Version 10 will be the final release of VelocityHD software

Users of Harris’ VelocityHD editing software anxiously awaiting the promised upgrade to version 10, take heart. For one thing, the elegant Velocity interface that users have grown to love is still intact.
The upgrade has been delayed as Harris shifts its focus to networked news production, where its NewsForce, a fast news edit system and NewsForce XNG, a field editor, are the latest products. These integrate tightly with the Harris Nexio server platform.

VelocityHD systems featured a push-pull model that often made it difficult (and slow) to move files off and onto a server. The new NewsForce systems enable users to edit directly off the server.

Darby Marriott, Harris product specialist for Velocity, explained that HD files on a NewsForce system can be edited as they are being ingested onto the server. Once finished, these clips can be published and played to air without rendering from the edit timeline. This improves efficiency and saves a significant amount of time, which is all-important in the news business.

While the past year has seen improvements to these latest news-oriented product offerings in their networkability and interfacing with video servers-mainly suitable for large SAN workgroups such as broadcast news departments-there are a number of enhancements to VelocityHD that should please individual users.

Marriott said the highly anticipated version 10 upgrade for VelocityHD will ship sometime this year. There are new effects and transitions that are all CPU- and GPU-accelerated (for dual-core systems), which adds speed and real-time previewing to the process. DVE picture-in-picture, previously done in hardware, can also be accomplished in software with additional controls like soft drop shadows. Enhanced color-correction features include more accurate white, black, and color rebalancing.

Also new is integration with Apple’s Final Cut Pro and native support for third-party file types, such as Panasonic’s P2, Sony’s XDCAM HD, QuickTime, and AVI. Previously, users had to import these files and transcode to a proprietary format before editing. You’ll also be able to import and export Adobe After Effects projects directly from the VelocityHD timeline and preview the effects prior to rendering. In addition, version 10 handles multiple SD/HD formats and aspect ratios on the same timeline.

New audio features include the ability to perform crossfades on a single track. This helps streamline timeline setups when doing projects that include 5.1-channel surround sound.

Sadly, version 10 will be the final release of VelocityHD software.

For more information, visit www.broadcast.harris.com/product_portfolio/product_details.asp?sku=VelocityHD