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Tagging spots
I have been working with FCP for a couple of years and my final product has always been DVD. I am now needing to tag some spots and need some advice/info. I have access to a Beta SP recorder deck and a Umatic recorder deck, which would be best and how do I connect it to my G5? Are there any pitfalls I should be aware of? Are there any tutorials anyone knows of that would help a output for broadcast rookie? Sorry if this is the wrong forum but I didn’t know where else to go for info and I always get great advice from the Cow. Thanks for any knowledge you can send my way.
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6 Replies
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SP is a better way to go than Umatic – does anyone even use that anymore? We have a Umatic and it’s a bit of a relic now – I’m not sure it’s even been powered up in about 3 years…
Although here in Australia, the preferred format for TVC is digital betacam.
To connect SP or digi you’ll need a third party capture card – Blackmagic Decklink and AJA Kona are pretty much the main players here. You’ll need a RAID hard drive to keep up with the data rate at broadcast quality levels if you don’t already have one. We run AJA Kona, and I’d happily recommend.
One of the post paths we have used for low-budget ads is to bypass using tape altogether. We get the material digitised at a studio/dubbing house (usually there isn’t much and is cheaper than hiring a digi deck), cut the spot, master it out as a hi-res Quicktime file (uncompressed 4:2:2) and then take it back to the dubbing house to master it to digi. Just one way of doing it.
This may just create more questions, but I hope it helps!
Enzo Tedeschi
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Editor
http://www.outpostpps.com
Sydney, AustraliaYouTube Channel – http://www.youtube.com/outpostpps
Check out the Outpost Video Podcast – http://www.outpostpps.com/podcast/
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Thanks for the information. It helps alot. The Quicktime route sounds like it may be the best/cheapest option. What do you think about geting the spots on DVCam tape, do the tagging in FCP and outputting to the uncompressed QT? Do you add slates and countdown to the front of your QT?
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DVCAM will pass – just… if they were created on anything higher, then you’ll be losing information going down to DVCAM. Best off trying to get uncompressed files.
When we go this route, I prep a timeline as if going to tape – bars, ID/slate, countdown, and pic start at 00:01:30:00. This is standard here in Oz, don’t know about where you are?
That way you’ve got a QT with the right TC, and wherever you go, it will be a minimum of fuss to get that from your file to a tape.
Things to be aware of:
field order – common stumbling block. Anything other than DV is UPPER field first. Progressive frames can work too, but if you have footage with a lot of motion, it can get the jitters. Nothing worse than getting to the dubbing house only to find out that your fields are reversed.
frame size – I always prep 16:9 material as 720×576 anamorphic (PAL). I have seen people prep QTs as 1024×576 so that it looks right on their machine, but a potential world of pain at the other end.
codec – use one that you KNOW will work at the other end. I have used None (good for embedding alphas and CG stuff), Apple Uncompressed 10bit 4:2:2 or 8 bit 4:2:2, or find out what hardware they are using and use the appropriate codec.
Good luck!
Enzo Tedeschi
____________________________
Editor
http://www.outpostpps.com
Sydney, AustraliaYouTube Channel – http://www.youtube.com/outpostpps
Check out the Outpost Video Podcast – http://www.outpostpps.com/podcast/
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No idea what “tagging spots” means. But I can tell you how I have routed my Sony U-matic/3-quarter inch deck and a Sony UVW-1800 Beta SP deck to my PowerBook G4 and PowerMac G5: I have used both the Panasonic AG-DVC60 MiniDV camera and the Canon XL2 MiniDV camera as analog/digital converters. No problems with either setup. The XL2 even has a BNC connection port for video, in addition to the RCA port.
Not many folks realize that many of these types of MiniDV cameras are also 2-way, analog/digital converters. In fact, I use both of mine more for converting and less for shooting! -
Thanks for the info. I have an XL1s but I don’t think it has the connectors I need.
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You can probably do it shotsave’s way with the XL1s, but you’ll be compressing the hell out of the pics. 5:1 actually. In my opinion, not suitable for broadcast. At least, not decent broadcast anyway – if that image quality is acceptable to your client, then you’ll save yourself a bunch of trouble. If not, you may cost yourslef a client.
Enzo Tedeschi
____________________________
Editor
http://www.outpostpps.com
Sydney, AustraliaYouTube Channel – http://www.youtube.com/outpostpps
Check out the Outpost Video Podcast – http://www.outpostpps.com/podcast/
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