Scott Sheriff
Forum Replies Created
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[Richard Angelous] ” I meant deliver, thanks, so are you saying that recording on HDV on miniDV tapes there are 2 kinds of standards ? incompatible ?”
Thats right. HDV 1 (commonly used by JVC) and HDV 2 (commonly used by Sony) are different formats that both use the miniDV tape. There are no playback machines that will play both HDV formats, and no cameras that record both. The Sony is more popular than JVC, but not necessarily the better format.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Clint Wardlow] “Actually my biggest fear is that FCPX is just a “hammer.” That it forces you to edit in a very specific style that isn’t conducive to more free-form creativity. That it is aimed at hammering out product as quickly and painlessly as possible at the cost of hamstringing the more subtle art of editing.”
Not only is it just a hammer, but it’s that little dollar store hammer that your wife keeps in the junk drawer to hang up pictures with. It is not anything a craftsman would use in the real world. But to hang some pictures up in a hallway, it’s perfect.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[illya laney] “Dailies for a majority of the biggest films, commercials, and TV shows in the world end up on DVD and/or services like DAX or PIX(and soon nextSPOT). I’m trying not to sound like a money-grubber, but you can charge for encoding time and delivery too. I know a few studios that will actually charge $150 for supplying, labeling, and encoding each DVD.”
You’re absolutely right. In my case doing DVD’s was an additional revenue stream for me the client was happy to pay for, and another thing you can’t do (DVD with real menus) with X. Pushing the client into thumb drives, and other ‘more modern’ suggestions would have not generated additional income for myself, and not what the client asked for. I keep hearing how DVD’s are ‘dead’, but I have had a continuous demand for them, and have had zero requests for thumb drives, Bluray, and only about 20% wanted some type of web encoding, or QT files in addition to their DVD’s. As far as quantity, most runs of DVD’s are small between 25-500.
So are DVD’s really dead?
Apple, and the studios would love for you to think so, but it seems like the public is having a hard time being pushed into yet another format change.
About a year and a half ago the area Target, Wally world, and other big box types completely pulled DVD movies, and players, replacing them with BR. But in the last 6-9 months DVD players, and movies have made a quiet comeback in these stores, with what seems like more models of players than before, and about a 50-50 split on DVD vs Bluray discs. Even as BR players and discs have been slashed in prices to try and boost sales. It wouldn’t surprise me if DVD outlasted Bluray in the long run.
As far as why clients want DVD’s? I have heard a number of reasons, most of which I’m sure would cause the DVD haters to post some counter argument, so I’ll just pass on posting them. I don’t care why they prefer them, I’m happy to make them, and as long as people ask for them, it is additional income.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Mark Dobson] “Your producer, like many people, seems to have a lot of uneducated preconceptions about FCP X. does she edit herself? Has she spent time with the programme?”
Yes, she can do basic editing in Avid and FCP, but is primarily a Producer.
[Mark Dobson] “Basically FCP X was probably more than adequate for the job you did for her. Maybe you could have shown her some of the features, maybe you could have turned the job around faster through using the new software?”
No, you apparently misread my post. I could not have done the job with X, because the Producer would not have booked me if that was what I was using.
And no, I couldn’t have turned the job around faster because X doesn’t integrate with Motion or Color, and of course there is no DVD authoring.[Mark Dobson] “To catagorise the wide range of editors who are learning to use FCP X as amateur or inexperienced editor is just expressing ignorance.”
Well, I would have a hard time calling a Producer with the type of credits this gal has ‘ignorant’. If you watch TV, you have seen her work. And you don’t produce for 30 years, and have a NetJets account and two assistants if you don’t know what you’re doing.
[Mark Dobson] “Bad workmen blame their tools. A craftsman will produce good work using the most basic tools because it’s what’s in your head, the experience you draw on, that’s more important.”
Well if I saw my mechanic working on the beemer with those cheap tools made in china that round-off the bolt heads, that you can buy at flea markets for two dollars, I would kick his ass. If I hired a finish carpenter to come and do trim work and he showed up with a beat up, rusty saw, no level, and no sandpaper, I would get a different carpenter. I would have to agree that ones choice of tools, tells a lot about the person using them. And for those that choose Final Cut X, I have to agree with the producer.
You see, in a way you are right, a craftsman can produce good work with simple tools if he had to, but a craftsman would not intentionally choose to use, or support an inferior tool.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Bill Davis] ” was reading with much interest until I got here…
“Incidentally, this project went to DVD, and not the web. The CEO wanted a tangible to hand out at a meeting, so having DVDSP was also helpful.”
And every thing crashed down in my thinking.
DVD? Really. That’s the level the CEO is stuck at? Plastic discs for a meeting. Wow.If the CEO had a clue, he would have simply ended his presentation with a slide containing a QR code – and told anyone wanting a link to the video to take a picture of it with their phones. Or put the same QR code on an easel at the exits. Of course there are people who don’t have smart phones – but many, MANY do – and that’s orders of magnitude more efficient than producing and passing out plastic discs.
If the point is to send out something that people perceive a valuable “take away”, a branded thumb drive on a lanyard would have made a hundred times the impression at little extra cost and has the attendant glow of giving someone a thing that remains USEFUL if they no longer need the content.
DVD’s and CD’s have little to NO perception of value any more. They are rapidly becoming “landfill fodder” because the moment a person comes to realize you don’t NEED a plastic disc to access the content anymore, the very concept becomes kinda quaint.
Plastic discs are a sure sign that you’re thinking backward, not forward.
How many of them will YOU be throwing out in the next few years? I bet that CEO’s disc will be at the top of the heap – and his “producer” will have her “awakening” not long after.”
Laugh all you want. The DVD’s helped me get more of the gig, not less, a nice fat check, and booked a couple more gigs from some of the guys that saw the DVD. I guess that shows not all CEO’s are t-shirt wearing hipsters like Jobs.
Anytime you don’t want any of these backward thinking jobs, please send them my way, I’ll be more than happy to take their cash and give them what they ask for.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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Videographer.
Making a film is a team sport, involving writers, producers, directors, DP’s etc, who all have a say so in the creative content.
You are simply documenting an event you have no creative control over.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Paul Jay] “In the end it’s about the shots and the story.
FCPX is a great tool. Not a FCP7 Upgrade, but a great new tool.”Well, not so much.
In the end it’s a business, and it’s about the bottom line, and the folks that control the checkbook. Which is easy for a lot of youtubers to forget since they operate in a vacuum. In the professional world, editors are far removed from the decision making process, and the opinions of EP’s, Producers and Directors carry a lot more weight than an editors. Here’s an example.
I recently finished a long format shoot and post for a national level non-profit. I received the usual phone call from the producer (a national level freelancer) about what camera I have, edit platform etc. In that conversation, the red flag went up when I said I used FCP. With it only moving forward on my assurance that I was not using “the new Final Cut”. Without boring everyone with the minutia of that, and subsequent conversations about the Producers preferences, let me paraphrase some of what she said;
A flashy demo reel is meaningless, since there is often no way of knowing the true origin of the material, or how long the person spent on what is in it, even if it was all done by them.
If you are not using Avid, or Final Cut 6/7, you’re probably an amateur or inexperienced editor.
She knew Avid and Final Cut well enough to keep up with what was going on in the session by watching the timeline, and had no interest in learning a new UI, and could not see any benefit in doing so.
The ability to open legacy projects, and the confidence that the edit platform generate a project that can be opened in the future is of utmost importance. The ability to share the project with other professionals for sweetening, etc, was equally important.
I’ll skip the inflammatory remarks she used in describing the proponents of Final Cut X, but let me say she had a rather low opinion of their skills and judgement, and thought of them more as computer geeks, and less like editors.
As I said, this Producer had the clients checkbook, and was the decision maker on who got what work on this project, as well as others. So if you intend to work in the business in a national, or even semi-national level, where working as part of a team is the norm, and that team is often comprised of others who don’t know you, a lot of ‘first impression’ others have about you as a craftsman is your choice of tools.
Incidentally, this project went to DVD, and not the web. The CEO wanted a tangible to hand out at a meeting, so having DVDSP was also helpful.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Jason Spencer] “Thanks to Compressor Repair from Digital Rebellion. Wow! I sound like an ad. It found the simple issue, for some reason Compressor couldn’t see my computer name. I had to “name the computer” so Compressor could … I don’t know, but there was nothing in the CLUSTER pull-down before you submit a job. After you name the computer in System Preferences it has something to put in the CLUSTER pull down. I hope this helps someone else.”
Glad to hear that worked out well and you didn’t have to waste 50 bucks buying something you already own.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[David Bauman] “Additionally, in settings there is a “Pixel Aspect Ratio” window under settings. Would you advise this be changed? Will it effect file size significantly after a progressive codec has been applied to the source footage?”
David, no offense, but you really need to hit the books and get up to speed on the basics. Everything we have talked about is in the FCP manual, and is really NLE editing 101. A couple of hours spent doing that would really give you a huge payback in time savings by not having to redo your work. Same goes for DVD Studio Pro, and Compressor.
Also there is a forum for FCP, and DVDSP. If you do some searches there you will see that all of this has been covered extensively, and will save you from having to wait for answers to your questions.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[David Bauman] “There are a lot of presets for the apple codec 422. I see a bunch of HQ settings, however I’m not sure which one would be the best for the eventual creation of a dvd. I’ve heard not to use PAL because that’s a European sort of broadcast system, does it matter which Prores422 I use, just as long as it’s not HQ?
-David”
You should select the version that matches the source footage. So if your footage is 25fps PAL, then use that setting. If you have 29.97fps footage then that is what you want. In FCP the ideal situation is to have the source video and the timeline (sequence) to all be the same codec, and if it’s ProRes this will give you the most ‘real time’ playback/least rendering, and is ‘as good as it gets’. Once your done editing if your footage needs to be changed to a different frame rate, that is really the time to deal with it, so you are only conforming footage that is making the final cut and not all your source footage. The exception to that would be if you have a just a few clips that are mismatched from the rest of your project, it might be better to deal with them first.
ProRes HQ is for frame sizes over 2K. If you have anything less than that (ie 1080 or 720) the only thing HQ is doing is making bigger files. No real increase in quality using HQ vs standard ProRes. Take the same short clip and transcode it as both and compare them side by side. You can see for yourself.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?