[Matt Dufilho]

Nice. So bypass AE completely. I like it, and I’ll do some tests with them.

Thanks, Dave, for vetting my workflow, and I really appreciate the advice.

I’d like to post some MPEG2 compression questions…which category/location would you recommend?

Thanks again,

Matt

[Matt Dufilho]

This the part that I don’t directly handle, but this is the kind of stuff I can bring to them. Where is the conform setting?

Also, what codec should I have them render to? They are on a PC platform, so I think ProRes is out. I heard that DVC50 has better color space, or maybe just stick with plain old NTSC?

I haven’t seen their AE timelines, but would it change things if they are importing an image sequence from 3dsMax?

[Matt Dufilho]

This the part that I don’t directly handle, but this is the kind of stuff I can bring to them. Where is the conform setting?

Also, what codec should I have them render to? They are on a PC platform, so I think ProRes is out. I heard that DVC50 has better color space, or maybe just stick with plain old NTSC?

[Matt Dufilho]

Thank you, Dave and I’m glad you brought that up.

I’ve always received 30fps animations from them, and I’ve always asked why. They say that 3dsMax can only export still frame sequences, and 30 fps is as close as they can get to 29.97.

I haven’t had any problems with the 30fps AE rendering into smooth motion on a 29.97 FCP timeline, until this week, when I decided to advise them to render out at 29.97 from AE.

The specs looked good in my browser, but upon editing it in, it was jerky with poor quality to boot. When they rendered out another at 30fps, everything was fine.

My thought was that AE does a bad job of conforming the 30fps to 29.97, but what do you think? Any ideas on what 3dsMax could kick out? or maybe something different in AE?

[Matt Dufilho]

Hmmmm.

Well, you guys are making me think that maybe I would be better served by pulling $500 from another area. Maybe I can pull my set of 4×4 frames/silk/scrim/flags since I am planning to get sets of those in both 18×24 and 24×36 sizes.

Todd, thank you for your follow focus comment. I feel much better about spending the extra money on the Arri MFF set now.

RELATED QUESTION:

How do you like to preview shots when working with SLR primes? Can I use my Nikon camera body as a director’s lens viewer?

Just curious.

Thanks again for the advice,

Matt Dufilho

[Matt Dufilho]

Guys,

Thank you for all of your insight. I returned from Kino Flo and Matthews in Burbank, and I think we’ve put together a great package of additional lighting and grip to get us started. Your input helped a great deal in getting me up to speed. Thank you again for your time and advice.

Matt Dufilho

[Matt Dufilho]

OK, I’m getting a much more concrete picture of what I’m needing thanks to all of you.

So, the next question is where would you go to order all of this grip. I’m in Texas. I’ve been looking at B&H for pricing info, but what are your suggestions?

Thanks again.

Matt

[Matt Dufilho]

I guess you need to have a 4′ Kino to do this. You couldn’t do the same with a 400 or 200?

[Matt Dufilho]

This is great, guys. Thank you for the input.

You’re absolutely right about our current equipment, and I’m really liking what I’m hearing about a Kino/LitePanels combo. I’ve never worked with flourescents, but I would love to have the flexibility to easily jump between color temperatures and also cut down on some weight/heat.

Questions:

1. Is there a specific level of green gel that I should use to “poison” a Kino to match a standard flourescent bulb, if I’m doing quick shooting around the hospital?

2. I’m thinking of making a shift in the budget to allow for more grip equipment, please let me know your thoughts on the list below:

c-stands/arms/heads – quantities? 40″ and 20″?

flags/scrims/cutters – good sizes to use/quantities?

4×4 (as mentioned above) – foamcore, right? Todd, read another post you did last year about scoring and folding one when using a quaker clamp…sounds like it would work well.

clamps/holders – any that you wouldn’t leave the studio without?

apple boxes – most common sizes?

sand bags

What am I not thinking of?

Thank you guys, so much for the free education. I’m heading out to AbelCineTech next week for a course to get me up to speed on the HPX300. Maybe I should run over and talk to the Kino guys and have them give me a crash course too.

Thank you, again, for taking the time to help.

Matt Dufilho

[Matt Dufilho]

I was present for the shooting, but was not the DP. However, I know that it was recorded as Quicktime movs.

I just highlighted one of my clips in the browser (these were brought straight in from the Firestore), went to Tools>Remove Advance Pulldown…and I got an error message telling me that the file did not contain DCVPRO, 50, or HD data? What’s up with that?