What happens to all my projects and files when I uninstall XpressPro?  Also, if I do the free trial first, how do I then do an official upgrade to MC?

Whenever you do any uninstalling you should always back up the following folders: "Avid Projects", "Shared Avid Projects" (if present), "Avid Attic", and "All Users" (at the Avid level, not the OS level). You can do the official upgrade by visiting the store link at avid.com.

Hi Larry, thanks!  I'm really dumb about these things.  Is there a backup function already in Avid or am I just copying these files to another drive or computer?

Larry,

Assuming that you back up the attic. shared projects and users folders prior to installation of the MC5 upgrade, would these programs reside within the same file structure that they did in MC4?  I will be reburning my drive and installing W7 before the installation of MC5.  Can I just backup the aforementioned files to their original file folders, or would their positions have changed.  In other words, should I just copy the folders and paste them into their new homes.

Denny

Just back up those folders to another drive, even a thumb drive. After the upgrade they may all still be there, but if not, you have them. The Avid Attic is the ongoing project file back up system within the application. It's behavior is defined by you in the bins settings of your user settings. I have mine set for auto saves and forced auto saves every 5 minutes, with 8 versions of bins kept in the attic.

Denny:

I haven't been inside MC 5 yet, but I haven't seen anything in the readme that indicates any changes in directory paths and file structures in MC 5. You should be able to simply copy and paste as usual.

dmfreeman:

Larry,

Assuming that you back up the attic. shared projects and users folders prior to installation of the MC5 upgrade, would these programs reside within the same file structure that they did in MC4?  I will be reburning my drive and installing W7 before the installation of MC5.  Can I just backup the aforementioned files to their original file folders, or would their positions have changed.  In other words, should I just copy the folders and paste them into their new homes.

Denny

Denny - the position of these folders changes because you are moving to Windows 7 from Windows XP.

Dreamer, I think you are in better shape than you realize.

1. You don't need an editing bay or a deck. All you need is an HDV camera, preferably like the one you shot with, to attach to you PC and capture the tapes from. I HAVE to think your teachers or old classmates can hook you up w/ a camera to use to capture tapes for a few days.

2. You don't need MC. AXP does HDV, but you should transcode to DNxHD if you want better performance.

3. You probably don't need a new computer. Yes, your computer is under spec'd, but so are a lot of people's. Looking at your system spec's, there is a very good chance it can run MC4 or 5. JMHO, I don't work for Avid and I could be wrong.

4. Related to "3.," MC will run better on your machine (assuming it will run) than AXP does. That's b/c MC went through a major rewrite w/ version 3.0 that made it much faster and more reliable. AXP never got this rewrite.

So to finish your project now, all you need is an HDV camera that can play those tapes. I think you should be able to find one .

Larry Rubin:

Hello Diane:

You may want to consider the upgrade route at this time, since as an XPRO owner, you can upgrade to Media Composer for $395 (basic download upgrade) or $495 (Box set upgrade with production suite 3rd party bundle). That's 2 days (box set) at the day rate you were quoted. In the case of the box set, that's over $6,000 worth of software if sold separately at MSRPs. And you will be entitled to a FREE basic download upgrade to Media Composer 5 when it's released on Thursday. Check your computer against the Media Composer system requirements.

Larry, does the MC upgrade work for an Academic version of AXP?

BobbyMurcerFan:

Larry, does the MC upgrade work for an Academic version of AXP?

No...the customer would need to buy a new EDU seat at $295, but they would also get four years worth of free upgrades.

Thanks so much.