XDCAM Workflow Guide
Only Avid provides the fastest and most comprehensive XDCAM SD/HD support, tightly linked with the world’s best editing tools and
most powerful end-to-end production workflow solutions.
In the field or the edit suite, Avid editing systems give you the tools to work quickly and efficiently: XDCAM proxy media can be
imported much faster than real-time so editing can begin almost immediately, while only the required high-resolution material is
imported to complete the project, saving time and disk space.
All XDCAM formats in SD and HD are supported natively* and can be mixed and played in a single sequence in real-time, even
together with proxy media as well as other supported SD or HD video resolutions. And when the program is finished, it can be
written back to the XDCAM disc with a single menu command.
With Avid editors attached to an Avid Unity™ MediaNetwork™ or Avid Unity ISIS™ system, XDCAM media is instantly available in
real-time to editors, journalists and producers. Furthermore, feed room operators, media logging assistants and reviewers can access
the XDCAM media from their desktop and contribute without waiting for an edit suite.
This is how Avid supports XDCAM and incorporates it into the most efficient end-to-end workflow available, with complete access,
flexibility and control at any point.
i.LINK workflow for all supported Avid editors, using File Access Mode
Make sure the XDCAM device is set to FAM (File Access Mode) and is attached via i.LINK. The device will show up as a removable drive on
the editor CPU.
Proxy editing workflow (Avid Liquid workflow is similar)
1. Select a bin and choose the Import XDCAM Proxy menu command to import all proxy media from the XDCAM disc.
2. Edit the media in the normal way on the timeline. Other SD and HD resolutions can be edited and played together in real-time.
3. When the editing is finished, select the Batch Import menu command. This will import the high-resolution XDCAM media from the disk, but only the
media that is required for the edited sequence, plus a selectable handle length.
High-resolution editing workflow (Avid Liquid workflow is similar)
1. Select a bin and choose the Import menu command and navigate to the Clip folder on the XDCAM disc, or simply drag the media files from the Clip
folder on the XDCAM disc into the required bin.
2. Edit the media in the normal way on the timeline. Other SD and HD resolutions can be edited and played together in real-time.
Write-back workflow (Avid Liquid workflow is similar, and only for SD)
1. Select the finished sequence in the bin.
2. Select the Export menu command and choose the XDCAM option.The edited program will now be written back to the XDCAM disc.
Avid
®
NewsCutter
®
family (version 6.7)
Avid Media Composer
®
family (version 2.7)
Avid Symphony
™
Nitris
®
(version 1.7)
Avid Xpress Pro* (version 5.7)
Avid Liquid
™
family (version 7.2)
Supported File Formats
DVCAM
MPEG IMX (30/40/50 Mb/s)
MPEG HD (18/25/35 Mb/s)
MPEG-4 proxy media
* Avid Xpress Pro does not support IMX resolutions