EDL

[Michael Gissing]

What are you using to online? If FCP then take your project file. If AVID then Automatic Duck. Can’t vouch from experience but many here say it works. It is certainly designed to transfer more than an EDL can.

[Will Macneil]

The Duck has worked very well for me in the past for Avid onlines (one online editor didn’t even realise it had come from FCP!) Be sure to use the Avid Compatability mode, otherwise it won’t work.

The obvious benefit is the number of effects that can be translated. If I remember correctly, the Automatic Duck Webiste lists the effects that can and connot be translated through the plugin.

AD uses the XML architecture of FCP so it’s more aware of what’s going on in your timeline, but like an EDL, the Automatic Duck export will only be as accurate as the timecode in your system. If your project started as dv, you should look out for things like:

Timecode resetting to 00:00:00:00 in the middle of the tape. This seems to happen fairly often with the lower end cameras like PD-150’s. And it’s a killer as you can have two or more places on one roll with identical codes. One solution is to go through your rushes, figure out where the resets occured and assign new roll numbers to each new ‘section.’ Then explain this to the conform operator.

Speed effects. Check that the codes shown in FCP are accurate. If you’re in doubt, make a list of speed effects by hand. Another quick check that has helped me in the past is to create a video edl and scan the source in column for dubious codes. If you ever see 00:00:00:00 as a source in, it’s either an aux source like black or text, or it’s a bad code.

Best of luck,

W

[Carmello]

Thanks so much for your response W*
Now I’m a bit scared, as before I thought I was onlining on Avid, thus I knew Automatic Duck would be the life savior…..Now, I am finding out I am onlining on FCP, so I’m back to the same nightmare of the FCP EDL. Is there a bulletproof way to give the online faciliity an EDL that will carry over speed changes, effects, motion, etc….??????? rather than the FCP EDL?????
I just dont wanna have to stress about creating 6 edls for 6 video layers, etc.

[Michael Gissing]

If you are onlining on FCP then take a copy of your project file. Unless they are running an older version of FCP they can open your project without media and then Media Manage to the online codec and recapture.

This is the process I do all the time. Later versions 5.1.4 and 6 are much better at freeze frames and time remap. The point is that the attributes for everything are still available from your original sequence. Don’t use and EDL if you are going FCP to FCP.

Have you spoken to the people doing the online? They should be able to sort this simple work flow.

[Carmello]

Hey Michael –
thanks for responding. that is exactly what I am now doing. I acutally did the telecine today and am having those masters converted to 8 bit uncompressed qt’s on the external and am also downconverting to dv25 just incase my G5 cant handle those high res 8 bit files. doing the cut, then
Onlining just like you said….taking the cut to the online with the fcp project file with the external and they will recapture and lay to digi . I do need the external for the online, right?
THat sounds right?????
thanks so much for your help
-Carmello

[Michael Gissing]

Is that 8 bit SD or HD? IF SD then a firewire 800 external should be able to run the files OK. I do 10bit SD uncompressed of a 1TB Lacie drive all the time.

HD will need the files on a much faster drive, either a SCSI RAID or a SATA RAID.

Hope it goes well.