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SD Codecs/Cards/Graphics/ex Avid user
I have come to FCP after working with Avid for some years. The setup I am using needs some attention in terms of capture card and I am contemplating the Kona LH. Generally we work in dv tape but have archive tapes also on Beta SP. With avid it was simple in as much as all video was sucked in 2:1 and used the avid Meridian compressor even if the footage was dv although most of it was digi beta.
With the current system(FCP v5) I use firewire and edit using the dv pal. If I create any graphics in Motion, no matter how I render them out, they get transcoded to the pal dv codec when imported into FCP. I was thinking that the Kona easy setup options would allow for something that would be kinder to graphics but obviously using the card to capture dv footage would not improve it and potentially I would lose some of the benefits of editing in the native codec and may result in larger file sizes without any improvement in quality.
I am thinking that sometime in the future I will look to working in hd, so the card would be of useful in that way also. Does anybody have any thoughts on the above.
Many thanks
Dom Richardson
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3 Replies
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[Dominic Richardson] “I have come to FCP after working with Avid for some years.”
My condolences to you… But please Dominic, get out of the habit of starting your posts here with that. We know…
[Dominic Richardson] “I use firewire and edit using the dv pal. If I create any graphics in Motion, no matter how I render them out, they get transcoded to the pal dv codec when imported into FCP.”
No, not really. Text and graphics get compressed to the DV codec when rendered, but not trans-coded. This is because the sequence settings are set to the codec of your source video in order to provide optimal real-time playback. This compresses your otherwise pristine graphics from the 4:2:2 color space in which you created them to the 4:2:0 color space of PAL DV. The solution is not to capture your video to a better codec simply to maintain better the graphics, as that simply makes bigger video files, but does nothing beneficial to the video.
THE SOLUTION
When editing is completed on your DV sequence, with all of your text, graphics, and Motion elements in place, open the Sequence — Settings and under Quicktime Video Settings change the Compressor from DV/DVCPRO – PAL to any codec with a better color space than DV, such as: DV50, ProRes, or uncompressed 8 or 10-bit, depending on the playback capabilities as determined by your hard drive sub-system. Then re-render the sequence. Its magic…
Meanwhile, do get yourself a Kona LH so that your can monitor properly and get real HD capability. They are terrific cards and you’ll never regret the purchase for a second.
Hope this help…
David
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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Bless you for that David, that does the trick with the graphics. I think I have discoverd the limitations of my sub-system though. Even though the graphics played back fine at uncompressed 10 bit, some of the dv footage looked pretty ropey, especially on pans. It worked fine at DVCPRO50 though.
I don’t have ProRes yet but hope to upgrade to FCP6 sometime soon although I imagine it comes with the Kona LH. I only hear mention of ProRes in the context of hd, is it used for sd editing?
Incidently, regarding the Kona LH, if I am better off editing dv footage as a dv pal sequence, I presume I am best still capturing it through the firewire. Also, what would be the best route for mixing footage from Beta SP on the timeline when captured via a Kona LH, I understand that the FCP 6 allows you to mix footage on the timeline.
Questions, questions…hope you don’t mind.
Dom Richardson,
Nottingham, UK -
[Dominic Richardson] “I don’t have ProRes yet but hope to upgrade to FCP6 sometime soon although I imagine it comes with the Kona LH. I only hear mention of ProRes in the context of hd, is it used for sd editing?”
ProRes come with FCP 6, not automatically with the Kona codecs unless FCP 6 is installed. And, ProRes is scaleable and thus ubiquitous. It can be used for SD, HD, and I think even 2K and 4K.
[Dominic Richardson] “Incidently, regarding the Kona LH, if I am better off editing dv footage as a dv pal sequence, I presume I am best still capturing it through the firewire.”
Yes!!!
[Dominic Richardson] “Also, what would be the best route for mixing footage from Beta SP on the timeline when captured via a Kona LH, I understand that the FCP 6 allows you to mix footage on the timeline.”
FCP 5 allows you mix formats on the timeline, but you must render in order to view the one that doesn’t match your sequence settings. Version 6 on the other hand is optimised for realtime preview, which allows for playback of just about any combination of of media on the timeline, but at a lower framerate or or lower resolution, depending on your user selected RT settings.
Get yourself version 6, its really got many good benefits.
Oh BTW Dom, are you well connected? Will your blessing actually have any tangible benefits for me? I can use all the help I can get…
David
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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