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Videoguys Real-Time Round Up 5!
Hot new Non Linear Editing Programs revolutionize digital videography
Never before have we seen such a wide choice of top-notch, powerful and feature rich video editing choices. We are entering a golden age of digital videography. A time when the power and performance of your computer are leveraged by innovative software that delivers real-time performance that just a year or two ago required proprietary hardware accelerators and the complexities that come with installing new hardware in your computer. Adobe Premiere Pro, Pinnacle Liquid Edition, Sony Pictures Vegas 4 and Avid Xpress Pro are all great products loaded with all the tools and features you need for even the most complex long format video productions. This article will point out some of the particular strengths of each product and what I like most about them. Read Videoguys Real-Time Round Up 5! |
Our first real-time round-up was originally written and posted in January 2001 and then updated in May. Since then we've seen major improvements in all the existing products as well as the introduction of 2 new cards.
Before we get into the real-time round up portion of the article, I want to go over the benefits of using a real-time card for your video editing. Real-Time isn't just a buzzword, it is a very important feature that will increase your productivity and make you a better editor. Here are just a few reasons why:
Real-Time Productivity
The reason you want a real-time NLE card is for productivity. If you do not have to spend any time rendering, then you can get more work done in a given amount of time. This is the obvious advantage of real-time cards. What is not so obvious is how this increased productivity can make you a better, more creative editor.
The learning curve
Anyone can edit video; it's not very hard or complicated. You just pick each scene's in and out point, put them on the timeline, add the transitions/ FX / titles you want and then play it back. Pretty simple, but there is a BIG difference between editing a video and creating a video that looks great and makes people want to watch it. To actually create great looking videos takes some skill and effort. Think of it as a craft. The more you do it, the better you will become. This is where a real-time card can really make a difference. If you stick to the real-time effects with your early projects, you will be able to tweak, and fine-tune your transitions / FX / titles without having to sit around waiting for them to render. This is a huge learning advantage. Since you don't spend any time waiting, you can spend more time experimenting. The more you experiment, the better an editor you will become!
Over the shoulder
Over the shoulder editing is a term used by professional editors to describe the situation when the producer / client is in the room. When the guy who writes the checks is looking over your shoulder while you make changes or add some new stuff, the last thing you and he want to do is stare at the hourglass on the VGA screen. What is less obvious is how many times even a home videographer is in an over the shoulder situation. Once you get into this, you are going to be showing off your work all the time. Many times the people you are showing your stuff to will have a good idea or suggestion. With a real-time system you can implement these ideas instantly. You can also take advantage of asking someone which way they like a certain sequence better. This is very important if you plan on doing any wedding or event videos. You need to make sure you give your customer what he wants quickly and easily. With a real-time card, you can create and edit on the fly, so if anyone is watching, they are seeing you in action, not killing time while the computer renders.
Just messin' around
This third creativity bonus of these real-time cards is actually a combination of the first two. With a real-time card, if you or an associate or a client can come up with a clever idea for a video, you can sit down and play with the concept in real-time. Tweaking here, adjusting there, playing with settings, etc. You can immediately view the results of your 'messin' around' on the TV or VGA screen. You don't have to waste time rendering, you can fully use the time you have for your creativity. If it's just 15 minutes or half the night, it doesn't matter. Every second was spent editing and being creative!!
OK, now that you can fully appreciate the power and productivity of real-time NLE, I want to talk about one more really cool Real-Time feature that is powerful, fun to use and can have a dramatic impact on the overall production quality of your video productions Real-Time Keyframing. If you have ever worked with a 3D or compositing program like Boris FX, Hollywood FX or After FX then you already know what a keyframer is. While I think most digital videographers have heard of keyframing, you may not be quite sure what exactly it is or how it works.
What is keyframing?
Keyframing allows you to customize a transition or effect over time. You can go to any single frame in the transition and change some of the settings. As an example, lets say we have a Picture In Picture (PIP) effect. Video 1 flies in from the upper left hand corner of the screen then fills the entire screen. With the keyframer I could make the PIP fly in & bounce on the screen, or stop in the upper left hand corner at Ό size, stay there for a while, then simply shrink away. By being able to manipulate how the FX will happen over time, I get complete and total control of my FX and transitions. The best keyframers allow you to add and control drop shadows, outlines and the edge softness of your FX.
Real-Time Keyframing
I'm sure by now you would agree with me that keyframing is very cool. But with most NLE systems, the more you keyframe, the longer you render and the longer it takes to edit. A complex sequence with a moving PIP that flies and spins on the screen could take an hour to render using Premiere. When you use the real-time keyframing capabilities of these cards to customize your FX you can spend your time tweaking the effect to make sure it looks perfect, not waste hours waiting for previews to render and then having to make changes and render again.
Keyframed 3D FX in Real-Time
Now that we understand basic keyframing, lets push it a little further. I love 3D FX and transitions. To me, this is the kind of stuff that makes my viewers go WOW! and leaves really lasting impressions. Note: 3D FX don't belong in every type of video and you can easily go too far with these FX and have them become a distraction. Whenever you use 3D FX, try to make them fit in with the content and video content and the flow of the production.
Ok, now that we've cleared that up, back to the subject at hand. Lets talk about keyframing a 3D transition like a page curl. Say you want the page to not only curl, but to shrink and then flutter off the screen like a sheet of paper caught in a strong breeze. With the Real-Time 3D keyframing capabilities of the RT2500 or Pro-ONE not only is this simple and easy to do, but you get complete control over the entire effect without ever having to render it. Even more important the keyframing interface allows you to grab the 3D FX with your mouse and move it, resize it or twist it around for each keyframe point. The keyframe is then set and the 3D FX engine automatically displays the entire full motion 3D effect INSTANTLY! Real-Time keyframing of 3D FX is the most important productivity tool I have ever used for NLE. Once you get your hands on a card with Real-Time keyframing you'll never be able to go back to rendering your 3D FX.
Before we get into the details on each card, let's talk about some of the very cool things that all of the cards in this review can do:
On the real-time side, you get the tools you need the most; dissolves, titling, wipes and color correction filters. You also get a bunch of Alpha Magic transitions, which the DV500 Plus can apply in real-time. If you find you like adding these transitions, get yourself the SpiceMaster. Now you'll have complete control over them. The real-time color correction is also very cool. I'm constantly getting great shots that have lighting problems. With the color corrector filter I can fix most of these up quickly and easily.
You also get a ton of really cool software along with your real-time functionality. I think TitleDekoRT is the best NLE titler around. Super easy to use and the titles look great. With the new take to video option you can preview your title superimposed over the video on your TV in real-time.
While the Hollywood FX software isn't real-time, it is a great tool for adding some really amazing 3D animated transitions. While the supplied HFX Copper is a treat, you'll find the $100 upgrade to Bronze to be a great investment. In addition to more effects w/ multiple video layers, you get a very powerful keyframer.
The new 3.0 driver gives you not only WIn XP support, but several cool new features. The new interface for the RT filters & FX includes a keyframer and also has the clean new look of the Pro-ONE's. DV tools 2.1 no longer has a 2GB file limit and you can export directly into the Premiere storyboard bin. The DV500 now supports variable play speeds. You can import MP2 files into Premiere and edit them - very cool for DVD authoring.
The TitleXpress software does a very good job for titling, plus the RT2500 gives you the ability to apply any of its real-time transitions to them in real-time. I like applying a page peel to my titles, and then have them flutter off the page, all in real-time! Another of my favorite RT2500 titling tricks is to use one of the real-time particle transitions to make my titles explode into hundreds of little pieces.
Since you can use the real-time 3D FX as transitions or filters, the RT2500 is great for making photomontages and other video sequences that involve multiple graphic images and video. Especially since you can layer 2 tracks of video PLUS a graphic layer in real-time.
The new Video Tools 3.1 and Pro Pack add some very exciting and powerful features to the RT2500. The Real-Time blur effect is one of my favorites. You can use the keyframer to blur someone's face, or to create a very cool transition or transformation effect. After Effects users are going to love the added ability of previewing their work directly on a TV monitor hooked up to the RT2500 breakout box. With the new Real-Time mask effect you can create your own custom masks such as a heart or your client's logo. Matrox has also added even more customizable controls for each effects keyframer. We have gotten together with the Matrox and Sonic to offer you a very special DVD authoring bundle special. You can get the RT2500 and DVDit!PE for $999.95!! This makes it our best real-time and DVD authoring solution for under $1,000!!
We have also added a fantastic new utility for the RT2500 called Multicam. If you are an event videographer and you use 2-4 cameras when you shoot, Multicam is going to make your NLE dramatically easier and faster!! You can preview up to 4 cameras simultaneously and switch between them. Multicam remembers all your cuts, and exports them to premiere as an A/B timeline!
The Pro-ONE allows you to apply multiple layers of filters and FX while still giving you Real-Time performance. As an example I can apply a Black & White filter to a PIP image while having it change size and move all over the screen. At the same time I can apply the outstanding FIELD based speed control to the base or PIP image or both while maintaining my Real-Time playback. I can add a title and apply the motion filter to it so it moves across the screen as well. Want even more I can soften the edge on the PIP image, add a drop shadow and change the shape of it! And everything stays Real-Time!!
The Pro-ONE also includes a Real-Time image stabilizer. Based on Commotions image tracker technology, the stabilizer automatically analyzes the footage, finds the contrast points to lock in, then automatically crops and expands the image. The results can be quite good, but you don't get any control over it, so sometimes the stabilized image looks awkward. The foreground may be more stable than the background or vice versa. Hopefully future versions of the interface will allow you to select an area on the screen to have the algorithm focus on. This would give you the best possible results, every time.
The 1.5 drivers are rock solid and they support Win2K, 98se, ME and XP. Without Win2K support it was hard to convince a professional / power user to drop down to Win98 for these features. Now that we've got Win2K (and XP), there is no excuse not to consider this board.
Pinnacle has made the Pro-One an even better value. When you buy a Pro-ONE between 2/15/02 and 4/30/02 you get a FREE copy of Commotion - their award winning video compositing and paint program. In addition the Multicam multiple camera ediitng utility now supports the Pro-One, making it a grwat choice for event videographers.
What the DV Storm lacks in cool real-time 3D FX, it makes up for with pure NLE power, especially in a dual CPU system using the Storm Edit NLE app. The real-time filters will allow you to manipulate your video footage much like you can an image in Photoshop. The real-time PIP engine means you can have multiple graphics and video layers flying on and off the screen. The real-time chroma-keying looks great with crisp, clean edges. Combine all this real-time power with the simplicity and productivity of Storm Edit and you have one heck of an NLE system. Of course, you can also use all the real-time FX and filters inside Premiere if you want to. With the DV Storm, the choice is yours!
Canopus has just released their new RT 3D plug-in which will allow you to add 5 basic 3D transitions such as a page curl to your productions in Real-Time. As with all of Canopus' Real-Time technology, the more power you give it, the better the results. You'll need at least a 1.4Ghz processor to take advantage of these very basic 3D FX. When Canopus adds more 3D performance and the ability to add drop shadows and edge softness, expect to need even more CPU power.
The DVD1000 includes an amazing technology for digital videographers primarily interested in creating their own DVDs called Direct IBP. Direct IBP lets you capture and edit and output your video as MPEG2 files that are ready for DVD authoring. DC1000DV and its big brother the DC2000DV are the only cards I know of for under $10,000 that let you fully edit compressed MPEG2 video using Adobe Premiere and its full accompaniment of features, FX, and plug-ins. This technology is so cool that you may be able to export your MPEG2 video from the timeline faster than real-time! That's right, faster. This depends on how much filters, FX and other goodies you put into your video. But even if your production is loaded, the DVD1000 can spit out MPEG2 faster than any other card on the market. Even cooler, you can import and re-edit MPEG2 footage that you already encoded for your authoring!
The highlight of the new DVD1000 bundle is Impressions DVD Pro. This is the latest version of the same software that was sold a year ago under the Minerva brand name for over $5,000!! You can create DVDs with multiple video angles, up to 32 separate Subtitle Tracks and up to eight Independent Audio Streams for multiple language or soundtrack support. Impressions also allows you to import PSD images from Photoshop. Each layer of the PSD file becomes a different image for your menu or buttons. It may seem complicated, but once you understand how to take advantage of this feature you can create a customized user interface for your DVDs that looks great and delivers very easy to understand navigation.
Unlike Premiere based real-time cards you are not going to get a subset of real-time filters and FX that you can use. The entire app every transition, effect, filter, title, audio mixing, you name it it's all real-time. You get over 100 real-time FX and you can adjust them all without affecting your real-time performance. We were able to throw 2 PIPs, each with border, softness, cropping and motion over a full motion video in the background each one keyframed in real-time. We were even able to add filters to all 3 video tracks and transitions before and after each PIP. Then we superimposed a title and still achieved real-time playback.
A couple of things you need to keep in mind about Xpress DV. First and foremost, it's not Adobe Premiere. It is based on Avid's 11th generation NLE technology. The same technology used to edit over 90% of network television shows. So be prepared to spend some extra time learning the Avid way of editing. Once you do, you'll be able to fully realize and take advantage of the more productive Avid workflow. The other important note is that Xpress DV is strictly a DV solution. There is no analog input or output. You can use a dual head graphics card like the Matrox G550 to output to a television for previews, but Xpress DV is strictly FireWire in and out.
Since the DC2000DV uses very efficient MPEG2 compression it requires a fraction of the disk space and storage throughput to handle component video. Trying to get the same real-time features with component video will cost you twice as much for any other board and its required video storage. Combine the Direct IBP technology with component video means you have a fully functional DVD authoring solution for your Beta Cam gear.
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