Alex Elkins
Forum Replies Created
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Gary,
I realise this is a relatively old thread, but your answer has shed some light on a problem I’m having. The link seems to be that the flash frames appear with progressive footage – I’m actually working with a sequence rendering ProRes (progressive), shot as XDCAM EX 1080/25p. I’ve also noticed it with the transcoded Red footage I’ve used, which is also progressive.
However, you say it’s an issue with the CPU not keeping up… really!? I’m using an 8-core 3.2GHz Mac Pro, plus 16GB RAM and a good, solid RAID 5 over e-SATA which has so far never dropped a frame. If an Apple endorsed codec doesn’t work properly on a top-end system like that then there’s something very wrong with the way Apple are currently operating.
Best,
Alex Elkins -
[Maurik de Ridder] “Now I want to grade that in Color and export it to the same codec
But the final deliverable is in SD PAL Uncompressed 10Bit”In Color you can set your project to render out as Uncompressed 10bit.
Just to clarify, are you delivering a file, not a tape? If you were delivering a tape then most capture cards would do the down-conversion for you. They won’t help you if you’re delivering a file though.
If you’re delivering a file, then I’d recommend doing the conversion in Compressor.
Good luck,
Alex Elkins -
Conversely I’ve heard stories of people saying the opposite about LaCie drives. I’ve always been warned to steer clear but if it works for you then it works.
[Taylor Hungerford] “The WD seemed like a pretty safe bet, but there have been complaints that it spins down too soon. A similar thing happens with the Seagate, where it actually dismounts when one quits final cut.”
Try downloading ‘Disksomnia’ – it’s an application that stops your drives from going to sleep when they’re not in use.
I’d suggest looking into getting an e-SATA PCI card (or Express 34 adapter if you use a laptop). It’s a much faster connection than Firewire800 and off the top of my head I think the two drives you mentioned come with that connection in addition to the FW ports. The cards are incredibly good value if all you need is the basic socket (i.e. no RAID controller built in) – I’m using one that cost me £10 and it’s performed perfectly.
All the best,
Alex Elkins -
Hi Richard,
I would suggest changing your sequence compression in FCP to Apple Pro Res 422, and set it to render as High Precision YUV, as suggested above. Rendering as XDCam will add unwanted compression to everything, whereas Pro Res will ensure that the quality remains the best it can be.
Once the sequence is rendered, export a Quicktime Movie using ‘Current Settings’, then bring that file into Compressor to do the conversion to DVD. The DVD Best Settings template is pretty good. As you’ll be downconverting to SD, you might also want to try turning Frame Controls on in the video settings window, and set the Resize Filter to either ‘Better’ or ‘Best’ (depending on how long you’re prepared to wait for it). Run some tests on ten second segments to see what works best.
All of the other settings like deinterlace, rate conversion etc can remain as they are.I’d also suggest you look into setting up multiple core rendering using QMaster if you’ve not already done so – this page looks like a good run-through of how to do it, although I’ve not read the entire thing. There’s plenty of information on the net and here on the Cow anyway, but let me know if you get stuck.
All the best,
Alex Elkins -
[Matthew Troyansky] “i was originally thinking of some 1TB G-Raids?”
Hi Matthew,
Those drives are good for what they are, but really aren’t the most suited for what you’ll be doing. A RAID is a set of harddrives, which work together to act as a single external harddrive. There are SO many different options, but RAID is what you need, in my opinion. Check out the ads for companies like CalDigit, Maxx Digital, G Tech etc. The information on their sites will give you an idea of the benefits of such a system.
In terms of capacity, I would suggest you need at least 8TB (formatted as RAID 5 will leave roughly 5.5TB) which will allow for around 100 hours of DVCPro HD. I don’t know how much you expect to film, but for a feature documentary you could quite easily exceed that amount.Do some of research into RAIDs as understanding the terminology will be a real benefit to you as it’s such a vast subject and hugely important to people working in Post.
[Matthew Troyansky] “i really appreciate your help even though the question is asked so often.”
The question is indeed asked a lot, but technology is updated a lot as well, which leads to further answers and information being needed.
All the best,
Alex Elkins -
Hi Matthew,
One important piece of information would be to know what your budget is. There are virtually limitless options.
I’ll list below in fairly general terms some of the hardware I think you’ll need, assuming that your budget is realistic.
Firstly though, have you considered the benefits of simply dry-hiring an edit suite for this project? It could well work out cheaper, depending on how long you intend to spend in post with it. Of course, if this is the first of many projects that your team will be working on then it’s perhaps most sensible to buy.Just as a side note, if you can still convince them to shoot onto P2 it would save a hell of a lot of time compared to capturing from tape.
The fastest 8 core Mac Pro you can afford
12GB RAM, as suggested by the other poster.
I would suggest the basic option hard drive to use as your System drive (storing your software, operating system etc)
For your internal working drives, I like to have two internal drives set up as a RAID 1 – this means that if one of them fails, the other will still hold all of your documents, project files etc.You will certainly need a good external RAID system as well. There are so many options out there and your best bet is to contact a supplier or consultant to advise you – a rule of thumb for you, given that you’re doing a documentary and presumably expect to have a lot of raw footage, is to get the most storage you can afford. The speed of any reasonable system with a decent amount of storage should comfortably be fast enough for DVCPro HD.
A Kona 3 or LHi capture card.
A broadcast monitor – check out the yellow ad on this forum for FSI – they look like excellent monitors for the price and come highly recommended.
Two computer monitors – I would assume this is quite obvious for an editor but it’s worth mentioning just in case. Brand, in my opinion, is not that important as long as you do your research and you intend to monitor your pictures on a broadcast monitor. Apple monitors are nice, but way overpriced.
Also, you’ll need to look into your audio monitoring – decent speakers, possibly a D-A converter, a mixer. There are so many options.
My advice would be to get an overview in your head of what you want, then take that idea to a company who will make sure that it’s all going to work – there will clearly be added costs in doing that, but think of it as insurance to some extent. No point having a load of expensive gear that doesn’t work properly together!
Good luck,
Alex Elkins -
Hi Paul,
For laying on to tape, will you be passing the signal through a video card and into a deck, or just over Firewire?
The best practice is to set your sequence settings to Apple Pro Res and ‘render to high precision YUV’, render, then Edit to Tape. As I’m sure you know, Mini DV is very much a compressed tape format, but rendering to Pro Res at least doesn’t add further [noticeable] compression to things like graphics, the photos etc.
For the DVD, export Quicktime Movie from FCP using the settings as above. Then bring that file into Compressor and drop the ‘DVD Best Quality’ template settings onto your file. This generally yields sufficient results, although if you’re in a position to run some tests you can play with the settings on ten second segments and see what looks best.
The final stage is to bring those files into DVD Studio Pro, create any menus you want, then burn the DVD. If you’ve not done this before it’s relatively straight-forward, but check the DVD Studio forum for tips.
It might be worth mentioning to your client, though, that the best quality will come from playing it as a file from a harddrive – is this an option?
Good luck,
Alex Elkins -
Daniel,
I’m sorry if this sounds a little harsh, but it seems like what you’re asking is “can I, the editor, dodge the task of proper editing.”
A conversation between two characters in a feature film is not generally shot on multiple cameras – they do numerous takes and the editor has to piece it together in the best way. That’s their job. It’s about storytelling, and for a fellow editor to be asking how they can get around bothering to tell the story is a bit of a shame.
Multiclipping works great for sports, concerts etc, but when you have the luxury of post-production to tell a story in the best possible way, you should take it! It’s much more satisfying.
Bill Davis’ advice was a really good starting point.
Good luck,
Alex Elkins -
I know this is a relatively old thread but hopefully someone can answer this quick question;
Is it possible to apply universal changes to text done in Boris 3D? I have a bunch of subtitles (fortunately not too many!) that I did in Boris because of its ability to wrap the text to a certain width, but I can’t find anywhere in the XML the code to change any of the parameters. I just want to change the font and style (bold).
Thanks,
Alex Elkins -
[johnsabbath d’urzo] “they have there own gear they might just say come into our studio if they would have to pay more.”
The benefit to them of using your own equipment is that their equipment is available for other jobs. That is why it’s acceptable for you to charge more. However, they may have absolutely no other use for it, in which case they won’t care that you have other equipment. Plus, given that it’s a year long contract you can expect that a producer will want to sit in with you over those months. They’re unlikely to want to have to travel to your place, and it’s going to be difficult to bring all your gear over to them.
I work full-time for a company 85 miles from my house. I have my own gear but it is not at all convenient for me to work from home as far as the people paying me are concerned.
The bottom line is you have to speak to the company and find out what they expect to pay, and where they expect you to work. See if it sounds good to you.
Good luck,
Alex