[Ben Holmes]

I’m a recent MXO2 user, and was wondering the same thing. However, the reason ProRes runs badly on a MBP (incidentally, my 2.33 WILL capture 1080i50 ProRes HQ using the MXO2…) is that Apple achieved the great compression using a processor-intensive codec. Love you think they could improve on that…

Of course, you could use the IOHD (if it wasn’t the size/weight of several bricks!)

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[Ben Holmes]

For a great after effects tutorial for a google earth zoom, look on video copilot. Very effective…

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[Ben Holmes]

What problems do you have with ProRes HQ? Use it constantly. Never heard of any problems…

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[Ben Holmes]

Bottom line:

1. Apple always has an ‘up-to-date’ program allow anyone who JUST purchased the old version to upgrade at little/no cost.

2. If you bought it several months before a new version is released, you will a) have a perfectly good and stable version to use in the mean time and will b) only have to pay the upgrade cost.

As I don’t recommend installing any first release on money-making systems (that’s what my laptops, iMacs etc. are for), even if they released FCS3 tomorrow, I wouldn’t be that bothered about buying FCS2 today…

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[Ben Holmes]

[Chris Woods] “Not sure if I’ll hook up a monitor down the road”

Then, IMHO, I’m not sure you should be editing RED footage for profit. Whatever the end delivery format, you should have a proper monitor to view this on. FCP DOES NOT show you a proper quality preview in the canvas.

I think most people get so bored of saying this on here, they don’t bother. Just because new HD formats do not require a card to capture footage, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use one to view it. What happens if you convert it to an interlaced format for delivery? How can you colour correct (essential with RED footage)?

Even a properly calibrated HDMI monitor/TV would be better than nothing, with something like the BM Intensity card (although I wouldn’t go this route myself, perhaps it will encourage others to take the next step). Otherwise you could use the Matrox MXO with a computer monitor.

If I was the person who paid to have RED footage shot on $60,000 worth of equipment, I would expect this spec at a minimum.

I know you will think me a grouch and curmudgeon for even saying this – but I’m afraid it’s yet another step towards the ‘don’t know, don’t care’ school of FCP editing, which does the entire industry a disservice.

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[Ben Holmes]

Almost all the major capture cards (Kona, Blackmagic etc) are input and output devices. Just make sure you get one that is compatible with your PCI bus and G5 processor, as many are now PCI-E and intel drivers only. Or there’s the Matrox MXO, or the excellent MXO2….

Ben

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[Ben Holmes]

I would try a different firewire cable or deck if possible. Check the audio issues are recorded in – ie. occur in the same place each time. If not, this could be an external audio/video settings issue – assuming you are monitoring via the deck.

As far as settings go, check the audio bitrate matches to the tape (usually 48Khz in DV), as someone could have messed up the DV preset.

Couple of notes: If you open the capture preset you are using, and check the anamorphic box there before capturing, then you will not have to tick the anamorphic tag on every clip afterwards. And NEVER capture to the desktop – system drives and media should be kept seperate wherever possible – although I guess you were just trying to eliminate drive problems here.

Ben

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[Ben Holmes]

As others have noted, there’s no real way around the method you describe unless you get a DVD recorder. Compressor is pretty quick for DVD encodes on a newer machine (the more cores the better with compressor), but you still need to spend 10+ hours capturing, and at least twice that encoding.

Note also that the quality will fall considerably if you try to get too much on each disk. 2 hours is an absolute max.

Ben

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[Ben Holmes]

A 30 second post search yields this link:

https://blogs.adobe.com/davtechtable/2008/04/apples_compressor_encore_blura.html#more

I seem to remember using this myself for a Blu-Ray encode – and it’s a lot more reliable than letting Encore transcode.

As has often been mentioned here in the past, Encore Blu-Ray for MAC is buggy as hell, so I recommend not trying anything more than a simple ‘press play’ menu.

Ben

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[Ben Holmes]

This was for a COMMERCIAL?

Ok. If you want to do a timelapse of the components going in, and the product did not move at all (!) I’d suggest making a timelapse ‘edit’ in FCP, then dropping that into Motion as a movie.

Use the mask tool in Motion (the pen) to draw (or set points) around the product. Take time to do this carefully. Undo points if you have to. Move them later if it needs it. To make curves, click (hold) and drag. Experiment with this on a small section before you do the whole thing. You may need to invert the mask so it cuts out the area outside the product. Read the Motion manual on masks.

At the very least, you will then be able to composite a clean background in. Get a ‘look’ for the background so it slightly matches the shadows within the product *shudder*, or go for a completely stylised look.

Then sack whoever shot it. I hope no one got paid for this…

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