Avid Free DV

[MarkCarlson]

I just discovered Avid Free DV on avid.com. Pretty cool, I just got the free download. 2 video and 2 audio tracks and 15 effects are more than enough to work with. Has anyone else got the free software yet? I'm still years away from affording the more advanced versions. We have Newscutter XP's at work and they work great.

[MilVid19+]

I picked up a copy of Avid Express DV 3.5 a few years ago and built a computer system to run it and haven't looked back since. I haven't tried the free version but after editing on Media Composers and a Symphony I knew Avid was the way I wanted to go for my home use. As for not being able to afford the more advanced versions Avid Xpress DV v4 is available for under $500 now... far less than the $1500 they used to ask for v3.5.

[Run 'n' Get 'em]

FreeDV is all I use at home, great stuff

[fisheye]

I'm in the process of installing ExpressDV 4.6 right now. Had to up my ram to 2gigs, audigy2 card, 250gig hard drive and upgrade to XP Professional. I'm having the usual flicker between windows propblem, time to search and delete that evil hotfix.

I'm doing it because my station also has gone to NewsCutter and I figured I'd like to use the same system at work and home. If you'r interested in express, talk to your rep and he might make you a deal.... :)

[MarkCarlson]

I've got 42 GB on my computer. Does anybody know how many minutes of video my computer will hold?

[HSStudent]

I use Avid Free DV at home, the amount of video your computer will hold depends in what format and at what compression you decided to capture it.

[McFly]

Originally posted by MarkCarlson:
I've got 42 GB on my computer. Does anybody know how many minutes of video my computer will hold? Mark, I picked this up at videoguys.com:

If you are starting with DV footage, you need 13GB per hour of video.
This means a 2 hour DVD is 2 x 13 = 26GB of footage.
Add in the extra unused footage and it's more like 3 x 13 = 39GB.
Figure that you'll be adding some extra graphics and audio tracks. Let's say another 2GB for these.
Now you need room for the MPEG2 footage for the DVD, that's 4.7GB more.
If you plan on creating the DVD in a folder first (we recommend this) that's another 4.7GB.
Add it all up and it comes to over 50GB of high speed video storage to make a 2 hour DVD!!
If you plan really getting into this and adding DVD production to your video editing projects, we recommend G-RAID external FireWire RAIDs.

[MarkCarlson]

Thanks McFly. I'm in the early stages of developing my own production co. I have limited finances, but I've already got work lined up.

[SimonW]

I must have done something seriously wrong with Avid Free DV. It keot crashing my system constantly. Have they updated it?

[Stouthearted]

Avid's really good, but check out Sony Vegas. You can download a trial version of Vegas 6 on Sony's website. It's a little different of an interface and takes some getting used to, but it's a very powerful prosumer platform and you can buy it (along w/DVD Architect) for about 600 dollars. I use version 5.0 and I've done a wedding and a couple of vacation videos w/it.

[Stouthearted]

Oh yeah, Vegas is much more stable than Avid and it maximizes performance of "lower end" computers like mine. Check it out!!!

[vdoguy]

I've had Avid Free DV since they first offered it on my laptop along with FCP. I also have Avid Xpress DV on one of my work computers. They're all great, as long as you have the processor power, that is. If you're having problems with it crashing, there are a number of websites where you can ask users specific questions about how to fix your problem(s). I've never crashed an Avid and haven't crashed FCP in years.

As for Vegas, the previous post is the first time I've heard anything good about that program. In fairness, I haven't seen it, so I can't speak from experience.

[SimonW]

Vegas 6 has a few probs which are being sorted out. But Vegas 5 and previous versions are superb.

The great thing about Vegas is that the programmers really do listen, and if there is a bug they will try to repro it immediately and work it into the next letter update.

The emphasis in Vegas is on efficiency. It has features far and above its price point, and with the media manager in version 6 it is nipping at Avids heels.

[tvwcyj]

you can get free Avid 3.5 pirated of course but i have been using it for yeras

[punkbydefault]

I actually like mediastudio pro. It's a very good prosumer editor, with proffesional results. DPS Velocity is excellent also. That being said, I didn't care much for Avid free DV.

[punky cameraman]

i checked it out after seeing this post
not bad for "free

does anyone know the trick to burning the
project to DVD?

i have a burner in my puter but the program was not sending it correctly

any ideas?

punky

[MarkCarlson]

I haven't tried to burn to DVD yet. It should be possible.