Chronicle: Producing HD Television from a Laptop w/ Avid Xpress Pro

Art Donahue has achieved something that many television producers dream about: he has found a way to produce a half-hour news magazine show for SD and HD broadcast from his laptop computer. Using a Dell M70 and Avid Xpress Pro software for offline and online editing, Donahue set a television precedent in November 2005 when he cut and finished “New England’s National Forests† for the Boston-area nightly news magazine Chronicle. The episode, which was filmed in HDV and edited in HD, was simulcast in letterbox SD on Boston’s WCVB-TV5, as well as in 720p HD on WCVB’s companion HD channel. This was not only a technical coup for Donahue, who has earned 13 Emmy awards in news photography, editing, and production during his career, but it has helped the show achieve a new cost-effective standard for other shows and producers to follow. “Not long ago you needed a $75,000 camera and a $150,000 edit room to deliver a broadcast-quality show,† says Donahue, who produces an episode of Chronicle in HD every five weeks. “Now you can use a $3,500 camera and a $2,000 laptop and produce an entire show in HDV. I never thought that production would get this inexpensive this quickly. It’s very exciting, and I hope it creates more opportunities for local production.† “I couldn’t do this kind of work on a laptop computer without Avid Xpress Pro.† - Art Donahue, Producer, Chronicle read more...