[Jeff Brown]

You can use “time remapping” in AE to hold frames. But it can get tricky to remember where you are in the clip so as not to mistakenly start re-timing the footage again.
I’d use Premiere too, if possible.

-Jeff

[Jeff Brown]

S-VHS is a 2-signal format: Luma + Chroma, or Y + Y/C (if I remember correctly). Not RGB.
I’m not sure if your Kona board has any analog inputs, you may need to find a device that converts S-video to SDI.

-Jeff

[Jeff Brown]

As I started when computer editing was even less reliable than it is now, my projects all get incrementally saved (manually) as I work on them. So, in my project folder, I’ll have “myEdit_01.pproj, “myEdit_02.pproj”, “myEdit_03.pproj”, etc. I also have a “myEdit_bak.pproj”, which is a duplicate of whatever the most recent version is.
And these get backed up nightly, too…

I still overwrite projects occassionally. But I have the “myEdit_bak.pproj” to load, then re-save with the proper name. It has saved me from much weeping.

-Jeff

[Jeff Brown]

Personally, I use a JVC 24″ monitor(V24L1D). No DVI/HDMI, just SDI and analog inputs. The more recent models may be different, but none of them will be cheap. Same goes for Flanders, Panasonic, and Sony*. I can say that it (the JVC) does absolutely show you if your interlaced stuff is right (or wrong!). I bought mine from a large online retailer that had the initials of “B” and “H” in the name…
The issue with using a consumer LCD-TV is that there is typically a lot of processing to the signal to make it look “better.” Frequently, this includes line-doubling to get rid of interlacing, among other dynamic adjustments.

*Sony had a bad rep a few years ago with their initial LCD “pro” monitors. This too may have changed.

hope it helps,
Jeff

[Jeff Brown]

“garbage matte” i.e., you mask off the area outside your greenscreen, so that it is not affected by the keyer. And, yeah, use blue if you can, just for easiest…

-Jeff

[Jeff Brown]

Hi David.
If you’re only dealing with your footage, then probably not such a big deal. If you have to deal with footage from other places (other shooters, stock footage, client footage, etc.), then you do want to be sure about field issues–and not trust what clients tell you they just gave you ;>).

-Jeff

[Jeff Brown]

[David Payne] “I will have to look into the finer details like which monitor/tv is best to use in about a 24″ size and also whether they connect generally by HDMI, DVI etc”

David– if you are aspiring to a level of professional production, you should really get a SDI-input video (not computer) monitor for the output viewing. They are expensive (relatively), but can be accurately calibrated. It is also important to find a monitor that accurately displays field-based (interlaced) material. I can’t believe how often I see “broadcast” spots with reversed fields.

-Jeff

[Jeff Brown]

Jon B. to the rescue once again!

;>)

[Jeff Brown]

I only upgraded recently, but Premiere 5.5 does seem to be more responsive, particularly when reading image sequences (the bulk of my work). I’d say it is the perfect time to upgrade.

-jeff

[Jeff Brown]

Along with the vendors Jeff P. mentioned, AJA makes some good hardware for video I/O.
In fact, that’s the system I’ve been using for a few years: 2 computer monitors (driven by an nVidia card), with an AJA card feeding an SDI video monitor (JVC).

-another Jeff