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digitizing for documentary edit
I previously heard that the best way to cut a documentary was to digitize ALL footage. I was told to bring my footage in at 20:1 resolution for interviews and 10:1 for b-roll. My question is in FCP how do I do this? Second question is when I am finished with the edit don’t I need to bring the footage back to full resolution? How do I do all of this?
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15 Replies
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Yes, the low rez footage is a draft copy you jettison, retaining the all-important edit decision list info and metadata about the shots and their time codes and the names of the tapes. The computer then re-assembles the final version, you render out any effects that need it, done. More or less.
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So in FCP what settings must I use to bring this footage in at low res? Second, since i will be digitizing full tapes is FCP going to only bring back in the in and outs of the clips used in the timeline when i re digitize at full res? How is this done or what will these tasks be under in my manual? Thank you for your time! It’s greatly appreciated.
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It sounds like you come from, or the person you talked to, comes from an Avid background ’cause FCP doesn’t offer capture settings like that. First off, how much footage do you have and what format is it? Given that technology keeps getting better and cheaper the need to do a ‘traditional’ offline/online workflow.
-Andrew
3.2GHz 8-core, FCP 6.0.4, 10.5.5
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (6.8.1) -
Andrew,
thank you for your time. I have about 85 hours of footage that is all shot in 1080i HDV format. I only have about 1TB drive space and want to bring all of the footage in. There is no way i can fit it in as Pro Res footage.
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I agree with Andrew, but what I think he meant to say was:
[Andrew Kimery] “Given that technology keeps getting better and cheaper there’s NO need to do a ‘traditional’ offline/online workflow.”
The whole low rez / offline thing began when the largest hard drives you could get were in the 160 Megabyte range. Yes, for the kids in the audience let me repeat 160 MEGABYTES. And if your system was really slick you had a raid using four of them. And they cost a butt-load ‘o cash. And if you were really serious you had extra sets to swap in and out for different projects. This was how it was done on Media 100 as well as Avid. (Back when Dinosaurs roamed the Earth.)
Today I believe a 1.5 Terrabyte SATA drive can be had for about $125. I’m not too good with math (especially math based on 1024 as the multiplier, but I believe that 1.5 Terrabytes is something like 9,000 times the storage space of 160 Megabytes.
So, no, Derek. I wouldn’t worry about doing the low rez “offline” / high rez “online” thing. Just do try to throw away the stuff you didn’t use before archiving at the end of the project.
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Yes, you should capture all the footage. Then organize it as you see fit. The ratio terminology is very Avid, but you can apply the same principals in FCP if you want to. The simplest way to do this is to use the Pro Res Codec. Put simply: capture everything you have using Pro Res Proxy and when you’re done you can online it to Pro Res 422 HQ. You would do this using Media Manage. Having said that, I currently have about 12TB in just three drives sitting here with nearly all the footage I need all captured at full res (some 2K, some 720P and some 1080). So the old offline/online paradigm is becoming less relevant as drives get bigger. Depending on your needs, you may not need to capture at a lower resolution. Best of luck.
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[Derek Klein] “85 hours of footage that is all shot in 1080i HDV format.”
That takes up about 1.05TB of space, full res. So just get another 1TB drive for under $300. Boom, you can capture and edit full res. NO need for this old school offline/online edit. That is SOOO 1990’s. I am working on an Avid on a 2 hour doc, all P2, all FULL RES.
[Derek Klein] “There is no way i can fit it in as Pro Res footage.”
No need. Just change your render settings to ProRes, or media manage the final project as ProRes. Or just keep it as HDV. But rendering as ProRes is a good option. Depends on how you are finishing it.
BUT, if you insist on the offline/online workflow…
https://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/offline_rt.html
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Yeah, what Shane said.
HDV has such a small footprint that there’s no need for the traditional offline/online, IMO. Which you should be thankful for ’cause those things never, ever go as smoothly as you think they should.
Nick,
That is what I meant to say and thanks for helping out as my brain seemed to fading in and out while I posted. I blame daylight savings time.3.2GHz 8-core, FCP 6.0.4, 10.5.5
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (6.8.1) -
Thanks guys! I do just want to clarify one more thing…… i’m using Kona 3 in to FCP so when digitizing my HDV footage what codec should i use to first off get the best quality possible and secondly conserve drive space? I know that if I captured Pro Res HQ it would be almost 800GB per hour at least thats what my AJA calculator is telling me.
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Thanks Shane. When you say it would take 1.05TB is this assuming I capture as HDV? Isn’t the HDV codec kinda low quality? I do have a Kona 3 so I think I could get a little more out of it can’t I?
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