[Paul Carlin]

There is no camera that records 960×540 and uses the Apple Intermediate Codec. Someone transcoded the original media into the QuickTimes you now have.

If you want to deliver the best possible quality, you need to get on the phone and get the ORIGINAL camera sources… whatever those may be. You then need to re-conform the spot using the ORIGINAL camera media. Then export the timeline to a ProRes HQ Quicktime.

What matters here is your reputation. If you want to establish yourself as a professional, then I highly suggest you do the required legwork to make this spot look as good as possible. The consequences of not doing so will seal your fate in this industry.

– Paul

[Paul Carlin]

I realise this is an old thread, but here is a modern answer…

QtChange from VideoToolShed. $25

https://www.videotoolshed.com/product/42/qtchange

[Paul Carlin]

The discussion is not about the LAST eight years, but about the NEXT eight years. We are talking about the future and you are too busy thinking about the past.

Apple did the industry a great favor by introducing FCP. They single handedly changed the industry in a major way enabling people with power that was once beyond their financial reach. But again… That was the past. As Janet Jackson once asked, What have they done for you lately?

The fact is that if Color doesn’t support the Red Rocket soon, a lot of people are going to buy a Resolve. If your purchase decision is in the next month, this is a serious concern. If your purchase decision is “I can wait to see what happens” then that changes everything.

And to all of you who say, “Then don’t use it, go buy something else”. That is simply hogwash and you know it. That is a child’s reaction to an adult conversation. That is the written equivalent to plugging your ears and making stupid noises. We should be free to state our legitimate* opinions about software freely. If you don’t like the opinions, then say so and back it up. If I don’t like the food and service at a restaurant then I will most likely not eat there again. But I have every right in the world to Yelp about it and make others aware of my opinions about the restaurant as well.

And yes, $30K was an exaggeration.

*Legitimate means you have educated experience with a product.

[Paul Carlin]

Finally, someone other than me has said it. Thank you.

Having worked with Avid and Smoke, FCP Suite is beyond aggravating in its shortcomings. The complete lack of development (iPhones and iPads are far, far more profitable) make this soon to be obsolete suite of so-called Pro Apps one step closer to irrelevancy. Anyone remember Shake?

No support for frame sequences? Are you serious? The foundation of Digital Intermediates is not supported (now there’s a plan for obsolescence!). No support for Blu-Ray (Yes, sorry to break it to you, but Blu-Ray won the battle). Weak to no support for shared work environments (like Avid Unity). How many RED projects have been ruined by assistants changing the file names accidently? You call that media management? When Autodesk begs and pleads with you NOT to import RED media using Log and Transfer because it will mess up all the clip names, you should be worried.

The release of FCP 7 left me wondering exactly what changed? That was the most disappointing letdown of the year. They didn’t have a booth at NAB because there is no wind in their sails. There is nothing to show. To be fair, I feel the same about the latest release of Avid 5.0… other than AMA support, I have a hard time noticing what is new and worthy. More of a Service Pack than a version upgrade.

Let’s not get started on QuickTime. The latest version actually removed the ability to export, forcing you to go looking for the old version again… which they actually had the balls to charge $30 for.

While I do find color to be an excellent tool worthy of praise, it is probably because it is nothing but Final Touch by Silicon Color with improved support for XMLs. How great is that when the client decides to change ONE shot after you sent it to Color? What has Apple brought to that table other than devaluing a great product and killing it by letting it gather dust? No ability to color trace. NO SUPPORT FOR RED ROCKET! That alone will kill this product in less than a year or two as everyone migrates to Resolve and Smoke… that DO support Red Rocket.

The only thing Apple Pro Apps have is that they are cheap. In fact, most supporters when backed into a corner end up saying, “But what do you expect for a thousand dollars?”. I expect a lot more when that $1K requires a $30K dongle called a MacPro which will need to be replaced in two years or less because Apple decides overnight that they no longer support ADB ports, Motorola chips, or Firewire, or who-knows what is next to be left out of the latest product offering. And where is the USB 3.0 port on my brand new MacBook Pro?

It’s time we all man up and buy products from companies who are actually working on improving their product line. For offline, Avid. For finishing, Smoke and Resolve. For everything else, the Adobe Suite. These are your best bets for long term return on your investment. If you still think ProApps is the future and want to support Apple, go buy the latest iPhone 4… I highly recommend it, and you won’t regret it later.

The emperor has no clothes!

[Paul Carlin]

Maybe you didn’t get the memo, but Apple has removed the PRO from FCP and will be releasing a new version in April called Final Cut Amateur… but it will have no new features, not support 64-bit, and will be delayed for months while they focus on the more profitable iPad and iFork.

Pro Aps is dead. Go buy a Smoke.

[Paul Carlin]

Crickets.

[Paul Carlin]

Ah, old memories…

I created a Yellow Line in Illustrator that was 900 x 10 pixels. I actually made it a dashed line for creative reasons.

Then my idea was to anchor the left edge of the line to the first point, and then determine the x scale and angle of rotation to make it to the second point. Here’s how…

Set the anchor point to 0,5 (Left edge, half of height)

Use an expression to set the position to match the first point. For example, thisComp.layer(“CellTower 01”).transform.position

Use another expression to determine the scale:
CellTower = thisComp.layer(“CellTower 01”).transform.position;
Target = thisComp.layer(“Dan Green”).transform.position;
BeamLength = length(CellTower, Target)*(100/width);
[BeamLength-.5,10]

Celltower and Target are the two points.
BeamLength is the distance between the two points multiplied times 100/the width of the line.
Then subtract .5 to shrink it a little.

That takes care of the X scale (line length), but what about the line width or thickness? I actually used the following expression for the scale…

First I created an expression slider effect named Camera Scale and gave it this equation:

//Value should range from zero to one
CellTower = thisComp.layer(“CellTower 01”).transform.position;
Target = thisComp.layer(“Dan Green”).transform.position;
Delta = sub(CellTower, Target);
Math.abs(length(Delta))*.0006

By tweeking the value .0006 I was able to get this value to vary from zero to one (approximately) based on the shortest and longest distance.

Then I used this expression for the Scale:

CellTower = thisComp.layer(“CellTower 01”).transform.position;
Target = thisComp.layer(“Dan Green”).transform.position;
BeamLength = length(CellTower, Target)*(100/width);
CameraScale = Math.abs(-thisComp.layer(“Camera Scale”).effect(“Camera Scale”)(“Slider”));
[BeamLength-.5,(CameraScale*22+4)]

The Camera Scale allowed me to adjust the width of the line based on the “zoom” factor. Since this was determined by tracking existing footage, I needed to link it to existing tracking data using this expression:

.8-thisComp.layer(“Helicopter Track Axis”).transform.scale[0]/1200

Of course, you will need to come up with something on your own for this.

See how easy this stuff is?

One last thing… the Rotation. Here is the expression for Rotation:

CellTower=thisComp.layer(“CellTower 01”).transform.position
Target=thisComp.layer(“Dan Green”).transform.position;

// Find the length of side a
SideA = sub(CellTower, Target)[1];

// Find the length of side b
SideB = sub(CellTower, Target)[0];

//Find the Angle between them
radiansToDegrees(Math.atan2(SideA, SideB))+180;

For the fun of it, I had the transparency and Hue of the line change based on the “signal strength”. I’ll let you figure that one out.

Looking back at all this I realise that it can be greatly simplified, but I had a job to do and didn’t have time for housecleaning. If it works, don’t fix it.

To see my finished comps, go to my web page and watch the “Hidden Camera Footchase Sequence” on my Portfolio page.

http://www.sparkmedia.com

[Paul Carlin]

Short answer:
Mac is historicaly 1.8 Gamma and PC’s are 2.2 Gamma. If you color correct at 1.8 and display at 2.2, it will be washed out gray and desaturated.

You need to look at your workflow and make sure your color management is in order. Read up on the “Match Legacy After Effects QuickTime Gamma Adjustments” option in AE’s project settings. While you’re there, read up on color management as well.

Also, QuickTime Animation codec is a disaster for managing gamma. Prior to version 7 it was one way, then another, then they decided to do this, then that…. AHHHHHH!! AE even has a

Try converting it to it’s final destination codec (H.264?) and play that on both systems. See if you have the same problem.

Although not completely relevant, this makes for good reading…
Aperture: Color and gamma settings for print and web

[Paul Carlin]

Yes. And it never hurts to ask the obvious.

I can select the various lines, but there is nothing on the list. It doesn’t even “pop-up”.

[Paul Carlin]

Solution:

https://www.sony.ca/hdv/HVR-DR60_60i/products/HVR-DR60/soft.html#A2