[Jay Moffat]

It’s the same as the FCP output: 1080i25 which is what I expected, what I didn’t expect was the footage to play at all through the Kona due to it’s size. Is the scaling happenign from FCP? I have the same output through Apple Color…

J

[Jay Moffat]

Hmm, I’m not sure, this was edited a long time ago and brought to the UK from France by the director, it’s is unlikely he’ll be able to give me those answers. Is it possible that if they captured from the cards direct they could have zero’ed the metadata? If so, is it possible to do that in FCP so I can match there EDL?

J

[Jay Moffat]

Great thanks, it’s an HD sequence, 10-bit, there is an 8-bit title sequence, so looks like I’ve done the correct thing then..

J

[Jay Moffat]

The softness issue is pretty perplexing it could have been the RGB vs Rec709 issue perhaps. But in general, outside of the HDV issue I’m really looking for how you guys, as Avid users, which I’m not, send material for grading, and from what I see it could well be the RGB vs Rec709 export issue, the codec being slightly secondary.

The reason I ask for Uncompressed is that I know that at least what I get is as good as it’s going to get. The DNxHD file they sent me from the HDV sequence was terrible, then again it could have been an operator issue. I did notice a huge shift in the levels too, it produced a very washed out image on the mac, compared to the original HDV footage, which is also in addition to the softer image, why we re-conformed.

Thanks for the replies

Jason

[Jay Moffat]

I think that’s probably the issue then, they have exported as RGB which would probably account for the issues…unsure about any QuickTime issues, shouldn’t be unless there is an PC Avid/QuickTime to MAC QuickTime issue…we’re grading in Apple Color, the Avid is on Windows.

Not sure it accounts for the softness though… We were wanting to avoid outputting ‘same as source’ due it being HDV, there was a concern that the quality would not hold up for re-rendered clips with speed changes etc, so we wanted an uncompressed export. Any advice on an uncompressed for format from Avid for cross platform use?

Thanks for the feedback

Jason

[Jay Moffat]

Yep, on HD monitor Rec709, comparing to the original footage…

I’d not have though rendering out to Rec709 would be the ideal as you’re essentially clipping values before the grade. no?

Jason

[Jay Moffat]

An idea for sure, I use Kona though, so I’m not sure they will be compatible with my system? Will report back atthe end of the week to let you all know the results of tests done with the different samples I hope to receive very soon.

J

[Jay Moffat]

Ideally uncompressed 10-bit into Color, however I did a test using a render from the Avid using Compression ‘None’, it worked fine as far as my small test goes. I rendered out as Uncompressed 10-bit from Apple Color and reassembled in FCP, which worked fine. So basically bypassing FCP and went direct to Apple Color.

My overall concern is if I needed to bring a sequence or render from Avid for whatever reason, straight into FCP, what codec would produce a clean transition? All my tests on that score have unsuccessful. However I am waiting for a sample clip rendered in all the Avid Codecs to look at.

Re-rendering the clips in Compressor before going into FCP produced even worse results, where the footage became a great deal lighter and washed out compared to the raw capture.

J

[Jay Moffat]

Thanks guys, the Avid is on another site, it’s ultimately going to Grading, which is RGB native so after some tests I found can use the Compression ‘None’ setting, use an EDL to cut up the file in Color and then reassemble in FCP using Uncompressed 10-bit, that should do me for now..otherwise this codec looks like an option in the future.

As far as I can see, the Automatic Duck is great for sequence translation but doesn’t solve any of the level shifts in the footage.

Do you happen to know if the MXF file was captured HDV whether the shift would still happen after the MXF translation, or is the fact that it comes from Avid, regardless of codec that causes the shift?

J

[Jay Moffat]

I have the source Avid MXF files, but it;s not clear if they are actually the clips they are working from, and when they captured from the tapes they captured as single 2gb streams regardles of where the shots end, rather than individual shots which has made a second injest seem unlikely to result in accurate results from an EDL, I shall ask for DNxHD then and see how we get on.

This project has been a bit of a mare and no mistake..

Thanks for the heads up

J