Shooting/Editing for unusual display: 720×2560

[Kai Cheong]

Coming into this discussion rather late as I’m just clearing my unread mails – but I’ve recently done something in FCP with a custom canvas that was 2831 x 576 – and it is manageable.

Like you, I’ve never attempted this before. PLUS we were working with Phantom high-speed footage, with tons of speed-ramping [and masking + grading] – a new format for me. It took a few rounds/nights of conversions to go from the .CINE files to .MOV in Cinepak to finally .MOV in ProRes (HQ).

I hope you have a fast machine though – as you’ll need to be doing quite a bit of rendering. But if you don’t have many cuts to do, it shouldn’t be a big issue.

We probably could’ve done it in AE since it involves custom canvas and composition – but I’m much more adept at FCP than AE. I did have to use AE and then Adobe Encode to export the final deliverables though [because the playback system required 4 pieces of MPED-2 files, with overlaps for edge blending].

One thing important is to find out if there’s anybody on the client’s side who could assist you with the testing of the footage [depending on what playback system they’re working with] or answer more of your questions. But if the delivery specs are as they say – it’s fairly straightforward.

You can also take a look at the final results of what I’ve done here: https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/173/858100

Good luck!

Kai
FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
—
Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
—
MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.7

8-Core Intel Mac Pro 2.26GHz | 8GB RAM | FCP 6.0.6 | Mac OS X 10.5.6 | 3.0TB CalDigit VR | 2 x 24″ Dell S2409W

[Kenny Powerass]

I finished the project like this:
Shot sideways on an EX1 at 1920×1080. Edited sideways in FCP. Exported to a 720×2560 Motion project, where the exported QT file was rotated 90 degrees.
It took some back and forth to get framings of the different angles right in FCP so it would line up nicely in Motion.
Thankfully it was much simpler than Kai’s project, which looked like a handful.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to chime in with advice!
Here’s the final product (framed so it will fit on a browser screen): https://www.vimeo.com/14305055
And again, at its full aspect ratio: https://www.vimeo.com/14284962

[Jeremy Garchow]

First of all, thanks so much for posting your work, guys. This will really help others in the future, and it’s so nice to see a finished product of something that has been commented on here. Nice work to both of you and so glad it worked out.

Kai, just a question, but why edit at such an odd pixel size? I always find it’s easier to edit in a normal aspect ratio (like 1920×1080 for instance) and create a mask that represents my final aspect ratio. I think bounce it out (usually to AE) to complete the final scaling in the final size. This not only helps with rt monitoring and more rt playback, but it helps everyone else visualize what’s going on.

Just curious is all.

Thanks for posting your work everyone.

Jeremy

[Kai Cheong]

Congrats on delivering the job, Kenny!

To answer Jeremy’s question: I’ve actually not thought of bouncing out to AE as a possibility. To be honest, I’m not too sure how it works. Perhaps it got to do with me not being too familiar with what AE could achieve.

To explain the rationale behind my workflow choice: the final video was screened from a 4-projector DataOn Watchout system into a seamless stretched canvas [rear projection, in this case]. So we had the full resolution of 4 SD projectors to work with [4 x 768]. We were shooting with a Phantom camera at 1280 x 800 resolution – which in itself is an odd size. So in essence, I could put 2 pieces of footage side by side to kind of fill up the entire canvas, without having to blow up the footage much and compromising on quality.

At the same time, even though we’re working with 4 projectors, we needed to factor in a 10% overlap for each projector so that the edge blending would work.

So after talking to the DataOn tech guys, the final calculations were down to the odd 2831 x 576 resolution.

If we weren’t shooting with the Phantom, we probably could’ve considered shooting 4K on the RED or something – but THAT would be another workflow challenge! That would allow us to have a real spanning image eg. a sprinter running the entire length of the canvas. Working within the constraints did force us to do some creative composition, which turned out pretty nice.

Just to find out more about the ‘bouncing out to AE” suggestion… if it’s for a project like what I’ve just finished, with a few layers of video, would I need to adjust the positions after I upscale them in AE [kinda like when you go from Offline to full-res – and have to manually adjust the positions for all the text and graphic elements]?

Kai
FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
—
Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
—
MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.7

8-Core Intel Mac Pro 2.26GHz | 8GB RAM | FCP 6.0.6 | Mac OS X 10.5.6 | 3.0TB CalDigit VR | 2 x 24″ Dell S2409W

[Rafael Amador]

I think that the “Send to SHAKE” function could be very useful for this kind of jobs.
Rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Kai Cheong] “To answer Jeremy’s question: I’ve actually not thought of bouncing out to AE as a possibility. To be honest, I’m not too sure how it works. Perhaps it got to do with me not being too familiar with what AE could achieve.”

You use automatic duck which will transfer your entire sequence in tact to AE. This would allow you to then make a comp at your final size and use AE’s superior scaling to achieve your final resolution. It’s not without some cavetas, though.

[Kai Cheong] “would I need to adjust the positions after I upscale them in AE [kinda like when you go from Offline to full-res – and have to manually adjust the positions for all the text and graphic elements]?”

Yes, but it should be a straight scale up if you have edited the original footage letterboxed in an HD timeline. I usually use a mask in FCP and drop the footage in sand reposition and scale underneath that mask. This way, you can see the final resolution, but have more real time monitoring.