New Choices in HD Editors

Don't miss these HD products in the hoopla of NAB.

It is NAB time again, and the big booths at Apple, Avid, Sony, Panasonic, Discreet, and Adobe will likely be as packed as usual. High definition appears to be taking off, and it will be a high priority for those shopping for editing systems.

Leitch will debut VelocityHD at this year's NAB. The NLE's features include multi-camera editing, color correction, customizable effects, realtime audio, and EDL interoperability.

High definition leaders include Quantel, Discreet, In-sync (with the HD Boxx and the new AJA Thor HD card bundle), DVS Clipster, and Avid, as well as several resolution-independent compositing applications. Of course, HD board manufacturers will be promoting their latest wares (AJA, Aurora, Bluefish 444, Pinnacle Systems, etc.). Many news editing systems will feature new HD versions.

Many shoppers will be deciding whether to invest in compressed HD or uncompressed HD. Storage manufacturers will be salivating over the requirements for HD storage and will gladly assist you in purchasing a RAID system big and fast enough to be practical for postproduction.

Yes, it will be a big NAB — especially for HD. This month I would like to focus on three new products you shouldn't miss amongst the spectacle and flash.

Leitch VelocityHD

Leitch is introducing VelocityHD at NAB. This new product is available as a Windows-based boardset, software, and manuals kit (less than $10,000 without options) or as a turnkey system (price TBA). VelocityHD features the new video engine, Altitude. This single card provides playback of two uncompressed video streams with realtime transitions and effects, plus two streams of dynamic HD graphics — including realtime rolling/crawling titles and graphics keys. The HD signal can be 8- or 10-bit; 1080i, 1080p, or 720p formats (all common frame rates and aspect ratios) with SMPTE-292 HD-SDI I/O. The system also allows mixed compressed and non-compressed video files on the same timeline.

For monitor output, Leitch offers a VGA HD output that lets you use a VGA monitor if you don't have a high-definition video display with the correct phosphors. The HD output is simultaneously downconverted for monitoring on standard-resolution displays. Embedded SDI audio and discrete AES/EBU audio plus unbalanced analog monitoring are all supported.

VelocityHD is based on the standard Velocity application. I was previously put off by its “non-standard” graphic user interface. Now, having spent considerable time using Velocity, I must admit that it has grown into a sophisticated NLE application. Although many think of the application as “mouse-centric” it is excellent for keyboard editing.

VelocityHD features include:

• Multi-camera Editing: Two HD uncompressed streams can be “switched” live to build a sequence. If you're working in SD, you have four or more streams hot-switchable.

• Color Correction: This means real-time, keyframeable color grading with color matching and automatic white and black re-balance, as well as the three-way color wheel with curve adjustment. With the A3DX DVE option, you also get secondary color correction.

• Effects: There are hundreds of customizable and keyframeable effects transitions. The customizable GUI offers you the choice of A/X/B or single-track timeline modes, as well as customizable window layouts and hotkeys. The A3DX DVE option offers a single realtime channel of uncompressed HD 3D DVE or four channels of realtime SD 3D DVE. The HD monitor can be viewed as you set parameters so you have better control of the creation process.

One nice feature is the RenderBank, which stores previously rendered composites so you can experiment without needing to re-render. For more extensive compositing, VelocityHD features timeline integration with Eyeon Soft-ware's DFX+ and Digital Fusion. (Note: Potential third-party application bundling has not yet been announced.)

• EyeCon View: This view continuously displays picons and clip timecode of each layer on the timeline based upon play-head position.

• Realtime Audio: The system features sophisticated audio tools with realtime multi-track mixing, flexible routing/bussing, mute and solo controls, dynamic recording of sliders, direct-to-timeline V.O., analog and digital scrub modes, and the ability to accept both DirectShow and VST audio plug-ins applied to clips or tracks.

• Interoperability: The system imports and exports EDLs. More importantly, Leitch offers optional AAF and OMF support. The Virtual Tape File System (VTFS) offers seamless interchange between video files and the popular graphics file formats.

VelocityHD will make its debut at NAB, and it will be released this summer.

Media 100 HD

Media 100 will show off its new Media 100 HD, which edits in native, 10-bit uncompressed HD as well as in uncompressed SD.

As the magazine goes to bed, it appears that Media 100 has been rescued from its financial difficulties — it will be acquired by Optibase. This appears to be an excellent fit. Optibase has an exceptional balance sheet, and the products manufactured by Media 100 fit nicely with Optibase's product line. The two companies even share a large portion of their sales channels.

Media 100 will offer Media 100 HD at NAB. The application was seen only in prototype at last year's show. Optibase believes there is a significant market for this product, and Media 100 has said that there is a large number of pre-orders on file.

Mac-based Media 100 HD uses the same interface as the latest version of the Media 100i family of products. The Media 100 HD system edits in native, 10-bit uncompressed high-definition video, as well as uncompressed SD. It features realtime format conversion between any HD and SD formats, and realtime aspect ratio conversion (4:3 to 16:9 and 16:9 to 4:3). The application also features advanced image filtering, such as motion-adaptive de-interlacing with edge detection, for optimal image quality. It offers the ability to mix and match HD and SD sources in the same timeline.

Media 100 HD does not need to “down-rez” and “up-rez” like the 844/X product when editing HD material. It edits all ATSC HD formats natively. The system offers simultaneous HD and SD output for program out and monitoring. The system inputs and outputs AES/EBU digital audio.

QuickTime V-Out of HD/SD video output is supported, and the application offers a software codec for sharing media with other QuickTime applications. The workflow architecture allows for compatibility with both Media 100i and 844/X systems.

The Media 100 HD boardset/software/break-out box is priced at $7,995.

1 Beyond HD

Among 1 Beyond's new offerings will be the Harmony SAN. It allows from two to 16 editing and graphics workstations to access and write 10-bit uncompressed HD video.

1 Beyond is best known for its high-performance desktops and laptops — 15 of which were at NAB last year in the Avid, Pinnacle, Adobe, BlueFish444, and Micro-soft booths.

This year 1 Beyond has announced a new Professional Film and Broadcast Division for HD and digital cinema. This coincides with a range of new systems networked together by a 1 Beyond Harmony SAN, which 1 Beyond claims is the industry's first shared uncompressed HD SAN and render farm for graphics and animation.

1 Beyond's NLE workstations can edit in 10-bit uncompressed SD and HD in YUV 4:2:2 color space, as well as realtime DV and HDV, and optionally in HD MPEG-2. The intriguing part of this solution is that it offers incredible workgroup connectivity with the editing application on Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, and the other applications, including Maya, Digital Fusion, Combustion, and more.

Additionally, 1 Beyond's HD workstations offer three unique features:

• 1 Beyond Silent Partner, which offers the ability to move noisy disk arrays and systems to a remote location.

• 1 Beyond Bullet Proof protection, a diagnostic software that predicts and prevents the most common video-related system failures.

• 1 Beyond Digital Video Transport, a series of tools that eliminates the need for an expensive HD deck at each workstation. This DVT nearline removable storage (up to 1.5TB) is in addition to the 5TB of internal online storage.

The 1 Beyond HD Pro-Editor workstation is capable of expanding to 5TB or 11 hours of HD (50 hours of SD) internal hard disk space without external storage. All disks are removable for fast swapping, disk-size expansion, and ease of maintenance. In addition, there is up to 1.5TB of nearline DVT for a total of 6.5TB internal. The tower workstation price starts at $24,995.

Both 1 Beyond's editing and graphics workstations offer Symmetry Capture software, which inputs RGB, Cineon, DPX, or YUV QuickTimeV210 formats compatible with After Effects; Discreet Inferno, Smoke, and Combustion; Eyeon Software Digital Fusion; and others. Alias Maya and other animation software packages are optional.

The most impressive of 1 Beyond's workgroup products is the 1 Beyond Harmony SAN. Harmony allows multiple workstations (from two to 16 editing, compositing, and graphics platforms) to simultaneously access and write 10-bit, uncompressed HD video. Harmony is expandable up to 256TB (560 hours of 720/24p or 426 hours of 1080i), and it allows users to store both SD and HD on the same volumes. Each workstation has an automatically variable amount of storage — there is no maximum storage limit per workstation.

Harmony features a good set of media asset management tools as well. Most importantly, it is a very cost-effective high-definition SAN. The price starts at $100,000 for four seats and 4TB. Those looking for an HD SAN should check it out.

These are just three manufacturers of the many that will be demonstrating HD solutions. I hope you enjoy the show. If you cannot attend, Video Systems and my Internet publication, Bob Turner's The Cut, will do our best to let you know what was hot and what was not.