Andrew Kimery
Forum Replies Created
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[Michael Graziano] “All of the non archival footage, which is most of it, is HDV. I could’ve missed it, but I didn’t see an HDV export/conversion option in Mpeg streamclip. I’ll keep playing with it to see. thanks “
Open the clip in MPEG Streamclip then File->Export as QuickTime, then choose the appropriate Apple HDV codec from the Compression drop down menu.
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[Ben Scott] “sorry for the rant just seems bit strange that XDCAM needs to be such a pain to get into a system”
Personally I like that the XDCAM xfer software can be used stand alone from FCP. I can bring in a days worth of files in the background and not have to stop editing.-A
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[Evan Meszaros] “I can make a new sequence with the HDV 1080i compressor, but what frame size should I use. (960×720 seems the obvious choice, but will the deck play that back?) Also, what frame rate? I don’t think the M15U plays back 24P… So If I make it 29.97, what should the key frame settings be?
Make a new sequence, open sequence settings, click “load sequence presets” and select the HDV 1080i60 settings. Trying to ‘roll your own’ sequence settings is just asking for trouble. W/that said, I wouldn’t trust FCP to do the frame rate conversion in the timeline. If it was me I’d export a reference movie of your DVCPro HD timeline and use Compressor to do the conversion.All of this is probably an exercise in futility if I cannot record to the PDV 124N DVCAM tapes – but I assume THAT is at least possible. “
The M15U can take full-size DV tapes.-A
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[Paul Campbell] “I can view the native footage in the Viewer just fine. No blur at all. Is it not safe to say that if my system/monitor can handle playing back 1080 footage in the viewer that it should be able to playback the same footage downsized to NTSC while viewing the Canvas? The 1080 playback seems like it would require more math, no? (Or does the conversion from 1080 to NTSC in the timeline actually require more math?) “
The conversion from 1080 to NTSC requires more math (much, much more math) which is why the image quality in the Canvas takes a hit. Basically you are asking FCP to decompress the progressive, 24fps XDCAM footage, compress it into interlaced 29.97 DV footage (I assume you are working w/DV), then decompress the DV so you can see the image in the Canvas window. A format and a frame rate change between two very compressed codecs is a lot to ask of your CPUs.-A
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Just to add to what David has already said, Ed. Basically what you did is recorded in a very high quality codec (Animation) and then beat the living snot out of it by reducing it to DV25 (both in FCP and in the exports you tried). That’s why you saw the big drop off in quality. If you choose a progressive format to work in (DVCPro HD for example) that will help keep quality up since you are recording a progressive signal (your computer monitor) and delivering progressive as well (progressive compresses much cleaner than interlaced does).
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To summarize what Steven said, you focus on the storytelling and the AE does everything else. 😉
You can also put the AE in charge of any daily back-ups that need to be made (one for on location and one off location such as a remote FTP) and daily preventive maintenance on the computers. Cocktail, for example, is a handy little app to have.
https://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/cocktail_maintain.html
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A consumer camera will react to the MacroVision on the VHS tape too. The OP either needs a higher-end prosumer, or professional level, piece of recording gear (or TBC) that doesn’t recognize macrovision. A DVD version of the movie would be much easier to work w/than a VHS version.
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We have some older Blackmagic Multibridges here that are finicky but for the past couple of months we’ve been running the newer Multibridge Eclipses on Mac Pros w/o any headaches so far.
[Joe Espina] “As far as frame accuracy in laying off from Final Cut, what steps need to be done to make sure I hit on every frame I intend to start on? Frequency Settings, Reference, HD Sync. “
In FCP go Audio/Video settings->Device Control Presets tab and you’ll see a list of all your presets. One of the settings is Playback offset and you can use this to adjust the timing if everything is hooked up right but you are still not frame accurate. Our setup here was coming in a frame late so I made a duplicate of the proper Preset and changed the default offset of 4 frames to 5 frames. Now we are dead on.-A
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[Arnie Schlissel] “I’m not sure that this has anything to do with it, but I noticed that your source footage is .dv. What is the frame size of the source?”
.DV would be my first guess as the source of the problem. .DV has a different data rate than the Apple DV codec and has given me fits in the past when I’ve used it w/FCP.
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[Jeremy Garchow] “I think this has to do with not having a reel name rather than timecode. elements that don’t have a reel name (such as rendered motion graphics from other programs) simply get passed by FCP in their full glory by FCP. “
Correct. As long as the clip has a reel number associated w/it the Media Manager will properly ‘cut it down.’-A