[Kevin Ham]

I never received an ALE or flex file on this project. I manually entered in the key numbers for each shot. It was a big pain!

Would this prevent me from going the HD route as you suggested? Just wondering, as I doubt the director will pay the money for this.

And “if” we went HD, what frame rate does the sound editors work at?

Meanwhile, the best option for SD is to redig based on that new EDL I made from Cinema Tools. Then adjust each shot if needed. Is that correct?

[Kevin Ham]

Well I did this and imported my converted 30 fps EDL into FCP. I compared the numbers on the EDL to the burn in on the video. Sometimes it’s exactly on. Sometimes it’s 1 frame off. Now I’m comparing the EDL to my 24fps timeline. Don’t know if the 1 frame off is normal or should I not trust this list?

I spoke to a specialist and he told me I have to go 29.97, not 23.98, if I want to online to SD video.

The length of the film is near 80 minutes.

I digitized at DV/DVCPRO.

My options are to redigitize to this converted EDL, which I’m unsure if this is accurate.
Or to manually cut in each shot from the already digitized 29.97 fps footage that I still have on my drives. I used that footage to convert through Cinema Tools to make 24 fps.

He wants to show this film in festivals. My understanding he needs it on video.
We discussed the HD route but to do that, wouldn’t I have to manually cut in every shot of the HD material because the timecodes would not match?

I am doing this for free for experience. But the change of plans does bother me as it has created more work on my end.

I have to run but will be back later today to see what you guys come up with. Thanks!!!!

[Kevin Ham]

Yeah this is going on Youtube and I saw their specs of 320×240 so that is why I want to create the letterbox to maintain the true image size.

[Kevin Ham]

Sounds like a good plan. Thanks.

[Kevin Ham]

Not sure that will give me exactly what I want. A 320×240 letterbox image. I can give it a try.

[Kevin Ham]

Cool. I want to keep the same frame rate of 23.98 so hopefully that won’t be a problem when selecting a 4×3 format.

Thanks!

[Kevin Ham]

Yes I edited at 24 fps on my timeline because the director orginally wanted to go to negative. Not he can’t because of cost.

So you are saying I have no choice but to go the 29.97 route? Couldn’t go 23.98 for video? Want to be sure before I head down this road.

I would have to rent a BSP deck to do this, so is there anyway to relink to the already digitized video clips on my drive that are 29.97? When I went trough Cinema Tools a while back to convert the video to 24 fps, I believe Cinema Tools created new clips and kept the old 29.97 clips.

[Kevin Ham]

The daily tapes are on Beta SP, which will be used for the online.

As for the audio, they are on separate Beta SP tapes. The sound editor will have to digitize those tapes to use. They are not synced up to picture so I did it myself in FCP. I kept the audio at 29.97 fps in FCP and for some reason that I don’t understand, they were in sync with my 24 fps picture.

I will hand the sound editor and music composer an OMF (for a guide only) as I did not have a mixing board.
I will also hand them a quicktime file for a guide. Not sure what frame rate yet. This is the big question for me.
I will hand them a DVD for a guide. Already done.
I will hand the sound editor an audio EDL.

Thanks for helping!!!

[Kevin Ham]

If I’m going to have someone online this, do I still need to do this or can the online editor do it?

And how does this effect the audio editors? What frame rate do they need to edit at?

Thank you so much for helping!!!

BTW – I already have the footage digitized on my drives at 29.97 fps before I did the reverse telecine in Cinema Tools. Not sure if relinking to those clips would be possible/easy.

[Kevin Ham]

When I choose DVD Best Quality encoding in Compressor, my aspect ratio changes to 720 x 480. The master video is at 1280 x 720. Should I adjust the settings to keep the aspect ratio? Or should I know worry about this.

And what’s the scoop on the HD DVD settings? I see there is H.264 and mpeg 2 for HD DVD. Is this for when the master is HD (which mine is) or if you are creating a HD element on DVD? Would you need a HD DVD player to play this?

Sorry about all the questions. I’m new to this part of the job.