[Curious Turtle]

[Derek Tokar] “I’m using uncompressed renders”

Are you sure your drives can handle the throughput? Render out to a more compressed codec to check where the problem is. Do your clips give the same juddery motion if you step through them frame by frame?

Cheers,
Ben

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[Curious Turtle]

[April Henderson] “I would presume they the sped up the song then recorded the video to that song tempo and then slowed it down to the normal speed of the song”

Yep, overcranking is a common trick in music videos. There’s no right recipe that fits all circumstances, as different speeds create different final looks.

You will probably be constrained by your camera as to available frame rates and the artist’s ability to move their lips in sync for take after take :o) It’s not as easy as it looks!

All the best,
Ben

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[Curious Turtle]

To build on Dave’s final point. You don’t say what you will be editing/have edited the footage on. Do a quick search on these forums for 7D and 5D workflows, there are many good posts.

Here’s my simple (and simplified) workflow for dealing with this footage:
i) Transcode original H264 to a codec I can work in – usually Apple ProRes
ii) Cut, colour correct, composite in that ProRes family of codecs (depending on the job)
iii) Deliver to client’s specs, be that to tape, file, DVD, web, whatever

Don’t work in H264 and don’t keep compressing to H264 (or any highly lossy codec) throughout your workflow. Save that for the end.

Thankfully there’s a couple of plug-ins coming down the line soon that will make this workflow easier with FCP, and DSLR ingest like working with other solid state media.

Cheers,
Ben

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[Curious Turtle]

I think you’re looking for the Shatter effect.

If you are looking for a different type of shatter then the Boris Continuum Complete filter set has a couple in there that should do the job.

Hope that helps,
Ben

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[Curious Turtle]

You don’t want to be working with this type of asset in After Effects. Transcode the footage to something else that “plays nice” before bringing it in. Do a search for Dave LaRonde’s handy stock answer #1 (or is it #2?). This comes up a lot!

With regards to the composition settings, which format are you recording in? It’s likely to be with a non-square pixel aspect ratio that isn’t being picked up 100% by AE. Check out the Interpret Footage settings.

Cheers,
Ben

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[Curious Turtle]

With footage that can be stabilized, if you set the filter up properly, the optical stabilizer is fantastic. Much faster and more controllable than Apple’s SmoothCam in my experience.

It’s worth going through the Help files on each filter. Boris have some of the best, most clearly written tech manuals out there.

All the best,
Ben

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[Curious Turtle]

If you do a Spotlight search for “BCC” that should lead you in the right direction. There are several folders to look at. Here are a couple:

Mac HD > Library > Application Support > Adobe > Common > Plugins > CS3 > Mediacore > BCC
Mac HD > Library > Application Support > BorisFX > BCC

These are from memory, so you’ll have to forgive me if the titles are not 100% exact. They should get you in the right direction. The BCC search thing is the key I think.

Hope that helps,
Ben

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[Curious Turtle]

The Mocha motion is seconded :o)

Depending on the exact shot, this should be a doddle. The basic idea would be:

i) Track the balloon
ii) Paint the logo out of a copy of the balloon in Photoshop.
iii) Use Motion, your tracking data and your new balloon to replace the old one.

I would counsel against a single colour if you want your shot to look realistic. It’s very rare that objects in the real world (especially curved objects) are just a single patch of colour. A properly handled painted balloon would be preferable.

I haven’t seen your shot, but something like this could take less than half an hour from start to finish. Maybe a good deal less.

Good luck with your project,
Ben

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[Curious Turtle]

Generally I do the same as you. After Effects mainly, Motion for a quick hit. Grain and grading tools are better in After Effects IMO. I do like the ease of sticking a quick Behaviour on a camera in Motion though!

Also, if it’s something that’s going to take a while to re-render, I will always render out a Quicktime even from Motion rather than just importing and using the Motion project directly on a FCP timeline. That way I can be sure that I can slice it and dice it any way I want without getting an unexpected red line pop up when FCP decides that I’ve done too much to one of its own render files.

Cheers,
Ben

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[Curious Turtle]

Yes, highly impractical with any length of timelapse. And if you haven’t already downscaled your pictures then you leave yourself open to the vagaries of FCP scaling. Even with a nested composition, this would be my least favoured method. It’s possible but I wouldn’t do it.

Far better and easier to deal with a QT, as I wrote in my initial post. Whatever way you do that, Quicktime Player, Motion, or After Effects (if you have it) is up to you. As I and others have said, using Motion or AE allows you to do more with regards to camera movement too.

Cheers,
Ben

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