Andy Mees
Forum Replies Created
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How are you judging the quality Jack? From the Canvas window or via an external HD reference monitor? How does it look in the Viewer window as compared to the Canvas?
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[gabriele gismondi] “no way to open an mxf file..just VLC let me see that..”
MXF4Mac are now offering a free MXF/GXF player: https://mxf4mac.com/applications
EDIT: Nope, sorry, my mistake … it only plays MXF’s if you already have their MXF Import QT solution.
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You need at least FCP 6.0.2 for XDCAM EX support Chris.
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The MXO is the only box that will let you do the DVI to SDI thing, nothing else like that on the market a far as I know … it’s not cheap, but it does offer dual functionality as it also work as a high quality Scan Convertor.
( Here’s a link to that SATA RAID controller card that can be used to replace the (Atheros) Airport card in your MBP 4,1 :
https://www.globalamericaninc.com/p1507890/1507890_-_PCI-Express_Mini-Card_Serial_ATA_RAID_Controller/product_info.html ) -
Craig
If your need is for monitoring only then you can use a Matrox MXO (not the MXO2) … connects via your MBP’s graphics port, you can still use the ExpressCard slot for your eSATA drive connection.
Alternatively you may be able to mod your MBP, adding SATA in place of the existing Airport card … you’d lose built-in WiFi connectivity but you can replace that with a USB based solution.
Hope it helps
Andy -
Doh! Sorry Rafa, I wasn’t thinking … must be the egg nog :-/
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[Dave LaRonde] ” if you set QT Conversion to the codec of the edit timeline, it can’t do any harm”
Although Batch Export will not necessarily force a QuickTime Conversion as noted previously, I think its worth noting that if you actually do intentionally target a QuickTime Conversion using the codec of the timeline it will force a full and probably unnecessary re-compression of that timeline … so its a full generational quality loss albeit only a digital one, obviously something thats always better to avoid if possible. That said, am pretty sure Dave’s point was more about recommending exporting reference movies which are obviously not actually QuickTime conversions at all (and as long as the source codec is an I-frame one then that also has the benefit of speedier export times and zero quality loss).
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[Rafael Amador] “The FC’s “Batch export” is better to be avoided. Is QT Conversion.”
Actually Rafa that’s not quite correct. Jus for clarities sake, Batch Export gives all the options and potential advantages of both the regular Quicktime Movie export method as well as the less well liked Quicktime Conversion export method. In the Batch Settings window, if you choose “Format: QuickTime Movie” then you are doing a regular QuickTime Movie export … if you choose any other option, including “Format : QuickTime (Custom)” then you are doing a Quicktime Conversion.
Cheers
Andy -
A second vote here for the SoundDevices USBPre, extremely rugged little boxes … we use them together with Coles lip mics. Excellent combo.
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[Guy Ross] “Several people have stated in this forum that Digital Cinema Display Preview is a sub-par monitoring solution … Do you agree? What’s the technical reasoning behind that?”
I do agree, absolutely, and so does Apple by all accounts.
Issues with color accuracy is one of the bigger issues. Most video is recorded as component (YPbPr aka YUV) but Digital Cinema Desktop Preview will display direct to your monitor as RGB, which means that unless you actually happen to be working in an RGB 4:4:4 format then its going through a color space conversion … the problem with the Digital Cinema Desktop output tho, is that the real time color space conversion it’s doing isn’t particularly special, it sacrifices accuracy for speed, and as a result the image displayed can not be considered accurate enough for critical evaluation purposes (assuming that’s your goal).
Interlacing issues are another biggie. If you are working with Standard Definition and/or interlaced footage then you’re immediately compromised with Digital Cinema Desktop output as it only plays your footage at the frame rate, not the field rate (your 60i/50i playback will be presented as 30p/25p). As a result, any potential interlacing issues are rendered invisible and any accurate assessment of the image and of motion within the footage is impossible.
Another noted issue is with inaccurate display of graphic files with native resolutions larger than 1920×1200 …
… so all in all its fine for what its name implies, a “Preview” but is not generally recommended for critical monitoring.
Here are a couple of links to some more info :
https://support.apple.com/kb/TA27705
https://provideocoalition.com/index.php/atepper/story/does_premiere_cs5_achieve_the_impossible_dream_for_critical_evaluation_moni/P1/Cheers
Andy