[Joseph Hung]

Initial import and transcoding HVX P2 to ProRes is the same thing. it’s the settings you are using to transcode the footage directly from the mounted P2 card to ProRes using Log and Transfer. What FCP format setting is telling you may not be in line with how it was shot. It could be likely that you shot using certain settings on the camera, and then when you L&T your settings aren’t right. This could introduce alot of issues. Please provide details about the entire process, from shooting settings to L&T and your sequence settings.

Mac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.8
FCS2
CS5
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5 Dual Mini-SAS
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Canon 5DMKII, 7D, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A

[Joseph Hung]

No you can transcode using compressor. But, if you want to try and preserve resolution, you should transcode directly from the original acquisition file format to ProRes 422. Set your sequence to the same exact settings, or in FCP7, simply drag a clip to a new untouched sequence and FCP will ask you if you want to match the settings.
Of course doing this will mean you have to re edit your timeline.

Mac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.8
FCS2
CS5
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5 Dual Mini-SAS
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Canon 5DMKII, 7D, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A

[Joseph Hung]

Yeah, some of them might be on camera, but I think most of it was done in post. I like using Knoll Light Factory from Red Giant, it’s pretty sweet. I heard that the foundation of this plug in was used on Star Trek (prob tweaked to be specific to the movie), and the guy John Knoll, was the effects guy. Pricey, but worth it.

Mac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.8
FCS2
CS5
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5 Dual Mini-SAS
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Canon 5DMKII, 7D, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A

[Joseph Hung]

Thanks David, and I must say, I’ve learned so much from you and many others here on the Cow in the past 10 years of my career as an independent filmmaker. I’m happy to give back when I can 🙂
I agree with David that the 1080i 30p is contradictory and will help if that was cleared up.

Mac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.8
FCS2
CS5
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5 Dual Mini-SAS
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A, Canon 5DMKII, 7D

[Joseph Hung]

I agree with everyone here. Animation codec is so hugely cumbersome. It’s antiquated, use ProRes 4444 if you can. Dropping to ProRes 422 should speed things up too. Another factor could be the scratch disk. Are you working directly off your SSDs within the tower? That could be the problem too. If you can, an external RAID5 array via high speeed interfaces, meaning a hardware RAID card could really help. Striping internally via Disk Utility means it’s a software based RAID and that eats up alot of your CPU power. A hardware RAID card takes alot of computing off of your computer CPU and does it on the card, and will likely speed things up a little bit. But of course, our computers can only be pushed so far.
If your scratch where you keep all of your files is external, but connected eSATA or FW800, still may not be the most optimal. I was able to stretch out my MacPro power by building a DIY RAID 5 via Mini SAS and a RocketRaid card. Works incredibly well for me so far, under heavy loads, for real time editing. I think it definitely sped things up a little bit in the rendering department, but rendering still falls alot onto the MP CPUs. Eventually I’m going to upgrade to a much faster MP, as long as Apple doesn’t kill it altogether.

Mac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.8
FCS2
CS5
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5 Dual Mini-SAS
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A, Canon 5DMKII, 7D

[Joseph Hung]

I’ve had this problem with external monitoring too. Exactly as you describe. Most of the time, I’ll monitor just fine while editing, then suddenly, from what actions I’m not sure, but the issue suddenly happens, out of nowhere. This seems random to me.
I’m on a system that is plenty fast enough to handle all of this, including a high throughput RAID array as my scratch.
When this happens, I’ll try refreshing A/V devices, and sometimes this works. If it doesn’t, I reboot FCP. This usually fixes the problem.
I’m not sure if this is a problem with my Blackmagic card, or if it’s a bug in FCP. I’m connected via HDMI as well to an HDTV (can’t afford a proper monitor yet). So it could be HDMI interfaces? But in general a reboot of FCP works. Sometimes a reboot of the system is required, but this is rare. Restarting the monitors don’t help so I don’t think it’s a TV related issue.

Mac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.8
FCS2
CS5
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5 Dual Mini-SAS
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A, Canon 5DMKII, 7D

[Joseph Hung]

David is probably right that it’s an interlacing issue. But it could also be an issue from acquisition. The horizontal striping that you see during flashing lights is probably due to the light flash not covering an entire interlaced sensor read. I’m not sure if I am describing it well, but a flash of light, if not timed correctly to the sensor reading (each line after line starting at the top) can give you that striped effect. Think of it as the sensor starts off at the top, half way down the flash of light occurs, and possibly ends before the sensor finishes at the bottom. This will create the striped/banding effect. A flash and video generally don’t work unless you get them to be synced. In most cases it’s not possible to sync them.
The motion blur could also be happening during acquisition. You say you shot at 30p, which in effect is 29.97 fps. According to the 180 degree shutter rule, you shouldn’t go under a shutter speed of 1/60th. Going much under this shutter speed will introduce unwanted motion blur. Even tho the 180 degree shutter rule originates from film cameras and rotating shutters, it still applies to video in a digital sense. Since you say it was a concert, you may have been forced to shoot at slower shutter speeds in order to get correct exposure? If you shot at 1/50th, the blur would be less pronounced. 1/40th, more pronounced, and so on and so forth. This would cause that. This rule could also be the cause of the striping on moving bodies through the frame?
Have you been able to check the raw files before transcode? Narrowing down where the problems occurred will tell you what you can do to fix it. Depending on the origination, this may not be fixable in post.
What you can do is deinterlacing problematic clips to see if that helps. Also check your transcode settings. Any more info about your shooting settings and your post processes will help in diagnosing the issues. It’s also hard to know exactly what you are talking about without enough info, so maybe post a link to a video clip so we can see it?

Mac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.8
FCS2
CS5
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5 Dual Mini-SAS
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A, Canon 5DMKII, 7D

[Joseph Hung]

My workaround. In Encore, I can do very simple edits, and luckily in both films the pulsing pixelation issue is happening close the end. I output new .m2v files from the problematic section to the end, bring those into Encore and drop them, frame accurate. Double check audio sync, then burn it.
Seems to work for now, but still would like to know what to do about this issue when outputting longer format films. It seems the pulsing pixelation happens when I’m outputting large files. My fixes that I output are short ones, and don’t have these issues.
Any suggestions appreciated,
Joseph

Mac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.7
FCP 7.0.3
AE CS5
Quicktime Pro 7.6.4
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A, Canon 5DMKII, 7D

[Joseph Hung]

Yargh, i guess I’ll just add to this with the other issue I can’t get rid of.
In a wide shot, I’ve got blue sky and gravel ground, where the actor and a Mustang is in the middle. The shot starts out with a pulsing of pixelation, if that makes any sense. Basically, the scene becomes very pixelated for a single frame, goes back to normal, then does it again, every 12 frames. AND to boot, every time it “pulses with pixelation,” the pixelation gets worse over time, until the scene changes…
I did a test at a higher bitrate of just this scene. The test proved to be good. So then I encoded the entire film, 45 minutes, at the same exact settings, and I’m getting it again. What can I do about this?
Thanks,
Joseph

Mac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.7
FCP 7.0.3
AE CS5
Quicktime Pro 7.6.4
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A, Canon 5DMKII, 7D

[Joseph Hung]

Yup, that did the job. Thanks John!

Mac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.4
FCP 7.0.2
AE CS4
Quicktime Pro 7.6.4
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322
Panasonic Lumix GH1, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A, Canon 5DMKII, 7D