Solutions / Post Production / Leitch


Leitch Technology is a global leader in the design, development and distribution of high-performance video systems for the professional television industry. With a 33 year history and a broad portfolio, Leitch is the industry’s most trusted name for increasing performance and productivity through solutions that enable a truly Integrated Content Environment (ICE).

Maintaining an exclusive focus on the television market provides Leitch with an exceptional understanding of our customers’ needs and uniquely positions our company to enable broadcasters to work more productively. Leitch’s comprehensive product portfolio is designed to provide tailored solutions that support a customer’s unique application workflow and dramatically reduce the costs and complexities of content production, processing, transmission and management.

Leitch has long set the standard for industry expertise and customer support. As a technical innovator, Leitch provides state-of-the-art solutions that feature multi-standard functionality, open interoperability, advanced software and user interfaces, and rock-solid viability for any future requirements. As a reliable partner, Leitch offers an unparalleled worldwide reputation for customer service and support.

Leitch is a company that can serve any need from a single component to the design and deployment of an entire facility—providing solutions that allow television operations to work faster, smarter and more productively. Whatever the requirement, Leitch has all the tools necessary to streamline workflow, increase productivity and maximize return on investment.


Real-Time HD/SD Non-Linear Editing System

The revolutionary VelocityHD™ format-flexible non-linear editing system delivers an exceptionally powerful and affordable HD/SD editing solution for any post production environment. The Velocity™ family of non-linear editing systems has always stood for an outstanding combination of quality, performance, flexibility and affordability. VelocityHD™ extends this tradition into high definition, bringing guaranteed, full-quality, real-time editing performance to the HD domain at a remarkable price.

FEATURES
Guaranteed, full-quality, dual-stream real-time HD performance
Optional Real-Time HD/SD 3D DVE
Compressed and Uncompressed (8/10-bit) Video
Outstanding Format Flexibility: 1080i, 1080PsF, 720p
HD-SDI I/O and IEEE-1394 HDV Support
Multi-Stream Real-Time SD Editing (8 video streams plus graphics streams)
Award-Winning Velocity Software Interface
Real-Time HD/SD Color Correction
Panasonic VariCam Variable Frame Rate Processing
Fully-Integrated, Full-Quality Multi-Camera Editing

PRODUCT DETAIL
Your productivity shouldn’t suffer to express your creativity in high definition. Integrating the innovative Altitude™ hardware platform with the acclaimed Velocity™ software interface, VelocityHD™ makes HD non-linear editing as efficient and easy as standard-definition editing. With guaranteed, full-quality, HD playback of two video streams, two dynamic graphics streams, and optional real-time 3D DVE, VelocityHD™ offers true real-time power. This is instant, full-quality, real-time playback — not just scaled-down previews, and not just in basic effect combinations. All of this real-time power can be applied to both uncompressed* and compressed HD video, delivering high-performance HD editing without sacrificing quality. The same performance is available with content captured from HDV sources, which can also be mixed seamlessly on the timeline with other HD formats.

More than just an innovative HD non-linear editor, VelocityHD™ also features our highest level of standard-definition editing performance yet, with full quality, real-time playback of eight video streams and eight graphics streams*. Ten of these video and graphics streams, in any combination, can be transitioned, layered and composited in real time, with remaining graphics streams available as wipe borders and DVE masks.

This format flexibility makes VelocityHD™ ideal for the transition to HD, offering the best of both worlds while you continue to work in both realms. Even if you aren’t working in HD yet but expect to in the future, VelocityHD™ is the ideal solution — offering an unparalleled level of SD performance, while being immediately ready to handle HD with no expensive options required.

VelocityHD™ delivers this power through a significantly enhanced version of our flexible and intuitive Velocity™ software interface, with the features and workflow that professionals have come to depend on from our standard-definition VelocityQ™ multi-stream NLE.

The comprehensive feature set includes a broad range of trimming and editing tools. Customizable interface options and a choice between drag-and-drop, trim window, keyboard and optional external jog/shuttle control make VelocityHD™ easily adaptable to your preferred editing style.
VelocityHD™ brings the ideal combination of real-time power, quality, productivity, flexibility, reliability and ease of use to the high-definition world. Its dual-stream architecture makes full-quality, real-time HD editing more affordable than ever before, while its HD and SD format flexibility makes it ideal for working in both domains.

Outstanding Hardware Technology
The powerful heart of VelocityHD™ is the ground-breaking Altitude™ hardware, featuring true, dual-stream, real-time HD operation; real-time, multi-stream SD performance; compressed and uncompressed video; format flexibility; and exceptionall future expansion capabilities. Altitude™ was developed with the same hardware expertise that won us an Emmy® Award in 2000 for Outstanding Achievement in Television Technology, and packs all of its remarkable capabilities onto a single card.

Altitude™ features full-quality, online playback of two HD video streams, two dynamic graphics streams, and true, dual-stream, real-time, HD transitions and effects. The real-time power of VelocityHD™ also enables full-quality interactive feedback on the HD monitor while setting up transitions and effects — letting you see the results instantly in full quality for unparalleled precision and freedom to experiment.

Altitude™ also features superb SD real-time performance, with full-quality, real-time playback of eight video streams and eight graphics streams*, ten of which can be layered and mixed in any combination. Remaining graphics streams are available as wipe borders and DVE masks in the extremely flexible Altitude™ mixer architecture.

The optional A3DX™ 3D DVE daughtercard adds one channel of real-time, high-definition 3D DVE and four channels of real-time, standard-definition 3D effects — including perspectives, warps and rotation — plus real-time masks, secondary color correction, chroma/luma keying and more. This effects processing happens right on the Altitude™ hardware and is not limited by the host system’s CPU or graphics card performance.

All of this real-time power can be performed on both compressed and uncompressed* video. Recording and playback can be done in 8-bit or 10-bit uncompressed, or using our own online-quality compression format. HD storage requirements are huge, but not every project needs to be fully uncompressed. VelocityHD™ gives you the ability to balance storage space and bandwidth with your quality requirements. VelocityHD™ compression supports variable compression ratios, not just particular fixed rates, allowing you to apply as strong or mild compression as required to preserve your desired quality. Compressed and uncompressed footage can even be mixed in the same project, without affecting performance.

VelocityHD™ supports 1080i, 1080PsF and 720p HD formats at all common frame rates, plus 525- and 625-line (NTSC and PAL) standard-definition formats. VelocityHD™ also provides flexible input and output choices. In addition to HD-SDI and IEEE-1394 HDV I/O, Altitude™ also features VGA HD output, enabling HD playback to be viewed on compatible VGA monitors and reducing the need for expensive high-definition displays. YUV output mode enables the VelocityHD™ VGA HD output to be monitored on analog component HD devices with included adapters. HD output is also simultaneously down-converted for monitoring on analog composite and SDI SD displays with configurable settings for aspect ratio control. Standard-definition I/O is available through SDI and IEEE-1394 for DV. Embedded SDI audio is supported, as well as discrete AES/EBU I/O and unbalanced analog monitoring.

VelocityHD™ also gives you a choice of video storage architectures. An optional, onboard dual-channel SCSI daughtercard is available, providing the fastest pipeline directly into the Altitude™ hardware. The modular nature of this daughtercard opens up the possibility of future modules to support new storage connectivity standards. For those wishing to use a different type of controller or networked storage, VelocityHD™ also provides the flexibility of using separate system storage controllers over the host system bus, enabling the use of shared storage such as storage area networks (SANs).

Of course, the high-definition world is evolving dynamically, and VelocityHD™ is designed with the future in mind — offering exceptional expansion capabilities. Key to this future-proofing is the Harris Across-Card Edge eXpansion (LACEX) bus, which provides direct interconnection with Altitude™ and opens the door for possible future hardware modules to add new HD formats and functionality.

* 10-bit uncompressed HD, dual-stream 8-bit uncompressed HD, and full uncompressed SD operation require the optional SCSI-7000 on-board dual-channel SCSI daughtercard

Intuitive, Flexible and Customizable Interface
VelocityHD™ features an enhanced version of our flexible and intuitive Velocity™ software interface, and includes the all of the robust editing features that helped make the Velocity dual-stream non-linear editor and VelocityQ multi-stream NLE award-winners in the standard-definition domain.

The VelocityHD™ timeline interface is both powerful and flexible, with features including independent variable track scaling, mute and solo of video and audio tracks, real-time support for video files with alpha channel, multiple timeline support and multi-clip editing, enabling edits and effects to be applied to multiple clips simultaneously. VelocityHD™ also uses our Interactive Editing paradigm, which enables editing and effects application without stopping timeline playback.

The customizable VelocityHD™ interface includes a wide range of features that increase productivity, enhance the editing interface and workflow, and make it easy to quickly become proficient with the extensive VelocityHD™ feature set. Whether you’re new to non-linear editing or an experienced editor moving up from a previous system, you’ll find getting up to speed with VelocityHD™ quick and easy.

With user-definable hotkeys, selectable A/X/B and single-track timeline modes (which can be viewed top-down or bottom-up), and flexible window layouts, VelocityHD™ can easily adapt to the editing style you prefer. User profiles allow multiple users easy access to their preferred configuration settings. Standard, Film and Overwrite editing styles can be mode-toggled or performed “per edit” using hotkey modifiers. Editing can be done directly on the timeline or through the Advanced Trim Window, while mouse-based, drag-and-drop, fully configurable keyboard controls and optional external hardware controllers let you choose your favorite control method and style of editing.

Integrated, Full-Quality, Multi-Camera Editing
VelocityHD™ features fully integrated, full-quality, multi-camera editing. Captured HD sequences from up to four HD or up to eight SD cameras can be “switched” interactively as they are viewed simultaneously in real time, directly from the timeline. Sequences can even be edited while playing at faster than real time, enabling multi-cam edits to be performed in a fraction of the time of the actual sequence. Edits can be refined before applying them back to the timeline with cuts or transitions, and since this was done at full quality (no special resolutions required), there’s no recapturing necessary; the sequence is immediately ready for final output. Editing a multi-camera shoot has never been easier or faster!

Interactive Editing
VelocityHD™ features our Interactive Editing paradigm. Edits (including adding, deleting, moving and trimming clips) and real-time effects can be applied while the timeline plays back, providing immediate in-context feedback while editing and refining effects.

Fast And Flexible Effects & Transitions
Hundreds of customizable transitions and effects are included and are fully keyframeable for precision control. Wipe and DVE transitions can be applied between clips on any video track for editing flexibility, while the Advanced Keyframer provides spline-based adjustments for each effect parameter, delivering maximum control. The A3DX 3D DVE option adds one channel of real-time high-definition 3D DVE and four channels of simultaneous, real-time, standard-definition 3D effects, plus masks and “garbage mattes,” secondary color correction, chroma and luma keying, blurs and more. 3D effects such as rotation, perspective and warp can be applied to graphics as well as video. All of these effects, plus variable speed changes, reverse, color correction, pixel effects, transparency and more can be combined simultaneously in true real time with transitions and rolling and crawling titles, providing maximum creative flexibility. Effects can be clip-based or applied to entire tracks. All real-time effects processing happens right on the Altitude™ hardware, providing guaranteed performance regardless of effects combinations. VelocityHD™ also provides interactive feedback on the HD or SD monitor while setting and keyframing parameters — providing precision accuracy and the creative freedom to experiment while seeing the results in full quality instantly. If you ever do need to render, Render Bank™ technology remembers previously rendered segments, eliminating the need for re-rendering.

Rolling And Crawling Without Rendering
Title rolls and crawls may be taken for granted in the standard-definition domain, but long credit rolls can take considerable time to render in high definition. VelocityHD™ saves you that time with real-time HD (and SD) rolls and crawls. Moving titles can take advantage of the A3DX option’s enhanced interpolation processing for exceptionally smooth results, and DVE effects can be applied to rolls and crawls in real time.

Easy 3- And 4-Point Editing And Trimming
Clips can be trimmed directly on the timeline or with the flexible Trim Window. 3- and 4-point edit modes including insert, overlay, slip, slide and fit-to-fill make even the most complex editing tasks easy. The Trim Window offers a choice between three-window (in/out/preview) and two-window (source/record) trimming styles, letting you work the way you’re most comfortable.

Easy Visual Reference With Eyecon View™
In addition to flexible picon viewing options on timeline clips, VelocityHD™ features the unique EyeCon View™ timeline reference. EyeCon View™ continuously displays the picons and clip timecode of all visible layers based on the current playhead position, providing constant visual reference for all layers on the timeline while scrubbing and aligning clips, and making it easy to precisely align specific frames across layers. It's like having a small preview monitor for each track in the timeline! Audio EyeCons display a close-up view of the audio waveform at the playhead’s current frame, making it easy to precisely align clips relative to audio events.

Flexible Capturing Including Panasonic® VariCam™ Variable Frame Rate Processing
VelocityHD™ provides versatile options for capturing footage, including manually triggered quick capture (with or without time code) and frame-accurate batch capture. Batch recapture allows footage to be captured at offline compression rates and later replaced with higher quality footage for final output. Proc amp controls and an integrated waveform monitor and vectorscope display help keep your video levels within spec and allow you to easily fine-tune both incoming and captured video. VelocityHD™ also supports processing of variable frame rate content from the Panasonic AJ-HDC27 VariCam, enabling the removal of the material's non-active frames while recording the HD-SDI input stream. In addition to enabling ingest and editing of 24fps VariCam content, VelocityHD™ supports VariCam’s “overcranking” and “undercranking” for in-camera, off-speed effects.

Flexible Format Support
VelocityHD™ supports uncompressed (10-bit and 8-bit) and online-quality compressed formats, letting you choose your preferred balance between video quality and the extensive storage space and bandwidth requirements of HD content. VelocityHD™ also supports the HDV high-definition format, with IEEE-1394 I/O of both 1080i and 720p material from HDV devices. Once captured, HDV content can be mixed seamlessly with other HD formats on the timeline. Compressed and uncompressed footage can be mixed in the same timeline without affecting performance, giving you the flexibility to use higher capture qualities only when needed. The VelocityHD™ standard-definition mode also offers native timeline support for DV25 and DVCPRO/DVCPRO50 media from many tapeless recording devices, including Panasonic’s P2 MXF-based media cards, plus direct support for project and media files from Harris’ standard-definition Velocity and VelocityQ editing systems.

Comprehensive Color Control
Color correction is an essential part of any editor’s toolkit. Whether you need to match coloration between clips shot with different cameras or lighting, correct color balance issues caused by mixed or inconsistent lighting, or change the visual tone to give your video a completely different look and feel, VelocityHD™ has the tools for the task. The VelocityHD™ real-time, keyframeable color correction includes three-way color-wheel control, curves, color matching and automatic white and black re-balance. Real-time secondary color correction, available with the A3DX option, lets you selectively adjust only the desired color. The color correction tools also take full advantage of the VelocityHD™ full-quality, interactive feedback on the video monitor while adjusting parameters — allowing unparalleled precision while seeing the results in the correct color space exactly as they will appear.

Flexible Output Formats
VelocityHD™ lets you easily create output for any popular distribution format. Web formats including Microsoft® Windows® Media™ 9, RealNetworks®, RealVideo® and QuickTime™, as well as Main Concept-powered MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 formats for CD-ROM and DVD authoring, can be output directly from the timeline.

Exceptional Audio
Audio is an essential element of most productions, and VelocityHD™ includes a wide array of flexible features for advanced audio support. VelocityHD™ features multi-channel audio mixing and I/O, with flexible channel routing and bussing. Tracks can be muted or soloed, and audio control nodes can be created on-the-fly during playback using onscreen sliders or the optional FAD-5000 hardware audio controller. Voice-overs can be added directly in the timeline while playing back existing audio and video for reference. For additional effects and filters, clip-based DirectShow filters are supported, and real-time .VST audio plug-ins can be applied to entire tracks (with automation) or busses. VelocityHD™ also features quick editing tools for easily creating both automatic and customized fades and cross-fades, including new audio SuperNodes for applying user-defined audio curves non-destructively.

Easy Collaborative File Interchange
VelocityHD™ makes interchange between networked editors in a collaborative environment easy, with automatic detection and collection of new media files. The “Detect ‘n Collect” feature automatically detects new media files in user-specified directories – such as network shares or a common media pool on a SAN – and collects them into the current project’s Galleries.

Extensive Interoperability
Interoperability features such as EDL, OMF and AAF import and export make it easy to interchange projects and media files with other editing systems and post production tools for collaborative work. Plus, our uniquely flexible Virtual Tape File System™ (VTFS™) provides seamless and transparent integration and file interchange with graphics, animation and compositing systems. Each frame of video on the dedicated media drive is simultaneously available in over a dozen popular image file formats, including TGA, CIN, DPX and JPG. Animation sequences can be rendered directly to the VTFS then easily accessed for playback and editing.

Advanced Compositing With DFX+™
Included with VelocityHD™ is DFX+™ for advanced compositing and image processing. DFX+™ features the same speed, workflow and productivity as the acclaimed Eyeon Fusion™, while taking a modular approach to advanced tools, allowing you to choose just the toolset you need. With a powerful, flow-based process, comprehensive tools and many high-end plug-ins available, complex compositions and designs can be achieved with ease. Direct timeline integration with the Velocity™ software makes it easy for users to harness the power of DFX+™. DFX+™ effects such as glows, defocusing and warps can be applied to clips from the Velocity™ timeline, and entire timeline regions can be sent to DFX+™ for processing. DFX+™ features broad format support of over 20 professional image and 3D file formats, plus features including the Text+ advanced character generator, format and aspect ratio conversion, powerful spline controls to animate any tool, and polygonal effects masks that can be animated to apply effects to user-definable regions. DFX+™ can be expanded via optional modules to include advanced features such as tracking, advanced keying, film import, 3D depth tools, network rendering, vector paint, particles and more. Some VelocityHD™ bundles include a selection of these optional modules.

Bundled Tools Enhance System Capabilities
VelocityHD™ is fully compatible with a wide range of third-party software, and applications for DVD authoring, audio processing and titling are bundled. Ulead DVD Workshop™ 2 SE DVD lets you author DVD-compliant MPEG-2 files, created directly from the VelocityHD™ timeline, into a DVD with menus, buttons, chapters and advanced functionality. Inscriber® TitleMotion™ Pro provides a sophisticated interface for titling and character generation, while Sony Media Software’s Sound Forge Audio Studio™ provides a wide range of digital audio editing tools.