Dean Sensui
Forum Replies Created
-
Rick…
The software is still very good but it’s starting to show some signs of aging. For example, text values in the windows sometimes don’t update or highlight properly. Also, once the Macs go over to the Intel processor, who knows how stable Commotion will or won’t be by then?
I still use it for motion tracking, painting and some roto work. But all of that will probably be done in AE now that I upgraded that to the production bundle.
Also, AE’s Keylight seems to be able to pull a better key than Primatte does in Commotion. At least that’s what I observed at the AE booth during NAB this week.
Fortunately AE and Commotion seem to share roughly similar user interfaces and conventions. Learning one will certainly mostly apply to the other, although you’ll still need to deal with specific differences. But the basic fundamentals are similar.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
-
This might be a little late to jump in and slightly off topic, but regarding seasickness, if you can’t get the Transderm Scop patch, then try “less drowsy Dramamine” along with a powdered-ginger capsule.
Works well for me and I’m sometimes sensitive to getting seasick, even though I have my own boat. Seems to work well for a lot of others, too.
And if you do get seasick, drink a lot of water. While it won’t stop the sickness, it’ll make what happens next a lot more tolerable.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
-
I’m using a Blackmagic Decklink SP card. It also provides deck control, reads timecode, has component in/out, etc.
Works well and hasn’t given me any trouble.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
-
If you have an Apple store nearby that might be the best place to go.
In reality, the “help” file that comes online via FCP is identical to the manual. It’s also easier to reference and find things through the PDF file than the printed manual.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
-
Here’s how we do it.
When all cameras are rolling, have the talent clap his hands once for a slate mark. Use this for sync reference.
After the material is digitized into FCP:
— Select clips for each camera angle.
— Find “slate” points and cut the clips there.
— Move clips to a bin.
— Highlight clips.
— Go to Modify dropdown menu and select Make Multiclip
— Select “Sync using in points”.
— Check “on” all clips.Your multiclip will then be created and can be found in the bin.
Drag this multiclip into a sequence.
— In Viewer: Show Multiclip Overlays; Show Source Angle Effects should both be “on.”
— Go to View dropdown menu — Playhead sync — Open
— Go to View dropdown menu — Multiclip Active Tracks — Video + Audio
— Go to View dropdown menu — External Video — All frames (not sure if this is essential)When you click on your sequence and hit the space bar, you should see all camera angles in the viewer playing simultaneously and the “program” or selected camera angle should be playing in the canvas as well.
To select a camera, just click on the angle in the viewer.
At the end your multiclip will be cut into their respective camera angles. You can go back and fine tune the cuts, too.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
-
Graeme…
Looks like I’ll have to turn on that 7.5 IRE feature in the Decklink card — too bad it clips the pluge. Makes it impossible to lay down color bars with the pluge without having to go through a bunch additional steps.
BTW, I read the article that you pointed out and it’s very informative. Thanks. However, the illustrations are missing.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
-
I’d ask them to do it again.
You’re paying for a specific service and should get what you pay for.
MiniDV records with a 10um track pitch. DVCam records with a 15um track pitch and is much more resistant to minor tracking errors.
As someone else mentioned, it also features locked audio, which means there are precisely 48,000 audio samples per frame. MiniDV allows for slight variations in the number of samples per frame — either a few more or a few less — and that may or may not be a problem. In my experience with a Canon XL1s it’s never been an issue. Some say they’ve experienced serious audio sync drift problems but I’ve never seen this, even with long captures of nearly an hour.
Maybe they did record at DVCam speeds and just used a MiniDV tape. But I’d check it before handing over payment.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
-
John…
I’m working with a Blackmagic Decklink card with component out (analog) to my Betacam SP deck. All measurements are taken from the deck with an MM400 waveform/vectorscope, not in FCP. In fact, I’ve never used FCP’s built-in scopes.
With standard SMPTE color bars there’s three dark bars at the lower right corner, and one of them is supposed to go to zero, one goes to 7.5 and one goes to 10.
If I set up my Decklink to output black at 7.5 IRE, that “zero IRE pluge” gets clipped at 7.5 IRE. Decklink creates a 7.5 IRE “floor” below which nothing can go, and that’s not correct when it comes to laying down reference color bars at the head of a tape.
Therefore the Decklink card is set up to allow values to go all the way to zero to ensure accurate translation of SMPTE bars to tape.
With that in mind, it then becomes possible to create programming with illegal black levels, at least as far as U.S. NTSC is concerned.
So that means the program material has to be monitored and, if necessary, corrected in post to conform black levels to the 7.5 IRE standard. The same goes for 100 IRE white. The Decklink card allows values beyond 100 and that has to be monitored in post to ensure all levels are legal and consistent.
The results I’m getting for our show has come out just fine in the cablecast. Occasional air checks show that the levels are also being translated to within a few IRE points through Time/Warner’s cable network. It’s definitely not washed out.
Again, I’m monitoring all levels at the deck. Not in FCP. What matters to me is what ends up on tape since that’s what gets handed over to the broadcaster.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
-
I’m assuming you want a version for American NTSC?
If so, then black is 7.5 IRE.
Since both the master and copy are at zero IRE there’s not a lot you can do about it — or need to — if it’s just for archive.
However, if you want to distribute it to U.S. markets, then you’ll have to fix it so that the black level is at 7.5 IRE. You can do this by dropping a 3-way color corrector filter onto the entire program and doing a global correction. Hopefully there’s bars and tones at the head of the show.
Be sure to view your signal with a broadcast monitor that’s been properly set up. Don’t rely on your computer monitor as the results can be dramatically different.
And I strongly recommend checking the signal values through a waveform monitor enroute to the video deck (assuming you’re distributing via Betacam SP or similar). The FCP waveform monitor and vectorscope might be OK but what you really want to see is what’s going to tape if you’re outputting via analog. Your output device may or may not translate the video data exactly as FCP might assume.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
-
I do a lot of multicam shoots, involving three cameras.
We just make sure all three cameras are running, then the talent claps his hands at the beginning for a sync slate. Having all three cameras match timecode isn’t necessary. The sync slate is enough to get everything to match up. And the “clocks” in these cameras are very accurate (Sony PD 170’s). If they weren’t there would be some serious video problems on broadcast.
In post, I capture all three angles from all three cameras.
Find the clap at the beginning of the shoot for each camera, and cut the clips there.
Throw all three clips into a bin, highlight all three, then create a multiclip (not a multiclip sequence).
— Go to Modify dropdown menu and select Make Multiclip
— Select “Sync using in points”.
— Check “on” all clips.Your multiclip will then be created and can be found in the bin.
Drag this multiclip into a sequence.
— In Viewer: Show Multiclip Overlays; “Show Source Angle Effects” should both be “on.”
— Go to View dropdown menu — Playhead sync — Open
— Go to View dropdown menu — Multiclip Active Tracks — Video + Audio
— Go to View dropdown menu — External Video — All frames (not sure if this is essential)When you click on your sequence and hit the space bar, you should see all camera angles in the viewer playing simultaneously and the “program” or selected camera angle should be playing in the canvas as well.
To select a camera, just click on the angle in the viewer.
At the end your multiclip will be cut into their respective camera angles. You can go back and fine tune the cuts, too.
At the end you can flatten the entire multiclip sequence to their respective individual clips.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com