CS5 and a card that supports the Mercuy engine.

 

Frank