Grass
Valley formerly known as Canopus is one of the most
respected purveyors of fast real-time video editing
products. With the launch of the new Edius 4.5 I
was keen to see what their new product had to
offer.
Edius allows mixed format editing. Whereas conventional editing software would require the user to specify and stick with the format of the project, Edius allows the user to add HD footage to an SD timeline, use PAL together with NTSC, use MPEG-2 together with DV and combine them all into a 720/24p project in real time, for example.
For high definition projects, Edius will edit DV content in High Definition resolutions, automatically upscaling from standard to high definition. All titling, graphics and effects will be applied in HD resolution too.
One of the main features of the Grass Valley Edius editing software is that it does real-time editing. Using a real-time system, you can immediately preview your video editing work, at full quality, without any rendering delay. This of course, helps speed up workflow.
The timeline allows for unlimited video, audio, title and graphics tracks which gives endless possibilities for putting together some amazing effects. The option of nesting sequences on the timeline is available too. Each sequence appears in a separate timeline, being selected with a tab along the top of the timeline. Each sequence can be dragged into another sequence, where any effects can be applied, just like a regular video clip. This can tidy up the timeline and make it easier to work with.
For larger projects Multicam editing is possible. This allows editing of up to eight different sources simultaneously.
Filters and effects within Edius are stackable, providing countless effects combinations for unlimited creativity. Choose from 28 different video filters, 7 different audio filters, 20 keyer effects and countless video transitions all capable of running at HD or SD.
Edius also comes with ProCoder Express. This software is a video conversion tool, aimed at the professional. When wanting to change the format of a file, it is often necessary to use a stand-alone transcoder that will only do for that type of file, or even load a file into a video editor and write it out again in the new format. However, with ProCoder Express, whether encoding MPEG video for DVD production, producing Windows Media for streaming or transcoding between NTSC and PAL, ProCoder Express does the job in one package.
Inscriber® TitleMotion™ Pro for EDIUS is another piece of software that comes with this video editing package, allowing 3D titling.
Using Edius 4.5
When you first run Edius 4.5 you will be asked to select your project settings. These can be from a comprehensive list of pre-defined settings, from SD PAL 720x576 50p 16:9 to HD 60Hz 1920x1280 59.94i etc. It is possible to change these settings, even part way through a project.
The layout of the software is similar to most non-linear editing (NLE) systems. Basically you use 6 windows for editing video, a preview window, a timeline window, a bin window (showing the source material), and three palettes. An information palette, effect palette and marker palette. If preferred these three palettes can be combined into one, each then being selected by a tab. Each window can be resized by dragging its side line or the corner edge. As windows snap to each other, you can place windows aligned by side line or corner edge. The window layout can also be saved.
It is also possible to change the buttons on each window. To improve workflow Edius allows the user to add, delete or change the order of the operation buttons to be displayed on the screen. This helps tremendously with speeding up those operations that are performed many times over, and yet would usually have to go to the drop down menus to find. All features, however, can be accessed from drop down menus as well, so even a new user can find their way to required functions fairly easily.
Putting video clips on the time-line is an easy process, with the usual choice of 3 or 4 point editing etc. The range of formats allowed on the timeline is impressive. I managed to create a project consisting of wmv, mpeg1, mpeg2, avi and mov files, with a mixture of both internet low resolution and full HD resolution footage.
Effects and transitions are selected easily from the effect palette, and it is possible to refine these to give the exact result required. Once finely tuned, these can be copied to other clips on the timeline, or exported to be used again in another project.
Once the editing is complete, a large selection of output formats is available. The usual DV AVI formats, along with writing out to tape are there, but outputting via Canopus ProCoder is another option. This gives the facility to output to a variety of formats, ranging from full HDV to lower resolution files for internet and streaming applications.
Conclusion
This is a professional product that brings professional results. The real-time editing is a great advantage along with the ability to mix different formats on the timeline. The option to add and change the icons on each window, so you can quickly access the function you need, is a valuable feature too. If you are the sort that only edits SD footage from your DV camcorder then the spec of this package will be way too high. However, if you find yourself editing footage from various sources, in different formats and your customers are asking for the final result in yet another format, then this may well be the product for you.
Edius allows mixed format editing. Whereas conventional editing software would require the user to specify and stick with the format of the project, Edius allows the user to add HD footage to an SD timeline, use PAL together with NTSC, use MPEG-2 together with DV and combine them all into a 720/24p project in real time, for example.
For high definition projects, Edius will edit DV content in High Definition resolutions, automatically upscaling from standard to high definition. All titling, graphics and effects will be applied in HD resolution too.
One of the main features of the Grass Valley Edius editing software is that it does real-time editing. Using a real-time system, you can immediately preview your video editing work, at full quality, without any rendering delay. This of course, helps speed up workflow.
The timeline allows for unlimited video, audio, title and graphics tracks which gives endless possibilities for putting together some amazing effects. The option of nesting sequences on the timeline is available too. Each sequence appears in a separate timeline, being selected with a tab along the top of the timeline. Each sequence can be dragged into another sequence, where any effects can be applied, just like a regular video clip. This can tidy up the timeline and make it easier to work with.
For larger projects Multicam editing is possible. This allows editing of up to eight different sources simultaneously.
Filters and effects within Edius are stackable, providing countless effects combinations for unlimited creativity. Choose from 28 different video filters, 7 different audio filters, 20 keyer effects and countless video transitions all capable of running at HD or SD.
Edius also comes with ProCoder Express. This software is a video conversion tool, aimed at the professional. When wanting to change the format of a file, it is often necessary to use a stand-alone transcoder that will only do for that type of file, or even load a file into a video editor and write it out again in the new format. However, with ProCoder Express, whether encoding MPEG video for DVD production, producing Windows Media for streaming or transcoding between NTSC and PAL, ProCoder Express does the job in one package.
Inscriber® TitleMotion™ Pro for EDIUS is another piece of software that comes with this video editing package, allowing 3D titling.
Using Edius 4.5
When you first run Edius 4.5 you will be asked to select your project settings. These can be from a comprehensive list of pre-defined settings, from SD PAL 720x576 50p 16:9 to HD 60Hz 1920x1280 59.94i etc. It is possible to change these settings, even part way through a project.
The layout of the software is similar to most non-linear editing (NLE) systems. Basically you use 6 windows for editing video, a preview window, a timeline window, a bin window (showing the source material), and three palettes. An information palette, effect palette and marker palette. If preferred these three palettes can be combined into one, each then being selected by a tab. Each window can be resized by dragging its side line or the corner edge. As windows snap to each other, you can place windows aligned by side line or corner edge. The window layout can also be saved.
It is also possible to change the buttons on each window. To improve workflow Edius allows the user to add, delete or change the order of the operation buttons to be displayed on the screen. This helps tremendously with speeding up those operations that are performed many times over, and yet would usually have to go to the drop down menus to find. All features, however, can be accessed from drop down menus as well, so even a new user can find their way to required functions fairly easily.
Putting video clips on the time-line is an easy process, with the usual choice of 3 or 4 point editing etc. The range of formats allowed on the timeline is impressive. I managed to create a project consisting of wmv, mpeg1, mpeg2, avi and mov files, with a mixture of both internet low resolution and full HD resolution footage.
Effects and transitions are selected easily from the effect palette, and it is possible to refine these to give the exact result required. Once finely tuned, these can be copied to other clips on the timeline, or exported to be used again in another project.
Once the editing is complete, a large selection of output formats is available. The usual DV AVI formats, along with writing out to tape are there, but outputting via Canopus ProCoder is another option. This gives the facility to output to a variety of formats, ranging from full HDV to lower resolution files for internet and streaming applications.
Conclusion
This is a professional product that brings professional results. The real-time editing is a great advantage along with the ability to mix different formats on the timeline. The option to add and change the icons on each window, so you can quickly access the function you need, is a valuable feature too. If you are the sort that only edits SD footage from your DV camcorder then the spec of this package will be way too high. However, if you find yourself editing footage from various sources, in different formats and your customers are asking for the final result in yet another format, then this may well be the product for you.
GrassValley Edius 4.5 Broadcast Review