Overwhelmed: what is the best solution?

[Michael Garber]

I have read in places that Premiere is working pretty well with tape import/output. But I’d be curious to hear other people’s input on that one.

As has been said before, FCP7 does work on Lion. But I’ve found that it works a *little* better in Snow Leopard.

My gut says Adobe is probably the way to go for you for it’s tape support. Still, I recommend playing with FCPX to see if it’s something you might like. Given it’s price, there might be an application for it in your future.

I’m becoming a big fan of Adobe Media Encoder. Since you make a lot of DVDs, you’ll find that it’s very fast. I like it much more than Compressor.

A long time ago I used Adobe Encore for making a DVD and a Bluray. I liked it. Barring bugs and weirdness that I don’t know about, I think it’s probably a great alternative to DVDSP. And it’s integration with Photoshop and the rest of the Adobe Creative Suite is great.

Download the demos, try before you buy. Let us know how it goes :).

Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company

[Andy Neil]

[Lynette Gilbert] “My concern is that I only have one small window each year to decide what’s going to happen technologically for the next 3-5 years … It gets me incredibly stressed.”

I wouldn’t get too stressed about it. It sounds as if they’re pretty far behind technologically and are fine with that. If I was in your shoes, I’d keep FCP 7 and get them to upgrade to HD with their cameras and decks. Leave the OS and software as it is since FCP 7 handles HD for a majority of workflows and have them switch out whatever component is incompatible with the Kona card because having a dedicated capture card solves so many issues. There’s no need to move software if they haven’t even embraced HD yet.

Though I don’t see FCP X as being a good fit now based on what you described, I would point out that using it (or Premiere for that matter) doesn’t preclude the continued use of DVDSP. Just don’t upgrade the OS for the edit station past the point where it fails to run properly and you should be fine for the next few years.

https://www.timesavertutorials.com

[Bill Davis]

Lynette,

Here’s some food for thought.

Video has been traditionally very complex and technical and difficult to deal with. But we’re in an era where it’s getting less so.

It used to require TV stations and technicians to make. Now it requires an iPhone. Period.

It used to live on tapes and big heavy machines. Now it lives in virtual files on-line and on thumb drives.

Your present job seems to revolve around technology that isn’t merely changing, it’s largely already changed. Permanently.

Videomaking is increasingly moving on from being a “company endeavor” – to being a “personal” one. We don’t really need to rely on a big company to “equip us” anymore. Anyone good at video can typically get the tools and assembled without much cost or hassle.

So I’d just encourage you to veer a bit away from viewing video as something that’s done “at your company” and move, instead in the direction of investing in yourself, not your workspace.

No matter what tools you go with – don’t just let your business own and control them and be their worker – own and learn and control your own toolset. That way, no matter where you go – you’re ready to produce quality work without the resources of others being required.

I think FCP-X fits perfectly into that concept – but if you’d rather go with a more “traditional ‘editing program like Premier, feel free. Just make sure you don’t tie it too much to their computer and their chair and their decks and their hard drives. Because if you do – they control things.

And someday you might be happier if YOU control things for yourself.

Translating between the old stuff (tape, etc.) is trivial. A $200 BlackMagic video recorder will take a feed from any old analog deck, transcode it to H-264 – and get you a universal video file that you can use in lots of ways. And once you translate it once, the old analog version is functionally obsolete. Just archive the new digitization and get rid of the tapes, one by one. Because someday there simply won’t be a deck around to play them. You can start fixing that now – or get stuck later when you can’t get a replacement pinch roller anymore.

And trust me, all those people still using DVD’s? They’ll stop the moment they realize that they can get the same result from an on-line video that never gets lost and can be linked to anyone else on the planet in seconds – or that sticking a thumb-drive and double clicking on the video file in their laptop gets them the same result as loading up the breakable plastic disk. And so they’ll want DVDs right up to the second they realize that they’ll never want another one again.

Looking forward is what works today. Trying to keep working hard to be good at the way things used to be done? Not so much. Sorry to be harsh, but there it is.

New tools like FCP-X are designed for the way things will be increasingly done in the future. The people who dislike them the most are the ones who have convinced themselves that the key to success is to keep doing things the way they used to be done – and I simply reject that.

I think that’s a losing strategy – and whatever program you choose please, DO NOT try to simply use it to do the same work in the same way you used to. That path is stagnant. Use whatever tool you choose to learn in order to do things more efficiently and better.

Take those old “rote” processes in re-invent them.

Make it EASIER for your clients to get the content they want. Not as hard as it used to be. Even if they don’t know there’s a better way yet. YOU want to be the person to help them understand that. This make you more valuable.

You have a lot of emotion expressed in your post. If you can translate that from fear and concern into excitement and joy at being in an increasingly important industry you’ll do really well. You’re at a unique point in the history of video production where everything is in upheaval and nobody has a superior chance over YOU to master the new stuff – and quite a bit of the new stuff is inexpensive and accessible – then it can be positively transformative experience, IMO.

Good luck.

“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor

[Craig Alan]

Lynnete,

Not sure what your small budget is but I would get a card based HD camera. I would get the needed accessories for it like a lens filter, a good tripod, a bag, a card reader, an extra media card. I would stay with FCP 7 as I learned FCP X. X does not meet everyone’s needs, but I don’t see these needs for a one-person producer. I am just learning X now and hated it initially but am coming around to what is cool about it. I would start shooting HD and I would set up a website for the zoo where all their videos are posted. Though DVDSP can still be used with any NLE, the best workflow being via compressor, I would start training your people to check out the video on-line or if they insist ask them for a thumb drive that you can copy the file to — just tell them that unless they have a blueray player there is no way they can get the real quality on a SD-DVD. Not to mention that it is really time consuming.

Once you start using HD card based workflows you will not want to go home again. Once they view a file based HD content on-line or copied to their computer or thumb drive they will not want to use their slow to load SD-DVD drive again.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Bob Woodhead]

Does your budget only cover post? Or can it include production? If the latter, do what Craig said. Leave all post as-is. Buy something like a Panasonic AG-AC130. Fantastic optical lens (good for eyeball shots), all manual or all auto & anything in-between. SDHC card-based workflow. Ingest into FCP 7 will transcode into ProRes of your choice. Start delivering HD, or, worst case, start building an HD library.

If you *must* spend your budget on post (ie, software), buy the Creative Suite. And FCPX. And don’t loathe X…. I did too, but then I started using it. Now I just dislike parts of it, like I do all the other NLE’s. (Yes, including 7, but that had the fewest dislikes, lol.) And when you hold your nose and sit down to learn X, toss your thoughts of how a NLE should work out the window, do the tutorials (Lynda, Ripple, et al)…. let the X way flow. Otherwise you’ll hate it. But it’s got a lot going for it, if Apple only fixes what’s broke….

“Constituo, ergo sum”

Bob Woodhead / Atlanta
CMX-Quantel-Avid-FCP-Premiere-3D-AFX-Crayola
“What a long strange trip it’s been….”

[Lynette Gilbert]

[Michael Garber] “My gut says Adobe is probably the way to go for you for it’s tape support. Still, I recommend playing with FCPX to see if it’s something you might like. Given it’s price, there might be an application for it in your future.”

Thanks so much for your input – I definitely want FCPX at home (in addition to PPro, which I’m hoping to purchase in the next few months) because even though I hate the interface, I need to stay with FC for my freelancing. And I’ve seen a lot more projects lately that request PPro, so that’s why I’m purchasing it.

I’ll probably wait on new software for now, based on what everyone has said so far, and tinker with it at home for a while before trying to integrate anything at work.

[Lynette Gilbert]

[Bob Woodhead] “Does your budget only cover post?”

My budget includes anything, but my budget is TINY. (Last year my big purchase was a new wireless mic.)

But, I love my job. I can’t imagine working anywhere else. Everyone else suffers from lack of budget, from outdated equipment.

I do have several cameras on my wish list. I’m hoping I can get a grant that will cover some costs, but grants are very specific on how you can use the equipment (i.e. you can only use it for certain projects).

[Lynette Gilbert]

[Craig Alan] “Once they view a file based HD content on-line or copied to their computer or thumb drive they will not want to use their slow to load SD-DVD drive again.”

I wish it was that easy. Believe me, I’ve pulled us out of the dark ages, but it’s taken me 6 years to get us even to where we are now. I’m just one part-time person, and I’m not high on the list of priorities; I’m doing the best I can given the circumstances.

[Lynette Gilbert]

Thanks!

[Craig Alan]

Money talks. Any chance some of your work could be sold to benefit the zoo, say split the profits between the general zoo funds and to help build the video “department”. Or perhaps the videos posted on-line could be linked to ticket sales. Or have an admission to a video tour given at the zoo.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.