NLE Mac / Final Cut questions from 2004

David Slingerland · December 12th, 2004, 03:10 PM

I have been working in soundtrack to add some beats to a project I am currently doing. I have however noticed that the quality compared to other tracks(from cd or from the net) is rather poor....Is there anybody out there that has worked with soundtrack for a film or series? I have some interesting samples from Powerfx that came straight of a cd so I am suprised about the poor quality.

Evan Fisher · December 12th, 2004, 05:12 PM

I am having trouble wrapping my brain around an effect I am creating.
I need to have 20 full res frames of video fly in and twist (they can move as 1 wall of video or independently, either will work for me) and then come toward camera, maintaining their relationship to one another until one of my 4 center frames completely fills the screen in full resoulution. These 20 frames are individual pieces of video, so a simple multiplication effect won't work.

I have tried layering all 20 tracks, nesting and throwing a BCC DVE on and reducing to 15%, but then when I click in to position my individual tracks, they blow back up to 100% and I cannot see far enough out on the edges to create a proper placement.

Any ideas, filters I may not have that will do the trick easily, filters I do have but have not yet used?

Please help, under a deadline.

Thanks,

Evan

Evan Fisher · December 12th, 2004, 10:25 PM

Got my answer from the local FCPUG.

Thanks to anyone who at least thought about it.

Chris Lucey · December 12th, 2004, 10:30 PM

Any tips for shooting Hi8 then converting it to DV ? I am trying to get the best quality possible until i can get my GS400.

Alan Tran · December 12th, 2004, 10:39 PM

Get an analog to digital converter?

Luke Renner · December 12th, 2004, 10:40 PM

Shot on Canon XL2 at 24P - 16:9
Loaded in Firewire / DV NTSC Anamorphic codec
Have selected "none" in the field order pulldown box of my sequence preferences. Footage looks STELLAR!

I have slowed some footage down (on the sequence side).
When dissolving to another slow-mo clip, the previous clip plays at 2x REVERSE!

I have also experienced the outgoing footage freeze-framing on the dissolve out.

Now, I have found ways around this (still perfecting before I post a solution). But I wanna know why it does this. This is doofy.

Cheers!
Luke

Owen Dawe · December 13th, 2004, 12:01 AM

Some Sony D8 cameras are backward compatable and will play out footage shot on a Hi 8 camera. This can be transfered to another DV deck or computer by firewire.

Mike Minor · December 14th, 2004, 12:56 AM

Hey all. I'm shooting a project in a few weeks with multiple cameras. The main one is the XL2 on which i'll be shooting in 16x9 24p. but there are also supplementary handicam type things that will be getting secondary shots that i'll use from time to time. Is there an effective way to cut the 16x9 24p shots with the 4:3 regular dv shots so that it doesnt look horrible? I know that you'll be able to tell the difference in quality, I just don't want to a) drag down the quality of the 24p or b)compress the 16x9 (i'd rather stretch the 4:3). How should I capture both of them?

Kyle De Priest · December 14th, 2004, 12:41 PM

I don't know about HD, but when I first got into FCP, I sat in on a few classes at the Apple stores. The classes were free and really helped me wrap my head around the entire subject. Then, I stayed after and asked the guy teaching about specifics. Now, when I have questions, I call that individual. He's always happy to get off the sales floor and talk NLE with me.

Colin Bender · December 14th, 2004, 07:24 PM

I should have did this in the first place, but I called the canon tech support and they told me that the canon GL2 is only compatible with final cut 4 and later and you have to be running mac os 10.1 to 10.3.

so it looks like i'm in for an upgrade.

thanks for trying to help out chris!!

Chris Sebes · December 15th, 2004, 12:24 AM

Never saw that one coming. Glad to hear you've got it figured out.

Peace!
Chris

Laurence Maher · December 15th, 2004, 07:03 AM

I too have recognized this. Not sure what to do. Garage band . . . same thing. My guess is these weren't meant to do professional work. Not entirely sure though.

Rob Lohman · December 15th, 2004, 07:34 AM

Note: I'm not a Mac or FCP user, but these are some of my general
thoughts about these things.

If you just have a couple of shots of 4:3 footage I would stretch
them to 16:9 indeed. If you have a lot of 4:3 shots I would
convert everything to 4:3 letterbox.

However, if at all possible I would record all the camera's at the
same settings. Because I assume that those 4:3 camera's will
also not be doing 24p? That's probably gonna be troublesome
to incorporate and have it look good (unless it is some sort of
making of where you are mixing footage, doesn't make a difference
too much then I'd say).

Best thing you can do (as always) is TEST your workflow before
you commit to the ways you are going to do things. Test, test
and do some more testing! <g>

Good luck!

Luc Burson · December 15th, 2004, 05:37 PM

Hey all,
I am trying to burn my iDVD project. (i know it's no pro-sumer software but that's what i have to use) Here's my scenario and question:

I have a Powerbook with iDVD 4 and a compiled project that sits on an external drive. My Powerbook doesn't have a Superdrive, so my options are: open the project on someone else's system that has a superdrive and burn it there, or get an external DVD writer hooked up to my Powerbook and burn locally. Option 1 is more viable to me since my friend has a Powerbook with a Superdrive and I don't have access to an external DVD writer. The only issue is this: My friend doesn't have iDVD 4. I have heard that iDVD 4 creates a product that looks much better than 3. If I compile my project in iDVD 4, let everything encode with the "best quality" setting, then Archive my project AND include the theme, can I then transfer the Archived project (image i assume) to my friend's Powerbook and burn it from there with iDVD 3 with no picture degradation or other discrepancies?

___Luc

Mark Sloan · December 15th, 2004, 06:29 PM

1st scenario:
Last I checked, iDVD won't burn to an external DVD burner, it has to be internal. That might have changed, but that was pretty standard. You CAN of course work in iDVD on one computer, archive it, and move it to a machine that DOES have an internal burner.

Try patch burn if you want an external burner with iDVD: http://www.patchburn.de/faq.html#PB3Frage2

2nd scenario:
Because iDVD4 has newer features than iDVD3 I don't know if it is backwards compatible, or will work as long as you use a version 3 theme and do not use any new features like autoplay. Thing is, I think the Archive is an only an iDVD4 feature, so I would guess it won't work because iDVD3 doesn't know what to do with an Archived project.

Good luck...

December 12th, 2004, 03:10 PM	#1741
David Slingerland Major Player Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Soest ,Holland Posts: 307	soundtrack quality I have been working in soundtrack to add some beats to a project I am currently doing. I have however noticed that the quality compared to other tracks(from cd or from the net) is rather poor....Is there anybody out there that has worked with soundtrack for a film or series? I have some interesting samples from Powerfx that came straight of a cd so I am suprised about the poor quality. __________________ D.Slingerland director/cameraman http://www.slingerlandproductions.nl

December 12th, 2004, 05:12 PM	#1742
Evan Fisher Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Los Angeles, Ca. Posts: 137	Complicated Effect in FCP HD. Please Help I am having trouble wrapping my brain around an effect I am creating. I need to have 20 full res frames of video fly in and twist (they can move as 1 wall of video or independently, either will work for me) and then come toward camera, maintaining their relationship to one another until one of my 4 center frames completely fills the screen in full resoulution. These 20 frames are individual pieces of video, so a simple multiplication effect won't work. I have tried layering all 20 tracks, nesting and throwing a BCC DVE on and reducing to 15%, but then when I click in to position my individual tracks, they blow back up to 100% and I cannot see far enough out on the edges to create a proper placement. Any ideas, filters I may not have that will do the trick easily, filters I do have but have not yet used? Please help, under a deadline. Thanks, Evan __________________ Fisher Media Productions

December 12th, 2004, 10:25 PM	#1743
Evan Fisher Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Los Angeles, Ca. Posts: 137	Got my answer from the local FCPUG. Thanks to anyone who at least thought about it. __________________ Fisher Media Productions

December 12th, 2004, 10:30 PM	#1744
Chris Lucey New Boot Join Date: May 2003 Location: Calgary Posts: 20	Hi8 to DV - Tips ? Any tips for shooting Hi8 then converting it to DV ? I am trying to get the best quality possible until i can get my GS400.

December 12th, 2004, 10:40 PM	#1746
Luke Renner Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: United States Posts: 36	Footage Reverses In Dissolve Shot on Canon XL2 at 24P - 16:9 Loaded in Firewire / DV NTSC Anamorphic codec Have selected "none" in the field order pulldown box of my sequence preferences. Footage looks STELLAR! I have slowed some footage down (on the sequence side). When dissolving to another slow-mo clip, the previous clip plays at 2x REVERSE! I have also experienced the outgoing footage freeze-framing on the dissolve out. Now, I have found ways around this (still perfecting before I post a solution). But I wanna know why it does this. This is doofy. Cheers! Luke __________________ "The only life that is truly beautiful, is the life lived for the life of another." http://firesideinternational.blogspot.com

December 12th, 2004, 10:39 PM	#1745
Alan Tran Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 121	Get an analog to digital converter?

December 13th, 2004, 12:01 AM	#1747
Owen Dawe Major Player Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Lake Tarawera, Rotorua, New Zealand Posts: 244	Some Sony D8 cameras are backward compatable and will play out footage shot on a Hi 8 camera. This can be transfered to another DV deck or computer by firewire. __________________ Owen

December 14th, 2004, 12:56 AM	#1748
Mike Minor Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 32	Editing 24p with non 24p in the same sequence? Hey all. I'm shooting a project in a few weeks with multiple cameras. The main one is the XL2 on which i'll be shooting in 16x9 24p. but there are also supplementary handicam type things that will be getting secondary shots that i'll use from time to time. Is there an effective way to cut the 16x9 24p shots with the 4:3 regular dv shots so that it doesnt look horrible? I know that you'll be able to tell the difference in quality, I just don't want to a) drag down the quality of the 24p or b)compress the 16x9 (i'd rather stretch the 4:3). How should I capture both of them?

December 14th, 2004, 12:41 PM	#1749
Kyle De Priest Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Santa Cruz, CA Posts: 51	I don't know about HD, but when I first got into FCP, I sat in on a few classes at the Apple stores. The classes were free and really helped me wrap my head around the entire subject. Then, I stayed after and asked the guy teaching about specifics. Now, when I have questions, I call that individual. He's always happy to get off the sales floor and talk NLE with me.

December 14th, 2004, 07:24 PM	#1750
Colin Bender Tourist Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: St. Paul, MN Posts: 2	I should have did this in the first place, but I called the canon tech support and they told me that the canon GL2 is only compatible with final cut 4 and later and you have to be running mac os 10.1 to 10.3. so it looks like i'm in for an upgrade. thanks for trying to help out chris!!

December 15th, 2004, 12:24 AM	#1751
Chris Sebes New Boot Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Northern New Jersey Posts: 24	Never saw that one coming. Glad to hear you've got it figured out. Peace! Chris

December 15th, 2004, 07:03 AM	#1752
Laurence Maher Join Date: May 2004 Location: denton, texas, usa Posts: 416	I too have recognized this. Not sure what to do. Garage band . . . same thing. My guess is these weren't meant to do professional work. Not entirely sure though.

December 15th, 2004, 07:34 AM	#1753
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	Note: I'm not a Mac or FCP user, but these are some of my general thoughts about these things. If you just have a couple of shots of 4:3 footage I would stretch them to 16:9 indeed. If you have a lot of 4:3 shots I would convert everything to 4:3 letterbox. However, if at all possible I would record all the camera's at the same settings. Because I assume that those 4:3 camera's will also not be doing 24p? That's probably gonna be troublesome to incorporate and have it look good (unless it is some sort of making of where you are mixing footage, doesn't make a difference too much then I'd say). Best thing you can do (as always) is TEST your workflow before you commit to the ways you are going to do things. Test, test and do some more testing! <g> Good luck! __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

December 15th, 2004, 05:37 PM	#1754
Luc Burson New Boot Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Seattle Posts: 6	iDVD cross compatability question:::: Hey all, I am trying to burn my iDVD project. (i know it's no pro-sumer software but that's what i have to use) Here's my scenario and question: I have a Powerbook with iDVD 4 and a compiled project that sits on an external drive. My Powerbook doesn't have a Superdrive, so my options are: open the project on someone else's system that has a superdrive and burn it there, or get an external DVD writer hooked up to my Powerbook and burn locally. Option 1 is more viable to me since my friend has a Powerbook with a Superdrive and I don't have access to an external DVD writer. The only issue is this: My friend doesn't have iDVD 4. I have heard that iDVD 4 creates a product that looks much better than 3. If I compile my project in iDVD 4, let everything encode with the "best quality" setting, then Archive my project AND include the theme, can I then transfer the Archived project (image i assume) to my friend's Powerbook and burn it from there with iDVD 3 with no picture degradation or other discrepancies? ___Luc

December 15th, 2004, 06:29 PM	#1755
Mark Sloan Major Player Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Venice, CA Posts: 346	1st scenario: Last I checked, iDVD won't burn to an external DVD burner, it has to be internal. That might have changed, but that was pretty standard. You CAN of course work in iDVD on one computer, archive it, and move it to a machine that DOES have an internal burner. Try patch burn if you want an external burner with iDVD: http://www.patchburn.de/faq.html#PB3Frage2 2nd scenario: Because iDVD4 has newer features than iDVD3 I don't know if it is backwards compatible, or will work as long as you use a version 3 theme and do not use any new features like autoplay. Thing is, I think the Archive is an only an iDVD4 feature, so I would guess it won't work because iDVD3 doesn't know what to do with an Archived project. Good luck...