Christopher Wright
Forum Replies Created
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Brad,
I may have just been lucky, but I performed an upgrade on my dual 2.5 G5 and have had no problems whatsoever. I just had so many other programs and plug-ins already installed, I couldn’t see spending an extra week reinstalling everything from scratch (not to mention having to re-enter all the 30 digit keycodes!). I figured if I did experience problems, I would just face the tedium then! I did do a clean install on my dual G4, as it was my FCP backup machine during the early days of FCP 5!!
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“Those bits are useful, however, when you process the image for compositing, graphics, etc.”
“If you set the timeline to a 10 bit codec, then you truncate less of that extra information”
“Usually the kind of thing that benefits more from this is rarely done on an editing application and more in a compositing/graphics package, where sources frequently are 10/16/32 bits (things coming from graphics, compositing or 3D packages, for instance) and are also processed at those wide color spaces. Moving a 10 bit file from those to FCP will allow you to mantain as much as possible that color information.”Adolfo,
Much more succintly stated, but my points exactly. When you are working with various input sources in one project, from HDV component, Digibeta, Beta and even S-VHS, it is better to always work in a uncompressed 10 bit workspace. Why not simplify things by capturing everything that way as well. Very noticeable banding issues on gradients, text/graphics degradation/artifacts, and lack of color information for keying, filtering and color correction when dealing in an 8 bit environment are well known by any high end post house. As I stated before, these are so noticeable on a decent monitor, that I do a good portion of work fixing and “onlining” many clients projects that have been started and “finished” in 8 bit and DV only captures by smaller boutiques. The disk space used should not be a major consideration today, especially considering the amount needed for true HD work. Since I am always going out to compositing programs to tweak clips, this is the only way I will work. I have taught compositing at the graduate level for six years now, so am well aware of the issues you are trying to clarify. I actually am doing mostly HD and film scan work now and am using the higher 16 bit and floating point color spaces in my compositing work.
So I’ll let gladly let you attach the “8 bit Boutique” moniker to your business model, I’ll stick with the “floating point boutique” for mine! ;>) -
Adolpho,
I am not confusing anything. If you capture in 8 bit, you have,in essence, an 8 bit “capture card.” Just because a card can even do up to 12 bit capture, if you select 8 bit, you are capturing 8-bit. Pixels is pixels, and more is betta’. Capturing in 10 bit from betacam, and even S-VHS, has its distinct advantages in that anyone can use Easy set-ups in FCP to ensure that you have a 10 bit PROCESSING work flow and sequence set-up from the outset, and can proceed immediately without worrying about “upconverting” your clip in AE, Combustion, Motion, Shake or any other compositing app. With the cheap prices of todays storage drives, capturing 10 bit uncompressed SDI should be painless and a no-brainer.
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Very Funny, Dean!! I hadn’t thought of the old acetate trick!!
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Wrong again! Always capture at 10 bit if you are doing color correction, SFX, compositing or even titling. If you can’t see the difference in your composites you either need a new monitor or glasses. You can even easily see the difference doing a frame by frame look at straight dissolves. I get a lot of work away from the DV and 8 bit “post boutiques” by showing clients the very noticeable DV and 8 bit artifacts versus 10 bit color space.
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Yes, but unfortunately “down and dirty” is all you get, and without animatable vector shapes!! After working the smart and easy way, having to export anything to any other app just to do titling is counter-intuitive to say the least. And more time-consuming.
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Walter,
Just to make things clear, I also use Boris RED, Continuum, After FX, Shake, Combustion, Lightwave, Particle Illusion, Motion, Live Type, Mirage etc. and still pine for an app like Inscriber’s Title Motion within FCP itself. As I said before, if you haven’t had the pleasure of working with it, you of course will be happy with what you’ve been given. In all the other apps you mentioned, you still have to go into another app to make decent titles with vector shapes as well as just text. Even though the integration between FCP, Motion and Live Type is a little better now, it still doesn’t touch Inscriber’s product. You could do all of your lower thirds work, bullet animation AND see your text over whichever background frame (wherever your timeline cursor is parked) that you wanted. I can always kick out killer title animation with any of the other methods you mention, but none are as elegant as Title Motion. And isn’t Apple and FCP studio all about elegance??
As far as the Pinnacle/Fast products, the autosave is automatic after every keystroke. That again is excellence! -
I hope so, as I just finished working on an HD project shot on the Varicam, and there is a big difference in going in firewire using the DVCHD firewire codec versus true HD/SDI uncompressed.
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Whoops! ANY Panasonic firewire transfer is compressed. The only way to get into FCP uncompressed is SDI or HDSDI (or the new component HD way with the LH!)!
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No timeline scrolling and no decent title app within FCP. These have always been on my wishlist for every FCP upgrade since 1.2.5. It’s hard to explain to someone that hasn’t used a specific NLE (Discreet edit*, PPro 1.5, Fast Blue, etc. etc.) how important these little feature tweaks are. I would also love to see FCP autosave everything like all the FAST and Pinnacle products do, so you NEVER lose work, even when the app crashes. Just because FCP is a great app doesn’t mean it can’t continually be improved upon.