[Craig Seeman]

Apparently those “select” few who’ve been able to test preproduction models say the image is comperable to the 350 (355).

Regarding the 4:2:0, I’m wondering what XDCAM HD shooters/editors (335, 355) are doing as far as editing codec used for compositing, keying, color correction. On Final Cut Pro would it make sense to convert to ProRes (IMX50 or another codec?).

[Craig Seeman]

I spoke to my contact at DG and

HD is still in testing phase for DropBox. They’ll send out notices when that’s ready to go.
It seems the minimum was raised from 10Mbps to 18Mbps but the Max is still 25Mbps. For that reason I’d do CBR 25Mbps and that passed last time I tested.

GOP structure they say isn’t supper critical as long as it’s 6 frames or more so you can continue using IBBP (which is what I use.

The HAVE changed color from 4:2:0 to 4:2:2 though.

[Craig Seeman]

I’ve got an SD setting but earlier today I’ve received different specs for SD then they’ve sent me previously so I’m looking into that.

I had 25Mbps previously. The sheet I just got is 18Mbps.
Was 4:2:0. Now I see 4:2:2
Was IBBPBBP GOP and now it “seems” to be IBBBPBBB

So I’m going to try to get this straightened out ASAP.

[Craig Seeman]

I’ll get their HD spec sheet and see what I can cook up.

[Craig Seeman]

The problem with Cleaner is that if there’s a serious bug it may be eons before they fix it.
Cleaner 6.5 had serious compatibility issues after a Quicktime update and it was a VERY LOOOONG time before 6.5.1 came out. Cleaner is also dog slow compared to Episode (or even Squeeze).

[Craig Seeman]

You might want to use MPEGStreamclip to convert to DVCPro50. I don’t think Rich mentioned a process for that.

You could even create a Compressor Droplet to use on the desktop just to streamline a bit more.

Another thought is importing the MPEG2 right into FCP directly although you’ll have to render to whatever your timeline codec is. The viability may depend on whether these are muxed files or not.

[Craig Seeman]

I think Swiss Army knives give maximum flexibility.

Episode is fastest for everything at the moment. It’s great for VP6.

Compressor is great for H.264 but multipass encodes will take a long time. ON2/Flix may well have a VP6 plugin that will work in Compressor but haven’t looked at that option. BTW Episode comes with a plugin for Compressor 3 now! Best of both worlds with that.

Squeeze is very easy to use but doesn’t have the processing filter control that Episode has. It’s a nice programe though.

Cleaner is SLOOW and Autdesk provides very little support. If you run into a bug with Cleaner don’t expect a bug fix for a long time if ever. It’s the only one I’d list as a must to avoid.

BTW, I have and use ALL of the above (except Flix).

[Craig Seeman]

You didn’t mention whether it’s PC or Mac.
If it’s Mac I’d add DVD Studio Pro as a program to author DVDs.

You can create an “autoplay” DVD if that’s your intent.

You’d need to know how much info you’re putting on the disc to figure out the average data rate you’d need too. The range might be anywhere from 3.5Mbps to 6.5Mbps give or take but no one can give you that number without knowing duration and content per disc.

[Craig Seeman]

BTW I charge for window burn ins too. It’s part of the service options I provide since many clients won’t have a deck to pop the tape in and screen.

I wouldn’t want to work under the assumption that if the client doesn’t like my work they don’t have to pay me. Imagine hiring 4 camera people and really only needing or paying two in the end. That’s not a good thing to allow in this industry.

[Craig Seeman]

[dpdenver] “best practice”
Nothing leaves without the money in your hand first. If they pay by check, I’d consider waiting until it clears. If the producer doesn’t like those terms I wouldn’t trust the job.