[Peterson]

Off topic, but only slightly, I often experience a similar problem working with Final Cut Pro. For example, I have a dual mac 2ghz running latest OSX and FCPhd, with Decklink Extreme card currently connected to a SOny PVW-2800 betacam deck. When digitizing, sound from source fine. Once I quit out of capture mode, there is no sound in FCP and I need to quit out of FCP and then re-open to get sound from clips. Not a big deal so I’ve never mentioned this before.

[Peterson]

Riddle me this – Slow motion quality

There was this post just a short while ago, “riddle me this…”, which might help-

“I’ve been an editor for years, but I’m still relatively new to Final Cut. I’m puzzled by something, and I’m wondering if anyone has any insight into what’s happening.

FCP 5.0.4, Working with 29.97 DV NTSC interlaced footage (so 60i) in a DV timeline. If I slow the speed on a clip to 50%, it flickers all to hell – Even with frame blending checked, it’s playing each full frame, both lines, twice, but in an order that makes it stutter. ie: It plays frame 1 lower, then frame one upper, then frame 1 lower AGAIN, then frame 1 upper AGAIN. Horrible.

BUT: If I *nest* the original footage, then set the nested sequence to 50% speed (with frame blending), it’s smooth as glass. Perfect slow-mo.

What gives? Obviously it’s a useable work-around, but I’d love to know why it’s treating the nested footage differently than the original clip. What other strange things could it be doing to my footage when I nest it…?

-Mike Jackson
Steam Powered Films

[Peterson]

Of course this is all silly. Everyone uses everything as a temp track – edit rooms around the world are full of folks cd collections to try out for size. When you get closer to the finish, these either become the guide for a composer or you start making phone calls and brace yourself for sticker shock, whether that be for festival rights only or broadcast / theatrical, etc. the law is intened to prevent the music’s redistribution without paying. And until you do this, and it leaves the edit room, it is by all sense and purpose for personal use just like in imovie. Itunes just makes this a hassle and prevents nothing of which they are supposedly concerned.

[Peterson]

Crashes ( three in a row performing same task after three reboots ) using motion stabiizer and applying track, then RAM rendering in comp – get a crash about half-way through2-3 out of 5 times. Finally got through OK and succesfully rendered out a quicktime. My guess is that its the newest MAC OSX 10.4.6 upgrade related as I’d done dozens of these a couple of weeks ago before the latest OS upgrade… nothing else has changed.

Dual G5 2ghz MAC OSX10.4.6, 3.5 gb ram, After FX 7.0

[Peterson]

Crashes ( three in a row performing same task after three reboots ) using motion stabiizer and applying track, then RAM rendering in comp – get a crash about half-way through2-3 out of 5 times. Finally got through OK and succesfully rendered out a quicktime. My guess is that its the newest MAC OSX 10.4.6 upgrade related as I’d done dozens of these a couple of weeks ago before the latest OS upgrade… nothing else has changed.

Dual G5 2ghz MAC OSX10.4.6, 3.5 gb ram, After FX 7.0

[Peterson]

Thanks stephen –

I am not particularly after sand ambience, its just what I have been told to expect ( and record…). Anyway, thank you for your suggestion of the MKH 30, it is one of the two M-S ensembles that I have narrowed it down to: a MKH 416 ( I like the sound and its ability to pull dialogue out of noisey places ) with the MKH 30 for outside ambience as they both have an excellent reputation for climate insensitivity and ruggedness; OR a schoeps MK 8 to combine with either the 416 or the newer Schoeps CMIT 5U shotgun ( good also indoors reportedly )… using a Windpac shockmount / windscreen which can accomodate 2 mics easily.

I appreciate the feedback –

peter

[Peterson]

Sean-

Thanks for the educational post. I am an editor with a fair bit of experience in the old Avid paradigm of offline low res / reconform high res but up until now very little pro work in FCP and none yet with the multiple flavors of HD out there, so I am listening a lot and trying to get up to speed.
You wrote “You can still use the Kona SDI->DVCProHD workflow for offline editing. But for the finishing you’ll definately want to batch re-capture your final edits as uncompressed.”

Since you explained that capturing the DVCPro HD via SDI results in a lossy recompression process, am I getting you correctly that for the batch re-capture you recommend using firewire? Is there a tight TC relationship between the SDI footage and the firewire footage? I ask this because I have read (& I stress read rather than experience as I have yet to use this workflow) that the firewire is not always 100% in terms of frame accuracy, especially for a reconform. Has this not been your experience?

Thanks –

Peter

[Peterson]

Thanks for the replies. After more research, some tests also mention more noise in the side/8 & therefore not so suitable for quiet ambience pick up… Maybe way to go is with a MKH-60 and attach a MKH-30. I’ve seen a rig where both can fit (just…) inside normal rycote zeppelin.
The goal is simply to boost the presence of a solo photographer at work in a very isolated, high plateau surrounding. I don’t know what type of ambience I can expect although I have been told there is a strange hissing of sand crystals, which would be nice to capture. I have never recorded dialogue in stereo nor have I ever used the m-s technique before. I have some lead time here so I am trying to think it all through.

I have also come across something made by Ambient called the Emesser figure of eight, a very small capsule which clips onto any mid microphone. Again, while supposedly quieter than the 418 side signal, its not as quiet as schoeps or the mkh-30.

Thanks again-

Peter

[Peterson]

I also have the decklink extreme (running the latest BM 5.4.2, on Power mac G5, dual 2 gig, OSX10.4.5, FCP 5.0.4 )and the only up/down covnverter options available in the system preferences window are “HD to SD letterbox 16:9” and “HD to SD letterbox anamorphi.” There are other options, but they are greyed out / unavailable for selection…?

Power mac G5, dual 2 gig, OSX10.4.5, FCP 5.0.4

[Peterson]

Since its been awhile since you were last on this particular timeline, have you double checked whether your sequence setting is the same as your clips/ media? Sometimes this happens and FCP does its best to play the clips but cannot without skipping…
Worth a quick check