Alan Okey
5
COW Coins
2
DaVinci Coins
Forum Replies Created
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[Wayne Carey] “Look…. If you play a 16:10 video on a 4:3 tv, it’s going to be letterboxes. No ifs, ands, or buts. That’s the way it is.
The only option is is to do a center punch. That is to cut off the sides so that it fills the screen. Unless, you squeeze the video to fill the screen.”
I think you misread his post. His client has a 16:10 screen, not a 4:3 screen. The client wants the DVD content to fill the 16:10 screen completely without letterboxing, but that’s simply not possible. The closest that he could get would be to author a 16:9 anamorphic DVD, but there would still be very slight black bars above and below the image (although not nearly as bad as if the content were 4:3).
The only way to completely fill a 16:10 screen with no letterboxing would be to create content with a custom resolution at a 16:10 aspect ratio. Since the DVD spec only supports 4:3 and anamorphic 16:9 aspect ratios, 16:10 content would need to be delivered via another method, such as video file playback from a computer.
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[Miki Shalom] “I was asked by a client to deliver a NTSC dvd with a video clip that will fill a specific screen, no letterboxing. I’ve got the screen specs (Dell, 30” (76cm) diagonal display with 2560×1600 resolution and 16:10 aspect ratio) and the player’s (Sony upscaling DVD). “
What the client is asking for is impossible. Anamorphic DVDs are 16:9, so there will always be letterboxing (albeit very slight) on a 16:10 screen. The best you can do is author a 16:9 anamorphic DVD.
If the client demands the content to exactly conform to a native 16:10 aspect ratio, it will need to be done by some means other than DVD, such as a custom resolution Quicktime file played back on a computer.
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[ryan early] “Compressor doesn’t allow me to export mpeg2 with 422 chroma.”
Up until recently I thought the same thing, but Jeremy Garchow posted this:
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/8/1112801
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[Dave LaRonde] “If all these edit timelines use the same codec, it would be easy — and fairly fast — to export reference (i.e. not self-contained) files, then drag ’em into Compressor and batch export a bunch of H.264’s.”
This is exactly the workflow I would recommend. Use FCP’s batch export feature to export reference (i.e. not self-contained) Quicktime movies of all of your sequences, then bring those reference movies into Compressor to create h.264 Quicktime movies.
As for specifics about Compressor:
1. Set up a virtual cluster on your computer. Search this forum for “Qmaster” or “vrtual cluster” for step-by-step instructions. Note that the “sweet spot’ for the number of instances to assign Compressor in the Qmaster preferences will vary depending on the number of cores in your computer. On an 8-core machine, the sweet spot seems to be 6 cores.
2. Create a custom encoding profile in Compressor by starting with an h.264 preset, then switch on Frame Controls in the Inspector tab and select Best for the resize filter. Make sure to set the frame size and pixel aspect to your required specs, then save the custom preset.
3. Open the Quicktime reference movies that you batch exported form FCP and apply the custom encoding preset that you created in step 2.
4. Instead of submitting the job to “local computer,” choose the virtual cluster that you created in Qadministrator in step 1. This will ensure that Compressor will make full use of the optimum number of cores for processing.
Note that the “send to Compressor” feature in FCP unfortunately cannot utilize virtual clusters:
https://support.apple.com/kb/TS3079
This makes it necessary to manually batch export from FCP and then process the exported reference movies in Compressor in order to make the most efficient use of multicore processing on the computer.
Ideally, the “send to Compressor” feature should be updated in a future version to support job submission to clusters. I think that the feature is pretty weak in its current implementation.
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[Jeremiah Crowley] “My original thought was to “batch export” from FCP and skip compressor. Thoughts?”
By skipping Compressor, you’re giving up two things:
– the ability to get the best quality encoding by tweaking various options in the Frame Controls tab
– the ability to make full use of all available cores in your computer via virtual clustering through Qmaster
If getting the best quality or having the fastest encoding isn’t important to you, then of course you can simply batch export sequences from within FCP.
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[Brian Sabolich] “Can someone tell me what I need to get that will allow me to run two mini displayport based monitors without having to go through an adaptor?”
You’ll need a graphics card with two Mini DisplayPort outputs, such as:
https://store.apple.com/us/product/MC742ZM/A?fnode=MTY1NDA5OQ&mco=MTg2OTU0NzM
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It’s not an error, it’s due to the fact that System Preferences must relaunch in 32-bit mode for non-64-bit preference panes. It’s completely normal.
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Which 24p mode did you use on your camera? Panasonic cameras can record 24p standard or 24p Advanced. Both modes are recording 24p over 29.97 with pulldown, neither are native 24p. In order to edit in a 24p (23.98) sequence, you need to first remove the pulldown.
The advantage of shooting in the 24p Advanced mode is that FCP can automatically remove Advanced pulldown when capturing over Firewire.
For 24p standard, you would need to use Cinema tools to remove the pulldown manually by using the reverse telecine function.
Either way, you need to first remove the pulldown from your footage prior to editing in a 24p sequence.
As others have said, your camera cannot record native 24p Native. It can only record 24p with 3:2 pulldown on a 29.97 signal. The only cameras that can record true native 24p (no pulldown) are cameras that record to solid state memory cards.
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If breakneck speed and uncompromising quality are what your client demands, why aren’t they just cutting and finishing this spot on Smoke?
Oh wait, let me guess – they blew their whole budget on the RED and now they want the post done for next to nothing.
Have fun!
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Your post is confusing. How many outputs are on the graphics card in your Mac Pro, and what type are they?