[Baba Goof]

the system the project is currently on is dv express pro 4.3.
the system we’d be exchanging with is premiere pro 1.5.
there is also an avid free dv available on the premiere workstation.

i was thinking that if conversions were necessary we might be able
to preview the avid media (original files captured on the
dv express pro 4.3 system) using the avid free dv software and
then selectively convert files.

basic process i’m starting to think about is:
1. consolidate the current project
2. convert the consolidated omf’s to avi for premiere
3. export a cmx3600 edl and import it into premiere

that should reconstruct the avid timeline in premiere.
we could then perform any tweaks in premiere and, if additional
media is needed, we could go back to the original 300 hrs that
were captured in dv express pro 4.3 and are currently residing
on external drives, use avid free dv to preview it, and convert
any media we think we need as we need it.

yes, it would be better and easier to just finish in the avid
but apparently that system is going away and these are the tools
they’ll have available for the finish. seem feasible?

thanks for your help,
BabaG

[Baba Goof]

oh yeah, standard def 720×480, not hd.

[Baba Goof]

thanks very much shane!

[Baba Goof]

well, that’s something, i guess. but imagine this
scenario:

i have a piece with 30 scenes, each of which makes
use of a library in addition to its own clips. if
i want to employ a workflow in which i put each
scene into its own project and import all of these
edited projects into a master project later, then
the master project will have 30 instances of the
library and all its clips. very inconvenient.

thanks,
BabaG

[Baba Goof]

i generally like to use ndf for all of the post process and
save df for the master as it makes calculating the length
of a clip simpler to do in my head. for example, if i’m
looking at a clip that spans an even minute in the timecode
display and i want to know how many frames long it is, it’s
easy to make a mistake if the code is df; i might think the
clip is a couple of frames longer than it actually is because
a couple of frames are dropped from the displayed tc count.
manual calculations are easier with ndf.

[Baba Goof]

thanks

[Baba Goof]

except stereo vs mono audio is important. audio tracks
are defined as one or the other.

[Baba Goof]

greg,

it sounds to me like the issue ultimately is not going to be
workflow but the ‘higher-ups.’ if they are wanting adrenaline
systems vs ppro, they might well be ready to pounce on any
workflow issues posed by ppro. if you go with their pick,
they won’t be able to say anything. and there are issues
with ppro’s ability to work with other systems.

while i think that ppro is the system that holds the most
promise for the future, it’s a crapshoot as to whether that
will be followed up on by adobe. avid and, to a lesser extent,
fcp are both made with more of an ability to interface their
workflow with other systems in mind. it seems to me that if
there are going to be three suites working together you’re
probably working on a level at which you can expect things
to, at least occassionally, come in from or go out to outside
houses or contractors for some form of collaborative work.
if that ever happens, the current state of adobe software
will open you up to negative scrutiny from above. on the
other hand, if you’re sure everything will always be handled
in house without exception, then i think ppro is probably
the best choice.

BabaG

[Baba Goof]

thanks for the tips folks. may have solved it. after much googling and
gnashing of teeth (and prefs deletions), all to no avail (sp?), i did
a test by creating a new project from scratch. i imported a random file
(they’re all 23.98) from the problem project’s drive into the new
project. lo and behold, the file played flawlessly on the timeline.
i thought it might have something to do with the new project being so
small, consisting of only a single sequence with a single file. with
the new project open, i opened the problem project, intending to copy
a sequence from the problem project to the new project. i thought i’d
start copying things across, testing playback as i went to see if there
was a point at which the firewire out issue appeared. however, the old
problem project opened and played fine. i then closed the new and
functional test project. the old project continued to play correctly
out the firewire from that point on. makes little sense to me but it
seems to have worked.

in a nutshell for anyone else who experiences this:

create a new project at the same settings as the problem project.
with the new project open, open the old project. then close the new
project.

thanks again,
BabaG

[Baba Goof]

thanks steve. i’d thought of the render file onto the timeline idea
and have used it many times on other systems. good tip.

my thinking is that the difference between captured and rendered files
is not in the type of file but how it is used. since captured media will
not be altered once written to the drive, i like to keep it all isolated.
files are laid down sequentially that way on the drive. fragmentation
should never occur. new captures just pick up where the last left off.

render files can be generated and regenerated over and over as projects
evolve. i’d think the system might gain some performance by having these
separate where they can be defragged, if need be, or simply regenerated.

since one type is static and the other dynamic it seems to me a good idea
to segregate them.