[David J. smolar]

And I’m using OSX 10.10 Yosemite.

David J. Smolar
Preditor
dsmolar.wix.com/inbetweenthings

[David J. smolar]

Thanks so much, John. I’ll find out from my boss if he approves that workflow. He might say that transcoding every file will fill up the drives too fast, but who knows.

David J. Smolar
Preditor
dsmolar.wix.com/inbetweenthings

[David J. smolar]

Gents, thanks so much! Yes, I meant ac3…sorry about that.

I think my 2-part question is:

a. Does AJAIo have any other preset other than uncompressed that would allow me to ingest Beta component? If so, what is the bit rate comparison? I’ve now found the AJA calculator so that’ll be a BIG help towards identifying the various bit rates. I believe the calculator — though there’s no preset for Uncompressed — lists Uncompressed capture with a bit rate anywhere from 36-45 MB/sec. Wow.

b. Could I just use the Elgato instead for ingesting Beta? Is it that lossy? Is it already lossy since it’s capturing thru USB?

David J. Smolar
Preditor
Creative Video of Washington
creativevideo.com
inbetweenthings.com

[David J. smolar]

Andy, you’re right. I just woke up and realized that I’d split this file into 3 parts by taking the original file, trimming it down, and saving a copy of that as ‘part 1’, then taking the original, trimming down, and repeating the same method twice more to get parts 2 and 3. Looks like, though I’ve done that before to trim and get selects from a quicktime file, sometimes, even when you save the trimmed file under a new name, it retains the original source file’s metadata.

I suppose the fact that the 3 parts were different running times but each had the same exorbitant file size — the exact same size for all 3 — was an indication of something being up. End result was the client saw all the original media when playing back each of the 3 files. Strangely enough, I couldn’t duplicate his problem: I even downloaded one of the files onto my home computer and not only do they play fine, but when I open them in Quicktime, the program displays for me the correct file size though the finder still shows all 3 as being the same, impossibly large size.

Solutions? I simply opened each part, resaved under another name [again], and now the Finder indicates that each part has a different file size, so I think they’ll be ok. It’s most frustrating to me that I can’t replicate the client’s problem.

Thanks again, Dave.

David J. Smolar
Preditor
Creative Video of Washington
creativevideo.com
inbetweenthings.com

[David J. smolar]

Hi all and thanks for the input. My issue was that I was given HD footage to edit into a video that had to end up on DVCAM, i.e. had to end up SD in 720×480. So I had a choice of either editing the HD footage in an HD timeline, then sending it into Compressor to crunch down to letterboxed SD 720×480, or to do what I did which was to import the HD footage into an SD 720×480 timeline, letterbox it, cut it, and then find a codec that would make it look nice and smooth.

So I cut the HD footage in an SD timeline [letterboxed] and sent it into Compressor where I experimented with 4 different presets. The simple H.264 created the best-looking video in terms of movement, handling color [lots of bright red objects in this video] and various time effects I used. But next time, I’ll probably go with the smart folks here and cut the HD in a native HD timeline, then send that into Compressor…might get better quality and less hassle overall.

Thanks, Dave.

David J. Smolar
Preditor
Creative Video of Washington
creativevideo.com
inbetweenthings.com

[David J. smolar]

Thanks for the note, Josh. Turns out the client shot it all HD, then ventured into the realm of FCP for the first time and cut it herself. It looks nice, for a 4 min testimonial video. However, looks like she, somehow, some way, created a 25fps sequence to edit her project. Again, footage was HD and all signs pointed to 720×480, but the client’s sequence was 25fps, tantamount to PAL.

Also turns out that her concerns about resolution and screen size her irrelevant, since what I was outputting wasn’t going to her but would be used for our projection needs at her conference the next week. And my colleague, the projectionist, wanted it on DVD, since all other media for the conference was on DVD.

So I exported her sequence from FCP to a QT, imported the QT into Compressor, had Compressor convert it to DV-NTSC [29.97fps], then used the resulting NTSC-friendly QT for export. Imported it into a 720×480 sequence in FCP and printed to tape [which he ended up not needing], and imported the same file into DVD Studio Pro and burned for projection. Much confusion from a client whose first-time use of FCP went from wonky to haywire in the click of a mouse.

David J. Smolar
Preditor
Creative Video of Washington
creativevideo.com
inbetweenthings.com

[David J. smolar]

Would nesting the original sequence in the new sequence work too?

David J. Smolar
Preditor
Creative Video of Washington
creativevideo.com
inbetweenthings.com

[David J. smolar]

Thanks for the note. Turns out I’d exported the QTs as 1280×720 using H.264 instead of exporting them in a DV-NTSC friendly codec. That’s why the deck could hear it but not see it. Had to finagle a bit after that, considering the footage was really 16:9 — but with a little anamorphic pushing, it seems to work. Ended up doing it fullscreen in the end since some of the footage was actually 4:3 in a 16:9 file, making it pillarboxed, and the producer didn’t want to see any black bars anywhere.

–dave.

David J. Smolar
Preditor
Creative Video of Washington
creativevideo.com
inbetweenthings.com

[David J. smolar]

Hi Kim. Some advice for the long run [maybe not so helpful today tho] if you’re using a Mac. Here’s a quick list of software and plug-ins to find and grab for your Mac to help your video talk with PCs…just search for these:

mpeg streamclip [available for pc as well]
perian
tubetv
flip4mac
mactheripper

Again, these are for the Mac, helping you talk with a PC, and not the other way around. Hope I understood your workflow and these will help.

–dave.

David J. Smolar
Preditor
Creative Video of Washington
creativevideo.com
inbetweenthings.com

[David J. smolar]

Hi all. I’m thinking of another possible solution, if I may. You could choose a transition and double-click it to open it in an editor, then trim the transition’s handles in the Viewer so it’s shorter [or edit the transition from the default any way you wish].

With the transition open in the Viewer, in the top right corner of the Viewer you’ll see an icon of a hand over a transition icon. Click-drag that into the timeline to drop your now-customized transition between clips.

Oh, and after that, I’d click-drag the same icon into the Favorites bin in the Effects tab of the Browser, then rename it to remind yourself of the transition’s new parameters [“quicker dissolve”, “push slide 2 sec open”, etc.]. Then, anytime after that, if you want to duplicate that transition just the way you like it, you can grab it from that Favorites bin. Helps to streamline your workflow.

Good luck, Dave.

David J. Smolar
Preditor
Creative Video of Washington
creativevideo.com
inbetweenthings.com