[Howard Ferguson]

Hi Ty,

I’m very sorry.
I mistakenly attributed someone else’s posting
as being from you,
in my original posting.

I absolutely totally understand where you are coming from with your response.

I have an audio recording studio, and I’d never (never) use these mics there.
(I’d never use many of the most popular ones for my purposes there, either . . . )

But-

I’ve been tasked with providing the best inexpensive mics possible
for this particular ‘film making on video’ endeavor . . .

I have noted your contributions to CreativeCow for some years now,
and I have no small respect for your perspective,
or your ears . . .

So-

In an extremely imperfect world . . .

Which of the ‘retarded’ low priced mics ($500 or less)
would you use ?

If trapped in a cruel alternate universe ?

(Suicide is not an option . . .)

Thanks for your help !

Howard

[Howard Ferguson]

Hi Ty,

I’m curious what you thought of the Azden SGM-1000 ?

How would you compare it to the Azden SGM-2X ?

We’re looking for a shotgun mic to get the best quality possible in that price range.

It’ll be on a boom, and we’ll need to pick up a small group of actors at times.

Would you have other suggestions ?

Thanks for your time !

Howard

[Howard Ferguson]

Hi Ron,

Sometimes, in my experience, I have observed incoming questions that have been dismissed as “user error” by some of the far more experienced folks, but-

Other users- with less experience, but the same problems- are able to sort through the difficulties through direct experimentation on the actual systems involved.

Sometimes, those systems are less than state of the art, at this stage of software and hardware development-

So the more established seasoned pros have moved on from a relationship of old gear on newer software and hardware, and may not experience these situations.

I just think-
It will be less helpful if questions that are not fully understood are removed from a broader arena, where they can have the best chance of finding a solution.

I want to thank everyone for all the wonderful help I’ve gotten from Create Cow, on a number of topics !

Howard Ferguson

[Howard Ferguson]

Hi Rudy,

Thanks for all this info !

I’m not certain what you mean when you say:

SOLUTION: right click the capture clip > item properties > format and uncheck ANAMORPHIC

Do you mean you need to change this for every clip, after they are Captured ?

If so, that’s what I posted the other day as the only fix I’d found.

Do you have a fix, that will change all the clips coming in, to save changing each one individually ?

Thanks for your help with this !

Howard

[Howard Ferguson]

Hi Bret,

Thanks for your info !
It was quite helpful.

It seems I’ve discovered my problem with Quicktime is that:
QT 10 displays the movies in the wrong aspect.
QT 7.6.3 displays the movies just fine, with no alteration needed.

What is the highest possible resolution setting on the DVX100A, if you are shooting in 24p ?

And the highest possible resolution Setting for Capturing from the Camera to Final Cut ?

Thanks !

Howard

[Howard Ferguson]

Hi Rudolf,

I have been able to export a proper 4:3 quicktime movie despite the stretched image in FCP.

I’m very interested in precisely what your Capture Settings are.

My QT movies always come into Final Cut with their Anamorphic errantly turned ON. And I haven’t found a way to keep that from happening with the QT files.

Quicktime v10.0 (51) doesn’t have an Anamorphic control.

Thanks !

Howard

[Howard Ferguson]

Hi Rudolf,

I’d suggest looking under the Edit menu, at:
Edit > Item Properties > Format

There is an option for Anamorphic there.

Unlike most of the properties, you can change the Anamorphic setting in this window. If it’s checked, it’s ON. Click that check to Uncheck, and turn it OFF.

I find that every Capture from my DVX100A requires turning OFF the Anamorphic in this way.

It seems like a very odd default setting, and I haven’t found a way to set the Default to OFF yet. I’d like to know how to do that.

The Capture Preset does not have an option for Anamorphic

It’s very odd that the Anamorphic setting does not appear in the Browser window.

Great to discuss this stuff !

Howard

[Howard Ferguson]

Hi Rudy,

That’s very interesting.

When you say-
I have been able to export a proper 4:3 quicktime movie despite the stretched image in FCP.

What do you mean by Export ?

I’m guessing you mean an Export a movie from Final Cut ?
Not a Capture from the DVX100A ?

Are your QT movies created at Capture not “Squished” ?
The QT movies in your Capture Scratch Folder ?

I’m really glad you’ve asked these questions !

Cheers !

Howard Fergusion

[Howard Ferguson]

Hi Bret,

Thank you very much for this information !

DV files have to be 720x480z.

And here is why.
The pixels of DV, like most SD sources are not square, they are rectangular.

My approach to fixing this situation with the QT files has been to:
Make a Setting in Compressor to adjust the Aspect/Size, and some other stuff-
And running them through it.

What is the highest resolution solution to this situation ?

Thanks very much for all this help !

Howard Ferguson

[Howard Ferguson]

Hi Rudolf,

I’m sorry to say I don’t have an answer for you.

I think I’m having the same problem right now.
Except I’m in 24p.

There doesn’t appear to be a setting that does not Warp the aspect ratio.
In attempt to fix this, I created a 4:3 custom Capture Preset setting, but it has the same result as the others.

Also, my Preset sets Anamorphic to OFF, but the generated QT file it is ON.
My Preset Frame Size 640×480, but the generated QT file is 720×480.
My Preset sets Pixel Aspect to Square, but the generated QT file is NTSC-CCIR 601.

(And here is no Video Playback setting that is 4:3 ratio.)

I’ve tried an array of Capture Preset settings but-All footage Captured from the DVX100A results in a stretched out image in the Quicktime movie the Capture generates.

What was originally a Letterbox image (4:3) is stretched out to a 720×480 Quicktime movie.
Stretched out wider than the image appears in the Log and Capture monitor, or the camera monitor.

I can change various settings in Final Cut to put those QT movie clips back in the proper aspect for use in Final Cut, but-

I’m still trying to discover how to generate a proper QT movie created from the Capture function, coming in from the DVX100A-

A generated Quicktime movie that is the proper aspect ratio from the start, in the Capture generated Quicktime files.

Any help with this would be wonderful !
I’d greatly appreciate learning what I’m doing wrong.

Howard Ferguson