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ARTICLES Pinnacle’s Liquid Line of NLEsBy
Tor Rolf Seemann Just
over a year ago today it seems that everybody was pushing “realtime”
this and “realtime” that, I even got to the point where I started
fantasizing about cutting my shows in realtime. Well that didn’t happen.
Although Pinnacle’s Liquid Silver offers realtime wipes, dissolves and
graphical keys it seems RT hardware has taken a back seat to feature rich
software products like the Liquid line: Blue, Silver, Purple and Liquid
Field. Silver being the only turnkey of the bunch that offers these RT
features. When
you break it down to the smallest of details, it is logical that
“good” effects must be rendered. The Liquid software allows for
precise sub-pixel rendering in the background while you continue to work.
There is no more need to “wait” for a render. Just keep on trucking
down the timeline. Pinnacle Liquid is multi-threaded, so your complex,
software-based effects -- like 3D DVE moves and compositing -- all occurs
behind the scenes, making full use of all the processors and processing
power your Windows 2000 workstation has to offer. The separation between
Blue, Silver and Purple is based on I/O functionality and processing
power. But multi-seat post houses will appreciate the common app between
all systems. THE
GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE
The
look or layout of the GUI is right up there in my list of priorities for
any great NLE. Really, when you think about it, as a professional editor
this is what your eyes will be glued to for years of your life. It’s
possible you will spend more time in the dark with this screen than your
own significant other, in my case my significant other is a collection of
Anna Kournikova JPEGs. When
you launch the app, Liquid literally dominates the screen – to the point
of appearing as its own operating system. The color scheme shifts to a
darkened gray palette, some might say a bit too dark, I say, if rigor
mortis had a color scheme this would be it. There is a Windows-style start
button on the lower left corner of the screen – which now becomes
Pinnacle’s control center. Liquid allows you to pick and choose exactly
what tools are visible as well. Not only that, but you can move each icon
to different areas on the screen, save user sets and content-sensitive hot
keys, all based on the individual’s preferences. I
grew very fond of the audio preview function: Pinnacle makes full use of
the traditional (video) preview window by showing two scales of waveform
graphs. This is very handy when executing detailed edits based on audio.
You can custom scale the lower waveform to your liking. I like the bottom
to display the entire audio clip, and rely on the upper for the fine
details of the wave. I have never been on a system that is so audio
friendly. One of the most common shortcomings of other NLEs is the audio
scrub. Liquid’s is truly scrub-a-licious. I’m talking analog style,
clean, flowing, scrubbing. Nobody matches this quality. When using
Pinnacle’s “Control” device, you can step further back into your
tape-to-tape days and wrap your paws around a very responsive jog/shuttle
dial with programmable keys surrounding it. This tool alone has saved me
loads of time in my selects process and I feel I am interacting more
directly with the material, similar to Tom Cruise’s character in Minority
Report, and how he worked his way through the visual evidence of the
“impending” murder displayed before him. NETWORKABLE
The
Liquid line of editors is a great way to go, especially if you are in a
multi-seat work group. With logins to your personal profile and settings
easily swapped from bay to bay you will be enjoying the speed benefits of
networked editors in no time. It makes sense that a lot of stations and
post houses are going this route, there are great benefits in production
speed, workgroup flexibility, cost savings based on common sharing of
hardware and the ability to perform tapeless transfers. Multiple
workstations can view and access the same media. While one bay might be
capturing clips and adding them to the racks, down the hall another might
be performing edits on a segment, while downstairs they are compositing
the show open and end credit sequence. This process is sped up by use of
metadata, meaning clips are merely pointers to the authentic media. EDITING
This is where it all comes together for Pinnacle. And all other subject headings aside, this is where it really counts. Opening a project for the first time in Liquid, it felt like a massive collection of all my favorite features from each of the systems I’ve used in the last 10 years. I felt at home, but it wasn’t my home -- it was my home on steroids. Its media management and sifting was similar to or better than Avid’s, its audio mixer was akin to that of the Media 100s, its timeline was a notch or two above Discreet Edit’s, its ease of operation and learning curve was right there with Adobe Premiere’s. In short, I had met my editing soul mate. The
history based undo’s get stored in the project, so even when you close
it – take a three-week vacation to Istanbul, come back, reboot your
computer -- it’s all still there. Similar to After Effects “sub-comping,”
Liquid’s “containers” offer the same functionality. Step into them
or composite them onto one track and forgetta-bout-it. Direct timeline
editing, with both film style and overwrite mode. Speedy three point
editing, a schnazzy trim editor, match frame capabilities and desktop
storyboarding. Liquid makes a great FX editor, too. I noticed that my
typical workflow was drastically different. I was staying in Liquid to
compete the project. I didn’t need to be hopping between Sound Forge,
After Effects and Photoshop to 3D Studio Max and Combustion. For the first
time in my life I found it easy to speed ramp my footage with Pinnacle’s
tool called “Linear and Dynamic Time Warp” – something Spock would
have found a logical choice for the Enterprise if he had known about it. CONCLUSION
Way
to go Pinnacle Systems! I
have to admit, this is a company I had not hooked up with in the past; we
hadn’t even flirted. I didn’t know a whole lot about them, except for
their success with Targa boards and prosumer DV editing cards. I very
quickly learned that this is the company to watch. Their successes have
led to more successes, which have led to financial stability and the
eating up companies left and right. Gaining the intellectual rights to
Fast Studio’s software was a huge breakthrough for the company – and
makes me giddy like a school girl to think of the potential of this Liquid
line at Pinnacle Systems. I can’t help but think of the happy marriages
that could be fostered between this new feature-rich software and the
robust hardware that has made them their name over the years. The only
choice left is color: Blue, Silver or Purple?
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