NLE Mac / Final Cut questions from 2007

[Trish Kerr]

Not sure if this is the right section to ask this but I'm hoping. I'm just finally starting to grasp the A1 camera manual settings. Now I'm starting to grapple with the software side of things.

I have my macbookpro calibrated to LCD with gamma 1.8. I know the PC is 2.2 and I have a setting for that as well (darker). In FCP I've got the video playback set to digital cinema desktop preview. I'm finding so far that the footage that looks good on the mac, when viewed on a pc is much darker. A common problem from what I've read.

Yet the footage on the mac actually closer resembles what I'm seeing on my Samsung LCD HDTV - setting on dynamic, though I am attempting to finalize a calibrated version. It also is closer to what I'm seeing when shooting the actual video, and for exposure setting with the lightmeter, also closer. ie if it's looking properly exposed with the meter, it looks closer to the mac.

So if you are planning to output both web and eventually DVD which would be the best to actually edit in. A gamma closer to PC or mac?

I opened an apple trailer in both the toshiba laptop and the macbook and while the colors were slightly different there was no huge darkness difference. Possibly the software detects platforms and adjusts according, not sure.

Has anybody found a workaround for this? What do most mac owners calibrate their monitors to?

I don't have a broadcast monitor to properly test footage yet, will probably stick with the FCP emulated for now but I am getting a second LCD monitor soon that I'll use with the macbook.

I output short test files in both WMV and MOV.

here is sample footage of lionmonkeys I was using to test.

http://www.northwitchproductions.com...monkeytest.wmv

They look very orange but actually are quite vibrant looking. On my mac very little detail is lost of the hair. But on the PC they are dark and red saturated. At least on the toshiba.

Trish

[Steve Yager]

I was having trouble getting FCP to capture my XH-A1 1080P24f footage. I realized that I had the "HD downconvert" option ON. I took the firewire cable out so I could access this option (its grayed out when the cable is in) and turned it off. Ever since then, I've been able to capture my footage. Hope this helps someone.

[Aram Rian]

hello.
i need the n-square look in my video, i.e. multiple "cells" with different footages in each one of them. is there any technique in FCE for creating a default "table" with a desired number of "cells" and "rows", so that i could drag and drop various scenes into those?
thanks.

[Doug Krejci]

I recently purchased a Lacie Sata II 3Gb/s PCI-Express Card 4E with a Biggest S2S 2.5 TB drive for my 8-core Mac Pro to do HDV in FCP with. Yes, I've heard the rumors on Lacie, but it was what I could fit in my budget. I was actually quite surprised by the enclosure, drives, controller, and the all in one-package when I got it. Very-un-Lacie like. However . . .

I have one problem with it - it either jams up the computer on restart, start-up or shut-down, or is not recognized. I find I have to be patient and let the drive go through its paces (multiple pings) on start-up and on shut-down be patient as well.

I narrowed down my problems to the card itself. Its updated with the latest and greatest drivers and firmware, but I'm still finding that sometimes in order for the drive to be seen after start-up I need to re-install the card driver (this does not require a re-boot) and soon the drive icon is back on the desktop with no loss of data. Also, without the card installed, start-up and shut-downs take half as long. All of this hand-holding just doesn't seem right.

Are there any known solutions for these issues? Lacie doesn't think its their drivers or firmware (they actually blamed the Mac OS and suggested finding something in the Mac system preferences to shut the drive off on start-up or shut down (Apple says these don't exist. . . HA!), but they haven't tested the card on a Mac with these processors yet. One option is to return it and see if a 2nd Sata Card and S2S wouldn't do the same things, but I would hate to lose all of that production time.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Doug

[Brandon Katcher]

I have recieved a project from another editor, who for some reason captured 4 tapes, Put them into a sequence, exported a 36GB DV clip (2 Hours 50 minutes) and used that to edit a rough cut.

I recieved the project with everything referring to this file. I am nervous about continuing the edit with this clip and no hard copy on tape I can go back to if it gets corrupted. (or if I want to use media manager later).

Is there any way to get this clip onto multiple dv/minidv tapes while keeping the timecode so if the clip dissapeared, Final cut could recapture from the tapes to reconnect them?

Thank you for any help,
Brandon Katcher

[Neil Rostance]

I'm urgently in need of some help with something!

I shot a screen test in HDV 50p last week for a shoot that is happening tomorrow.

Captured with HDVxDV to an .m2t and then exported as Quicktime with Apple Intermediate codec. My output Is HDV 720p, Non-Drop Frame, Upper Field Dominance. (I think there could be something i'm doing wrong there)

The new QT Movies play at 50fps in quicktime player, and also when imported into FCP 5.1.2 it plays at 50fps also.

But here's where it gets tricky....

If i right click on the clip in FCP and look at the format. It says 25fps. There's no stage in the process where 25fps was introduced and i don't know how it is like this....

But it does mean now that any sequence or multiclip sequence treats it as 25fps. Making it useless at 50% Speed.

Does anybody know where i could be possibly going wrong????

My whole shoot depends on 50fps tomorrow and i really don't want to have a niggling feeling knowing it might not work in the edit.

Can anybody help!??

[Katie Mims]

Hi all,

I'm working on a project that currently mixes regular DV 60i footage with 24pA HD footage that I shot on a Sony HVR-V1U.

I followed this method to capture the footage: http://www.sundancemediagroup.com/ar...24P_HVRV1U.htm

I edited everything together on the same timeline, following the instructions above.

The regular DV 60i footage is only short clips in the intro, and then small clips in three other areas of the 2 1/2 minute video. To get them to look right as I was editing, I simply stretched them on the canvas to match the 1080 HD sizing.

My questions are:

1) When I export as a QT Movie, does it matter if it is self-contained or not?

2) Should I only export the parts of the project that need to be reverse-telecinied, and then put everything back together on the new timeline, or should I do it all together, even though the 60i footage doesn't need to be reverse-telecinied?

3) Is there an easier way to capture/edit footage shot with the HVR-V1U in 24p? Also, should I be shooting in 24pA or 24p? Most of the footage I've shot so far is in 24pA

4) What is the proper way to output this to a DVD so that it maintains the HD quality and proper frame rate?

[Paul Picklesimer]

Hi there,
I read that if I upload videos to YouTube using Flash 7's Sorenson Spark Codec, YouTube will not recompress. This sounds great to me, but I can't seem to find where to get Sorenson Spark 7. Also, I'm editting on FCP, will this matter? Any help would be greatly appriciated.

[Ong Wan Shu]

hi all,

I am trying to make some FLV files to make into a flash video.

i am using quick time pro FLV exporter and FCP 5 for my editing. and the camera footages are from panasonic GS500 PAL version.

My issue is in the FLV export options there is this table that allows me to resize. at the first look, it says the longest side is 338pixels at 100% of the footage. my flash stage is 550 x 500 pixels, so i thought its fine. I DID NOT resize, but after i make into a FLV file and import into flash, the footage is bigger than my stage! i would say easily 800 pixels on the longest side.

why is this so? is this a bug?

[David Avedikian]

I recently had to upgrade from FCE 3.0 to 3.5 due to the conflict with the latest OSX update. Now when I create a slideshow with keyframes, about 30% of the photos are "jumpy" when rendered. I never had this problem with the older FCE and I'm not doing anything different. Any one else experienced this?

[Jonathan Poritsky]

So I'm trying to consolidate a ton of media on multiple drives within (and without) many different FCP docs. To make my life easier, is there any way to print search results on mac. Rather than ift through the hundres of them on screen I'd like somthing a little more tactile. Thanks a ton in advance.

[Joe Lawry]

So as an Avid editor for the past while most of the major projects that have had to go back to tape have been assemble edited with Avid..

The only stuff i've really done in FCP has gone to web or dvd.. until now. I can get the Print to video function to work, and can layback to DVCAM nice and easily. However this is not TC accurate by the looks of things.

(FYI im running a quad 3GHz with 4 gbs of ram and a Aja Kona LHe card going yuv and rs232 to the deck through the breakout box, FCP 5.1.4)

Now, i've stuck my tape in the DSR 80p, preset TC, and put a couple mins of bars on it. I've then used FCP to add the bars/tone, slug and slate with a minute of duration. (TC preset is 00590000) My fcp sequence starts at 01:00:00:00 so video should in theory start on the hour per the norm.

Now this is where the trouble begins. I drag my sequence to the Edit to tape Window, drop it in the assemble edit part.. the tape prerolls.. and then FCP starts playing teh barrs/slate etc and then my video starts after this.. problem is.. the deck never starts recording.

So im kind of at a loss, however what i have noticed is that just before it starts the deck flashes 'not editable' on the deck display.. even though the edit mode display is on. Im guessing this is the problem, and i've spoken to a tech who said its usually to do with tape stock and that sony mini dv tapes dont work. Well im using the Sony mini DVCAM tapes.. and he said those are fine..he thinks..

So im guessing as long as i've done everything else correct in FCP then maybe its something to do with the deck.. or maybe not.

Cheers.

Joe

Edit: oh and also none of this footage is HDV, its all uncompressed 10bit that has come in via the kona card. The timeline is also uncompressed 10bit. - This is the same as what i use when i can get the machine to print to video.

[Katie Mims]

Hi all,

I'm working on a project that currently mixes regular DV 60i footage with 24A HDV footage that I shot on a Sony HVR-V1U, as well as still graphics and LiveType titles.

Any and all responses will be VERY appreciated! This project needs to be delivered on Friday morning.

I followed this method to capture the footage: http://www.sundancemediagroup.com/ar...24P_HVRV1U.htm

Here are the steps:

1. Capture and edit in native HDV 1080i60.

2. Once you’re done with the final render, select all on the timeline, then copy it.

3. Create a new sequence/timeline and set the QuickTime Video Settings, in the sequence settings, to Photo – JPEG and set the quality to 75%. Keep the frame rate/Editing Timebase to 29.97 fps/60i.

4. Paste the project into the new sequence, render, then go to File, Export, QuickTime Movie, but do NOT use QuickTime Conversion.

5. Once the movie is created, right-click on clip and select Cinema Tools. Go to Reverse Telecine and a window will pop up.

6. In Cinema Tools, you will need to find the “A” frame before you can begin. To find it, find the first frame of Interlacing, which looks like a “horizontal comb tooth” effect, if you will. Make sure this isn’t the very first frame of video; go in a second or two. Once you find it, go back two frames, and that’s the A frame.

7. Set Cinema Tools as follows: Capture Mode should be set to F1 – F2, Fields should be set to AA and Style 1, Conform to 23.98. Then click Okay. It will create a new movie that has removed the pulldown.

8. Import this clip into FCP and create another new sequence/timeline. Set the QT Video Settings to match the previous Photo – JPEG settings, quality at 75%. Change the frame rate/Editing Timebase to 23.98 fps. Put the clip in, render, then export.

My questions are:
1) How do I handle mixing frame rates on the timeline? Do I need to delete the DV footage from the timeline that I'm going to make a QT file out of and reverse telecine, then add them back in on the new timeline afterwards? What about animated LiveType clips?

2) When I create the QT file, do I make it self-contained?

3) When I find the A frame in CinemaTools, does it need to be the A frame in the first clip? Will it effect things if many of the clips are very short and fast (5 seconds)?

4) Just to make sure, I only need to export the timeline as a QT and reverse telecine, not the individual clips, right?

5) What is the best method for exporting this at the highest quality without the capability of using BlueRay HD DVD's?

Thank you so much! Any and all responses will be VERY appreciated. I have this project totally finished except for the CinemaTools steps, and the project needs to be delivered on Friday morning.

Katie

[Mark Joseph]

Is there a way to extract the raw MPEG2 from FCP HDV 1080i captured clips?

The PS3 plays native M2T mpeg2 files from HDV cams with no problems, but won't recognise files captured with the FCP "HDV 1080i" preset.

Although I could import M2T using DVHSCap, I'd prefer time-code options, thus I use FCP.

I could export via compressor - but I want to avoid re-encoding if possible. Isn't "FCP HDV1080i" just a wrapped up MPEG2 stream?

I was hoping MpegStreamClip could just demux or convert them for PS3 playback - but the options are all greyed out.

[Chris Westerstrom]

Aloha!

Is there anything you can do once the drop frame warning comes up or is that frame lost forever?

thanks