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08/25/2006
Which Canopus Edius Is Right For Me?
So, you've been trying to decide which NLE is right for you and you've followed my advice and downloaded a few trial versions. After trying the free 30-day EDIUS trial from the Canopus website, you've decided that Edius is the NLE for you. Maybe it was because it was so easy to use, or perhaps you were just amazed that you could edit HDV in realtime on a slightly-less-than optimal computer. Either way you now face a dilema -- which version/bundle of the Edius family is right for you?
Currently there are two Edius software-only packages available, Edius Pro, and Edius Broadcast. Then there are the different hardware bundles available. There is the Edius NX, with and without the Expansion Kit. There is the Edius SP with the available rackmount breakout box, and then at the upper end there are the Edius SD and Edius HD systems. Well, I'd like to offer some advice and clear up some misconceptions about the Edius hardware and software relationship.
Performance
Most people think that since the Canopus Edius solutions cost more as you go up that you must gain more realtime editing performance when you spend the money. For the most part this is not true. In fact you'll find that besides specific drivers for your piece of Canopus hardware, the software is actually the same. So, you might be asking what you are paying for with the more expensive hardware-based bundle. Well, I'll get into that in my next section. I have found that the difference in performance between an Edius Pro software only system and the same setup with the Edius NX is almost negligible. Here's why: All the data manipulation is done by the Edius software and your system's CPU(s). The Edius cards do not function as realtime accelerators to speed up rendering. They do offer a performance edge though in the way that they handle overlay. Without a Canopus hardware card, the Edius software displays video on your computer monitor using standard overlay, which means the entire frame of video (720x480px for DV/SD or 1440/1080px for HDV) is sent to the video card memory and then the video card scales it down and "overlays" it on the monitor in the right spot. This can take up some extra bandwidth as data is pumped to the video card and some extra CPU/GPU cycles as the video is scaled down. With the Edius hardware card in the system things happen a little differently. With the card in place the scaling will actually be performed by the card. While I have been told by Canopus officials that this methods offers higher performance, I haven't actually been able to notice it.
Quality Advantage
There is an advantage of having the Edius hardware in the machine and that is namely the better quality of the overlay on the monitor. Just so there is no confusion here, the Edius hardware will only affect the display quality of the video out of Edius. That means that without a hardware card the only quality difference would be the overlay video on your computer monitor (or out to a monitor through your video card). The quality of your final encoded file (ie. AVI or MPEG, etc.) is not affected by hardware and would be the same in both setups.
Choose the right I/O
For most people, the minor quality differences on the monitor, when comparing the software only versus the software/hardware bundle, is not a big issue, so it rarely comes into play when making a decision. In fact, most users don't even know about it. And, since we've already discussed how the Canopus hardware doesn't have a big effect on performance, that leaves choosing the appropriate Edius bundle based on your particular I/O needs. So here it goes:
Edius software only
Choose the Edius software-only package if you will not need any analog input or output. Standard Edius software uses your OHCI-compliant 1394 card to pipe DV and HDV out of the application. An example of this would be the videographer that shoots everything in DV or HDV and outputs everything back to tape, a compressed file format (perhaps for streaming), or DVD. This editor has no need for analog video so he doesn't need the extra hardware. For the occasional ingest of analog video he may even be able to use his camcorder as a format converter.
Edius software With Video Card Output
For the editor with the same basic requirements as our previous fellow, but with the desire to view what he's editing on a TV or studio monitor, there is a cheap way to do it. Some of the newer video cards (specifically the Matrox Parhelia APVe and the PNY Quadro 540) have the capability to display the overlay out to a monitor. Both of these video cards can output to analog component, composite, and S-video. The Parhelia APVe can even send video out it's DVI port for 100% digital output. This output displays as full-screen video on your monitor. Since Edius sends a full resolution image to the video card for overlay, you'll get a high-rez, high-quality output. This works with both DV and HD resolutions. Canopus has told me that this solution won't give you the same quality as the Canopus cards due to the Canopus Digital/Analog converters being much higher quality than what is found on most video cards. With that said, myself, and many of our customers, have been happy with the results.
Edius NX
If you are still dealing with analog video then you will need some hardware. The Canopus Edius NX card is an excellent value considering the quality of its I/O. The NX will give you the ability to capture SD analog video from its s-video and composite connections with unbalanced audio inputs. It has all the matching outputs as well. The outputs are live the whole time you are editing, so you'll be able to monitor your timeline with accurate color (based on your monitor) and framing. What the NX won't give you is any HD I/O. As a matter of fact, if you intend to edit HDV you'll need to choose the OHCI editing mode and won't even be using the NX card at that point. Of course, you could combine the NX with one of the video cards mentioned above and get analog HD output that way:)
Edius NX Expansion Kit
If your primary reason for choosing Edius is because you are joining the HD revolution then you'll want to consider the Edius NX with the HDV Expansion Kit. The Expansion Kit consists of a cool breakout bay that adds analog SD ports to the front of your computer in a 5.25" bay, TitleMotion Pro software, and the daughter card. The daughter card occupies a PCI slot near the main NX board. It has component BNC connections on the back of the card, and two cables that connect it to the NX card internally. Some magic happens when the two cards are joined together. First, the component ports on the back of the daughter card will now output broadcast-quality component analog video in both SD and HD depending on your editing mode. This means that you can watch full-resolution HD out to your LCD, Plasma or broadcast HD monitor while editing in Edius with high color accuracy. Second, the expansion kit turns the NX's DV port into a full functioning OHCI-compliant 1394 port, and its analog I/O gains ADVC functionality similar to the other Canopus converters.
Edius SP
The next step up is the Edius SP. The SP offers the same features as the NX with the expansion kit with some added features. The main difference between the SP and the NX is the additional cababilites of analog component SD capture, balanced XLR audio I/O, an optional rackmount breakout box, RS-422 device control, and standard inclusion of Edius Broadcast. My gut feeling is that the name "SP" comes from Beta SP, as the only reason you'd typically want the SP over the NX is if you are dealing with that type of I/O device. The balanced XLR I/O might also be a compelling factor for some users. In terms of HD support, the Edius Broadcast version has more codecs than Edius Pro and can work with more factors. This is independent of the SP hardware though, as you would have the same codec support using the Edius Broadcast software alone or with the NX card. For HDV editors, you will not gain any performance or quality benefit using the SP over the NX. And, for the record, the SP's component inputs can only be used to capture SD video, you cannot capture analog HD video with the SP.
Edius SD & HD
I'll talk more about these two in an other article, but they both support SDI I/O capabilies. They both cost a lot more and are designed for the higher-end broadcast market. If you have any questions drop me a line.
The future
So, now you may have a better idea of which Edius package is right for you. An interesting note about the NX and SP hardware cards is that they both have an empty spot on them for future encoder module. Similar to the StormEncoder module that Canopus eventually made standard on the DVStorm, I've heard rumours that Canopus may release an encoder module for the Edius cards that will give us realtime HD encoding. I suppose we'll have to wait for the HDDVD/Blu-Ray matter to be settled first. If it does happen then HD performance will be a definite reason to choose a hardware bundle. For now, choose the bundle based on your I/O needs and you'll be OK.
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Ashley Guy
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