[Godfrey Pye]

Well Daryl, this response gives me heart – and I thank you for it.

I have received much well-meant, educated assistance from many editors in answer to my original question. However, lots of it has been in disagreement as to where to go from here, so much so that my head has been spinning over the weekend with conflicting advice.

I’m going to take Daryl’s experience and run with it, mainly because it seems to be something my simple, PAL-only experienced brain can understand.

I have imported the DV tapes and edited in NDF (there are colons”:” and not semi colons “;” between the seconds and frames when I see the clips in the viewer).
However, I think I have screwed up in editing the piece with a DF timeline.
So if I can find a way of changing the timeline to NDF and then give an edl to the facility, then surely I will have have achieved the kind of satisfied nirvana that Daryl has enjoyed over 60 episodes?

Once again, a hearty thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion, it’s great to have editors so willing to give their hard-won experience to another editor who’s a complete stranger to them.

Now, how the hell do I change my timeline from DF to NDF – surely it’s not as simple as just unchecking that box…..?

Godfrey.

[Godfrey Pye]

Mike,

Yes, the DV tapes are NDF and yes I did transfer them as drop frame.
I am not a beginner, it’s just that I have not encountered this situation before – maybe it’s because I’m from a world that doesn’t need to deal with drop and non-drop, maybe I should just know better – but we all live and hopefully learn eh!

By the way, my preference for an HDV shoot was that in my opinion it would have saved my client lots of money and would have looked just as good. However, this is not a blame game, it’s not the point. I just want to get the job done the best I can for my client.
I thank you for your candor and for your help. It sounds like I need to recapture.

Godfrey.

[Godfrey Pye]

Sean,

I thank you for your sage advice. However as I mentioned, the project, which was shot on film, will be on-lined and then go to DVD only. Not to film.

So surely this means that I need to do an online session at 29.97 doesn’t it? Nothing would please me more than giving the problem to the post facility and letting those who made the mess pay to get out of it. But as a professional courtesy I feel I must give the on-line editor all the help I can.

Godfrey

[Godfrey Pye]

Weevie,
Thanks for your elaborate suggestion to get over this post debacle.
In my defense, I was brought in when all the post decisions were already made (badly).

Your complex sounding, yet carefully thought-out solution is interesting – and I do have an HDV deck.
The problem is that the master material is on HDCam.
Surely that’s nothing to do with HDV – or is it?
Sorry to sound so dumb but I haven’t come across HDCam before – are you saying it is a derivation of HDV and it works in an HDV deck? If so, I could do what you have suggested!

Godfrey

[Godfrey Pye]

Mark,
Thanks for your input.
Just so you know, I’m FROM England but I live in LA, so PAL is not the issue.
I just haven’t come up against such a clumsy ill thought-out work-flow as this one and I’m perplexed as what to do. As I said, the plan is merely to end up on DVD!

The material came to me after it was shot, telecine’d and transferred.
I told the director and producer that they should have shot on HDV and saved themselves thousands.

So I think I’ll throw the situation at the post house they chose in the first place.
I just hate it when people waste their money – they could have paid me more for editing!
Thanks again.
Godfrey

[Godfrey Pye]

Wonderful – thanks Borjis, I’ll try it.

Godfrey

[Godfrey Pye]

Thank you Slave, I’ve actually done that but I thought the Motion idea was somehow ‘ cooler’ – it’s just that I am uncertain about my own ignarance when setting the parameters. Maybe I’ll go back to the way you suggest.

Godfrey

[Godfrey Pye]

Like Walter, I have an ftp site and it works flawlessly with Fetch.
However, here’s a different solution that will easily get the material to and from you and your client.
Try Pando, http://www.pando.com.
It’s free, it works for Mac and PC and you can easily send and receive up to 1 gigabyte of material at a time.
It’s simplicity itself to download the free software, but both you and your client would need to do so.
After that you just drag and drop a file onto the Pando window.
So while you are working out your ftp woes, you could be in business.
Try it out – what do you have to lose?

Godfrey Pye
Mulholland Bays – in the Hollywood Hills

[Godfrey Pye]

That’s a very good idea thanks.
I just know that this is going to cost the producer much more than he has budgeted for – and guess where he’ll no doubt try to cut corners!
Many thanks.

Godfrey Pye
Mulholland Bays – in the Hollywood Hills

[Godfrey Pye]

Walter, you’re a good chap – I don’t care what they say.
You’ve told me what I need to know and more.
You’ve also asked some very pertinint questions to which I don’t know the answers yet, as I only got the brief last night.
However, I will now go ahead and ask these questions, and if I need to – and if I may, I’ll come back to you.
What I love about this forum is that you can risk making a fool of yourself by asking questions of which you are completely ignorant – yet everyone is usually very kind in response.
That’s you today – and boy were you quick!

Many thanks again.

Godfrey