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16mm Uncompressed Workflow
Hi all,
I’ve been searching around for a few hours narrowing down the situation but still can’t find specific enough information on how to proceed. Basically I’m working on a short film that was shot on 16mm and progressively scanned to an uncompressed MXF file that I converted into a ProRes 4444 1920×1080 (it’s a standard 4:3 16mm frame matted on the sides) at 23.98 fps. I’ve been editing with the ProRes file and have a rough cut basically done. At this point I need to refine details and the playback is too choppy (dropped frames dialog) to deal with. I’m using a Macbook Pro with the older 2.53 Ghz Core 2 Duos, standard video/graphics cards and 8 GB of RAM. The scratch disk I’m using is an older USB 2.0/FireWire/eSATA external which isn’t keeping up. I’ve tried messing around with all the settings I’m aware of in FCP (I’m using 7) and researched a few more but am still only able to view about a second of the footage before it stops. Most of the fixes I’ve tried can be found here (with the exception of hardware upgrades): https://support.apple.com/kb/TS1165
Now I’m wondering what my options are. Am I missing something that’s slowing down the playback? Is there some workflow I could use to edit a compressed version of the file then create the full quality version later? Although I’m pretty sure I can do this I’m apprehensive as to what codec to use that will translate back to the ProRes or uncompressed version (I shoot 16mm so I’m new to video codecs). Upgrading to RAID drives is a possible solution, but it seems like a last resort for this project as it should be relatively quick if I can find a way to finish it with what I’ve got.
I’d only like to compress the video for the edit if absolutely necessary because I’d like to have an archival, edited back-up as well as the uncompressed unedited file, and the difference is quite noticeable when dealing with 16mm transfers projected at large sizes.
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4 Replies
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[Trevor Yawner] “The scratch disk I’m using is an older USB 2.0/FireWire/eSATA”
So, from those three connexions, which one are you using?
USB is a NO-NO.
Any of the two other should work.[Trevor Yawner] “At this point I need to refine details and the playback is too choppy (dropped frames dialog)”
Uncheck “Warn on dropped frames”.[Trevor Yawner] “I’d only like to compress the video for the edit if absolutely necessary”
No need. The FW800 and the eSATA will give you RT performance unless you are working with few layers of Prores444.
rafael -
Rafael,
Thanks for the help, I’m using the FireWire port but still getting choppy results. I’ve unchecked warn for dropped frames and it doesn’t help. As far as I can tell the drive I’m using should be able to go up 400 MB/s but I’m still not getting RT speed. At this point I’m wondering if it might be something else, like a pulldown rate or something because I’ve been through every option I can think of and still dropping frames.
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Both AJA and Blackmagic have speed test software to download for free. That will tell you what speed your drive is capable of. Drives slow down as they fill up, particularly when they are over 80% full. So start by knowing what your drive can deliver. Firewire 400 will not do it. 800 is better but eSata should be best but you will need an interface card.
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Yeap.
I thought you had FW800.
As Michael say. FW400 in theory should be able to move Prores, but in the practice may have problems.
In theory, even USB should be able.
Try easing your RT settings.
Set “Unlimited RT”, and “Playback Frame Rate: Dynamic”.
rafael
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