Scott Sheriff
Forum Replies Created
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We tend to think that editors are the only market for Mac Pro. But science, engineering and educational users are a big part of the Mac Pro world. I suspect that Apple might want the prestige of these users, and keep making the Pro just for them as a loss leader, if that were the case.
Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
Scott…
Your type of posts are the reason it took me three years to post my own. Have anything positive to say?
What type of posts would that be, perhaps those that favor aggrandizement over information?
I thought were you looking for advice on how to make your show look better?
The subject line of your post is “Re: How Does One Achieve The Highest Possible Quality SD DVD”, and to that, based on what you posted I gave you an answer which in a nutshell was, start with better material, and ways to improve your shooting environ, in order to do that. Which by the way, you never mentioned having attempted to do in your original post. But, that is the first place you can improve the look of your show. No amount of FCP trickery can add quality, that was never captured in the first place. Period, zero, end of story.
You also said you were having problems because your cameras don’t match, and here is the info you included RE the third camera; “…have recently hired a camera man who uses a new professional grade Sony HD camera.” Well that is really helpful. What model? What frame rate is he shooting? What format? How are you capturing it? Instead of useful info we could use to help you, we get the “I’ve been doing this for x number of years” speech.
I pointed out you had a lot of small things wrong with your workflow, and you might want to consider getting some time in with an editor. That is the polite way of saying, your not as up to speed on FCP, and production as you think you are, and you need more help than just a simple answer on the forum will provide.
So, yes to expect your GL2’s shooting 4×3 stretched(by the camera) to 16×9, under poor lighting, to match your third “new professional grade Sony HD camera” (whatever it is) is not realistic. Especially when you cut it in the wrong sequence settings, and have to compress 2 1/2 hours of material, shot at this quality level, to a SD DVD. Michael Sacci already went over all of this with you in the DVDSP forum. You have been presented plenty of options to improve your production values, in areas that you have direct control over, to “Achieve The Highest Possible Quality SD DVD” but just choose to dismiss advice that doesn’t reinforce the current methods as ‘negative’. I’m ok with that.Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
Chris
“Years ago I had a Canon GL2 and I found that in Widescreen mode on a wide shot – it didn’t looks so good…
FWIW “I think its because the GL2 is a basic SD 4×3 camera that uses an electronic stretching, or cropping and frame enlargement to get the widescreen. I looked at the online specs and they really avoid specifics about how this is done. When you mash this together in the same timeline as a camera that is shooting 16×9 HD, it isn’t surprising that they don’t match.
Also the originator of the thread seems to think this camera has the best low light performance “in its class”, but only according to Cannon’s marketing dept. Plenty of online reviews, and gripes in forums from users that give the GL2 low marks in this area. 1/4″ chips are a clue that the LL performance will be weak.Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
I have to agree with Craig.
There are a hundred reasons to use the Mac Pro, and two to use a laptop as your primary edit workstation.1. You absolutely have to view and edit in the field.
2. To appear chic’, hip and trendy at the coffee shop.A laptop as a second machine, as Steve said is a good option.
We have discussed this topic over and over again, a search of the forum would reveal lots of opinions.
Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
David,
I knew about freeing up FCP to keep working, but didn’t know it made it run faster.
I knew you had good reasons, just hadn’t heard what they were.
Thanks.
SScott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
Question for David.
In the HD timeline to SD DVD workflow, what is the advantage of exporting a QT movie and taking that into Compressor vs using ‘Export using Compressor’ directly from the timeline?
Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
Hi,
Sounds like you did everything right.
A RAID will improve your performance, but you said this project played fine before, so here is what I would try for short term fix.Trash preferences
Repair disc permissions
delete the render files and re-render.If that didn’t work, I would take the media offline, and recapture it.
Won’t cost you anything but some time, and it might fix it.
Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
Warren is probably on the right track with his idea of a corrupt file. Could be either source, or maybe render files?
Here are a few questions.
I see your on a MBP, is your media on your system drive?After you installed SL, did you update it, or are you running the version that is on the install disc? Should be version 10.6.4
Same question for FCS? Should be 7.0.2
In your post you said “…and then installed the new Final Cut Studio with Final Cut Pro 7.”
Did you upgrade from FCS2 aka Final Cut Pro 6 to FCP 7 at the same time you did the SL update, and was your glitching project originally created with FCP 6?Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
Lisa
“I wish I did have control over the lighting or more input about the theatrical productions I shoot, but I just have to capture what they present.”You do have control over the cameras you use, how they are operated and captured, sequence settings, and how long your DVD project is. These can have an effect on overall quality.
So if your firm on mixing cameras that are shooting in different aspect ratios, have poor low light performance, and you have to compress your footage a lot due to program length to get it all on the DVD, you have to expect a reduction in quality.Have you ever asked the theater LD to give you more base light in the scenes?
How far back are you? The less focal length you use, the more available light the lens can put on the sensor.
Are there multiple performances of the play? If so, shoot each performance with matching cameras only, and change your camera locations each performance to get multiple angles. Then edit that together into a single show.
If the production is more than 90 minutes, do some editing and cut it down. The longer it is, the more compressed it will have to be. You as the producer and editor have to find the balance between picture quality and what has to be in the show. Editing for length is done all the time on shows that “need to have it all in”, and if done well goes unnoticed by the audience.
Lisa
“The term “workflow” confuses me a bit… I capture using the DV NTSC 48 kHz Anamorphic settings below: “Workflow. A standard industry term used to describe the organization, execution, and technical specs of the materials used in a project.
In your case I would include everything from the camera specs to the length of the finished DVD. It is almost always best to work backwards from the desired output, and make all decisions to get the best output, in your case a DVD.Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
If you want to get a job in an Apple store forget the FCP cert, and just grow some dreds.
Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com