[Tj Fernando]

Hey Peter,

I’m trying to use this droplet with my 7D footage…which was set to 23.98p, 1080p.

I loaded the compressor file from your “5DtoFCP 1080p Realtime” Droplet into my custom presets folder in Compressor, and I edited the file so it was set to 23.98p instead of 25p, and then I generated a new droplet to use. I also edited the sequence file you provided so that it was 23.98.

The main difference between this codec and the original ProRes preset in Compressor, is the Frame Controls are set to “On”, with the Retiming, Resize and Deinterlace filters set with various settings. My question is, are these settings optimized for 5D footage…or do the frame control settings work fine with 7D? Is there a specific reason you chose the Deinterlace to be on Fast instead of Better or Best? What do the Retiming and Resize filters do? If these settings are the ideal settings for 7D, then I’ll just use this droplet with the adjusted fps…or if not, I suppose I can just make a droplet from the “ProRes 422 for Progressive Material” codec, if that would work better. I did notice the file size from a file compressed with your droplet was very slightly smaller than from the default Apple ProRes codec…I don’t know if this affects quality or not. Any advice?

Thanks!

Trevor

[Tj Fernando]

Oh interesting…so it actually takes longer for it to compress if its inside Final Cut. I suppose if it would take significantly less time, one thing I could try is to convert all the clips to ProRes first in compressor, without FCP. Then import all the ProRes clips into FCP, sync each clip with its audio in its own sequence. The question is…I haven’t done the merge clip function before, is there a way to do a batch process where all the sequences can be made into clips…or do they have to be recompressed or something.

[Tj Fernando]

Steve, my follow-up question to Tom was why shouldn’t I do the syncing before I convert to ProRes to edit. Some people have said I should sync before I convert, and others say I should convert before I sync. So I am asking why you would do one or the other, because a lot of people seem to say things like “h.264 is not an editing codec” without any explanation.

I have done a lot of searching on this topic and all I can dig up are short answers with little detail or clarification as to why people are doing what they do.

I understand I need to convert to ProRes…but there are many different ProRes codecs in Final Cut and in Compressor. So I described the one I was going to use, which is “ProRes 422 for Progressive Material”, to see if that was the right one. And I wanted to know if it was normal that it took 30 minutes for a 1.5GB clip. I haven’t found a thread where someone who’s clearly done this and knows what they’re talking about has described the workflow in detail, regarding whether you should definitely use Compressor to do the conversion and why, whether it matters when you do the syncing, how long it takes to do the conversion, etc.

Could you possibly clarify or maybe point me in the direction of a thread that really describes what to do step by step? Thanks.

-Trevor

[Tj Fernando]

Hey Tom,

Can you clarify…Why should I not work with H.264 at all?

I am using pluraleyes to handle syncing…its a third party application that automatically matches scratch audio with audio recorded on a separate recorder, so I don’t need to sync manually with the clapper.

But regardless, manual syncing or not, what difference does it make if I sync the video/audio first and then do prores or do prores and then sync?

And in regards to my initial question…is that the correct codec to use and best way to handle the workflow? Export to compressor from Final Cut, and use the ProRes 422 for Progressive Material codec? Or can I just do the conversion in Final Cut itself? And does it normally take 30 minutes to do a 1.5 GB clip?

Thanks!

[Tj Fernando]

Hey Guys,

I’m aware of the potential flicker issue. My 16MM teacher said he’d done tests with some kino bulbs on a regular fixture and didn’t have any problems so I wasn’t sure how often the flicker happens. I’ve decided to run some tests today per your recommendation. We’re just going to see how much we can see without any lighting inside the bar and whether or not theres flicker.

-Trevor

[Tj Fernando]

That makes a lot of sense to light the actors first and then use pools of light to highlight key objects in the background. This helps a lot, it gives me a process to lighting it so I can do it in stages as opposed to just looking at the room and wondering how I’m going to make it look good. Thanks Tim!

What exactly should I anticipate the fluorescents looking like with the gels? I thought if we balanced for tungsten, the pool table lights would match the rest of the lighting? Is that accurate? Or are you suggesting its better to go a bit mixed and make the pool tables a bit different. I suppose another possibility is to balance them for daylight…then when we do the conversion, the tables will be more orangish. Any suggestions on other gels to use for a bitter mix of light?

For the est. shot, instead of the Kinos on the bar patrons, maybe we can use a 2K off a bounce card or would we lose too much light on them? I think we can get the light pretty close to them out of the shot.

-Trevor

[Tj Fernando]

Thanks a lot Tim!

As far as the lighting schematic, actually to clarify, the symbols that look like lights are all symbols for the camera and where it will be at different shots (to show the angles). I haven’t planned the placement of any of the lights yet.

I like your idea of starting out minimal and gradually adding as needed, that makes a lot of sense. As far as the fluorescent fixtures above the pool tables, to save on cost, we’re thinking of using some Rosco Cinegel #3310 Fluorofilter Gels which are supposed to balance fluorescent tubes to tungsten. We can’t afford the tube gels so we’re thinking of using the 20X24 inch sheets and wrapping them under the bottom of the fixtures (out of sight). Do you think this is a good alternative to replacing the fixtures with tungsten tubes?

The wide shot is one that I think will be the toughest. One of the pictures I posted shows roughly the angle we’ll be shooting for the first establishing shot. Practically speaking, what would be a rough setup for the lights for a wider shot like this? I want some light in the back of the room to show some detail there – I was thinking of getting a couple 1Ks as close as possible to the back of the room and bouncing them off the ceiling. Maybe splashing something on the walls with more shape for effect, and maybe a couple Kinos for the bar patrons. Any thoughts/ideas?

-Trevor

[Tj Fernando]

Hey Tom,

Thanks a lot! This sounds pretty brilliant. I’ve never done it before so hopefully it works in practice, but its worth a shot. Thanks to everyone else for replying as well.

By the way, I found a set of digital filter plugins called 55mm v.6 by Digital Film Tools – it actually has the exact 80A as well as all the other assorted conversion filters in its plugin set along with a bunch of other filters like bleach bypass, streak, promist, etc. Always better to use the real thing, but if you don’t have that option, this seems like a pretty good alternative…I downloaded the demo and its supposed to cost about $600 to register it but for some reason it seems to just be working on my computer without the registration. Go figure. Anyway, I think I’ll try the color corrector method first but I thought I’d let everyone know in case they were looking for something like this.

-Trevor

[Tj Fernando]

Hi Arnie,

Yeah, if you read the original post and my reply afterwards you’ll see I’m not able to use filters or gels because of the stock I have to use and the resulting loss of light. But otherwise, I would definitely do it on set.

-Trevor

[Tj Fernando]

To test the eye dropper idea, I just played with some color reversal footage in final cut that I shot a couple weeks ago. Which eye dropper should I use? I tried to use the eye dropper on the “whites” dial of the 3-way corrector and selected a point of white on one of the actors t-shirts and it made the footage more orange…I tried it with the eye dropper on the lower portion of the corrector that isn’t attached to one of the 3 wheels and it just loaded the color i selected into the little box next to it. I’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong or if I really need a pure white card or if this method doesn’t really work that accurately. Any ideas?

-Trevor