So, it�s finally November 22nd, release day for Avid�s newest NLE to
hit the shelves, Avid Liquid 7. While it�s new for Avid, it�s the
latest version of a product that�s been very popular for a long time �
most recently with Pinnacle, and before that FAST. But with new
features like native HDV, thousands of realtime effects and its
powerful background rendering, this is a powerful editing application
that is sure to turn heads in this market. But what really makes Liquid
different is that everything you need -- editing, surround audio,
effects, music creation, DVD -- is in one application. Not a suite of
five or six programs -- one application.
For this review, I
worked with the final beta release of Avid Liquid 7 -- exactly the same
version that they�ll be burning to disks ready for shipping on the 22nd
of November.
Avid Liquid 7 comes in two versions: a software
only version, and the Pro version with the same software plus a
breakout box. The breakout box on the Pro version adds analog and
digital video and audio I/O, including the ability to monitor Liquid�s
5.1 surround audio mixing. It also adds HDV/SD preview to an external
monitor.
Because I do not currently have the Pro version, my review will concentrate on the software version of the product.
I will start by telling you a little about myself. I am the senior
editor for RDS, Le R�seau des Sports, an all-French sports network
based in Montr�al. I have used Liquid there for almost 3 years now. For
this review I am running this software on a fairly slow computer. I
have an Athlon XP 2400+ 1 gig of DDR 266 ram, a slow system drive, and
a 7200 rpm video ATA drive. My video card is an ATI AIW 9600XT with
128mb of ram. Not the fastest system on the block. Actually it�s my
family PC! Apart from a slowdown for HDV (see below) Liquid performed
quite admirably on my system.
Now seems like a good time to
talk a little about some of the technology that Avid has brought over
from their acquisition of Pinnacle. I don�t want this info buried in
the middle of this review, so here we go. One of the biggest features,
in my opinion is background rendering. Mean anything to you???
Basically, you set up your effects and transitions, then go on working.
Liquid renders all of your effects in the background.
That�s
really cool you say, well, you�d be right. But even more than that,
they take advantage of your GPU and let the video card handle some of
the effects. The GPU effects are shown in realtime, but are rendered in
the background for output. And to take advantage of this technology,
don�t go running out to the local PC store to drop a grand on a big
fancy NvidiaFX card, nope, Avid recommends using an ATI gaming card.
What you say, that�s right. Pick up a card like an ATI x800XL, or
something of the type and you are good to go.
Did you know that
Liquid handles HDV natively??? I didn�t think that you did. Well it
does. In fact, Liquid was the first to support native HDV, well over a
year ago. I have seen it with my own two eyes, on my system. Sure, my
system was choking on it, but look at what I am using. Buy a solid
workstation with a PCIe card and you�ll do just fine. With that same
cheap video card I just talked about, you can get four streams of 1080i
HDV with real-time effects, no problem. Check the Avid website for
recommended systems, which are neatly broken into exactly the kind of
work you need to do, whether DV, SD, or 720 or 1080 HDV.
Code: http://rapidshare.com/files/38392945/AL7.part01.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/38396759/AL7.part02.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/38399751/AL7.part03.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/38402388/AL7.part04.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/38404549/AL7.part05.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/38406667/AL7.part06.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/38409042/AL7.part07.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/38411294/AL7.part08.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/38412954/AL7.part09.rar
pass: warez-bb.org |
