Quite annoying.

Why could you connect with 90 clients to an ISIS?

It should be up to me if I will take the risk to reach maximum bandwith. (but I will not, we can work lowres if needed etc)

Will this change?

Hello,

We are currently running three Avid annual subscription licenses tied to individual dongles. We would like to take one of those dongles for use on another Avid system in Europe. My questions for the license transfer are:

1.) Is there anything prohibiting a USA licensed Avid dongle to work on another Avid system in Europe? And...

2.) Must I disassociate the USA dongle from its system I.D. in the USA? in order to associate it with another Avid system elsewhere?

I apologize if these are basic licensing questions... we have just never had to really move the dongles around until now.

Thanks for any help!

i have shared projects/bins on my nexis

2018.12 - often doesn't highlight with bold font bin names currently opened on another MC workstration. 

2018.11 and earlier - works as usual.

looks like a new glitch in 18.12 version

workaround: force save all bins CMS+S - and all bold status displays correctly

Hi, How does one, automate reverb over time in a section of an audio clip?

Thank you.

S

Hi.

Problem: When Publishing PNG Best to Local Drive, to an intended folder, to a file already there.

Save window appears saying in the title "Publish: file already exists... overwrite". The location it shows you is the project location, not the intended saving location...

In the case you want to overwrite, you will have to move to the intended file location.

Thanks.

ReadMe and What’s New Files:  ReadMe and What’s New documents: Media Composer 2018 Documentation Page 

How to obtain Media Composer 2018.12 Updates:  

1. Customers who have already installed the latest version of Media Composer will be notified of the availability of the upgrade via the Application Manager. The Apps tab also provides a link to download and install the update when desired. 
2. New customers who purchase Media Composer will receive the update in their AvidMaster Account.
3. Customers on current Update & Support plans can download the Media Composer 2018.12 update either from their Avid Master Account or the Avid Download Center (login and password required.) 
4. Customers not on a current Update & Support contract must either 1. purchase either a new Media Composer Subscription or Perpetual license or 2. crossgrade an older license to a new subscription to receive this update. 

Reminder: This release of Media Composer requires an active Update & Support plan. Please ensure your plans and licenses are both up to date before installing this update.

What’s New:   This is a major release for Media Composer users as it includes 4 of the top 10 most requested features!

• Background Auto Bin Save: Media Composer now performs automatic bin saves in the background – letting editors continue to work and focus on creative tasks and not deal with costly interruptions
• New High Res Title Tool: Create and edit titles in any raster, directly in the record monitor – and switch rasters automatically without having to realign or adjust your text
• Group and Multigroup Updates: Add, edit, remove, trim and update clips in groups without having to make a new group. You can also create groups with mixed frame-rates, create multigroup from a sequence, change the reference audio track, and cycle through all cameras using Swap Camera Banks  
• Shape-based Color Correction: Draw and manipulate shapes in the Color Correction toolset to apply different looks to the shape and base layer. You can also animate the shape using tracking tools and create multiple shapes in the same layer. (Requires Symphony Option)
• Faster DPX Linking and Editing: Link to, edit and play back DPX files up to 10x faster than before
• 64 Tracks of Video: We’ve expanded our track count so you can have up to 64 tracks of audio and video
• Syncing using Waveforms: Sync audio-only clips to video directly in the Timeline using waveform analysis – no need to rely on In points or Timecode
• DNxUncompressed 12 Bit: Now you can create DNxUncompressed media at 12 bits, saving you space and bandwidth
• Enhanced QuickTime Support: This update also includes fixes for a number of issues related to QuickTime files. Customers who have been reporting problems linking to or importing .mov files should upgrade to 2018.12.

What’s Fixed: The following issues have been resolved in this release.

• Bug Number: MCCET-2734. You could not perform a perf slip on sub clips that were exported and then imported via AAF.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2741. When loading a sequence from the Interplay Window into the Source Monitor, some master clips appeared offline.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2752. (Mac Only) In some instances, after using the Source Browser, the “Recovered Files” folder with AAF files appeared in the Trash.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2413. Linked .mp4 clips had a 1-frame Timecode difference on audio and video when linked with the Avid Generic Plug-in.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2235. In an Interplay environment, you might have received an AAFProcessor error when linking to GoPro and XAVC-S media using the Avid Generic Plug-in.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2652. The color coding equation for a 2020 color space, might have appeared as 709 in the SMPTE Metadata Register.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2658. In some instances, animating a Circle Blur Effect on an imported still image as XDCAM, created an unexpected result.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2663. When working with Open IO_ NDI, output only played the number frames set in the Desktop Play Delay setting.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2644. In some instances, you might have received an Exception error when exporting a sequence that contains an audio track effect with a long delay such as iZotope RX6 De-clip.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2673. Linking XAVC-S with the Avid Generic plug-in provided incorrect Timecode.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2754. When a locked bin was open in a project, the 3rd party product Baselight might have been unresponsive.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2674. The editing application was sluggish when working in Small Trim Mode.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2742. In some instances, Dynamic Relink settings were not retained in new projects if they were saved as a Site Setting.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2635. In some instances, an auto-save did not occur after adding or removing markers, or deleting clips and sequences.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2395. When applying a SPACE effect, and using a SPACE Impulse Response, render results were inconsistent.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2539. (Avid Artist DNxIV, Avid Artist DNxIP, AJA IO devices) In some instances, the position indicator jumped ahead when pressing play.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2740. Media Creation settings reverted back to previous setting if Drive Filtering settings were changed.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2727. When performing an Insert Edit Export, you could not select another target drive in the Look In menu in the Select Insert Edit Target window.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2697. In some instances, FrameFlex reformat parameter did not stick to AutoSynced clips.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2733. In some instances, fast import of AVC-Long G25 files would hang the editing application.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2602. With attached Avid Artist DNxIV, Avid Artist DNxIP, and AJA IO devices, playback started with a stutter on a Broadcast Monitor.

Media Composer Notes:

-  Application Installers:  With this release of 2018.12 (as with previous releases starting with 2018.9), you have a single installer for Media Composer and Media Composer | First. The option to run as Media Composer | First is now include in the Avid Media Composer Activation window.

-  Dongle Info (Mac Only): The Dongle Sentinel driver installer is no longer automatically installed when you install the editing application. The driver is now located in the Avid_Utilities folder (/Applications/Utilities/Avid_Utilities/Sentinel_Driver). If you have a dongle, manually install the driver from this location.

-  Avid Artist DNxIO and Avid Artist DNxIQ: If you are using Avid Artist DNxIO, Avid Artist DNxIQ, or a BlackMagic Designs video device, please update to Desktop Video software version 10.10.1 or higher. The minimum Desktop Video version that will work with Media Composer v18.5.1 is 10.9.11. Older versions will be rejected, and you will not be able to use your hardware until you update.

Operating System Update: macOS Mojave (10.14.2) is now supported. The following lists the qualified Operating Systems. Depending upon your hardware the qualified Operating Systems are:

Windows v7 64-bit SP1(Professional) and Windows v8.1 (Professional and Enterprise), Windows v10 64-bit (Professional, Creators, and Enterprise).

Macintosh v10.12.6, 10.13.6, 10.14.2  

* * * macOS 10.12.x is now the minimum operating system supported for Mac on this release.

To learn more about compatible versions visit http://www.alwaysediting.com/avid-mc-versions.html - 

Hi all

Im upgrading my ssd to a new Samsung Pro 512GB SSD and want to migrate AMC to it from my old SSD. If I uninstall Avid from my old SSD (and subsequently re-install on the new one) will I lose my project files in the process? I’m still new to Avid and unsure where my project files are being saved to, and don’t want to lose any of the work I’ve already undertaken on the current install. 

Thanks!

Are there any special considerations for the new AMC v2018.12 Background Bin Auto-Save feature with regards to ISIS 5500 shared storage environments?   I Bin Settings I changed Auto-Save interval, Inactivity period and Force Auto-Save to 1, 1 and 2 seconds.

I notice this new notification comes up after installing 2018.12:

"creating bin snapshot for background save"

Please do not use it. 

Windows 10 1809 Feature Update - Not supported at this time

Microsoft has begun releasing the next feature update for Windows 10. The release -- codenamed "Redstone 5," and officially called Windows 10 October 2018 Update (and/or 1809) – was launched Oct. 2nd, 2018 to a limited audience however Microsoft will make this October 2018 Update more broadly available on Oct. 9th, 2018.  

Avid has begun to test this release however it is NOT approved at this time.

*  Media Composer - Windows 10 1809 Feature Update is not supported with Media Composer at this time.
*  Pro Tools - Windows 10 1809 Feature Update is not supported with Pro Tools at this time.
*  Sibelius  - Windows 10 1809 Feature Update is not supported with Sibelius at this time.
*  First Products -  Windows 10 1809 Feature Update is not supported with First products at this time. 

Please do NOT update to the Windows 10 1809 FeatureUpdate until it has been qualified by Avid.

Knowledge Base Article 

Last week I added a TC Electronic Clarity M Surround to editing arsenal.

After successfully updating my new device to the latest firmware, I am having problems to get the optical input (input 4 - Toslink) getting to work, so that I can monitor my audio in real-time.

I have connected the Clarity M Surround with the output (SPDIF/ADAT) of my Avid Nitris DX.

USB Mode is set to Disk Drive. Input (Reset) is set to Optical. At the lower part of the screen, the little square is red and says No Lock.

Is there anyone knowing what I am doing wrong? The Plug-in mode works without any problems in Media Composer, but this gives me no balance-o-meter, true peak meters, RTA, vector scope.

Thank you very much in advanced for your help!

Greetings,

Ivan

I have a bunch of old projects with OMF media files which can't be read by most other applications. Is it possible to convert them to MXF without transcoding? Consolidating doesn't do the job, even when media creation settings is set to MXF.

Thanks!

I have a client who needs to cut down a show that we gave them which has captions as a data track.

The needed delivery for this cutdown does not accept OP1A .mxf files with Data.

Is there a way to export the cutdown data  track (an AAF probably?) and convert it to a .scc file?  This seems like it SHOULD be easy.

Jef

Hello fellow avid users - i have a problem with exporting, on several computers, pc and mac, several avid mc versions. When exporting from a 1080/25p sequence of sony pxw-x70 camera footage (also happens with canon 5d sometimes) the data levels gets messed up, and contrast er blown and black become crushed (see attached footage). I have through research come to the conclusion that it must be something about how the exported files are interpreted, because when i load the exported file back into avid, it becomes correct.

Hope someone can help me, it would be greatly appreciated.

Because this happens with the specific footage, no matter what computer or media composer version used, i have not supplied specs.

thanks a lot!

I can't link to Sony MP4 files (AVC Long codec). Audio plays but video shows as WRONG FORMAT in the monitor within MC.

Do I need to purchase a external transcoding app or is there a plugin either free or paid that I need to get for MC?

Please let me know what my app/plugin options might be. Thanks!!

Adventures in Sparse Disk Bundles

After reading an article about using OSX's Sparse Disc Bundles to help media manage FCP X, I thought I would give it whirl in Media Composer. 

Let me preface this by saying our pieces are normally in the 5-10 minute arena so the cumulative size of AMA sources, Avid MXF Media and Project Assets rarely exceeds 1 TB. 

The Apple Sparse Disk Bundle is created through Disk Utility and is used by programs such as Time Machine for backups. Unlike a regular disk image, Sparse Disk Images expand as stuff is added to them whereas a Disk Image pre-allocates the space. The "Bundle" option saves the disk image in small 8MB "bands" - this allows you to recover a Bundle if a band becomes corrupted - at least in theory. 

I've now used this workflow on 5 projects and haven't had a problem yet - HOWEVER - this is experimental, PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK. 

I'm posting this so that other brave souls can play with this and report back. Please share your joys and nightmares. 

The Benefits

1. When you double-click on a Sparse Disk Bundle, it mounts like a virtual harddrive. When working in the Avid, you can specify your Media Creation settings to write to the virtual harddrive. This is great for keeping Avid MediaFiles separated by Project - the bane of my existence as I routinely switch between 4-5 projects a day. Its like a folder with superpowers. It can mounted AND unmounted - thus hiding it from the prying eyes of Media Composer. 

2. As long as the SDB isn't already mounted, double-clicking on the file over your Gigabit network or Fiber network mounts the volume on the remote machine AS IF it were a local disk. Imagine this scenario: You finish your edit on your main system, close out of Avid, UnMount the volume (eject it), Mount the SBD on your Secondary Computer (IMAC, MAC MINI) over the network, open the avid project and perform the export on the secondary system. This allows you to jump to the next project on the main system and keep working while the tedium is handled by the second machine. This also works for transcoding operations. You need two Avid licenses of course.

 NOTE: You can't work on the same project with two systems simulaneously. 

3. Sick of relinking AMA sources when transferring to a new drive?

When handing off a project to another editor, normally the editor must point the AMA master clip the to the new drive/file path before he/she can continue working. When using SDB's, you copy the bundle file to the new harddrive. When the second editor mounts the volume, the drive name is the same and all AMA sources contained within in it stay linked. 

4. Archival made easy. Archiving Projects is as simple as dragging the bundle file to your backup drive or tape drive. One file to rule them all. 

The Cons

1. It feels kind of scary putting all your eggs in one file basket even though its supposed to have some corruption protection via the "bundles". 

2. 80% sure, Sparse Disc Bundles are a Mac-only format that works with Lion, Snow Leopard and Mountain Lion. 

3. You must specify a maximum volume size when creating the SDB; moreover, the drive you are creating the bundle on must have more free space than your maximum volume size to create it - BUT you can move the bundle to a drive with less available space as long as the bundle's expanded size can fit.

NOTE: I'm have no idea what the tradeoff is to making your bundle maximum size HUGE vs. keeping it reasonable. 

4. Not sure if data integrity is maintained when these are copied to other file systems and back. 

5. The SDB will automatically expand as more files are added but it won't contract when files are deleted. Luckily for me, my projects never get smaller:)

The Scary

1. Volumes can be resized through Disk Utility but its a little unnerving. 

    a. You select the SBD in Disk Utility and use the "Resize Image" button. You choose the "resize volume + partition" option.

    b. Type the new size and hope the computer doesn't freeze. You will now notice that nothing seems to change. 

    c. Due to a disk utility bug, it will resize the volume but will not resize the partition as it should.

The workaround -  You must now select the volume and manually resize the partition to your new desired size. I've found you have to make slightly smaller than the volume or you get an error.  Resizing the partition does not erase the data held within - but it definitely kind of freaks you out as its processing.

There is also a terminal command that can make the volume larger. 

2. Volumes CAN be contracted if you've deleted a bunch of files. This is done by a terminal command. I will most likely just         leave them bloated vs. taking the risk.

If this were a mission critical project, I would make a copy of the SBD before trying anything like a resize or contract.

A LESS SCARY METHOD FOR RESIZING - but longer

1. Create a new SDB that is the new size you want, mount the new volume and the old volume - now just copy from the old to the new. Feels way safer, but will take a lot longer. 

That's all I've got for now:)

-Robert

Hi all,

Is there a list of recommended versions that match up to Media Composer versions? For example, I've got 2018.12 MC installed and I want to install the Nexis Client Manager on this machine (Windows 10 Pro), do I need a specific version of the Client Manager or is that more tied to the OS version? The most recent one I have access to is 18.9.0.15.

I've searched all the knowledgebase articles I could find but came up short.

Thanks,

Andi

I typically use the Avid Title Tool. Editing in 16x9 aspect the tool composes titles in the correct aspect however, when I save the title, it populates the source monitor stretched out horizontally but the image in the title tool window remains correct.

If I edit the title (in the sequence) by adjusting the width to 84 the title in the seq monitor matches the title tool window.

This behavior is new as of today. Prior to that, all was fine. 

Any thoughts or ideas? Thanks in advance!

More clues: If I open a title (in the same or a different projcet) which was saved a few days ago, all is well, leading me to think that the horizontal aspect is changed in the process of saving the title.

Every so often when closing MC, it gives an error message that it has encountered a problem and has stopped working.   I'll force MC to close with Windows Task Manager.  I don't lose any saved work, but it's annoying and there seems to be no cause & effect pattern dictating when and why this happens.

I seem to remember that when I spec'ed my then new Avid system in 2014, we were told that the HP Z820 workstation should have dual 6 core HT CPUs, because MC (at that time v.7.0.4) could not handle more CPU cores - or at least could not benefit from more. Today we're running v.8.5.3 on the same platform. I can see that the settings (max threads) is set to 12 which would seem to agree with the original spec.

But my question is now, could newer CPU's with a greater number of cores be of any benefit - and MC utilize them, and are the gains worth it?

FYI we are currently fitted with 32GB RAM

Any real world experience on this question out there?