-
starting up…
I’ve got a couple noobie questions for a final cut machine we just set up… knowing very little about apple and even less about final cut, hopefully you all can help me out 🙂
1) We’re producing a documentary series at the moment and have footage coming in from different kinds of formats. Mostly PAL DV and stills, but also DigiBeta (captured over component), and some HD 1080 25p. We’ll probably crop/convert everything to fit in a PAL SD project. I’m pushing for shooting progressive and just “reinterlacing” at the end, but the footage we have now is a mix. So- what’s the best way to integrate all these formats and maintain best quality? If the best way is ridiculous, what’s a great realistic way? Specifically- what project settings should we use, and if it’s progressive, do we need to send all the interlaced stuff through compressor for adaptive interlacing (and maybe resizing) before bringing it in (that will be a pain, considering that much of the footage will not be used in the end- but I also don’t want to see artifacts appear for no reason on the progressive footage).
2) Basic setup question- we’re using an AJA Kona LSe card, and on a quick test I was able to monitor the timeline- when I scrubbed it looked great, but when I rendered and hit “play” the monitor was just frozen on the image till I stopped playing, at which point it jumped to the present frame. Next time I go in maybe I’ll realize it’s a setting issue somewhere… but I’d love some input on this too.
Thanks!
-
1 Reply
-
As for item #1, the easiest basic answer is to set up your timeline for the desired output format (your PAL SD) and work with the footage directly on the timeline. FCP will conform it for you. As for interlacing in a mixed project like that, I tend to set up my timeline for progressive (field dominance “none”) and bring in my source as “none” as well (set in browser before bringing to timeline or change in timeline using “format” via contextual menu). Some clips may require a de-interlace filter. I then use the compressor setting for the DV and let it handle the interlacing.
That’s what I do, but I’d be interested in hearing other folks’ impressions as to whether they get a better result by pre-converting the footage (or maybe even going to the ProRes 422 codec).
#2 The easy answer (which you may have already checked) is menu command: VIEW>EXTERNAL VIDEO>ALL FRAMES of CMD-F12
Hope this helps!
“…all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness…” yada yada
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up