Dennis Lisonbee
Forum Replies Created
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I took groupwise off my mac years ago. I don’t like it and I don’t trust it, even if many of my friends and associates work down the street at Novell. I teach in a large multimedia department. We have NEVER had groupwise on our MACs and finally told the administration that we are taking it off several hundred of our PC’s boxes. There was a gasp, grumple, teeth baring, growls and threats but we won out. Multimedia computers are for doing graphics, 3D, video editing, compositing and other high end high paying tasks, not checking spam (Groupwise is terrible when it comes to spam where I am) and email. XP runs much better without it. (When I check Groupwise email it is through the web.)
My 2cents.
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Shane has the perfect workflow. The big question is what to archive the assets on. Almost two years ago Sony sent me one of the first BLU-RAY SCSI drives to test with the Panasonic DVCPRO-HD codec. 24p Varicam native files played out in real time. I archived a 58 minute DVCPRO HD 24p show on one 25 gig drive. They say it will last 50 years. (Of course the drives to play them won’t be around in 50 years.)
I’d like to know what the users out there think of using Hard Drives vs BLU-RAY as archive solutions. Right now BLU-RAY can cost a dollar a gig plus the player/burner where Hard Drives can be found under 50 cents a gig.
Dennis Lisonbee
ps Be sure to follow Shane’s instructions to the “T” If you archive the MXF file without everything else, the file is useless.
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It is interesting that when Macromedia had FCP it ran on Windows. In a strange way we have almost come full circle.
Dennis Lisonbee
“Now, for a $250 check to Microsoft, you too can turn your Apple Porche Mactel into a Windows Yugo.”
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[brianluce] “I’m confused. Why should a 1/3″ CCD prosumer camera produce a better picture than a full size 2/3″ CCD pro camera?
I’d be curious to how close the HVX is in picture quality though. I plan on using the HVX for the same thing, shooting in DV50 and outputting to Beta sp.”
The chip technology has improved since the old BETACAM 2/3 inch chip camera was introduced. Of course a 2/3″ chip with todays technology is going to look a whole lot better than than a 1/3 ” chip will, especially in low light.
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If credibility with clients is dependent on the size and shape of our gun, then buying an Ikegami HL79/Betacam combo on EBAY would make perfect sense.
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Does the timecode change with battery changes, that is the question. As soon as our first HVX comes in we will check this out. Doing double system sound we find that jam sync is good for about 6 hours, however we try to re-jam the sync after 4 hours.
What I’m actually looking for is a slate with a firewire out on the timecode generator.
Dennis Lisonbee
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It certainly is portable and makes a great $6,000 time code generator, however
1. Set the shot up with lights, flags, jib and no DP on earth is going to let you use it to jam sync a slate or recorder.
2. Set up 9 cameras to cover a rock concert and no operator is going to climb off the stage with his steadycam to jam a jib camera that suddenly needs to be reset.
Dennis Lisonbee
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The entire 90 minutes have SIX layers? (Multiple video tracks add to the render time.) What filters and how many? (Certain filters can take a long time to render.) What is the source footage? (Uncompressed SDI and HD will take a long time to render. DV is fastest)
Workflow is important.
1. Edit
2. Layer and apply filters
3. Tweak the filters
4. “Render All”
5. View the sequence with a fine tooth comb.
6, Output the sequence to MPEG 2 via compressor
7. Author test dvd
8. Review and test. -
Kevin,
Thanks for your information.
Students have been successfully using firewire drives in our labs for over five years now. I’ve also successfully been using firewire drives professionally with DV assets since Apple put their first firewire port on a G4. For HD work I use SATA Raids.
I have no control over the computers the school purchases for these labs or the amount money set aside to replace computers. I’m hired to teach in the labs the “powers that be” provide with their limited resources. In my business I would never edit on an iMac nor recommend anyone to purchase an iMac to professionally edit with.
We have three labs total. iMac G4, Dual 800 G4 and now the iMac G5. The iMac G5, which is the latest Apple version, is the only lab with the problem. We have tested with the assets on the internal drive and on an external firewire drive so the problem is not unique to the firewire drive. Since others are having success with the iMac G5, I’m asking what to look for to make these computers work the way our other labs work.
Dennis
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Thanks for all the posts. This lab of iMAC G5’s is fresh from Apple that was put online Friday. I had to verify to IT that the lab worked so we could take classes into it Monday. We also have an iMAC G4 lab and a Dual 800 G4 lab. All computers have the same build. To test the lab I took a student project on a firewire drive to all the labs and tested. The NEW iMac G5 lab is the only place there are drop frame problems. Since all the labs have the same image I’m not sure what the problem is. A 2GHZ G5 should out preform a G4 but at this point it does not.
If the lowest quality setting of RT is used there are no dropped frames. Medium or High drops frames. There is a FCP 5 upgrade coming. We asked for it in April, but education moves very SLOW. Especially if it is Apple products.
Dennis
Political Note:
We have 300 XP boxes in our teaching labs with a combination of VEGAS and Premiere and 70 Computers running OS X 10.4. The IT people want all boxes to be XP and they are looking for an excuse to move us all to XP. A new MAC that drops frames is a perfect excuse.