Boyd Mccollum
Forum Replies Created
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I saw a demo of the H1 and I was really impressed. The person giving the demo did discuss the fact that FCP currently does not handle 24f at this time – if I recall, the reason was that FCP was working to get first Sony HDV to run natively, then more recently the Panasonic HVX-200. I’m sure Apple is working to get the H1 to work in 24f with FCP.
[scifiauthor] “want to move into the true 16:9 HD realm”
16:9 is not the same as 24f or 24P – one is the aspect ratio (size of the image), the other how many frames a second you record. You can shoot 16:9 at 30i or 30p (not sure the specs off hand for the H1) without any problems and it will look great. 24P is used to create the “film” look on video. But it is only one element used, you also need to manipulate the gamma settings in the camera, etc, not to mention the importance of lighting, to create that “film” look.
I wouldn’t base my decision on getting the H1 on whether FCP works with 24f unless you absolutely needed to do that immediately. You’ll have any camera you get for the next 3+ years. As Graeme mentioned, there are some workarounds that you can use in the interim.
Your decision on the camera should be based on how you shoot, and what you plan on shooting. The big advantage of the H1, like the XL1 (and 2), are the interchangeable lenses. I believe the H1 takes the XL1 lenses, though they may be just a tad soft for HD (not necessarily a bad thing) and Canon is working on a set of lenses for the H1. Another advantage is when shooting handheld, you can support the camera on your shoulder.
The new HVX-200 looks great as well, currently has native support for 24p in FCP and is true HD (not HDV), and the extra money you save helps to buy a few of those P2 cards. There are some downstream considerations for editing that you’d have to consider as well, including huge file sizes (ie, storage). And depending on the amount of footage you shoot at any given time, and at what resolution you shoot, you may find yourself needing to buy quite a few P2 cards and/or a Firestore(s).
My $.02. Definitely make your choice based on what the camera can do in the field first, what you plan on shooting, then post-production. At the end of the day, based on the camera choices available, you really can’t go that wrong with any of them.
Boyd
“Go slow to go fast” -
Check out https://www.mwp.com/books/budgeting-financing/video-budget.php4 from Michael Weise Productions. The book is a great resource for rates and he has Excel spreadsheets as well.
Boyd
“Go slow to go fast” -
in addition, double check the obvious – sequence setttings match capture settings and audio is at 48khz (not 44.1 or 32 khz).
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Can’t recommend a video camera, you could just go to Best Buy or Circuit City and check them out and look at the manuals before buying.
How much analog video are you capturing and/or are you capturing just specific sections of VHS tapes? Remember MiniDV takes up about 13 Gigs per hour. If you captured to miniDV first, you would then have device control and be able to set in and out points (cuts down on the possibility of sync slippage issues).
Another option. Pick up a analog/digital converter (Canopus makes some good ones, and they run around 200 or so for their lower end converters). Higher end converts would add options such as noise reduction, time base correction and audio lock, which will improve the quality of your transfers. B&H Photo Video carries converters at reasonable prices.
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What they are doing is called “double sytem sound recording”. It comes from the world of film, where the camera did not/could not record sound and a tape recorder (like a nagra reel to reel, or more recently, a DAT recorder) was used. You would then sync up sound with picture in post production.
You do double system sound in video for a variety of reasons, including being able to record better sound quality then what the camera can record.
[Arty] “are we doing it wrong…”
No. There are many ways to do things. That you are using a boom has probably improved your audio more than recording to an external deck.
[Arty] “is there a better way to do it.”
There’s always a better way 😛
[Arty] “so much information to learn so little brain cells to attach it too.”
That’s true for everyone starting out. As you increase the number of “production” brains cells you have, the more information attaches. Don’t worry about what others are doing, especially from what you see in a photo. It’s the quickest way to over-complicate things. Focus on the needs of your production, and remember everything serves the story. Without good and interesting content, everything else is fairly irrelevant.
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You can do this with the PD 170. Several years ago I had a GL1 I tried to do something along those lines, but can’t remember if it worked or not (as I wasn’t as savy then), but think I got it to work for a vhs player, but not a DVD. Check your manual, it should have information on doing this. You could also just go through the menu items and see if there is one for handling DV (eg, dv in/out or lcd). It might also be a case where you need to have a tape in your camera in play mode, then having the unit in the record/paused mode for it to work.
Worse comes to worse, record the vhs to the GL1, then capture it. You could also do a google search “canon+GL1+forum+analog+digital” or some variation of that.
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Under the Help Menu in FCP you can open up the FCP manual in Preview. Do a search for Logging or Log & Capture and it will pull it up for you. Reading through the basics will take less time and be more thorough then someone here trying to post the same information:
Basics are:
FW from camera to computer,
System Settings to tell FCP where to put the media you capture,
User Preferences to select your basic preferences,
Cmd 8 gives you the Log & Capture Window;
Select Clip and Capture settings tabs in the L&C window to set those preferences,
Logging tab to name your tape – even if you do Capture Now, fill in the name field or else it will capture your footage as “Untitled” (and folks that do that then post questions asking why all their media is called “Untitled”).I believe there is a tutorial that came with FCP studio. Take some time and go through it. The few hours you spend doing that will save you so much more time and frustration in the long run (not to mention in the short term).
Boyd
“Go slow to go fast” -
Tom’s correct – you should get in the habit of posting details of your system (hardware – computer, drives, capture cards, camera; software – which version of the OS, FCP, QT you are using for starters) when asking for help. You can check some of the other posts here or on the Cow to get examples of that. The same “problem” could have a different solution/cause from one system to another.
It would also be helpful to know:
1. what kind of camera you are using;
2. what device control you are using (capturing settings tab in the log and capture window)
3. how are you logging & capturing your footage – Capture Now, Batch Capture, Capture Clip
4. In User Preferences, under “On Timecode Break” there is a drop down menu with 3 options, that decides what FCP will try to do on timecode break.
5. Does it only do this on this one tape, or does it happen with other tapes?
6. Play the tape at the problem area and see what happens with the TC at that point.
7. Have you tried capturing using another camera (not also an option)?Don’t forget that the cause could be entirely on the camera/tape side of things – usually FCP can relocate after a TC break quickly (and it’s better in FCP 5 then in FCP 4). The tape may just have a glitch – rarely, but I have run into that (it was towards the end of the tape.) Make sure the camera heads are clean.
Possible solutions or workarounds:
1. Select “make new clip on TC break” or “warn after capture” from the User preferences window. Then recapture your tape.
2. Play the tape around the problem area, then set new In/Out points and continue capturing (or using Capture Now).
3. If you don’t care about the TC downstream (ie, for recapturing footage from this tape with specific TC) you could select “Non controllable”.
Boyd
“Go slow to go fast” -
I’ve wondered about this myself. I have a Quad (with the basic stock graphics card, running 10.4.4, FCP 5.04, and QT 7.04) and completed a project with multiple layers, motion effects, etc., and it worked fine. Now I’m working on one that has heavy titling going on (subtitles using the text generator) and after 15 minutes of translations on the timeline, it needs to render. I start in safe RT, then move into unlimited RT with dynamics, where playback gets slow and choppy, eventual I need to just start a new sequence to continue. Nothing else going on except for the titles. To edit, I’ve actually exported the sequences as QT movies, then reimported them.
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I use a similar method – but add a zero in front, so Feb = 02 (not 2). Another option I use is to assign tape numbers (01,02, etc) to each tape in chronological order and put that as the first part of the name, then follow that by the date. That way it just sorts correctly in the browser window, and it’s the quickest reference for date that I have.