I was wondering what the general concensus is regarding the new MC6, specifically, its functionality, stability, and how much improvement there is both in features and 64bit ... anyone who is running MC6 on a windows 7 64 bit machine, is this a "must have" upgrade (in the way that Adobe CS5 with its 64 bit After Effects was a "must have")?

I have been looking for specific statistics that might compare render times in MC5 with those in MC6 ... for example, going from CS4 to CS5, my RAM previews in After Effects went from 6 seconds to 35 seconds, a considerable advantage due to the new 64 bit capability, and a clear reason to upgrade ...

Alos, is there any new hardware that comes with MC6, a sucessor to the DX line?

I am looking to upgrade but would like to collect some early impressions from those of you who have made the plunge; my last upgrade experience (from 4 to 5) was ... well, I think you know where I am going with this ...

still works the same its just the GUI that has been changed. its also faster for me BUT i found some bugs in it. one CRUCIAL one is when you're not using your keyboard to trim and you're  using the mouse the preview doesnt show what your trimming, its just a black screen. one of the moderators confirmed this bug and another user as well had this. for now im just using the keyboard to do the trimming (which is what i should be doing anyways...)

I upgraded to MC6 too. Overall the impression is positive. Though I had some issues with getting the license installed correctly, I am glad I made the move. BCC 8 is a must if you go up to MC6 since it has so many great effects in the package.

I like the tabs and the performance seems more stable though there are some bugs. Marianna said a patch is in the works which will fix a lot of things (100+) so that should help a lot. I think that is typical for a new release but after a few patches it will be a great upgrade.

Overall good job Avid! :)

Simon Zimmer:

I upgraded to MC6 too. Overall the impression is positive. Though I had some issues with getting the license installed correctly, I am glad I made the move. BCC 8 is a must if you go up to MC6 since it has so many great effects in the package.

I like the tabs and the performance seems more stable though there are some bugs. Marianna said a patch is in the works which will fix a lot of things (100+) so that should help a lot. I think that is typical for a new release but after a few patches it will be a great upgrade.

Overall good job Avid! :)

What is in BCC 8 which not in FX6

hagi:

What is in BCC 8 which not in FX6

For me it is some Plugins are far more efficient to use as BCC 8 (Drop Shadow for soft animateable shadows to any title or imported file with Alpha for instance). Others, even though they are in BCC8, are more efficient being added via Avid FX. (effects not affecting layers below)

Yep, Douglas helped me to understand the difference, and thanks for pointing out the efficciency part. My point was more to the use of the statement "BCC 8 is a must"

AndrewAction:

hagi:

What is in BCC 8 which not in FX6

A few things. Douglas had a thread showing the differences.

For me it is some Plugins are far more efficient to use as BCC 8 (Drop Shadow for soft animateable shadows to any title or imported file with Alpha for instance). Others, even though they are in BCC8, are more efficient being added via Avid FX. (effects not affecting layers below)

Here it is a MUST. Brought it the first day I could!!

Looks like a good port to 64 bit... some nice new features building on some of the strong stuff that came with 4/5/5.5... I am very impressed.... but here's a few first impressions...

Still can't adjust audio clip gain without stopping timeline (audio loop and automation notwithstanding).

V Meters look good - but are only available on tracks and not on outputs (Or busses).

Still no busses.

Audio Mixer can't be in tabbed window with Bins (or Bins be in with Project/Console etc). 

No option to minimise audio mixer (eg. lose meters so we can fit 16 tracks in  a small window)

Bins don't open in a tabbed window by default (but workaround is to have different bin layouts for different bin selections i want to open)

CMD-8 should really select effect palette in Project window nowadays... don't really need a separate window.

Is there a shortcut to move between tabs in a window? (Shift-CMD-[ or ] are usual for FCP)

Create new sequence - doesn't always enable name entry on creation, but sometimes does. This has been a new feature for subclips for a few releases too. (e.g. right click and create new sequence - sequence selected but not ready for renaming, Shift-CMD-N - new sequence ready for renaming in bin. Intermittent)

Accessing different groups in audio mixer (Grp1 / Grp2 etc) can't be assigned to a keyboard shortcut. Ditto for Auto/Clip toggle.

I'd like to be able to disable 'Live' as a mode - not sure why I'd ever need it. 

'Group' instead of 'Gang' in audio mixer hopefully pointing towards some sort of fader groups in the not too distant future.

Audio mixer is still 0dBFS scale... be nice to avoid the plug-ins and just be able to change meter type there.

Assigning Audio Mixer / EQ / Audiosuite / Markers to shortcuts - don't always work as expected. (e.g. might call up audio mixer from project window but will not then go to the others) Workaround is to insert CMD-0 between each press. 

5.1 clips - there seems to be little control over 5.1 clips. The only way to adjust the levels seems to be to subsequence the clip, split to mono, adjust levels as necessary, then recombine as a wav and reimport. Not very conducive to fast or accurate work.

I do hope there is more work going into the 5.1 workflow here (which is already a *major* improvement). Similarly the track monitoring limit is hopefully being addressed soon too.

(Sorry that all reads like a big whinge now, which it is not meant to be...)

To avoid duplication, I am have merged the MC 6 niggles and thoughts thread into the MC 6 What are your first impressions thread.

imports avchd through ama very fast with no hitches ...a little sluggish if you let it set like going for a cup of coffee takes a moment to come back to life had same prob with 5.0 with avchd but now it is accross the board all kinds of clips p2 sd and hd not a deal breaker but a nusance shop owners will love it... editors just keep working no breaks 

hehe! Didn't mean to step on any "Avid FX" fans by saying BCC is a must. For "me" it is a must because I find the BCC plugins much quicker and intuitive to use than Avid FX. I have also been using BCC plugins with After Effects for years before I jumped ship from Premire Pro to Avid last year so I guess I am just "used" to BCC by now and consider it a must in the Avid world.

Maybe it is not a "must" for everyone but for me BCC is a "must" on Avid or any other video editing program because it offers so much and is so EASY to use! I just love it!

Good night!

Simon

What I really miss are plugins.

For those that have tried, how is MC6 handling projects with AvidFX5.8 FX plugins in the timeline?  Is it seamless, does it promote the timeline or do you have to rebuild the FX?

I don't think it will even understand it.

They are 32bit.

What's 32bit doesn't exist for MC6.

I'm guessing the question about Avid FX 5.8 concerns how MC 6 with Avid FX 6 works (promotes) older projects that used Avid FX effects - apparently it's supposed to work and simply promote the old Avid FX effect to work with the new Avid FX 6, but I haven't tried it yet.