[Caleb Armstrong]

I guess I’ll just have to accept that the Federal government will never be less than 10 years behind the curve.

Hey, thanks for all the input Bob, I really appreciate it!

[Caleb Armstrong]

Bob, thanks for responding. I’m sorry for being so vague. Unfortunately the only images that I can provide you with are a screenshot of FCP’s scopes with the bars coming through an AJA IO (Standard Definition), and a capture of the bars from FCP. The only means of actually getting a shot of my scopes would be using the crappy camera on my phone, and I don’t have any means of getting the image off of the camera while I’m at work. I would be happy to upload pictures later at home, if you think that it would help.

We use three Ikegami HC-D57W cameras. We are a composite operation and strictly SD.

Here is the AJA capture of the bars:

Here is a close-up of a portion of the bars:

And here is a terrible close-up screencap of the bars with final cut scopes up:

I’m sorry that I don’t have more for you. I’m a contractor for the government, and the support around here tends to be lacking, which is why I’m reaching out to the pros. If I can get a decent picture of my scopes I’ll post them later. Thanks again for your time.

[Caleb Armstrong]

This has really been an enlightening thread. Like everyone else, I appreciate the level of maturity and discussion going on here.

Jeremy, I want to make sure that I’m understanding your last comment correctly. On PPro CS3 you can load FCP keyboard shortcuts?

[Caleb Armstrong]

Alot of great info here, and I really appreciate all of the input.

Essentially, I work doing tv production for a federal agency. Our problems are many, and it’s unfortunate that I work for, and with, some people that don’t have much idea of what they’re talking about.

We’ve been arguing for the past few months to get all of the studios across the U.S. to a standard editing platform. It looks as if it’s going to come down to Premiere vs. Final Cut. It’s been awhile since I’ve used Premiere so I might just have to download the trial.

What it looks like it boils down to is workflow. Whichever software best fits your workflow is the direction you should go in.

Hey, I really appreciate all the feedback. Thanks again!

[Caleb Armstrong]

Thanks for the advice, Dave. I’m experimenting with the motion tracker right now. It’s taking quite awhile though, as the quality of the video and the motion of both the subject and cameraman are old school VHS.

Experimenting with your technique I found that, if I can get the motion tracking to work well enough, I can simply add an adjustment layer, pickwhip it to the feature center of the motion tracker, add an appropriate mask, and then blur the mask. The mask feather, expansion, etc. are adjusted if necessary.

Thanks, again, for the tips!

[Caleb Armstrong]

I’ve been working with some of his stuff too and I can only assume that the language barrier is getting in his way of fully explaining some of this stuff. I’m working with his other card wipe tutorial (#44) and, as in the past, have found that working with my own custom settings helps to understand what he was doing, and add my own touch to his techniques.

I know that’s probably not the answer you were looking for, but by exploring the parameters of the card wipe transition you can achieve what he was going for quite easily. And check out the other card wipe tutorial, it might help iron the first one out.

[Caleb Armstrong]

Has this been happening strictly on Macs? Have the same issues affected the PC versions?

[Caleb Armstrong]

I’m experimenting with Andrew Kramer’s expressions from his animated waveform tutorial. I figure it’s a good starting point and will, at least, give me a method with which to easily match the movement of the planets with the music. I’m still playing around with it though.

[Caleb Armstrong]

Best greenscreen I’ve ever used was a giant length of bright, bright green velveteen or velour that a friend of mine purchased from the local fabric store. And it only cost like $3.00 a yard or something like that. I’m not saying that it’s the ideal solution for you, but we got great results from it, even with less than adequate lighting.

[Caleb Armstrong]

Thanks guys, both were great suggestions and I’m playing around with a combination of techniques.

Thanks again!