Avid Xpress Pro-Media Composer and Exporting to HDV Device
If you are editing HDV footage in Avid Xpress Pro or Media Composer then you need to utilize the Export to HDV Device feature. I use it on all of my productions. Not only is it the best way to get your productions back out to tape but it is the cleanest way to down-convert your footage to a form of Standard Definition. My daily workflow consists of editing all my work in HDV and then outputting two forms of my productions: one version in SD and one in HD. I tired many different ways to get from HD to SD always keeping in mind that I not only wanted the highest quality but also the quickest down-convert. This is the breakdown of what I found to be the best way to not only output to HD but also down-convert to SD using Avid:
1. Export final program using Export to HDV device to my JVC BR-HD50 (this now gives me my master HDV copy of my edited program for archive and duplication). Also, remember, you will always have the original HDV transport stream on your hard drive until you delete it.
2. Play out of JVC HD50 through fire wire into my Sony DSR-11. This now gives me a master copy in Standard Definition.
3. I now capture the SD version from my DSR-11 back in Avid so that not only have an SD version to edit but also I can easily output to an SD DVD.
These steps not only give you an HD and SD version but it also perseveres quality as long as you use Fire wire and not your analog cables.
