Mark Raudonis
3
COW Coins
Forum Replies Created
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Michael,
I’m intrigued to hear why you’re working on FCP. Last time I saw you, you were touting Sony’s XPRI at NAB. What inspired the move?
As for matching back, a lot of people don’t understand that if your bin is not in your project, FCP will NOT open or find that bin. There is a function called “reveal in finder” which WILL show you where the original clip lives. FCP’s approach to media management is significantly different than an Avid.
Also, make sure you have the most recent version of FCP (5.03) which address some peculiarities of multicam matchback.Mark Raudonis
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I would agree that working in true HD on FCP means lots of rendering. However, looking forward there are two trends that are going to ease that pain. First, the ever increasing processor speeds (Dual core) will help slim down render times. Second, distributed rendering will really help with some of the heavy lifting. I know that FCP does not support distributed rendering now, but there are some ways to dance around that.
For example, SHake DOES support distributed rendering. You can export your green screens to Shake, feed the render farm, and bring back into FCP. As Michael points out, “there’s nothing like realtime processing, but you pay for it.” So, if you want to pay for it, you can buy several FCP systems, link them with x-SAN, and still be cheaper than your Avid DS. Now, for the price of one Avid, you’ve just built a whole post department.
Mark Raudonis
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Have you upgraded to 5.03 yet?
I know that this latest version of FCP addresses some peculiarities of multicam operation.
mark
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We’re well into upgrading all our seats… no problems so far.
mark
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Sean,
One of the best books on this topic is by Steve Hullfish and Jaimie Fowler, “Color Correction for Digital Video: Using Desktop Tools to Perfect Your Image”
Do a search on Amazon.com for more info and contents.
mark
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Francois,
We DO have two audio protools suites connected to the X-SAN. They regularly tranfer projects and media across the network. It’s a bit tricky, but here’s how we do it.
The X-SAN can “see” clients on either the dedicated fiber network OR a basic gig e ethernet. So, because of the “card slot limitations” with the G-5 we’re NOT connected via fiber, but we are connected via ethernet. This means that we can transfer OMF’s from the edit suite to our Pro Tools rooms. The Audio guys “pull in” the OMF’s to work locally. You’re right that the G-5’s are out of ethernet slots… but WAIT! The newly announced g-5’s have DUAL ethernet cards! No extra slot necessary for Pro Tools access.
X-SAN is a very complex but versatile system. At this level, definitley NOT a do it your self kind of project.
Good luck with your set up.
mark
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[Francois Stark] “- Anybody using Apple XSAN”
Francois,
It sounds like you’ve got a handle on working around the peculiarities of volume based storage schemes. If you’d like to discuss how we’re using X-SAN feel free to contact me off-list.
We’re currently running close to 100 FCP clients on two separate X-SAN’s. One of the primary reasons we chose X-SAN over the other FCP compatible SAN’s out there was X-SAN’s ability to share volumes with all users. At a certain point, workflow becomes more important than the cost of the system. In my opinion, X-SAN gives us a collaborative workflow that’s as good as and in someways better than AVID’s Unity. It’s certainly a lot cheaper. We’ve taken those saving and turned them into terrabytes of storage… which signficantly impacts our workflow.
Mark
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Scott,
I wouldn’t bother transferring the render files. It’s a breeze to just select all and rerender.
Mark
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Mike,
We’ve been using the Ultimatte “AdvantEdge”. It’s a rather expensive plug in for FCP, but it generates absolutely awesome “one click” keys. Worst case scenarios like thin frizzy hair cut through cleanly and precisely.
However, render times for HD will be long. For that matter, render times for any of these keying filters will be long in true HD space.
mark
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Dyson,
Unfortunately, the program you’re looking for is called Final Cut Pro! Earlier versions of Quick time WOULD display the Timecode if you opened up the “Get info” window. Depending on which version you are currently using, this may still work. Reel numbers are not part of the typical QT metadata.
Here’s how we’ve approached the problem.
When digitizing, we use the tapenumber as the file name. For example, 1021A06 Means: October 21st, A camera, 5th load. When Final Cut detects a TC break it increments the number (1021A06-1). So, your file names are the reel number. Next, we have our producers tied into an X-SAN so that they can see all of the individual media files. They have Final Cut Pro on their desktops and use it to create not just “shot lists” but stringouts of the relevent material. The FCP timeline becomes “the script”. It’s fast and efficient. Of course, for this to work, everyone has to be networked.
VHS window burns is so 1990. Think tapeless!
mark