Don Greening
Forum Replies Created
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[Katrina Mann] “Do you think your workflow will work on the sequences we have?”
Well, since you’re already editing in ProRes you may as well continue. There’s nothing wrong with that. A lot of folks want to edit in their delivery format but it’s not necessary. 1440×1080 is anamorphic but 1920×1080 is square pixels. If the aspect ratio of your frames look correct right now then don’t mess with it. If you’re outputting to a standard def DVD then Just choose the MPEG2 preset in Compressor and it will do the job for you.
– Don
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Well, first of all you need to choose which aspect ratio you want to use as your final output. This is usually based on what kind of footage you have more of: 16:9 or 4:3. Before I go any further I’m talking about working within final Cut Pro, well before you’ve exporting anything to Compressor or DVDSP.
For example’s sake, lets pretend you have more 16:9 footage so you’ve decided to create a 16:9 timeline. Since your final output is for a standard definition DVD lets make it a DVCPRO 50 Anamorphic timeline. Drag your HD footage into the sequence. If you’re using FCP 6 it will ask if you want to change the sequence settings to match your HD footage. Say no. When you drag some 4:3 footage into the sequence FCP should automatically pillarbox the clip so it only takes up the centre portion of your frame. If it doesn’t then you’ll have to double-click that piece to load it into the viewer. Change the aspect in the distort tab until it displays properly, taking up the middle of the frame with black bars on the sides only and no black bars on the top and bottom. Insert all the rest of your 4:3 clips into the timeline as necessary during the edit process. If the 4:3 clips keep coming in distorted you can highlight the first 4:3 clip you’ve fixed earlier and hit Command – C to copy the clip’s attributes to the clipboard. Deselect the clip and Command -click all the rest of the 4:3 clips that still need aspect ratio fixing. Hit Option – V. A dialogue box will come up allowing you to choose which attributes to paste onto the other clips. Make sure ‘aspect” or “scale” is checked and click OK. Now all your 4:3 clips will be changed to the proper aspect ratio.
After your edit, render and export. Use Compressor to create an MPEG2 anamorphic (16:9) movie. Bring that into DVDSP and make sure your movie asset is flagged as 16:9. DVDSP gets this right automatically, most of the time. Just make sure.
Hope this helps you in deciding which way to go with your edit.
– Don
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[Jacqueline Bazinet Tolson] “Will report what works.”
Yes, please do. That way we’ll be more able to help the next person as well as yourself.
– Don
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The only handheld HD camera that compares to the PD170 is the Sony PMW EX1. The EX actually beats the PD170 by a noticeable margin. I know this for a fact because I have both of these cameras.
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/greening_don/ex1-pd170.php
– Don
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[Trent Anderson] “but I would like to have a DECK, like my older Sony DSR 11, or my JVC BR – DV 3000 rather than a camera, that is unstable.”
I hear you. I’ve solved that problem by going tapeless. Well, at least one of my cameras is. I pretty sure that there’s no professional deck out there yet for Canon folks. One this forum’s leaders, Todd Terry, uses an XL H1 all the time for pro work, so if he sees this thread he may respond and tell you what he does. Who knows, he may be recording to something like a Firestore or something similar.
– Don
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Try capturing using the “capture now” function and make sure the “on timecode break make new clip” is checked in your preferences.
If you’re still having problems then use iMovie to capture. It will also start a new clip at every break. Then you can import the iMovie DV stream files into FCP.
– Don
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I have a colleague that bought a couple of A1’s a few months ago but he runs a Windows based shop. He’s away on a shoot today so I left a message for him to call tomorrow. We’ll find out what he’s using for a deck but I suspect it’ll be one of his A1’s. You’re right though, that it’s definitely not a good idea to use your acquisition camera as a deck.
Although I’m not up to date as far as knowing whether or not there is dedicated deck available now for capturing and output I do know that Canon HDV owners were/are using the little HV20 and HV30 Canons as a deck. My local broadcast supplier was selling a lot of them for this purpose a few months ago because they will recognize all of the Canon formats: 60i, 24F and 30F.
– Don
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I would trash FCP’s preference files and then try recapturing a small portion of a tape as a test. When FCP starts acting up, (and I think it’s a FCP thing and not your camera or tapes) trashing the preference files is the first thing I try for problem solving. If you’re not sure how to trash the files you can use this freebie program to do it for you:
https://fcprescue.andersholck.com/
There are a lot of FCP editors that use FCP Rescue. Give it a shot.
– Don
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[Poppy Dixon] “how can i check which audio capture rate is on my tape?”
Probably by playing the tape back in whatever recorded it. Or your capture deck. Most cameras, for example, will display the recording format and audio sample rate on-screen. Such as “DV NTSC 48Khz”.
You can check what the sample rate of your captured audio is in the browser, looking in the sample rate column for that particular video/audio clip.
– Don
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[Brian Cass] “fter speaking with Apple Support, they had me trash the earlier versions and also go into the HD library folder/Receipts where I trashed more FC items.”
If you have to de-install FCS 2 again in the future you can save some time by using this utility program first:
https://www.digitalrebellion.com/fcs_remover.htm
– Don