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Lightning Speed, Indeed
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On the other hand, there's a lot to like when it comes to editing on 844/X. I like the way clips and mattes are intertwined on the timeline, even though there are actually two files involved for mattes -- one for the video content and one for the matte. You're able to individually address each on the timeline by right-clicking on a clip and selecting Edit Matte. It's also useful the way you're allowed to drop a clip onto another on the timeline, and if you have the Matte patch deselected, the clip's video will be replaced while its matte remains. Creating mattes is a snap with 844/X, where you create a matte from a clip in the timeline by drawing it in the matte tool, and then when you save it, it's automatically associated with the clip you originally selected. There's another feature I found useful where all the effects you're using on a clip are listed in the parameters window, the convenient area where you adjust attributes of the various effects you're using. Then, to save these effects for use with other clips later, you drag and drop the effects from the parameters window into a bin where they can be effortlessly applied to any other clip.
 | | 844/X lets you play back clips directly from the picons as they sit in bins |
Speaking on bins, I'm a big fan of those picons with transport controls built in, letting you play back a clip in place, or even mark ins and outs right there in the bin (see graphic). Even though I've seen this feature in a few other NLEs like Quantel and the late, beloved Discreet Edit, it's a personal favorite that I was glad to see here.
I also like the fact that no matter how many dozens of effects you have stacked up on the timeline, 844/X will immediately play something when you hit Play via either the space bar or the ever-familiar JKL controls. This is a deceptively simple, yet crucial characteristic. Think about it: If you have a client breathing down your neck, you want to avoid that rendering conundrum whenever you can. At least something will play, even though it's just the top four layers. Another favorite feature of mine is the new rubber banding within the timeline (which reminds me of the same feature in, of all things, Adobe Premiere), where you can adjust the opacity of a clip in the timeline using nodes and a blue line that can be moved up and down. Even though this is a familiar item in lots of other NLE time lines, I still think it's a true work- and time-saver. It was a good idea to "borrow" this concept for 844/X. I also like the trim mode, which is the heart of any nonlinear editing system where cutting is the order of the day. You engage trim mode by double-clicking between any two clips, and I like the way you're able to Control/click on a clip and trim only that clip, either the outgoing or incoming video. Things get really interesting when you want to slip a matte right or left on the timeline while leaving the video where it is. Or, you can slip only the video around while leaving the matte where it sits. It's a big plus to have such fine-tuned independent control of the mattes in the trim window. Also adding to 844/X's ease-of-use is the ability to right-click between shots, where you're offered a pop-up menu containing any kind of dissolve you can possibly imagine, complete with Bezier control of ease-in and ease-out.
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 | | (Click graphic for enlargement) 844/X color correction dialog box |
844/X's color correction tools have been significantly enhanced from version 1.5. Now there's a color wheel that lets you adjust hue and saturation. You can take two approaches to this, where one, like in After Effects, you can adjust RGB contrast. This lets you add and subtract gray from the image. Or, you can adjust the YUV contrast by adding and subtracting luminance, which is more like the contrast and brightness controls on a TV set. Another useful feature that's present in all of 844/X's settings dialog boxes is a small LED-like light next to each control that shows you which parameter has been changed. To revert to the default setting, just click on the LED and it goes back to where you started. Taking the color correction a step further is tonal color correction, where luminance levels are divided into three ranges -- shadows, midtones and highlights. This facility in 844/X has come a long way since the first version, but still has a way to go before it's perfect. For example, it would be even more powerful if it would let you adjust curves and do color matching where you could approximate the color in another shot and then apply it with a click. The color correction also requires processing, but it only takes as long as it takes to view the shot you've adjusted. For example, if you've just color corrected a 20-second shot, you'd probably want to play that clip through just to check it anyway, so because you can immediately watch it play back in real time as it's processing, it doesn't really feel like the rendering that it actually is. Still, I would like to see this happen in a way that I could apply the color correction and then see it playing back in the composite without having to wait for anything.
And then there's 844/X's best trick, in my opinion: XBLUR. For an extra $10K ($8K for the 844/Xi – the little brother to the 844/Xe), a unique combination of hardware and software lets you add Gaussian blur to any clip, matte or shadow. The remarkable thing about this is, a blur is about the most processor-intensive effect there is, and this option lets you apply it at will on up to four streams of 10-bit uncompressed video in real time. It's not just a blur effect, either -- it's more useful than that. It comes in handy when you're making backgrounds, where you can apply it to just the red, green or blue channel for some really wild effects. It's also a time saver when you want to make soft-edged drop shadows, too -- no rendering is required when you have the XBLUR option, but rendering is required if you don't. The strength of this real-time feedback is a microcosm of why 844/X is such a delight to use: It's the interactivity. For example, it was a thrill to mark a short section with an effect I was fine-tuning, then hit the Loop button, and make changes to the effect as it played. That way, I could apply just the precise amount of blur to, say, the blue channel until it looked exactly the way I wanted it to. I had a great time playing with this effect. One of the best effects I saw with XBLUR was one where I added slight Gaussian blur to a clip and then laid it over another clean version of that same shot. After adjusting the blurred shot's transparency to about 20%, the end result was a surreal-looking scene that had an eerie, misty glow. What's making this work is a programmable effects processor (PEP), which bodes well for the future of 844/X -- if they can program a real time blur into this thing, imagine what else they have up their sleeves. I hear various Media 100 staffers hinting around at what I think may be the next real-time effect we'll see: Motion Blur.
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