[Jason Hare]

Thanks for your tips.

The guide layer is the perfect solution. I have done a quick test and it works perfectly. In fact it works better than I though as the guide layers do not even show up in another comp when nested. So it is absolutely perfect!

[Jason Hare]

I am aware that Google Earth rules state that you must use the pro version to obtain the images and you must also display the atribution information, on screen as you see the images. This would make the earth zoom effect very messy.

On that note does anyone have suggestions on where images can be bought so that I do not have to provide copyright information on screen?

Thanks

[Jason Hare]

I have to agree with everyone on this. Chroma keying can be a nightmare if the lighting isn’t right. It would also be tricky when the images are further away. Plus you will have to track the green surfaces, another skill set in itself.

I would just use 3D Studio Max. I have added moving video to many 3D scenes and it works perfectly. No chroma key fuss, and no tracking nightmares.

Good Luck

[Jason Hare]

I see where you are coming from with the pillarboxing. However many of the programmes I work on are for foreign sales and need to be made 16:9 but with 4:3 safe areas. Some of the countries the programmes are distributed to actually just centre cut the show and send it out 4:3. So if we use pillarboxing to the 4:3 viewers they will just experience a sudden and extreme change of quality.

I know it is a subjective thing but many of my clients in London detest the use of pillarboxing, which I find odd as it was acceptable in Australia. I think in London they would actually prefer to massively soften the image and blow it up rather than have black bars. I don’t agree but sometimes one has to give and do as one is told!

Anyway, thanks again for your thoughts. It is always good to get another’s professional opinion.

Jason

[Jason Hare]

Hey Thomas,

I agree with Dave.

In addition to his points…

It is very simple to apply moving video to an object in 3D Studio Max. You simply select an AVI file or image sequence where you have selected the stills. You may need to play with the timing a bit but that is all there is to it.

Looking at your video I would say that you could build the entire scene in after effects pretty easily and even add lights. This isn’t too big a scene to create.

One additional option you could consider is to replace all the still images in your video with a simple texture with some detail, such as a checkerboard. You could then render this out in 3D Studio Max and use a planar tracking system such as Mocha to track each of the images. You could then take that corning pinning data into after effects and make your moving videos fit perfectly. This could be useful if you need to update the video files at a later date and want a quick render.

Good Luck!

[Jason Hare]

Thanks for the fast reply Dave.

Good advice on the codec choice.

The shooting off a monitor idea is totally about the look. It is a doco with fresh HD interviews talking about things that occurred years ago. The only archive stuff we have is very old and would never cut seamlessly with new HD stuff, so we thought it would look interesting to shoot it in an old 4:3 monitor. I would never consider shooting a monitor as a technique for up-converting anything.

I am still interested to hear more from anyone who may have used HD up-converting plugins. I accept that creating pixels is never going to be good as acquiring them from source (much like using optical flow compared with a high speed camera) but I guess I am wondering if it is worth using the plugin as opposed to just scaling them up. Is it worth the money for that “little” difference, or is it just a gimmick?

Thanks again…

[Jason Hare]

Hi Noah,

Very good point that you raise.

My biggest issue is that I have been sent DV rushes to effectively do an offline edit of a HD-CAM project, so I can’t really render anything as finals.

What I might do is speak to the client and get them to ftp me full res versions of the shots I need to process in Motion. That way I can provide them a new version of the shots in full quality.

Thank again for your help.

[Jason Hare]

Mark’s answer fixed the problem. It was just that setting. Looks great now.

Noah. Your answer would work but as it is part of a larger offline FCP project that will be conformed in another country I want it to be as neat and easy for them as possible.

Thanks for your help….

Jason

[Jason Hare]

I had posted the same post on the apple forum and was given a suggestion there. They suggested that I use quicktime to export a new version of the file. I did this and imported it into FCP and it is all there. Plus the timecode appears to match.

Does anyone think there will be issues when conforming from the original source tapes in HD?

[Jason Hare]

More information…..

The material was captured on an unknown final cut pro system. The master format is HD-Cam 1080i50, but the material has been captured as DVC-PAL (720×576 anamorphic 16:9).

The drive is a 500gig, formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

Here are the specs of two example files:

Clip 1 – in finder
9.1GB
49.36 minutes
Total bit rate 24,747

Clip 1 in FCP
8.5GB
40.04 minutes
DV-PAL

It is worth noting that when I check this file in Quicktime the shot material ends and the video displays black around the 40 minute mark indicating that FCP seems to ignore the Quicktime clip once it goes to black. This is even the case when I try nd re-import.

Clip 2 in finder
9.33GB
49.08 minutes
Total bit rate 25,572

Clip 2 in FCP
8.7GB
11.40 minutes
DV-PAL

When I checked this file in Quicktime I notice a short burst of black, looking like the camera operator may have broken time code. less than a second later the video returns, but not in FCP.

Looking into this it seems like FCP has a problem with a possible timecode break. SO two questions:

1. How can I force FCP to import the entire quicktime file and ignore any disturbance of the timecode or possible sync breaks?
2. Once I have done this how likely is an error when they conform with the original HD-CAM rushes?