[Matt Campbell]

Thanks Shane. Thats a huge help. Last question, I swear. I know these posts can just keep going and going and leading to more questions.

We’re shooting some internal stuff for new business pitches. So no deliverables, but thanks for that info. It will come in handy for the near future. Basically we’re shooting interview style stuff in offices, man on the street style interviews and city life (scenery stuff). What format would you recommend? We typically shoot all 720p so would you recommend 24 PN or p60? What is going to be the better choice for these situations? Or is that totally subjective to what I think looks better?

OS 10.5.5, Mac Pro 2 x 3 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 9 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

Thats what I thought. So upgrading my graphics card is really to only way to make Motion hum! Thanks for your help.

I’ve also received this link from my Apple post:

https://provideocoalition.com/index.php/smartin/story/getting_the_most_out_of_motion/

OS 10.5.5, Mac Pro 2 x 3 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 9 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

Thanks Shawn, thats exactly what I was looking for. I am actually looking to upgrade to a BM Decklink HD Extreme with HD-SDI for monitoring. We have done some high end work here, but always finish elsewhere. That prob won’t be the case for any time soon, but I feel I still need the monitor for fixing lighting errors during shoots and things along those lines. Thanks for your comments. I think I’m going to proceed early in Jan. with finding a good monitor. thx

OS 10.5.5, Mac Pro 2 x 3 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 9 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

I think we’re looking to far into this. I understand I’m not getting broadcast quality and thats ok. I know the HD images are only 960×720 and 1280×1080 and again, thats ok. We’re not producing broadcast work. Mainly internal videos for new business and low budget client mood videos and interview style videos. I simply need to make color adjustments due to lighting changes and shooting in different locations. I’m not a colorist, but can preform the basic color corrections to compensate for production issues, lighting changes and different environments. I also put some simple grades on things to create different looks. Mainly nice contrasty, or saturated shots. NO high end color grading.

I know you can’t fix everything in post and can’t make a the HVX images any better quality. I only want to work with the video quality I have. High end stuff will come later as we have a need for it. I don’t necessarily need the high end broadcast monitor, I simply need something that will visually, without high end scopes, show me my corrections that is better than a consumer HD display. I.E. a lower end monitor like the JVC for around $2000. Money is not an issue, but I’m not trying to break the bank either, as again, we’re not cranking out broadcast work.

I just want to produce good color for DVD and web deliverables.

Sorry about that, I just feel like we were getting off track and i need to explain a litter better.

OS 10.5.5, Mac Pro 2 x 3 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 9 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

Here are some links. These were all supposed to be color images. And all with opacity at 100%. One of them has the video interview showing through.

still has video layer showing through:
https://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s210/midsoup/Work/Picture1.png

this one was a more vibrant color picture and the horizontal lines were not there:
https://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s210/midsoup/Work/Picture2.png

this one has some field shifting. look at the face. I also had others that the fields shifted a lot worse than this:
https://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s210/midsoup/Work/Picture4.png

OS 10.5.5, Mac Pro 2 x 3 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 9 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

Thanks. I was going to use one of those presets but then the image size is constrained to your Photoshop size. What if I want to zoom in tight? How will FCP handle being tight on one of those images at only 720×480? This is why I use images larger than the 720×480. Most of them were around HD sizes or larger. Is there anothe way to handle this?

OS 10.5.5, Mac Pro 2 x 3 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 9 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

Agreed. To me the standard is broadcast. And since neither my card nor the camera are broadcast quality, that doesn’t mean the picture should suffer any more by using computer monitor or consumer TVs to judge color. I feel that with the right monitor I’ll be able to get the best quality image with what I have. And even make the video look better with a little grading and color treatment.

OS 10.5.5, Mac Pro 2 x 3 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 9 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

Thanks Bob. I value your insight and knowledge on this. I don’t necessarily need top level, high end monitor for perfect color, I’m just wanting to get better result with what we have. I know our camera is only prosumer and my intensity card is only entry level at best, but in trying to make due with what I have, I simply want to provide our clients with the best work and look that we can provide with what we have.

I think the JVC is where I’m leaning. I have heard many good things about it and with CRTs being slowly phased out and not to mention expensive, this LCD is prob my best bet. “JVC is the best LCD product if you must look at STANDARD DEF video,” especially since we still shoot a lot of SD footage with the HVX 200 (DVCPro50 on P2). (Although more and more we’re shooting DVCPro HD.

I hate to keep dragging this one, but say I get a JVC monitor, with the equipment I have, will the component connections out from my intensity card suffice? Converting HDMI to DVI or something else for input into the monitor is not a good way to go, correct. Due to single loss and converting YUV to RGB and getting color loss? Which is why I should stay with the component outs, right?

OS 10.5.5, Mac Pro 2 x 3 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 9 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

I’m sorry Bob, just to add to that or re-phrase it. What can I do, purchase or use what I have, for color correction work and some basic grading using Apple Color?

OS 10.5.5, Mac Pro 2 x 3 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 9 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

Right, the down is grey’d out. Unless it just the drop down menu title. But HD to SD 16:9 anamorphic is an option. Will this work? Or is my best bet using compressor and the frame controls to do the frame rate conversion, selecting best for the drop down menu?

OS 10.5.5, Mac Pro 2 x 3 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 9 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card