Dustin Parsons
Forum Replies Created
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It’s going to be next to impossible to key out the background without removing the ducks head as well – also, the subject is too dark and the green-screen is not lit evenly. I would definitely make the client aware of these issues and even just the basic of shooting green-screen before they try to give you something else like this.
As far as rotoscoping goes I would definitely do it in After Effects. Here’s a tutorial that covers rotoscoping in After Effects https://library.creativecow.net/articles/oconnell_pete/roto/video-tutorial . Unlike the tutorial you probably won’t be able to create a mask and then assigning it’s movement to a tracking node because this is a human and not an object on a set path, this guy will probably turn his head or lift his arms so the mask has to change shape with him. Unfortunately, the only way I know how to do this is to keyframe the individual points of the mask as he moves.
Best of luck!
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Mac Pro | Leopard 10.5.7
2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon | 4GB Ram
Final Cut Pro Studio 2 | Avid Media Composer -
Walter, I’ve been considering this solution for my companies archiving needs but I have just one concern: I’m constantly pulling footage from all of my 15 external footage archive drives so if I was to make the switch from external hard-drives to internal hard drives that I insert into an external SATA reader (like wiebetech RTX 400) wouldn’t I run a high risk of static electric shock to the bare electronics of the internal hard-drive?
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Mac Pro | Leopard 10.5.7
2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon | 4GB Ram
Final Cut Pro Studio 2 | Avid Media Composer -
Well… it’s actually not working that well. Like I said, I can’t go to FLV from the x.264 without the color/gamma shifting back as well as getting corrupted pixels in various places – this also happens when I watch it using Finder’s Quicklook. Because of these issues I’m afraid to use x.264 for delivering to clients, it just seems very unstable.
I thought I could get around these issues by exporting the x.246 to Apple ProRes – this seemed to work (no color/gamma shift from the x.264) but I can’t deliver a 4.5Gb file for previewing purposes so I then tried exporting the ProRes file to an H.264 aaaaaand we’re back to square one. The H.264 shifted the colors/gamma back to the muted greenish tint as if I had just exported it straight out of Final Cut.
This is very frustrating. Has anyone else played around with this anymore?
I guess my one and only question is: is there any possible way I can have an actual H.264 movie (not x.264) that displays the same color/gamma in QuickTime as it does Final Cut without it mattering whether I have Enable Final Cut Studio Compatibility checked in the QuickTime preferences?
I’m going to continue trying to figure it out myself but any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Mac Pro | Leopard 10.5.7
2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon | 4GB Ram
Final Cut Pro Studio 2 | Avid Media Composer -
Actually, the x.264 to FLV didn’t work for me – I just tried it and not only did the gamma/colors shift back to their muted greenish tint but there was also a lot of corrupted pixels/digital noise in some areas (not just normal compression pixelation).
I also noticed that when I use Quicklook to view the x.264 it looks just like the FLV with the muted color and corrupted pixels.
Additionally, encoding the x.264 at full 1080p 2-Pass at the Best compressor quality gives me a file that’s about half the size of the original DVCPRO HD but my quad-core MacPro with 8GB of ram can’t play it at the full framerate, it runs around 15-18 only occasionally getting up to 24.
Has anyone else run into these issues?
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Mac Pro | Leopard 10.5.7
2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon | 4GB Ram
Final Cut Pro Studio 2 | Avid Media Composer -
Problem pretty much solved but I’m running into the same issue as you with having to encode multiple time. My workflow is: Export DVCPRO HD (or whatever it was shot at), then convert to x.264, then to FLV. It would be nice to be able to skip the x.264 encode and retain full resolution but that seem to be the only way to lock down the gamma.
I’m also concerned about delivering full-res completed videos to clients in their native DVCPRO HD format that look muted and desaturated compared to the web formats I deliver. The only way I can see getting around this is encoding the DVCPRO HD file to x.264 and then back to DVCPRO HD (but even then I wouldn’t be adding resolution, just making the file editable).
Does anyone have a workaround for these or did I just answer my own questions?
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Mac Pro | Leopard 10.5.7
2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon | 4GB Ram
Final Cut Pro Studio 2 | Avid Media Composer -
I just tried the x.264 codec and it works beautifully. The video outputs exactly how it appears in Final Cut and checking the FCP Color Compatibility in QT does not change it’s look so I know that everyone is seeing the same image. Whoohoo!
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Mac Pro | Leopard 10.5.7
2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon | 4GB Ram
Final Cut Pro Studio 2 | Avid Media Composer -
Thanks Matt. This gamma shift issue is confusing indeed, but your answers definitely help! And you’re right, it’s my job to figure this stuff out, not the developers.
I would get a broadcast monitor but everything I do is completely digital – P2 cards >> DVCPRO HD >> FCP >> Output to H.264 or FLV for the web – it’s never viewed on a TV or printed to tape. Although, maybe I’m thinking about this incorrectly, if the broadcast monitor displays the gamma and colors the same way Quicktime does when FCP Color Compatibility is turned off then I could use it for color correction, otherwise it wouldn’t help me.
I’ll give x264 a shot. Thanks again for the help!
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Mac Pro | Leopard 10.5.7
2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon | 4GB Ram
Final Cut Pro Studio 2 | Avid Media Composer -
I just did a test turning FCP Color Compatibility on and off in the QT Preferences with DVCPRO HD footage, and even that shifts.
Image of DVCPRO HD video with FCP Color Compatibility on:
https://tinypic.com/r/dqp4p5/7Image of DVCPRO HD video with FCP Color Compatibility off:
https://tinypic.com/r/16bzjue/7So, let me see if I have this right – in Final Cut I’m seeing the colors and gamma as it appears in the first image, however, no matter what I export (DVCPRO HD, H.264, etc…) the clients that I send the final video to will see the colors and gamma as it appears in the second image?
If this is the case, how do I color correct for what for what FCP will output to?
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Mac Pro | Leopard 10.5.7
2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon | 4GB Ram
Final Cut Pro Studio 2 | Avid Media Composer -
I just read the post on byteful.com about x264 – it blows my mind that we have to jump through these hoops to output a video without a gamma shift.
I have a lot of clients I send H.264 videos to and hate that I can’t deliver them what I worked so hard to make beautiful. If I were to get the x264 codec and output using that, can anyone watch it (Mac/PC) using the standard QuickTime app?
Or, does anyone know if I can change the way Final Cut Pro handles gamma?
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Mac Pro | Leopard 10.5.7
2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon | 4GB Ram
Final Cut Pro Studio 2 | Avid Media Composer -
Quicktime 7 still comes installed, they just moved its location to Applications > Utilities > Quicktime 7.
I wouldn’t worry about deleting QT10, it’s a stripped down POS compared to 7. Just set 7 as your default for all video files, download Perian, and you’re set.
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Mac Pro | Leopard 10.5.7
2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon | 4GB Ram
Final Cut Pro Studio 2 | Avid Media Composer