[Craig Alan]

Thanks Shane,

I see that from the MXO set up pics.

https://www.matrox.com/video/en/products/mac/mxo/examples/#close

But is the MXO doing anything for a broadcast monitor signal?

Can I just go Macbook pro DVI Out to the Panasonic SDI In?
What type of image would that be? Good enough to judge exposure levels/3way color correct?

If not, is there any cheaper way to go Macbook pro DVI Out to any of the Pana’s inputs

https://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/sales_o/02products/monitors/bt-lh1710/bt-lh1710_pa.html

and get a good enough image to adjust exposure and use Apple’s 3-way color correct?

I see on the

https://www.matrox.com/video/en/products/mac/mxo/examples/#close

examples that you can connect your deck and/or monitor to either the MXO’s SDI out or component out. Does the deck still then input to FCP?

My Sony deck is firewire output but does have component out as well.

https://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/product-HVRM15AU/

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz
; Camcorders: Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks all. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that I need to lower my expectations and stay with Apple’s built in 3 way color correct until I set up a Mac Pro with a proper I/O card. Soon.

Need marine insurance in case my Mac Pro set up is stolen again. (FYI: if you think you are protected by most replacement cost home owner’s insurance, check the fine print – we were limited to $2500 in computer equipment).

Andy,
Most of the articles I’ve now read on the Matrox MXO discuss its ability to input the signal from the Macbook pro’s DVI port and send it to a computer monitor (ACD) and process so that the computer monitor’s image looks pretty close to a broadcast monitor’s image if properly calibrated.

Is it equally helpful/needed with a broadcast monitor?

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz
; Camcorders: Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Well I would be burning SD DVDs; but when editing, I’d like to learn how to properly grade.

3: If this won’t work then I guess my lowest priced option would be:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/618347-REG/Matrox_MXO2_MINI_L_MXO2_Mini_for_Laptops.html

Or would you recommend something else?

Again my express slot is filled with a sonnet card used with my external esata raid 0.

Thanks

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz
; Camcorders: Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

This mac does have an express card slot. However I’d like to keep the express card slot for connecting my media drives — esata raid 0 — if possible.

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz
; Camcorders: Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Repaired permissions lately?

Just guessing here but could it be a corrupted file — the one that holds the serial number ???

Along with Jeremy’s suggestion,

To avoid the agony of a reinstall which is recommended, at the very least, when you update the OS:

Reinstall OS X & Final Cut Studio The Right Way – Part 3 – By David A. Saraceno

Reinstall OS X & Final Cut Studio The Right Way – Part 2 – By David A. Saraceno

Reinstall OS X & Final Cut Studio The Right Way – Part 1 – By David A. Saraceno

Once you have these images in place the install process is a lot faster than working off a “super” drive.

OSX 10.5.7; MAC Book PRO (EARLY 2008); Camcorders: Sony Z7U, Canon HV30, Sony vx2000/PD170, Canon xl2; Pana, Sony, and Canon consumer cams; FCP certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks Steve,

Will the landscape fabric block the light enough so we can use Tweenie II kit (3200k)?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/166978-REG/Mole_Richardson_5826_Tweenie_II_4.html

Or should I go with the heavier plastic? Have a link for the stuff you used? Obviously I don’t need a huge roll like that but the windows are large. If need be, I’ll measure them and give you the dimensions.

OSX 10.5.7; MAC Book PRO (EARLY 2008); Camcorders: Sony Z7U, Canon HV30, Sony vx2000/PD170, Canon xl2; Pana, Sony, and Canon consumer cams; FCP certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Hi Todd,
I just reread your post. When I read it last, I was thinking no way they’d pay for consultations. But if the budget does go through, sound treatment was mentioned in the proposal, and he could potentially save them money. However, the room you describe seems at least evenly shaped and thus perhaps less complicated to calculate than this mess. I went to a conference at another high school that just built a new auditorium and the entire room was raw plywood panels the worst room acoustics I have ever been in. They had speakers there miked into high wattage powered speakers and not only was it hard to understand what they were saying, but you left with a headache. They had some sound panels on the sides but obviously they didn’t consult your guy. Do you have a contact link for future use? Any idea what he costs per consult or per day?

OSX 10.5.7; MAC Book PRO (EARLY 2008); Camcorders: Sony Z7U, Canon HV30, Sony vx2000/PD170, Canon xl2; Pana, Sony, and Canon consumer cams; FCP certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Hi,

Just want to add that I find this conversation popping up frequently. At our school, we are asked to shoot events all the time and are expected to get good results without any rehearsal or cooperation from the talent or organizers that want to be recorded. That’s ok, if not great, for visuals. Find a good location, mount the cam on a tripod, ball balance, white balance, adjust the exposure and hope that your location is adequate to cover the entire event. You can go with multiple cameras and hand-held cams for additional footage, though you are increasing the amount of time you need to spend in the edit bay for this afterthought shoot. But good, even just usable, sound requires the talent’s active participation.

Whenever I get asked about shooting an event, my questions run as follows: “Do you care about the sound at all?” “Do you care about the sound quality?” “Will your talent be miked to powered speakers?” “Can we get a feed from the sound board.” “Would the talent be willing to hold a hand held mike or stand or sit right in front of a mike on a stand?”
Some times the best we can do is set up a cordless mike aimed at a powered speaker and let it record both the live boomy sound coming out of it along with the ambient noise of the event. I find event organizers are usually pretty happy with this “live” recording. I’m not. Other times, I find the talent is willing to hold a cordless mike. You get drop offs when the talent misdirects the mike, but it works pretty well. If we not only have the talent’s cooperation but some extra time for set up, a lav will allow them more physical freedom, but you really need that extra set-up time.

I always find it interesting when there is a live news interview with a hot breaking story and there are like 20+ news teams surrounding the poor subject. It’s a mass of boom poles and handheld recorders, all vying for position really close to the subject. Now if you could just zoom the mike the way you zoom your camera, well then, documentaries would feel more like documentaries and run and gun would be just that.

OSX 10.5.7; MAC Book PRO (EARLY 2008); Camcorders: Sony Z7U, Canon HV30, Sony vx2000/PD170, Canon xl2; Pana, Sony, and Canon consumer cams; FCP certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks all.

It is out of my hands now. Sent in my request and the budget will either come through or not. If not, I’ve gotten some good ideas here on how to make do.

Steve, very good ideas on low budget fix.

Do you just use gaffer’s tape or some other variation on duct tape to fix the plastic around the windows?

If the budget request does not go through, I’ll set up an area for a one-camera interview/teleprompter/performance type shoots by blacking out the windows and using c-stands and blankets and an area rug and a backdrop. I’ve done this before in an even tighter space, but I was hoping for something more professional and versatile. Wide shots would be impossible unless the full budget request is approved. So we are talking about one or two person performance pieces, instructional videos, PSAs, interviews, teleprompted talking heads.

If I assume I’m setting up a shoot using c-stands and hanging blankets, backdrop, etc.,

how do I control the sound space above?

The room has high ceilings with an awful echo. What would be the best way to fly something from above that would help with this? It would need to not block the backlight. I have a scrim kit that allows me to float a reflector/diffusion above the talent, but I’ve never tried floating heavy blanket(s) above.

If they were mounted higher than the back light in the room’s support beams, would that help or does it need to be in closer proximity?

OSX 10.5.7; MAC Book PRO (EARLY 2008); Camcorders: Sony Z7U, Canon HV30, Sony vx2000/PD170, Canon xl2; Pana, Sony, and Canon consumer cams; FCP certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Make sure your Mac is up to spec for latest FCP. In 7, you get the entire suite so it’s FCS. You do not need to install all the apps if your don’t want to. Make sure your media is stored on a different drive than your system drive. Make sure you have enough space on media drive for the larger prores files. Capture this way:

https://edu.moviola.com/edu/rc/hdv_prores.

The larger file size will not improve your original footage but you can do a search and learn why it’s a better workflow than staying native HDV. Much faster renders. Better graphics. Better work flow when exporting final product.

before installing read these:

Reinstall OS X & Final Cut Studio The Right Way – Part 3 – By David A. Saraceno

Reinstall OS X & Final Cut Studio The Right Way – Part 2 – By David A. Saraceno

Reinstall OS X & Final Cut Studio The Right Way – Part 1 – By David A. Saraceno

they can be found here:

https://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/fcp_homepage_index.html

lots of other great tutorials on the list as well.

Check the cow’s tutorials on these subjects as well.

It’s a bit of work, but the jump to 7 over 5 is worth it.

OSX 10.5.7; MAC Book PRO (EARLY 2008); Camcorders: Sony Z7U, Canon HV30, Sony vx2000/PD170, Canon xl2; Pana, Sony, and Canon consumer cams; FCP certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.