Re: Scrolling Timeline?

Xpress Pro is to Media Composer what a camel is to a horse - essentially a horse designed by a committee. I would love to know the logic behind what they add and remove to different tiers of Avid. I do not think the decisions are made by anyone who understands the products and how they are used. In fact, features are often listed incorrectly too. Look at Xpress Meridien for example. On the Avid website they list color effects and masks as fast rendered when in fact they have been real time for years. Maybe the engineering guys missed the marketing dept requests to keep this platform hobbled and crippled.

In fact the differences between Xpress Meridien and XpressPro are far more confusing than the MC - XPro distinctives because the are both called Xpress. But look at these glaring differences. Keep in mind that Xpress Meridien is far more expensive to buy, to buy software upgrades (I doubt there will be any more of these) and to buy support.

XPM - 8 video and 8 audio tracks
XPRO-24 video and 24 audio tracks

XPM - scrolling timeline
XPRO-not

XPM - top and tails editing
XPRO-not

XPM - not
XPRO-multicam

XPM - not
XPRO-ganging

XPM - not
XPRO-switch to source time line view

XPM - pan and scan mastering
XPRO-not

XPM - not
XPRO-photograph pan and scan

XPM - not
XPRO-motion stabilizer

XPM - preview edit
XPRO -not

XPM - not
XPRO-timeline focus

XPM - not
XPRO-select trim type (Left - right or both)on keyboard

XPM - creditroll real time
XPRO-crippled to blue dot, yet you can tell it could be real time

The biggest annoyance on both compared to MC is the loss of "promote to 3D" on some Avid effects.

So, look at the features and consider that 1:1 on Xpress Meridien is also only single stream unless you pay more for the dual option and you can see why I shelved a Meridien Xpress and bought XpressPro/Mojo. It is far more powerful than the Meridien and as capable for online work. I am doing national TV on XPressPro. Only those who spent much more will argue that it isn't good enough. The fact is that it is good enough when it works well. The limitations do not make me want to spend about 10 times the cash on Adrenaline to pick up the extras that I can work around easily on XPro. Avid has obviously handed the market between these two products over to Apple and Final Cut Pro where there is a unified interface whether you cut DV or HD.

Dennis