SpeedEdit

groovedude wrote on 10/23/2006, 10:48 PM
While I do like Newtek products, I'm irritated they market their new editor as that fastest editor, wheras many of these features have been found in Vegas for some time. I guess their angle is that time is saved by natively using various file formats--however, Vegas also shines in this area.

That being said it could be worth trying out once they get a trial copy posted. Looks like the posting of the site is a bit premature:
http://www.newtek.com/speededit/index.php

On another note, something simple but profound recently crept into my thick skull. Now, I don't normally edit video with music tracks, but I was thinking the next time I do I'll try laying down markers on major beats that would make nice edit points. That way I already have some of the edit decisions made and I can just snap video to them.

Comments

RBartlett wrote on 12/21/2006, 5:15 AM
If the high speed isn't spicy enough for you..... What about this feature:

1. Projects edited in SpeedEDIT can be previewed on HDV based equipment using realtime 1394 preview to the deck and camcorder - HD resolution. This attends to the concerns many professionals I've spoken to have in using computer ports for correct color representation and for interlace/cadence errors.

2. Did you hear what I said? HDV over firewire previews within the NLE! ;-)
So you'll have your best chance for doing ITU709 color correction and you'll probably have all the gear you need without buying a lavish HD I/O board.

If you've ever considered adding stuff from SeriousMagic, DigitalJuice or Bauhaus, you've got to realise that NewTek gear is just as deserving of being in your kit bag. These folks think like video people, a lot less hoop jumping to do many bread and butter edits. I've seen and tried this with a representative and from what I saw NewTek will sell a boat load of them.

NewTek's VT post editor suite works very nicely alongside Vegas7c+DVDA. So I'm expecting great things with the addition of SE. SE at version 1.0 is really a 6th generation product if you remember that NewTek started the DTV revolution on the Amiga then made 5 generations of VT branded systems for the Windows PC. All have cascaded their benefits and capabilities into this new arrival.

There is talk on the NewTek forums of a demo/trial version being made available soon so that is good. Videographers with HD, with or without HDV in their workflow should keep a close eye on this product to compliment what is available with Vegas. I'm a firm believer that there is no one perfect NLE. I am quite proud of the fact that I have a core set of tools rather than blind allegiance to just one. Vegas remains one of them but some of what may now be pushed back to appear in Vegas8 is ready for me in SpeedEDIT.
Spot|DSE wrote on 12/21/2006, 7:41 AM
SpeedEdit is a forerunner to other things they have planned. They needed something more up to date and in-house, so now they've got it. It's a simple tool, but with some serious, super features.
Given Newtek's proclivity and ability with hardware, expect to see some sweet future revs.
Jim H wrote on 12/21/2006, 9:46 AM
Groov, Your markers on the beat is a trick I've been using for quite some time and works especially well with VAAST's Still Motion. SM will insert the stills or video clips at the markers for you... hundreds at a time in seconds.
RBartlett wrote on 12/22/2006, 12:46 AM
Well, SpeedEDIT is proving itself in the HD and HDV stakes.

To report:

3. HD preview is realtime capable on a PC that wouldn't have cut it very well fps wise on Vegas. Also full res. if you meet the min requirements and use the first versions of media. Like Vegas7 you don't need digital intermediate formats but the graphics card cpu-offload functions (namely pixel shader 2 [directx9]) make full resolution preview achievable on VGA. Preview via HDV is good, but not 100% realtime all of the time enough to use it to lay-back from the timeline. You could record to a HDV deck cascaded from your HDV camcorder for rushes.

4. This NLE is field aware even in VGA preview. It's renderer draws a field at a time conveying cadence. So if you have a 60Hz monitor, NTSC is great. 75Hz is OK for PAL, 100Hz would be better but check your display adapter spec when it is in this mode.

The use of directx9 and CPU offload technology means that your graphics card is being used to the tune of requiring approx 64MB per screen/head. So some people installing SpeedEDIT on their VT systems (that didn't use the advanced functions of the cards quite as much) are being recommended to upgrade. The pixel drawing (blitting) that Vegas does is better than SpeedEDIT if you've got an older graphics card with perhaps 32MB of RAM onboard and no true directx9 acceleration circuitry. There is no 2GB application limit in this NLE given a more recent OS or the right switches in the older XP 32bit. That speaks volumes when you are working with low compressed stuff like stills.

It is an early restricted but public full release right now. NewTek have explained that shipping units are due in January. A trial download has been spoken of but nothing is downloadable just yet.

Oh, the Character Generator is lush. Color correction is both humane to use and there are plenty of well pictorially explained templates.

Users are primarily working with pro formats right now, but there is support for a whole cavalcade of formats without going through any manual conversion process. Us Vegas folks have that part covered but not to quite the extent that the spec sheet of SpeedEDIT is showing.

Some of the speed is attributable to the flexibility in the pipeline. YUV (YPbPr) formats aren't getting squished into RGB24 space and back again with the HDVo1394 preview for example.

Like I said, I see this as a compimentary tool. Perhaps a good tool to bolt into your workflow while we wait for CPU offload technology to be improved in Vegas. Audio sweetening and external plug-in support is better in Vegas. Probably always will be given that NewTek try to do so much of their capabilities in-house.

You've really got to see some of these advanced ripple modes and how directly editable the clips are. None of this cutting and deleting or going to the trimmer. That is refreshing to see in a NLE that isn't tied to a piece of hardware.

Seemed worthy of a report back.... Those who were at NAB may have already known all this. If software is going to take a leap like this in general through 2007, I can't wait. Some of this stuff needs to be in Vegas8. Vegas7.5 if possible.
RBartlett wrote on 12/22/2006, 3:13 AM
5. Color correcting, - negligible impact on realtime preview - same full resolution response. Tint, 3-wheel and color-matching tools. Color matching is great when you've got a tonal theme to your color that needs to run through. It works it out rather than being a template as such.

6. Auto-white-balance - shouldn't really admit to having a use for this. Ahem, it is for other people's footage of course....
farss wrote on 12/22/2006, 4:07 AM
Really big question, is it 8bit only or does it handle 10bit?
MXF Support?
RBartlett wrote on 12/22/2006, 5:10 AM
Hi Bob, I can't answer that with a 7. and 8. with a yes.

I don't know the answer to the first one, and the second is a fairly big no.

Given the ancestry of VT-Edit the most native of formats would presmably be 8bit YUV+alpha 4:4:4:4. I'm not sure if there is floatingpoint pixel/color representation within the app. I'd recommend you ask them directly. However much of the rest of the NewTek product set is 8bit,10bit RGBA at first sight or is HDR based. A post on their forum would likely get you an answer from the developers or engineering staff today.

MXF is a native no. MXF is something that the forerunner to SE (again VT-Edit) has been able to edit through the use of one of two freeware workflows. That isn't a credible answer but many are expecting it to be covered in SE 1.1 or associated product in 2007. This set of freeware tools isn't provided as this would probably be a patent/license violation. Vegas would make a good partnership for SonyYUV or the NewTek-SpeedHQ-codec (system wide, not an internal-only/private codec) digital intermediates.

I'd imagine there will be a specialist codec pack from NewTek like Canopus provide. There is already a good quota of licensed technology in SE that stops it being any cheaper than it already is at list price.

If only there was a one shoe fits all NLE/compositor/CG/paintbox/3d-animator for ~$400.
RBartlett wrote on 12/30/2006, 1:30 AM
Correction, MXF specifically is a yes for video, audio is brought in separately.

The MXF reading needs enabling in the preferences, not unlike Vegas 7's IMX-Explorer support.

SpeedEDIT is a version 1.0 product so YMMV.

- this is me cross-posting a quote from a Newtekian client who pre-ordered VT[5] and gained access to a full release product before their DVD copy gets shipped out early in January:

"I've been having success all with my P2(MXF) files.
I haven't tried every resolution and frame rate.
I've been working with HD 720p 60fps. Works great.
SD 480i 4:2:2, works too, of course.

MXF needs to be enabled in preferences...
and the audio needs to be pulled and added to clips on the timeline, separately."