[Phil Smith]

OK, I see the issue here… let’s take a step back for a moment. The confusion is happening because you are using incorrect terminology for what you are trying to accomplish. The below CAPS are not for yelling, they are for terminology. 😉

First off, “Hi-Def” would refer to one or more RESOLUTIONS, or sizes, of video. those would be 720p, 1080i or 1080p. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_video#Technical_details

Formats that handle HD (or High-Def) are things like D-5, HDCAM, or XDCAM (my personal favorite for it’s flexibility and file-based workflow). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XDCAM

“Beta” refers to a format of video tape that ONLY carries Standard Definition video. Examples would be: Betacam, BetacamSP, and Digi-Betacam. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betacam

So, you confused the heck out of me when you kept saying that you wanted to deliver High Definition video on BETA. That doesn’t work. 😉

Secondly, the format that you are shooting on your camera is HDV (which you probably know), what you probably didn’t know is that you can capture that HDV format to any number of CODECS to your system (including ProRes, which most Final Cut editors will use because of it’s low file size and high quality). ProRes can be used for just about ANY resolution video… from 525 (SD) to 720p (HD) to 1080i/p (HD). https://documentation.apple.com/en/finalcutpro/professionalformatsandworkflows/index.html#chapter=10%26section=2%26tasks=true

In this case, it sounds like you used DVCProHD, which is fine for now.

So, IF you want to deliver HD, the acceptable broadcast formats for this are most likely either HDCAM, XDCAM, or D-5. Most machine rooms will NOT have HDV, which is what your Mini-DV tapes are recording. That said, I’m finding a lot of news stations now carry HDV equipment. So, if you contacted a local affiliate’s commercial department, they could likely give you a price on converting from HDV to a broadcast-level master.

The other option is a post or duplication house. Something like Digital Film Tree or Transfer West.

The reason I asked about the delivery in my first posting is because if your client doesn’t know what format they want, you can figure out what they need asking them for a spot delivery checklist. This is a helpful tool for you, partially because it justifies how much is generally charged for this sort of thing!

If this franchise is in only major cities, they might all have access to HDCAM. If you have smaller cities, some might only have DigiBeta… so you have to know beforehand what you are going to deliver.

The shorter answer is: No, it’s not a good idea to try and simply render out different codecs hoping that they can use one of them.

Who knows? You might get lucky and they can take HDV as a master!
-PJ

[Phil Smith]

So, just to make sure I have this understood… You want these masters to come out as SD (standard definition) correct?

Because it sounds like you shot HDV, captured it to ProRes, edited your piece and used compressor to crop and spit out a BetaSP copy?

Sorry, just want to be absolutely sure before I go any further…

-PJ

[Phil Smith]

Chris makes a VERY good point about program length. Don’t over-crush it.

Other thoughts:
Did you already try going directly from FCP? Just render out a QT at current settings and then pull it into DVDSP and let it process the footage? I would try that too.

If that doesn’t help… remember that ProResLT is technically an ENG format, which produces lower quality files. Do you have a good enough rig to recapture at either source or ProRes422?

If you do:
1) you could recapture at the new quality (MAKE SURE that you name the files EXACTLY the same as the others)
2) then reconnect all the media in your project to the new files, then re-output. Much better quality to start with.

Good Luck!
-PJ

[Phil Smith]

This is exactly what I do all day (when I’m not on the road). Sweet! 😉

I would start off by asking your client if they belong to a service such as Aspera (FTP on steroids for broadcast) OR if they are partnered with TVN, Ascent or a similar regional provider for spot delivery. If they are, your job just got SUPER easy. These services are in the business of distributing regional specific spots.

For Aspera: All you would have to do is create your end-pages to the spots, create a master sequence, and output as either DVCPro50 or DVCProHD. I believe that Aspera also accepts PhotoJPEG as a codec, but I prefer DVC if the client will take it because it will easily keep 4 tracks of audio with very little hit in quality. That way my mix minus doesn’t have to be a separate file.

For TVN, Ascent or similar: All you have to do is print to Digi or SP with your Master reel, and TVN will setup a link (usually VYVX or Sat Feed) with the regionals and everybody will take what they need from the feed.

One more thing: DVCPro50 is fine for FTP, and looks fine (especially for SD).

If they don’t have these options, things vary greatly form there. I would likely just proceed with charging them an hourly + expenses.

I don’t mean to pry, but I’m curious as to why you are so nervous about this? They seem to like your work. I wouldn’t discount too much as long as they know you will deliver.

Good luck!
-PJ

[Phil Smith]

Thanks for the tip. I was considering using it because I doesn’t seem to look too bad when I have to make quick graphics packages. I used it once for a 1080i image on a big screen (outputting animation from After Effects)… it held up pretty well, but then again it wasn’t a very broad palette of color…

Any of you guys happen to know of a good 2.5″ SATA RAID enclosure? Hopefully something I can travel with?

Thanks again for the tips guys.
-PJ

[Phil Smith]

First try these:
1) Use FCPattic or similar to trash FCP preferences
2) Run permissions fixes using disk utility on both the system drive and the media drives.

If that doesn’t work, you might try rendering out those sequences to a QT just to get you through.

We’ve also has very limited success in simply saving a new version of the files on a different volume.

If those don’t do it, maybe you can elaborate a bit more about your setup?
1) What codec(s) are you editing in?
2) How many tracks? Lots of edits (multicam, speed changes, etc.?)
3) What is your setup? Are you using a RAID, SAN or external drives at all?

Sorry if any of these questions sound stupid, I just never know the skill level of people and need to get a baseline.

Good luck,
-PJ

[Phil Smith]

Thanks to all for the input. I hope this thread becomes useful to others too.

After getting this last project in the can, I got a chance to do some more research this morning. Kudos go to Jean-Christophe, as his workflow advice seems to be spot on. I hate the idea of lugging around a 17′ laptop + RAID, but it doesn’t look like I have much choice considering that I can’t be guaranteed that I can find a good post facility everywhere we go.

When you raised the issue of TRIM support, I started looking around to see if TRIM can be implemented AFTER the installation of the SSD (as if by updating OSX it would then begin to fix the stuff that it could), but I still can’t find anything on that.

One thing that I found very interesting though was this: Apparently, there is a new method of handling garbage collection and block recovery (TRIM’s housecleaning duties)… It’s basically a utility that resides on the firmware of the SSD, and doesn’t actually require the OS to support it. I have a call in to Toshiba’s SSD support, hoping that they will be able to confirm that this feature is implemented.

Bottom line is, I’m letting the boss spend the money, but it’s also been fun getting educated in the process… 😉

[Phil Smith]

Thank you for the tip!

However, after trying 8, 6, 4, 2 processors and then even shutting off multiprocessing, I still get the same result.

Maybe it’s a comp issue? I’ll see if I have enough time to rebuild this whole thing in CS5-AE, unless you have another suggestion?

Really appreciate your time!
-PJ

[Phil Smith]

Yes, I’m sorry… I should have mentioned. My client is a micro-managing “@$#%#$”… He looked at the crop, said no dice. The long process that I outlined gives almost the same result… loves it.

(head-slap)

Sigh… it’s not my money…

[Phil Smith]

Given that this footage was shot on the fly by their ENG guys, part of the issue that I’m dealing with is the noise in the blacks from the not completely well-lit area combined with the JVC/Apple codec. It only amplifies when converting this footage in the timeline.

However, as an update for everyone, I may have found a workable solution.

1) I created a new Sequence with the following settings:
DV 3:2 aspect
Progressive Frame
No field dominance
Apple ProRes 422HQ codec

2) I then copied and pasted the footage from the HD sequence into the SD/DV timeline.

3) I went back to the media, and Scaled to Sequence for everything (all 720p and Beta footage)

4) On the 720p clips, I used “Noise Dissolve” on the footage, it got rid of a surprising amount of garbage. Then scaled them to ~70%

5) Since the interviews that had noise were roughly all shot the same way, I then created a garbage matte over blank text as a transition layer and placed it over the area in the footage that was the problem.

6) I added a gaussian blur at .25 pixels to the matted area. then adjusted the edge feather so that it created a pseudo-depth effect.

It doesn’t look too bad after all that. Still wondering if anyone has the magic bullet though.. 😉

-PJ