Dylan Reeve
Forum Replies Created
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XML has similarities with OMF and EDLs I guess.
It’s basically closest to an EDL, it’s basically a glorified text file that describes the edited sequence. However unlike EDL which is a format with very limited formatting and options, XML in pretty much infinitely variable. Each element of the sequence can have any of a huge number of ‘tags’ associated with it, each of which can have any number of attributes.
That’s what makes XML like OMF – it can carry a lot of extra data beyond simple cuts and transitions like an EDL. But it’s a lot more open that OMF. And, as mentioned, it doesn’t offer embedding.
XML, in general is quite well described on Wikipedia, the specifics of FCP’s implementation is just about the tags and attributes it uses to describe the data.
XML is widely used in professional video – almost all the non-linear video formats (P2, SxS, XDCAM) record clip metadata in XML files – in their own format (not the same XML format as FCP’s).
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SD XDCAM is I-Frame MPEG-IMX at 30, 40 or 50Mbit/s (I wouldn’t use anything other than 50, although 40 is pretty good).
I’ve never used it in FCP, but the idea is that you can simply transfer the files from the disk (via USB/Firewire/Ethernet) and import to your NLE as native media. No need for a capture card. Alternatively it can operate in a ‘tape style’ where you can control the deck with a 6-pin RS-422 remote and capture via SDI, but this removes the non-linear benefits of the format.
I believe to use XDCAM effectively in FCP you need this application:
Final Cut Pro/XDCAM Transfer SoftwareI really liked cutting with XDCAM in Avid, I hope it’s as pleasant in FCP too.
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Biggest problem with that approach is lack of metadata (ie timecode). I’ve got a demo camera from Sony at the moment, so I’ll try to do so in the next few days.
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FFMpeg can decode the EX video, and can in turn recompress to a range of codecs – check out this blog post about converting to DNxHD video (the concept remains the same for other formats)
https://www.bolanski.com/ex/home/ffmpeg-is-your-friend/
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Those compression ratios are all relative to baseband uncompressed video (approx 170mb/s).
While Digibeta achieves around a 2:1 compression it has to be decoded to baseband video for playback out standard interface lines (Analogue and SDI). So the 2:1 in Avid is based on that rate.
The only video format where the native compressed video is transported off the cassette is DV where the native compressed video is transferred via Firewire. However DV played over analogue or SDI video will be decompressed to baseband video first.
Various solid-state and file-based formats (XDCAM, P2 etc) where files can be copied directly from recording medium are of course a different matter.
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Indeed, I did see your comments in that thread, but I cannot reproduce them, and nothing I understand about the mechanics of digital imaging supports what you say you observe.
The file size of an image is directly proportional to the number of pixels and the number of bits per pixel. No other factor is going to affect that.
So an RGB image of 1920×1080 at 8 bits per pixel will be approximately 6,220,800 Bytes (plus overhead for metadata and file headers). Obviously if the image has compression applied (either as a lossy format like JPEG, or with a lossless compression like Zip in a Tif file).
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Depending on your requirements, it’s usually best to resize images to the appropriate dimensions (1920×1080, 1280×720, etc…) but the DPI of that image will make no difference at all.
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That was my point… My understanding is that DPI will never have any impact on the size of the image as far as my editing software is concerned, nor will it affect filesize… However I’ve seen others (most recently and notably Walt Biscardi) claim that they have different results.
I’m just throwing it out – maybe I’m tossing my gauntlet at Walter’s feet…
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The Avid forums are the best place to ask these questions really.
But in general if a is system not explictly included in the supported list (especially from a similar family like the 4200) then it’s not quite up to spec for some reason.
In your case the video card would definately be a problem – Avid relies on some specific NVidia features, and doesn’t play nicely on other cards (even many NVidia cards that aren’t in the supported range).
With a supported video card you’d probably find it would work okay, but being non-supported there may be some areas where it’s problematic (most likely would be in working with Mojo or Adrenaline hardware).
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This is probably a DV compression thing… But also, red-black contrast is always a problem with composite video (which is what a lot of people use with the DVD players and VCRs, and is what all analogue broadcasting is) – I can’t remember the specifics, but something about where red is on the spectrum (shortest visible wavelength) and the method of modulation use to encapsulate the luma and chroma signals. I understood it in the lectures, but it’s all escaped me now.
Basically the end result is that solid red, especially on a solid (or black) background is never a great idea with video. However with less saturation the problems are less pronounced.