[Ron James]

Just another tip…

Don’t use 2-pass encoding in Compresser. There’s a fairly well-known bug related to this. Single Pass actually looks *better* than 2-pass. I stumbled upon this in a clip with a lot of motion, which created a lot of macroblocking in 2-pass but was clean in 1-pass.

[Ron James]

For anyone who’s interested, I’ve come to the conclusion that the latest Keyspan driver and latest Mac OS combo is a little flaky. Think I’ll wait for another Keyspan update before doing anymore client work with it.

[Ron James]

Okay, the FCP manual says:

“LTC+VITC: If you choose this setting, Final Cut Pro looks at both timecodes so that
accurate timecode can be read no matter what speed the tape is playing (LTC is used
for normal and high-speed playback; VITC is used for slow motion and pause).”

So it makes sense to use this setting. But why, I wonder, did I get a 1-frame offset today and not yesterday? Weird.

[Ron James]

Thanks, Bret.

I did check it and it was dead on. But now I’m confused by LTC vs. VITC. When I created a Capture Preset for RS-422, the default was LTC and I left it like that and captured an hour tape on the DSR-40. The TC was dead on.

Now I get a tape that is labelled with VITC, so I switched the setting in the preset and the clip was one frame off! There’s also a “LTC + VITC” setting available.

Is this something that needs to be changed all the time? Most of the time I’m not even sure which it is b/c the tapes I’m given aren’t labelled with this info and I have no idea if there’s a way to detect which is present on the tape. I’m searching for answers, but if you have any advice, please let me know!

Cheers,

James

[Ron James]

Bret, I just doublechecked my DSR-40 and there doesn’t appear to be any offset. Now I’m wondering, though, if I’m missing something.

Do newer updates of the Keyspan software take this into account or this irrelevant?

[Ron James]

Does this offset apply to DV decks, also, like the Sony DSR-40? I can’t *see* any offset with my deck and the Keyspan control. It appears to be dead on.

??

[Ron James]

What I’ve heard so far is that HDV actually holds together pretty nicely *UNTIL* you want to take it into post and start tweaking this and that, colour correcting, adding fx, etc.

That makes perfect sense to me. Just like taking a JPEG into PhotoShop and trying to make some changes. Forget it.

Has that been anyone’s experience?

[Ron James]

Don’t believe the hype. I’ve been using MM to do various things (like taking sequences away on a FW drive to work on another tower, for instance) and have NEVER had a problem.

The number one problem: user error.

Make sure you follow along in the online manual, step by step. If you’re consolidating (which I’ve never had a problem, either) I’d make a copy if possible, if your disk space allows. That way you’re making a copy of all the consolidated media, dropping the excess, and you have opportunity to check and make sure everything is as it should be before dropping your original source stuff. Worst case scenario, you’ve got your source tapes anyway, right?

Don’t forget to the make your clips independent command.

I think most people who complain about MM are simply repeating what they’ve heard, or they’ve not followed proper procedure. Some tasks are a little more complicated than they need to be. The key is to understand what you’re doing BEFORE you do it.

HTH.

[Ron James]

Okay, I see. Thanks for clearing it up.

[Ron James]

I’m new here, and you’ll probably flame me, but…

Why come here and bully the (extremely valued, I’m guessing) Panasonic presence on this board? I find it counter-productive at best.

Why not write a letter instead? You’ve made your point.

Just saying…