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Upgrading…New to HD Questions
I am considering taking on a documentary to be done on FCP, with a variety of sources (HDCAM, HDV, 3/4″, Digibeta) that will also utilize the XSAN share and AJA capture card.
Up to this point, I’ve only done SD projects in version 4.5 . Any tips,tricks, bugs, ideas you could shed light on would be greatly appreciated.Thanks!
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3 Replies
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I’d pick the format you want to edit in, and use your Kona 2 card? with an analog adapter and up/down convert it all to the same media file format… that way they all sing together in FCP as it were…
Jerry
Apple Certified Trainer
Author: “Jerry Hofmann on Final Cut Pro 4” Click here
Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D
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Be prepared for a LOT of testing and ensure that you have a true HD broadcast monitor for color correction. We spent the better part of 6 months testing the workflow here for a broadcast series and it’s definitely not just switching to a new format and you start editing. Make sure you know the exact delivery format and the exact frame rate for the delivery. That’s very important to know before you start cutting.
As Jerry mentioned, I would capture everything through my Kona 2 card into whatever format I’m going to edit in. The K2 has a decent up-converter, though depending on the shots, you may need to go to a house that a Terranex converter which adds line doubling and results in a really nice smooth up-converted image. This will be especially true with the 3/4″ stuff which is not that great to begin with. The digibeta stuff will probably up-convert very nicely through the K2.
I would probably upgrade to FCP 5.0 as well as FCP 4.5 is not completely frame accurate when mastering to tape. When we did our first Mastering tests with an HDCAM recorder, we found that FCP 4.5 would slip a few frames backwards or forward with each Edit to Tape. FCP 5.0 corrected this issue and also I found that DVCPro HD (we shoot with the Varicam) looks better in FCP 5.0.
Definitely finish a small portion of the project, say 2 – 5 minutes, fully color corrected and mastered and send that off to the Network for Quality Control approval. This is VERY important as you do not want to completely finish the doc and then get it kicked back because the levels were not correct. In HD you a LOT of lattitude with colors and you can go for some really rich coloring and very dark blacks so it’s not the same a doing CC for SD.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.comNow in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com
Now editing “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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[nick] “I am considering taking on a documentary to be done on FCP, with a variety of sources (HDCAM, HDV, 3/4″, Digibeta) that will also utilize the XSAN share and AJA capture card.”
Xsan is not HD friendly as of yet, especially if you are talking about working in uncompressed.
An 8bit 1080i60 project will take the entire bandwidth of the san with a single user.it works fine with 1080 DVCPROHD compression however
From IBC
Gary Adcock
Studio37
HD and Film Consultation
Chicago, IL
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