Mark Spano
Forum Replies Created
-
[Aaron Cadieux] “Why “centercut” rather than letterbox?”
This is broadcaster’s prerogative. Most of the time they feel that if someone is watching the SD feed on an SDTV, they’ll want to see a full frame SD. And if they’re watching the SD feed on an HDTV, they will see just pillarbox, whereas a letterbox downconvert will be both pillar- and letterboxed when viewed on an HDTV.
[Aaron Cadieux] ” I shouldn’t have to edit my HD commercials with centercut in mind.”
None of us should, but then that gets us to why we’re even bothering with SD at all. SD still exists in a big way in this country, and it will for a while. Just like when color TV superseded black-and-white, it took decades for B/W TVs to go away.
Rule of thumb is if you can get a delivery spec, follow it. If you can’t, and you’re delivering HD, protect for a center-cut downconvert.
-
No problem. In the intervening time between my last post and now, the great Bouke at Video Toolshed has released his LoudnessChange, which can be had for very little and can provide both measurement and correction (for mix files), provided you’ve got a good sounding mix going in. Demo version available, well worth checking out.
-
I’m just throwing darts here, but the only other thing I can think of is that somewhere along the way the caption data is moving to a different line in VANC than what the decoder is looking for. Then you might have a situation where the device detects caption data (some flag is ON) but won’t display it because it doesn’t know where to look for the essence of the data.
-
Assuming you are using an AJA device to output the video, it’s probably just that the VANC is not turned on for output. Go to the AJA Control Panel under Format and make sure VANC is checked. You can see it here (I have an IO Express):
-
Strike that – I just tried it and Avid barks at you saying ‘Effect does not apply’. I think it’s attempting to add another Timewarp effect on top of the existing one instead of replacing it. And since there’s no way of removing the motion adapter altogether to replace it with something else, I’m doubtful that this can be changed.
So now I ask, what is it that you’re trying to change? Usually, with 23.976p material in a 59.94i sequence, there is one universally acceptable method and that is adding 2:3 pulldown, which MC will automatically apply, as long as the source clips are correctly identified in the Field Motion column as Progressive. So just make sure all of your 23.976p source material shows up in the bin as Progressive, and leave the default motion adapters and you’re good to go.
-
Not as a matter of course, but here’s an idea. Edit one of your motion adapters (promote, then change). Copy that effect to a bin. Then with segment select tool, select all the segments you want to change to that effect. Once the segments are selected, double-click the saved effect in the bin to apply the effect to all selected clips.
-
FYI – I’ve never seen a Sony pro deck that would not sync to input video. They all do – on the 5500, it’s item #005 and the factory default is INPUT. That part of this equation should work fine. As for a solution, the only thing I can think of is that it may be software related. Try exporting a QT and laying off to the deck using other software (VTR Exchange?).
-
[Michael Costello] “The split track file will be: track 1 dialogue, track 2 effects, track 3 voice overs and ADR, track 4 and 5 MX.”
I assume by MX you mean either Music or M&E. I’d use one of those abbreviations going forward. MX is too close to “mix” and that’s obviously not what you’re printing there. OK back to discussion: you’re making a split track file, so you need multiple outputs from FCP. Got it.
[Michael Costello] “when the mono track is laid in the sequence, and the sequence’s output settings are set to stereo, the sound plays out of both speakers”
Exactly, because the setting of “Stereo” allows mono tracks to be panned across the stereo field.
[Michael Costello] “but when I set the sequences audio output to dual mono, the mono track ignores the pan setting and plays out of one speaker”
Exactly, because the setting of “Dual Mono” strips panning out of the equation. Dual Mono should actually be labeled “Discrete Outputs”. Because that is what it does. It creates an output module for two discrete outputs for audio. You then can choose (on a sequence track by track basis) which sequence tracks go to which output. That’s it, no panning. It plays out of one speaker because you are listening now to Discrete Output 1 on the left side and Discrete Output 2 on the right side.
[Michael Costello] “If I was to output the mono track (panned center) from FCP using the dual mono audio output and then open that file with quicktime player, the quicktime player sends the audio to both speakers. Its just odd that you cant play back in FCP and get the same outcome.”
This is a limitation of the QuickTime Player and a perfectly working FCP. QuickTime Player looks at your audio tracks in a MOV file and says “this track is discrete, so I’m gonna call that MONO”. Anything on your system that is MONO will play through all speakers at equal volume. FCP is smarter than that, because you can create individual discrete outputs that assign themselves through the outputs of your Professional Video Hardware. If you have for example a BlackMagic DeckLink Extreme card, it can do up to 16 professional audio outputs over SDI. FCP is smart enough to know how to route its discrete outputs to those hardware outputs, and does this when you select them in Sequence Setup. QuickTime Player doesn’t really know how to address your DeckLink card unless this is configured in the Audio MIDI Setup, the Sound Output control panel, and the MOV file itself as presented in QuickTime Player under Show Movie Properties / Sound Track / Audio Settings / Channel Assignment.
So you want to do this:
[Michael Costello] “track 1 dialogue, track 2 effects, track 3 voice overs and ADR, track 4 and 5 MX”
set up your Sequence Settings / Audio Outputs like this:
Then you set your track outputs (right click in the timeline and choose A1, A2, etc.) to match what you want, ignoring A4. Check the Audio Mixer’s main output meter (which will now have 6 meters) to make sure you’re getting everything where you want it. Then output (right-click sequence, Export QuickTime Movie, Self-Contained). Open the QuickTime in QuickTime Player, and check the movie info, making sure it looks like this:
Four mono tracks, one stereo track. This will be everything you want, with one extra track you don’t. Open Movie Properties, highlight the Sound Track you don’t want, and hit Delete.
Do a “Save As”, self-contained, and you have your finished output file. You can very easily check this file’s channel assignments by turning them on and off in the Movie Properties window and playing only the tracks you want to hear.
-
If time is a priority and you can afford it, get a Teranex 2D and be done with your worries. Price has come down significantly on this and you can get one for around $2K USD (no idea in other countries). Hardware conversion going this way looks good. I’ve done 1080 / 50i to 1080 / 59.94i conversions on national spots using this box and everything went fine. It’s worth considering, and one real use like this could easily pay for it and then you have this ultra flexible tool in your arsenal. For me, it was just worth it to save the headaches.
-
Standard ProRes 422 is great for SD video. You might try ProRes LT as it is a bit smaller bandwidth (~16 GB per hour). Below that, you have ProRes Proxy as an option (~8 GB per hour), but I would avoid proxy res for anything you want on air or archival. LT’s quality, especially for SD video, is definitely acceptable and will probably have no noticeable difference when compared with standard ProRes.
