Mark Spano
Forum Replies Created
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I would check these:
LHi -> monitor (direct) – make sure that you’re seeing exactly what you should so you rule out the card.
Beta deck proc amp controls – make sure these are set to defaults (nominal) as these affect output signal from tape.
Other than that, I can only think that the deck might need calibration.
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There’s a lot you’re leaving out, so I will assume that since you posted in this forum, you’re looking for how to take a 23.976P file and make it into a 59.94P file (which can subsequently be put on DVCProHD tape). You can use Compressor for this. Fellow forum member Jeremy Garchow explained it a long time ago to me and I will pass it along:
Export a movie from FCP and open that up in Compressor.
Make a new QT setting and in the Encoder tab hit the video settings button.
Choose the codec of your dreams and the set the frame rate to 59.94, then click OK.
Back in the encoder tab, set the audio drop down menu to Pass Through.
Go to the frame controls tab on turn on frame controls.
Resize, Deinterlace, and Rate Conversions should all be set to Fast, and set the Output Fields to same as source (progressive). Duration should be 100%.
In the Geometry tab set the frame size to 100% of source if your movie is already 1280×720 HD, if not choose that. If you are resizing, it’s a good idea to go back to Frame Controls and set resizing to Best.
Hit Submit. Wait. Then you have a 59.94 movie with correct 3:2 pulldown. -
In assuming that you want to go from HD 16×9 to SD 4×3 letterbox (?), you could use Compressor to make your SD files with a crop. Here’s how.
As an example, I have dropped into Compressor a 16×9 file that looks like this:
and I want to crop out the side where the off-screen player’s stick blade is. I set up a preset to transcode to ProRes, using Frame Controls On and Resize to Best. And then in Geometry, start by setting it up like this:
This tells Compressor that you want the resulting file to be 16×9 letterbox picture area inside a 4×3 frame, and that you want it to be 720×486. Dragging the preset on to the clip will allow you to set a crop in the Preview window, like this:
Note that the value changes in the inspector, as seen here:
Figure out each value that changes in the source cropping and then go back to your preset and add them in and save. Then you can batch process all your clips and they will be source-cropped to remove your crew and resized to fit a 16×9 space inside a 4×3 frame at 720×486.
If you really wanted anamorphic instead, just remove the part in the inspector under Output Image Inset and the resize will happen to fill the whole 4×3 frame.
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I assume that the machine that you’re importing to isn’t the same as the machine where these came from. Can you open the files in Quicktime Player? Do they play? Likely also white screen. Indicates (as you guessed) that your importer machine is missing the proper codecs to play these. The DVCProHD and HDV codecs are installed with Final Cut. Your solutions are one of the following:
1) Install FCS on this machine
2) Install codec packages like Calibrated Q’s XD Decode and DVCProHD Decode
3) Transcode on original machine to ProRes -
[John Pale] “all they have to do is add the pulldown on their HDCAM-SR deck”
This is true only with the $12K option card for format conversion. Without that option card installed, you can’t add pulldown – you can only view a 23.98 tape as 23.98.
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I would like to add that if the SR tape is 1080i, the SR has a built-in downconvert, which you can choose letterbox, edge-crop, or anamorphic. And if your SR has the format converter option card installed, you can also add pulldown and downconvert 1080p SR tapes.
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Shane, I am sorry that I don’t have much experience with spanned P2 clips. It sounds incredibly troubling. I have done tons of AMA link / consolidate functions to load footage (using Symphony v4.0.5) and while I do come across the occasional hiccups in consolidating media, giving it another shot usually rectifies it. What you’re saying here sounds like it’s not giving you any kind of error message to lead you to believe something was imported incorrectly, but it is actually importing incorrectly and you’re missing lots of stuff. This is troubling indeed, because in most of my cases, I would have no idea what was supposed to be there to begin with, so if this happened to me, I’d have no idea that any problem occurred. Yikes. Good luck, and please report if you figure it out.
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OK, so you have a stereo mix source file – why are you compressing to AC3 in 5.1? That seems like it might at least be a potential cause of your problem. Tell Compressor you want a Stereo AC3 file, highest bit rate it will allow. Then, also go into your preset in Compressor and under the Filters tab, sub tab Audio, uncheck anything that’s checked. I say this because it seems you might have a limiter engaged there judging by this info above:
“Dynamic Range
Soften Above: -30.300
Noise Threshold: -100.000
Master Gain: 0.000”With this setting, keeping as you have set dialog normalization to -31, you won’t get most of the other things to choose as options (and this is good). No 5.1 stuff, no LFE, nothing else. You should get an AC3 that is a pretty close to perfect representation of the stereo mix you started with.
Now about this:
“I would like it as a default to play back in a true stereo mix, with the subwoofer active, on whatever system it happens to be played on.”
Well, you have *no* control over how the sub is set up on anyone’s system if you have a stereo mix. Some people have their bass management set up to automatically engage the sub and pass frequencies from the stereo mix that are below 120 Hz to it. Some just don’t. You can’t control it at all. If you want to have slightly more control, you will have to remix it to 2.1 (L, R, Sub). That’s a pain, and probably not worth the effort, since even then, you still don’t have control over how someone’s playback system will interpret 2.1 signals.
You have to just go with the best thing you can make. A stereo mix, properly encoded. Using the above tweaks to your preset should make this happen.
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[Shane Ross] “It will assign a REEL name that matches the backup folder name so I know what footage came from where. Avid MC track this? No.”
Shane, in the AMA settings, you can specify so that when you do Link to AMA Volume, it will create bins that are named whatever the folder name is. That’s the only way I know that MC will “track” that. But I find it very useful. Your assistant may not have this set correctly and therefore AMA’d all of the folders into one bin, not named for anything.
Also, lots of times if I’m concerned, I will then copy the bin name and paste it into some aux info column so it stays attached with my (consolidated) clips. -
The reason why this happens is how you have your Edit To Tape window set up. There is a small drop-down menu at the top of the Edit To Tape window that gives two options: Mastering and Editing. If you want to easily ignore any of the PTV/Mastering settings, choose Editing in this drop-down and you will be able to perform normal three-point edits with no regard to added black at head or tail or countdown or whatever is set there.