Mark Raudonis
3
COW Coins
Forum Replies Created
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[Wes Plate] “I have experienced, and I know others have too, that files captured by QuickTime Player cannot be edited in FCP.”
Wes,
Yeah, I noticed. Why is that? We recently did some “live” capture QT’s and discovered that there were serious audio sync issues with the files. What’s going on? Isn’t a quicktime a quicktime regardless how it was created? Apparently not!
Your insight would be appreciated. Thanks.
Mark
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[macfreek] “- is it possible to share projects like Unity where more than one person can be looking at a seq?
– does it have the same workspace control as Unity where an administrator can easily setup and change ‘drives’?”If I had a penny for everyone who’s asked this question…!
The thing you need to understand is that FCP’s project structure is NOT like AVID. In Avid, the “project” is everything. In FCP, the “project” is meaninglesss. You can have several Projects open simultaneously. With FCP, it’s the sequence that counts. And… yes, with proper discipline, you can have multiple editors working on the same project simultaneously. We regularly have multiple editors working on the same episode simultaneously. Even with Avid, you can’t have two editors working on the same timeline.
This all comes down to careful naming and saving. So, after three years of FCP/X-SAN and hundreds of hours of completed network TV episodes, I can safely say that the “networked workflow” is alive and well with FCP and X-SAN.
Workspace control? Well, frankly, X-SAN was so cheap compared to Unity that we went from 24 terrabytes to 48 terrabytes of storage. Therefore, the need to manipulate workspaces is negligible.
Good luck.
Mark
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Liam,
Apple’s version of Unity is called “X-SAN”. There’s a board here on the Cow devoted to it, and there’s plenty of info on the Apple website. Do a search.
What do you want to know? It does everything a Unity does… for much less money. We’ve been operating X-SAN for almost three years now, having switched over from Unity. For almost a year we had one Unity and one X-SAN system operating side by side. If you’re looking for an alternative to Adrenaline/Lan Share, FCP/X-SAN would be a fine choice. There are other cheaper “SAN in a can” systems out there, but they have limits on connnectivity and sharing (Volume based vs file based).
X-SAN has enabled us to let “everyone jump into the pool”… meaning everyone with a computer on their desktop (Yes, even PC’s) have access to the media. Because FCP is quicktime based, and not propriety avid codecs, you don’t even need FCP to read the medai. A garden variety PC with quicktime player can access the media. That has opened alot of interesting workflows opportunities for us. (Think story department on iMAC’s)
Finally, X-SAN, like Unity, is a serious installation that requires some serious planning and operating skills. It’s not a afternoon’s “plug and play” installation. I would highly recommend NOT trying to “do it yourself”. Contact a trusted VAR and have them do your install.
mark
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Dude,
You’re NOT being clear as to what you’re trying to accomplish. We’re here to help, but you can’t be defensive about the advice you’re getting.
There is no magic plugin to “make it all good”. It requires time and attention to detail, and that means adjusting each “stream” individually.
Mark
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Check this out: https://www.virtualvtr.com/pictureready/index.html
It’s called “Picture Ready” and it allow you to record a live feed, and begin editing even before it’s complete.
Mark
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Ken,
No matter how you get in an out of FCP, if you’re originating on DV, getting a good chroma key can be a challenge. Using your AJA to come in at 10 bit will NOT help out all that much.
You’re aquiring on DV, and that’s where most of the information detail is lost. If you could aquire on DVCPRO 50, you’d have a much better go at it.
Putting this info in a DVCPRO 50 timeline will help some, but it won’t make up for the information that was never recorded.Do a search on this board for “Chroma keying DV”. There has been TONS of stuff written about it. There are also great whitepapers and tutorials about this all over the net. Do your homework and you’ll find suggestions and solutions to help you out. This isn’t just a “one-click” solution. It involves the aquisition format, the camera, your lighting, your finishing codec, and the software used to cut the key. For example, we use “Ultimatte’s Advantage” to do our keying in After Effects. It’s a great plug in ,but it’s expensive.
Good luck.
Mark
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[JasonGarfield] “Before getting into editing, how would you provide the clients the video to review and how would you organize your footage in FCP to make for the most time efficient editing process”
Sitcoms or other multicam shoots often create a “line cut” or a switched cut on set that is recorded in a quad split (or six way split). This way you can see all cameras AND the the choice made on set. If that isn’t an option for you, you can still do this after the fact. Using the multicam feature of FCP 5 and above, you can sync everything by “in point” even if the code doesn’t match. You can then create a quad split four way picture in picture, and out put this onto a tape or DVD for your client. It sounds like a lot of work, but you’d be doing most of this anyway before you start editing.
The alternative is just dub off all the angles an hand ’em a pile of tape. Are you getting paid by the hour? I hope so… sounds like you’re in for a long one.
Good luck.
Mark
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The problem is that the engineers who created “drop frame” time code should have called it “Drop Number”! No “frames” are ever dropped… only numbers counting them.
This misconception has confused more people and generated more questions on boards like these than almost any other topic. Now with the actual frame rate differences between 24p, 25p, 30p, NTSC and HD, the “Drop/non-drop” issue only adds further confusion.
Bottom line: If you work in NON drop mode, and you care about hitting a “real” time (59:30 exactly), you MUST use a TC calculator to figure out your “real” time. As Frank says, “that’s why Drop frame was invented”… so you Don’t need a calculator.
Mark
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In a word, YES.
That is, of course, if you NEVER, ever have to have a digibeta copy for archive, back up etc. If you seriously ONLY have to deliver a file, then going to tape is pointless.
As for what codec, compression, etc…. shouldn’t that info be coming from your client? Typically, the deliverable specs are spelled out in an appendix to your contract.
Mark
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I found this in about 10 seconds by googling “obsolete videotape formats transferred”.
https://www.videointerchange.com/
I’m sure there’s more.
Mark