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NTSC monitor preview options
Howdy –
Looking around for an easy way to preview after effects movies on an ntsc monitor (any, I guess, right now). My needs are: Using After Effects 5.5 and photoshop cs, I am about to tweak and output about 150 quicktime movies for conforming into a long format documentary video. The film was cut on our older Avid (ABVB/avr 75) but will be on-lined elsewhere on a newer one (Meridien/uncompressed). So, all the movies will need to be re-rendered and output via the animation codec. Along the way I will tweak a number of them to get rid of yet more strobing caused by the interlacing in NTSC (I’ve used AE primarily as a motion – camera tool doing pans and so forth on stills / newspapers ). SO… to preview on the older AVID out of the question given the time it would take to import & render an animation codec into our old AVID.
I am working on the after effects movies on a G5 dual 2 ghz running 10.4.2, with a DVI and ADC connector. The DVI is currently used for my 23″ cinema display. That leaves the ADC connector. There are also firewire outs but I have no pass through device.
What is my best configuration (if any) is viable given my needs?
Oh – and it would be really really great if there was a way to apply a 16:9 mask / safety grid to the 4:3 tv as well. As the plan is to project the doc digitally in the 16:9 format (pan and scan will be done online) I will be also readjusting a number of the moves / pictures to fit this different format.
To any and all who took the time to read all of this, my deep appreciation ahead of time.
Peter
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5 Replies
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I’m very happy with my Decklink. Should do everything you seek.
Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com -
Thanks for your reply. Now the next question is… which decklink card? I went to the site and there are a lot of flavors. My needs now are simple enough but it would be great to aniticipate the future somewhat. Do you also work with final cut pro? The Decklink Extreme seems a good bet for everything short of HD, but sort of demands a production monitor with component inputs.
Anyway, thanks.
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I use the Decklink Xtreme with FCP myself. As far as a monitor with component. I beg you to do yourself a huge favor and get a good Sony monitor with component or SDI in. If you are using anything other than component or SDI, you might as well not even have an output monitor or do graphics for others to ever see on a TV.
Here is a great monitor that you can actually find for only a few hundred if you look around. I paid $1400 for mine but I’ve seen them much cheaper lately:
https://www.dvwonline.com/products/sony/pvm14m4u.html
Actually in doing a search I found a 20″ version for sale here at the Cow:
https://forums.creativecow.net/cgi-bin/new_read_post.cgi?forumid=79&postid=845838
Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com -
I actually do know better about component monitors – been using the 20″ Sony PVM20-M4U at work for years. I am just now stepping out of Media Composer into my own FCP system and being a bit cheap.
I will go for the Decklink Extreme, though. Everything I read seconds your opinion.
Noticed that you’re in Dallas – I was born and raised there, although been up in New York for a long time.
Great spots, by the way. I am fascinated by the economy and terseness required while working within the :30 second margin – perhaps especially because I’m just surfacing out of a very long documentary project.
Thanks again for all of your time and good advice.Peter
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Thanks for the comments. Our second director is up there in Manhattan, she does documentary work as well as spots.
The good part of :30 spots is that you only work with them a few weeks at a time so there is variety. The bad part of a project whithin :30 is that we too often have to shoot :45 second scripts that get butchered into :30.
Shooting 30 second commercials to me is like eating at a cafeteria: When you’re going through the line you get excited about all the food options and keep asking for different delicious items, but when you sit to eat your selections, you realize how very limited your stomach is.
Then to expand the already odd analogy:
Then once you learn that you just need one focused entre
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