Jerry Hofmann
Forum Replies Created
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Tony,
Each sequence has to be conformed back to an MPEG GOP – it’s called “conforming” before you lay it back to tape, or create a QT movie for any purpose… and it can take a very long time. I’ve written an article coming in the next issue of the COW magazine about editing HDV in Appleland, and was amazed by how much time you could spend “conforming”… I used a 5 minute sequence that was identical in HDV, the Intermediate Codec (now there’s an odd duck deal), and in DVCPROHD. The article is about how to handle HDV, and my conclusion is worth reading I think.
The HDV sequence took 43 minutes to conform so I could lay it back to tape… same time would have been used to prepare a QT movie for compression… This same sequence in DVCPROHD (converted from the HDV) took 5 minutes to render, and I couldn’t see a difference in quality at all. The conversion is fast too… can be done as you capture with the right gear.
If you needed to deliver an SD DVD of a feature length program… we are talking DAYS to get it there from the time your last edit is made on a dual 2 gig machine.
HDV isn’t easy in post in FCP at all. Just rendering effects can be painfully slow.
But I digress… the Matrox MXO has it’s place, and it’s a winning product as far as I can see. There’s nothing quite like it out there. Sure, you don’t need it if you’re running a Kona, but hey, it’s a lot less expensive than any other solution from AJA or Decklink and it’s portable. NO card slot needed. Not just for HDV either, works with any flavor of HD.
In Matrox’s defense (which I’m the first to agree they really dropped the ball with the RTMac from any perspective) Apple didn’t make things easy for them. When FCP 3 was introduced, it did as much RT as the RTMac did, which made the product really only an A/D/D/A DV converter. There were a lot less expensive solutions for that. They sort of got bit by Apple’s RT Extreme technology. So did Cinewave… It’s RT additions became more and more ho hum as the computers and software advances took place. Seeing the product manager screaming at the top of his lungs at the international User’s group at NAB a couple of years ago that you just had to have RT was embarrasing… At that point, CineWave really wasn’t giving much more than a fast G5 would do… it was pretty sad.
Where Matrox made a big mistake was not only NOT delivering on the drivers for current users past Jaguar (and indicating they were going to), but really didn’t make public the fact they had no intention of supporting the product after FCP 3. They shouda said that…
Quite frankly though, all of that is pretty old news, and if they do support the MXO (and I’ll bet they do), it’s going to be a winner…
Jerry
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I’d uninstall it then re install it.
here’s the procedure: https://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93234
Jerry
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Might try exporting a self contained movie of the sequence, and putting that to tape.
Jerry
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I’m pretty sure there’s not a way to search for a filter in a sequence, but if there is one on a clip, you’ll see a colored RT line or other colored line in the top of the timeline window over it indicating there’s a filter applied, you could narrow down your search that way.
Jerry
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What’s the difference between a match frame and a “straight match frame”.
Jerry
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Might clone the tape, if the timecode isn’t recorded with a very solid signal, FCP will report it’s broken. We had a camera that was dirty, and had this problem, cleaned the camera and it fixed the problem. Cloning the tape to a machine that records hotter tc may fix you up now.
Jerry
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It’s the only way to look at external HD video from a PowerBook/MBP for starters.
Matrox sent me a review copy… it’s a nice a box actually. Can down convert to SD, use a 23″ CD for an external monitor, send an HD SDI signal out all at the same time…
Sure it doesn’t compare with a Kona 3, but doesn’t cost as much either.In the article I’ve written for the next COW mag, I talk about my experience with it. I was really quite impressed actually.
Since it’s pretty much “Apple proof” I think it has it’s place.
Jerry
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Tried trashing prefs on the errant machine?
Jerry
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Have you downloaded the lastest drivers from AJA? If not try that…
Jerry
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Are the timecode breaks consistantly in the same place? If so might log shorter clips?
Jerry