Need HELP on making a procedure with premiere pro 1.5 that will work and be time effective please help!!

[Eric Lagerlof]

I’m not really clear what the problem is, everything sounds like pretty standard fare. When you say VCR to DVcam are we to assume you mean analog (i.e. VHS or BetaCam), routed through a DV deck to convert to DV? As to the equipment list, it sounds like you’re loaded for bear, I’m quite envious, actually. So what is/are the specific problem(s)?

With Matrox, if you capture in DV mode, the ‘DV’ files were (as of the RT 2000, 2500’s) and probably still are somewhat proprietary; for the real time effects they use. You probably have to stay with the Matrox machine throughout the editing/encoding process when using ‘Matrox DV’ type files, unless you convert/export your edited movie as standard ‘Microsoft DV’.

If you want to Author and transcode to MPEG2 on one machine while editing concurrently on another, capture through a standard firewire card, bypassing the Matrox file wrappers. Your editing won’t get the advantages of real-time effects but you can edit one one machine while the other is chugging away with the DVD trancoding. Myabe this is useless info to you, but that is the only thing I can think of that might confuse you. Everything else sounds extremely straightforward.

[Squashky]

Thank you for the reply sry for the very messy post but i had alot of info to get out with alittle space.

But yea you answered most of the problem although do you think you could be more specific on which encoder i could use to encode videos with filters like the auto color filter
(i have been having problems with it i seem to be very temperamental are there any more stable plug-in i could use)
(i wonder if it is just me not encoding the filter right?)
(can anyone get the auto color to apply to a 2 hour video if so what are your export and project setting if you encode to mpeg.)

Sooo….
if i capture without the matrox card the card becomes obsolete right or does it do something else to help the system?
But Yes thank you Eric that is very helpful especially the idea on capturing via fire wire. can you confirm that the results will be as good as capturing via matrox fire wire???
what format should i capture it as avi or is it possible to capture to mpeg.

thanks alot as you can see i have alot of questions because i have tryed so many things with so many hours nothing seems to be right method there always one or to things wrong with each way i try?. :/

[Eric Lagerlof]

Hopefully someone who actually owns your model of Matrox card can answer your questions. My experiences are drawn from earlier cards, primarily the RT2000. Back then DVD authoring was relatively new and I would hope that Matrox has made changes in how their cards work with DVD spec files and encoding. Again, someone who works with your model card would better know the specific ins and outs, I wa just trying to give you a general heads-up.

AS to the filters, I’ve never used the ‘auto-color correction’ filter. I sometimes shoot dance performances, one show wide and the other in MS & CU’s. Sometimes I have to match the two shows and use the 3Way Color Corrector and or the Levels adjust. The renders go relatively quickly, even without the hardware-accelerated rendering. I render while I eat meals, that kind of thing, if time is short.

Anyway, good luck.

[Mike Velte]

Auto color/contrast/levels filters dont work well with video unless the scene is static.

[Squashky]

are there any alternative solution to the color and lighting corrector ? maybe a plugin that works allittle better?

any suggestions on the encoder or does AME work for most people fine??

thanks agian

[Harm Millaard]

I have used the Matrox RT.X100 with PP 1.5 and pulled it out due to instability and field reversal issues. I now only work with a run-of-the-mill OHCI card and have no (significant) problems anymore.

My workflow is:

Analog material is first converted to DV. I hardly use analog material, so the extra step to copy analog to DV is hardly an issue for me.
DV is captured with Scenalyzer and imported into PP 2.0 and edited.
For color correction I mainly use either the 3-way color correction filter or Color Finesse from Synthetic Aperture, a plug-in.

I export using AME and the Minnetonka Surcode plug-in for 5.1 sound.
I import the .m2v and .ac3 files into Encore. No transcoding required.

This suits me fine.

Harm Millaard

[Squashky]

thanks for the response ……i have been doing a bunch of testing and will continue the next couple of days to get it right.

what are your export settings that you find get you quality results?