[John Calhoun]

“-20 db can be used for all broadcast formats.”

————————————————

-20db won’t work for analog. Analog reference remains 0db. If you are mastering to a digital format, then -20 will work in most instances, but is not a hard and fast rule.

-20db is a good broadcast level because you will likely not need more headroom. Again, for movies you may need additional headroom. Keep in mind some broadcasters are quite specific about reference levels; example, MTV requires -18db on a digibeta master. If in doubt contact the broadcaster for technical specifications.

In any event, reference level should be noted on the tape label.

pxlmvr

[John Calhoun]

It has always been my understanding that where you set your reference actually depends upon what your dynamic range is; i.e. if you’re doing a motion picture with loud explosions, you would probably use -20db because it gives you greater headroom so you won’t go above 0 digitally because it would clip. (You could go lower if you have a greater dynamic range). If you’re doing an average corporate video the -12db is fine. It merely lets the broadcaster know where the reference is; hence, I don’t think there is a wrong answer. That’s why FCP allows flexiblity for setting reference all the way down to -60db.

pxlmvr

John A. Calhoun
Zone Communication Group
Cincinnati, Ohio

[John Calhoun]

Ken Stone is, unfortunately, incorrect. Bret is correct.

Creation size for DV is 720×534, downsized to 720×480.

Creation size for ITU-R BT.601 (formerly CCIR) is 720×540, downsized to 720×486.

pxlmvr

John A. Calhoun
Zone Communication Group
Cincinnati, Ohio

[John Calhoun]

heres my workflow which works for graphics with drop shadows and other PS effects.

create graphic as usual complete with shadows, bevels, glows, etc.

(this sequence can be made into an action)
create a new layer, hit the little known combo shift+option+command+’E’. This creates a merged copy of all of your visible layers complete with glows and dropshadows to the layer.

command+click on the layer (or thumbnail in CS2) to create a selection. Go to channels, click ‘save selection as channel’ at bottom of window which creates and alpha channel.

go back to layers, option click the eyeball to isolate your new merged layer. (stop action if you started one)

do a ‘save as’ select targa with an alpha channel and voila, there’s your graphic complete with glows and drop shadows.

I use this flow because I use the same master PS files over and over and the targas stay in the project folder.

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John A. Calhoun
Zone Communication Group
Cincinnati, Ohio

[John Calhoun]

ok found it. reading down a little further … cmd+click on the thumbnail, not the layer. did adobe do that just to make me feel dumb?

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John A. Calhoun
Zone Communication Group
Cincinnati, Ohio

[John Calhoun]

My question exactly! Where is it???

John A. Calhoun
Zone Communication Group
Cincinnati, Ohio

[John Calhoun]

I’ve been using a 9×12 for 3 years. It’s great for paint work in Photoshop; nothing better. I use the 4 button mouse mostly, with ‘control click’ to button 2; ‘option click’ for button 3 and ‘command click’ for button 4. Of course having a scroll wheel is very convenient when I have 10-20 layers going. Being able to switch between pen and mouse when the wrist starts to ache is a career-saver! The Wacom is well worth the investment for the professional editor.

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John A. Calhoun
Zone Communication Group
Cincinnati, Ohio

[John Calhoun]

The IO doesn’t play well with external firewire drives.

From page 7 of the IO manual: “Firewire drive solutions are not generally supported in use with AJA IO LD&LA. Since they connect to the host Power Mac via Firewire and use the firewire bus bandwidth extensively, it cannot also be used for storage – at the same time.” So the Mac will have problems digitizing when there is a firewire drive and the IO connected to the firewire ports on the Mac. Since the SATA drive is connected PCI it is not affected.

The solution is to by a separate firewire PCI card for your external drive.

pxlmvr

John A. Calhoun
Zone Communication Group
Cincinnati, Ohio

[John Calhoun]

Try using Lyric Image Control>Shadow-Highlight.

http://www.lyric.com/fcp-plugins/

It works like Shadow Highlight in Photoshop. It allows you to dramatically bring up shadows and decrease highlights. It’s saved many a shot for me.

pxlmvr

John A. Calhoun
Zone Communication Group
Cincinnati, Ohio

[John Calhoun]

https://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/basic_pleasantville_look.html