EDIUS 5 adds significant new features and abilities as well as a range of 3rd party add-ons.  The biggest change has to be that Edius and the supporting hardware now support both Windows Vista 32 and Vista 64. In addition they have souped up the layout tool, re-designed the export completely and added in the ability to write to Blu-ray directly from the timeline or by using Corel Movie Factory 7.

Here are the main new features:

• Windows Vista Support (32 and 64 bit)
• Expanded Video Format Support
• GPUfx – GPU Accelerated Video Transitions
• New 'Built-in' Exporter Interface
• Other Interface Improvements and Additions
• New Third-Party Software Bundle
   

Windows Vista Support

Although Edius 4 worked under Windows Vista it was not specifically written for it or worked 100%.  With version 5 it is.  It supports both Vista 32 and Vista 64.  Like all the other editing programs which work under the 64 bit version Edius itself is not a 64 bit program, rather a 32 bit program that also works under the 64 bit o/s.  However working under Vista 64 does have definite advantages.  One of the biggest problems of 32bit Windows is that it can only see, at most, 4GB RAM in your computer.  Using a 64 bit o/s you can see a lot more.  This means more memory so you can run more programs at once without hassles.  Although a 32 bit program will only use 2GB memory at most the fact that you can have more in your computer means that if you run several programs at once they have less chance of conflicting.  Or the net upshot should be that running several programs at once means the computer is nicer and faster to use!   Both Adobe and Avid are doing the same thing with Avid Media Composer 3 and Adobe Premiere CS4.

The support for Windows Vista also extends to current EDIUS hardware as well, so the EDIUS NX and EDIUS SP have now got both Vista 32 and 64 drivers and new hardware like theHDSTORM will run on both the new and old o/s.

More Video Formats Supported

With Edius 3 there were two main versions of Edius - Pro and Broadcast.  The broadcast format supported more video formats than Pro.  Now there is one one Edius 5 which supports all the formats.  This includes:

• Thomson Grass Valley™ Infinity JPEG 2000
• Panasonic DVCPRO 50 and DVCPRO HD
• Panasonic P2 (drives and media)
• Panasonic VariCam
• Panasonic AVC-Intra
• Sony XDCAM and XDCAM HD (including 4:2:2 50Mbit)
• Sony XDCAM EX
• JVC ProHD
• Ikegami GFCAM
• AVCHD
• HDV

Edius has special imported for various formats which will also bring in any available metadata.  Edius supports more formats natively than most programs.  This also includes support for native AVCHD as well as the ability to transcode this format into something more usable.

GPUfx – GPU Accelerated Video Transitions

Edius 3 had a range of 3D transitions called Xplode.  Grass Valley have replaced this with a huge range of new 3D transitions which use the processor on your graphic card to achieve realtime playback.

Grass Valley say their GPU transitions are better than everyone elses. To quote "What makes the GPUfx visual effects package unique among its peers is that all computation and effect generation is done entirely in the YUV colorspace; from memory to CPU to GPU and back. Other solutions will flip between YUV and RGB when moving data between the CPU and the GPU."

* The GPUfx need the right kind of graphics card with the proper level of 3D processing capabilities (Pixel Shader Model 3.0 or higher). Unsupported graphics cards will not be able to display GPUfx transitions used within a project.

New 'Built-in' Exporter Interface

With Edius 3 there was a program called ProCoder Express which handled most of the conversion from one format to another.  However you could not add it to Edius' batch processing and it did not get on with Windows Vista.  So ProCoder has been replaced by a better, more comprehensive and streamline set of export options.

This includes a huge raft of presets for various formats such as AVCHD, XDCAM, MPEG etc plus the ability to customise these and create your own.

Edius also has batch encoding built-in so that you can make a list of different types of files you need to create, or a list of timelines you need to encode, and Edius will process the list unattended.

ProCoder 3 will work with Edius 5.  Grass Valley say there will be a free updated plug-in for the popular transcoding software, which is great as ProCoder is our favourite program for encoding high quality DVDs and Blu-ray.

Improved Video Layout Tool

The layout tool was always a great way to crop oversized video (like HD on an SD timeline) or still images to fit you timeline.  It maintained the quality of the image when cropped, unlike the other picture in picture tools.  However in version 4 you could not keyframe the filter and pan around your image.

Well with Edius 5 you can!  This means you can now do decent rostrum stills inside Edius without having to resort to another program, like Canopus Imaginate or Boris FX.

Clip Marker Support

Now you can apply markers with comments to both the timeline and the clip.  You can add markers while capturing and if you capture into Canopus HQ format these are saved in the file, so available in any project.

The comments you add appear as an overlay on the screen when you go over the marker, in the same way as they would in Avid Media Composer or Final Cut Pro.

With the 5.1 update you can also see these markers in the clip maker window and you can set and in and out point on the clip and make the marker between the in and out point.  This is a good alternative to "sub clipping" when cataloguing a big file.

Clip marker support also includes recognition of P2 Shot Marker and XDCAM Essence Marker data.

Freeze Frame

This new option lets you set a simple freeze frame effect for any clip on the timeline. Simply position the edit cursor where you'd like your video clip to 'pause' and then choose this option. The remainder of the clip will be frozen in time, until it either reaches the end of the clip, or you set a new 'unfreeze' position.

ALE and FCL Batch Capture File Support

You can import Avid .ALE and Final Cut Pro .FCL batch capture log files into EDIUS to form a batch capture list.

Import Final Cut Pro XML files

This lets you import Final Cut Pro project files into EDIUS.  EDIUS will try and convert as many effects as it can into EDIUS data as well.

Improved Native MPEG Editing

We would always recommend that you use Canopus HQ as your main codec when possible - so capture live from HDV into HQ rather than use it in its native form, and convert AVCHD to HQ for better editing, however, there are time when you want to use the native format.  With Edius 5 native editing has been improved.  Also with features like "segment encoding" you only have to remake sections with effects rather than everything on the timeline when exporting.

Quick Titler Improvements

This release gives Quick Titler some enhancements. You can now apply attribute and kerning settings to individual character, draw line and triangle objects, and position objects with the new layout grid. Roll and Crawl effects can now be applied via a right-click menu option.

Mouse-based Track Adjustment

The height and order of the video, audio and title track heights can be changed by clicking and dragging with the mouse. Hooray!

New Audio Level Controls

Sometimes you just want to adjust two adjoining 'rubberband' points with your audio key-frame – with this new release of EDIUS, you can. This new option will let you adjust the two closest key-frame points on either side of the edit cursor. Additionally, you can now quickly generate additional key-frame points at a prescribed interval.

Audio Normalise

You can select a number of clips, either in the bin or on the timeline, and tell EDIUS to "normalise" the volume to a level you specify.  This looks at all the clips and increases the clip volume to the maximum loudness, while not making it so loud that it distorts.  Just like a similar feature in Premiere if there is one loud spike in the clip then that will govern how loud the clip becomes. It is a tremendously useful feature to increase the volume of the audio of all you clips with just a couple of clicks.  Any changes can always be modified on a clip by clip bases as well.

Improved Project Consolidation

The Consolidate Project interface has been revised to make the task of archiving your projects easier, with the more descriptive drop-down option menu.

Improved Undo/Redo

Undo and Redo operations now record In/Out point settings and timeline edit cursor movements associated with any edit operation.

Color Range Adjustment

You can now toggle between white and super white color ranges to any clip on the timeline or in the Bin. This is particularly important with RGB-based material imported from compositing programs.

Bin Searching Improvements

Searching for clips in the Bin window has been made easier with the addition of a Quick Search filter bar. Simply press the F3 key and enter a search term. The clips that match the search term will appear as you type. This feature can be filter by clip names, clip comments, file names or reel names. Plus, it keeps a history of previous search words, for you to quickly switch to.

The traditional Bin searching feature now supports a larger range of category criteria to search from, with the option of using 'AND' and 'OR' modifiers. Build more complex search queries to generate more accurate search results.

Other Improvements

• Support for Sanyo Xacti HD file import
• Improved support for Sony HDV memory recording unit (CF Card), as featured with the Sony HVR-S270U and HVR-Z7U
• Added a new option to prevent effecting the next clip, when trimming a clip on the timeline
• You can now select between different video formats when exporting to AAF
• When creating a sequence clip in the Bin window, it will use clip in/out information
• The Consolidate window will show a confirmation message if the task includes a clip that it can not copy/trim
• Added more commands to main menu list that were previously absent (outside of keyboard shortcuts and GUI buttons)
• More detailed settings are available for project rendering formats
• Improved image quality handling when field order of a source clip does not match with the current project setting

New Third-Party Software Bundle

In addition to beefing up the main program Grass Valley now bundle a large range of extra software to add in features like better audio editing, more effects and Blu-ray writing.

ProDAD VitaScene

Vitascene is a collection of filters which are processed on your graphic card.  They include Movie Looks, glow, particle and shine effects.  They can be used as either transitions or video filters.

ProDAD Mercalli

A simple and powerful image stabilization (anti-shake) filter.  This has proved a really popular plug-in with Edius 4, but had to be bought separately.

NewBlueFX Motion Effects, Art Effects and Film Effects

A collection of 25 video filters, which offer you additional video motion and color effects.

iZotope VST Audio Plug-ins

• AGC
• Analog Delay
• Audio Restore
• Chorus & Flanger
• Convolution Reverb
• Graphic EQ
• Mastering EQ
• Mastering Limiter
• Mastering Reverb
• Multi-Band Compressor
• Parametric EQ
• Simple Mastering
• Single-Band Dynamics
• Vocal Enhance

Corel DVD MovieFactory 7

At lot of our customers have Ulead's DVD Workshop for creating DVDs and this program comes from the same stable.  Whilst not as comprehensive as Workshop it does a good job of creating non-complex DVDs and Blu-ray discs.

For speed you would probably use EDIUS' built-in disc writing which can achieve many of the same things as Movie Factory.  However, EDIUS' disc writing does not do video menus and in some ways it is easier to customise and preview discs with Movie Factory.  To get the footage from EDIUS to Movie Factory just export a Canopus HQ AVI file - relatively quick and simple.   The file exported from EDIUS WILL NOT contain any chapter markers etc - these will all have to be added manually.

For more complex Blu-ray and DVD authoring we would recommend Adobe Encore or Sony DVD Architect.

Getting the upgrade

You can upgrade from either version of EDIUS 4 (pro or broadcast) with a slightly different upgrade depending on which version you have.  There is also an upgrade available from EDIUS Neo.  If you have EDIUS V3 or before you will have to buy a new full copy of EDIUS rather than an upgrade.