Media 100 Steps Out with Suite 1.5 : Media 100

Media 100 | Media 100 HD Review at Creative COW

What's it do now that it didn't do before?

From the beginning Media 100 has been built for speed. As I've written here before, the program does many things in the simplest and most direct manner, with some functions accomplished in a single click instead of two or three on other NLEs. It's a design philosophy which I believe respects the user by understanding his process and work flow. With Suite version 1.5 that understanding has taken another leap forward.

How often do you have a show that's delivered in multiple versions? Say in addition to a full resolution master you also need one or more sizes and/or frame rates for the web. Say you need a Progressive version for DVD compression in addition to a field rendered one for regular delivery. Or a recurring program that you'll need on a regular basis with a timecode burn-in and at half-size for web review. Suite 1.5 accommodates this need for variety with two new valuable tools: Export Presets and the Batch Export Queue. With Export Presets you are able to pre-build any number of output parameters and store them for one click recall. Simple idea really, but oh so valuable in day-to-day operation. Batch Export Queue is equally simple in concept and, you guessed it, equally valuable as a tremendous timesaver.

With the Batch Export Queue function you can line up multiple outputs, including different versions of the same program or even several different programs and then start the batch and walk away. Grab a coffee, have lunch, paint your toenails or, like me, jump over to something else on another machine. When you return the batch will be done and you won't be stuck re-starting an output for each individual piece. Yes, this functionality has been around for years in After Effects with its Render Queue and a version of it is part of FCP. Well now it's in Media 100 and once you've used it you're likely to wonder how you ever got along without it.

Comments

Re: Media 100 Steps Out with Suite 1.5
by Matty O'tool

Hi Nick,
Sorry, I've been away and did not repost to clarify.
I'm in agreement with you on the upgrading.
My point is, if they want to regain market share or create some sort of buzz, they (the Boris Folks) will need to market the Product.
It isn't on anyone's radar screen at all, unless you happen to already own a Media100 system.
I'm ok with being "the only guy in town" on Media100. However, I bet that they can not sustain for long without selling the newly developed systems. We have all seen what happens when the development at media100 exceeds the sales.

Re: Media 100 Steps Out with Suite 1.5
by Chris Pettit

I have used Media 100 since the early '90s. I now use Media 100i version 8.3.2 which does everything I need at present. The main reason I haven't updated every time an update becomes available is that I have learnt through bitter experience to leave well alone! In the past I have spent days and torn my hair out trying to sort out compatibility problems that occurred after an upgrade.

However, I need to think about HD and I am very interested in using the Sony Z7 in tapeless mode (I use Canon XL2 at present). I am interested to know how well this camera integrates with the latest Media 100 system. Any information would be most welcome.

Re: Media 100 Steps Out with Suite 1.5
by Nick Griffin

[Chris Pettit] "I have spent days and torn my hair out trying to sort out compatibility problems that occurred after an upgrade."

Chris-
As Bill Clinton said, "I feel your pain." However there is less pain, in fact MUCH less pain (usually) when going up a single version rather than attempting to jump a decade. This is not just true of Media 100, but almost all software.

Media 100 Suite requires the Leopard OS so you'll need a machine able to run it. We recently upgraded to Adobe's Creative Suite 5 and it wasn't until the box arrived that I saw it required the Intel chip set. That forced a scramble to switch out the final PowerPC machine for our Intel Octocore. The good news was that M100 Suite 1.5 has both a PPC and Intel version so we were able to easily keep both seats operating. This is not the case with the CS5 products and especially not the case with Final Cut Studio. If you don't have an Intel machine you're not moving past CS4 and FCS 2.

Chris, you've gotten a good long life out of your Media 100 system and it's time to bite the bullet and get a new Mac and upgrade to Suite 1.5 -- you will be pleased with the many, many improvements. But make the change safely by keeping the old one around until you're fully debugged and running without problems. Fact of the matter is an old Mac isn't worth very much so why NOT keep it around for a while?

As to going HD, you will be pleasantly surprised how simple that is. The biggest obstacle will be the need for a fat and fast RAID. We bought CalDigit and have been quite satisfied. I understand that their latest generation is stupifyingly faster. (See David Weiss review here on the COW.)

As to:
[Chris Pettit] "I am very interested in using the Sony Z7 in tapeless mode"

This question will be lost buried this far down in a thread. Re-submit it as the start of a new thread and you're likely to get some answers.

Re: Media 100 Steps Out with Suite 1.5
by Chris Pettit

Hi Nick

Thanks for all this good advice. Plenty there for me to ponder. I will repost my Z7 question as you suggest.

Thanks

Chris

Re: Media 100 Steps Out with Suite 1.5
by Matty O'tool

So Why Are some living in the past?
Apparently they are not living in the past. They aren't even interested in the past.
After Several Weeks of this being posted; I'm still the only one that's even commented.
The newest versions of M100 have been very nice. However, if Nick Griffin's Cow Corner is the only place they talk about the software; it's over.

Re: Media 100 Steps Out with Suite 1.5
by Nick Griffin

What are you saying, Matty? One of the premises of my piece is that there are many people here on the Media 100 COW who are asking questions / having problems with versions that are MANY years old. I simply don't get how anyone can NOT stay current with the software that they use to earn their living when it is comparatively sooo inexpensive to do so. I have to assume it's because they don't realize what features/capabilities are in the current versions.

Does M100 have the same market share / buzz as FCP? Not even close and not even by a long, long shot. But that doesn't make it dead. There are any number of people out there making a living using Media 100, including me and now that it's in the hands of the Boris organization it's being updated at a much faster rate than are most products serving this market. Hardly seems dead in that regard.

Why did I come back to Media 100 from FCP? Because Media 100 is much quicker to use for so many tasks and many types/styles of editing. For me it's the better product, IMHO.