I've been given the task of importing a 100 minutes of HD AVI uncompressed in to the Symphony Nitris. Now I haven't done this before so I was thinking it would be best to get the file broken down in to much smaller chunks but are there any limits to the actual size you can have for imports ?

I'm aware this is going to take more than a day but it's scheduled for the weekend so that's not a problem. If anybody could give me any advice or info I'd be really grateful

(I'm running version 1.7.7 on an xw8200 with 4 Gb of ram with a 1.6 Tb Mediadock Ultra320)

I've never heard of an official limit. However, I have noticed that on larger files, the further it gets into the import, the slower it goes. I believe (but have no confirmation) that this is a RAM issue. 

I have never attempted a file anywhere near the size of the one you are talking about. Actually, I never would as waiting 12 hours to see the file import crash and leave me with nothing is just a BAD idea.

Either break it up as you suggested, or be creative. I have lots of Macs at my disposal also, so I would probably bring the movie into compressor and render it out to DNxHD there. Then the import into Avid would be screaming fast as it is just rewrapping the file on import. And Compressor can take advantage of all the processors in your Mac meaning a dual Quad would handle this task MUCH faster than your PC.

Thanks for the help Terry. I'll have a look at doing it on the Mac.

The original import problem was that the AVI was YUV so we made that RGB then it read it . Which is why it was chucked in to my lap. 20hrs was the estimate for the import on Symphony Nitris , so it has to be done on the Mac.

Now I get the fantastic task of trying to import Sony EX1 into Avid. 35mbps. Having read your post on creative cow I'll have to take that on to the Mac too.

Thanks for your help