Mark Raudonis
3
COW Coins
Forum Replies Created
-
Dave,
What kind of signal are you sending to the cinema display? SD? HD?
We’ve used the Cinema display in conjunction with the Black Magic box to convert an HD signal for viewing. The results were quite good.
Don’t know what you’re talking about.
Mark
-
JPJPJP,
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m assuming that you DO NOT have an X-SAN set up, and that you’re only “looking at the server” via ethernet (GigE, I hope). If that’s the case, the answer to your question is get an X-SAN. It will enable you to access the media directly, with no need to move media around. Individual users (students) would then log in, pull their projects out of a shared storage pool, and then open them locally. With smart media management, the reconnect process should only be a few clicks. When finished with the session, students would save the project to the shared storage accessible from any system.
If a hardware solution is not possible, then your problem is not a technical one, but rather a workflow and organization issue. Here’s some suggestions: Make “media management” a part of the learning process. Teach the kids what they need to know so that they can do it themselves.
Try “assigned seating” and have students save locally (and globally for back up).
Standardize your media folders so that “reconnecting” is only one click.
Mark
-
[todd] “Shared projects do not work in FCP, words i’ve heard are to stay away. The project must live on a local machine -at least while editing.”
Todd,
There is some truth to this statement, but in practice, this is NOT a hinderence to a collobarative workflow.
“Sharing projects” is an Avid centric concept that is NOT as critical with FCP and X-SAN. With proper media organization and communication, multiple editors can share media easily. Any editor can open any other editor’s project that is stored in a common folder. Even on an Avid, there can only be one editor with write priveledges to a sequence at a time. So, with FCP, editors in a workgroup simply post their latest revisions to a common folder. Date and time stamps keep everything straight.
mark
-
Paul,
If you had a shared storage environment (FCP& X-SAN) with at least three FCP systems, you could digitize three “streams” concurrently on three separate systems. You would then access all of this media from a single system and proceed with your edit.
If you don’t want to spring for the connectivity, then you could still record to three separate systems and then file transfer to one for finishing.
Anyway you look at it, a line cut would speed things along the fastest.
PS. There is software that enables you to “break off” a live feed and begin editing. So, you wouldn’t have to wait for the end of the session to begin your edit.
-
Paul,
If you had a shared storage environment (FCP& X-SAN) with at least three FCP systems, you could digitize three “streams” concurrently on three separate systems. You would then access all of this media from a single system and proceed with your edit.
If you don’t want to spring for the connectivity, then you could still record to three separate systems and then file transfer to one for finishing.
Anyway you look at it, a line cut would speed things along the fastest.
PS. There is software that enables you to “break off” a live feed and begin editing. So, you wouldn’t have to wait for the end of the session to begin your edit.
-
The G-5 has 8 slots for ram. If you’ve bought 4 X 1 gig strips, yes, you can squeeze it all in. (Total of 6 slots filled). However, if you’ve purchased 8 X 512 strips, then you’re going to have to pull the original two X 256 strips to make room.
Mark
-
That should work. You’re essentially defining your “target times” to hit on a NDF timeline. It’s kind of like a “yardstick” that also has the “metric” system on the same scale. You can easily see that one meter equals 39 inches.
Here’s a URL to a very precise explanation of the whole DF/NDF issue.
https://www.csif.org/html/dropframe.html
mark
-
The key to successful workgroup collaboration is organization and maintenance.
Organize your media in a way that everyone on your team can understand and use. Assign someone to maintain this organization and insist that everyone follow the plan.
Every editor has their own way of approaching a project with their own naming conventions, and work preferences. In a workgroup scenario, this is a disaster! Sit down with your team and come up with an agreed upon approach that everyone is comfortable with and willing to use. For example, having a uniform naming of bins for “cuts” saves alot of time when other editors are searching for the latest work. We use names like “1. Current cuts”, and “2. Old cuts”. The number ensures that this rises to the top of the list and is easy to find.This is an extremely important topic, and I’m sorry that I can’t possibly address everything you’ll need to know. My best advice is to find someone who’s already doing this and convince them to let you look at how they’ve organized their bins, data, and hardware. FYI, we have close to one hundred editors all networked together on FCP/XSAN collaborating on three different shows and numerous individual episodes. We have assistant editors on board who’s sole task is to keep everything organized. Even with only a few editors, be sure to designate someone to be responsible for the organization of the project.
Good luck.
mark
-
DRW,
You’re right. And while I’m thinking of it… don’t forget the high end NTSC monitor, the neutral white lighting for the room, the grey paint, and of course, the expensive digital decks for ingest and output. This is high end finishing we’re talking about. If you don’t have a steady stream of projects to push through a room, it’s MUCH more cost effective to contract this out.
Mark
-
No arguement against trying to maintain the best quality… that’s good.
However, stepping down the bandwidth may open up some other possibilities for your workflow that would not be practical in 8 bit SD. For example, with DV, you’ll be able to keep many more episodes “on-line” concurrently. You would be able to digitize directly from the camera, no aja box or bm card needed. You can easily copy all the media from a multicam shoot to your power book and edit elsewhere. I could go on and on, but the point is, look beyond just the quality of your image, to analyze your entire workflow. One more thing… if you’re going to be webcasting, you REALLY will never see the difference.
Good luck.
Mark