Assuming the following setup:

DV CAM PAL (Canon XL1)
Final Cut Pro 4
Adobe After Effects
Magic Bullet
DVD Studio 2

What's the correct worflow to acquire, edit, apply the magic bullet suite and then save to DVD or DV?
I'm more a Final Cut person, and I'd like to use AE just for the Magic Bullet Suite (deinterlacing, frame conversion, deartifact,letterboxing, maybe try some opticals or looks).
I mean, shall I convert all my original footage with MB in after effects (deinterlace, frame conversion and deartifact) BEFORE editing on FCP? Then editing on FCP as usual, adding colour correction, some basic chroma keying, and then back again to AE to letterboxing or opticals+looks?
Or shall I start editing on FCP, and then "magic-bulletting" the exported final sequence? Deinterlacing etc.. at the end?

Cheers

Doing a project in FCP 4.

I have an interior scene involving 4 angles
on a particular actor---the scene came out of the camera a little yellowy, so I did a simple
color correction using the 3 way color corrector
filter ( eyedropper'd the white door in the scene to set the highlights, and the black bars
to set the blacks)

the scene color corrected beautifully, EXCEPT
3 of the 4 angles match and 1 is noticeably
off ----(NOTE: I maintained the same filter settings for all 4)

What's the simplest way to get the odd one's
colors in the line with the other 3?

Scott,

There's a wonderful tutorial on how to do that here (http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/cc_legal_fcp4.html). Scroll down about halfway to "Scene to Scene Color Correction".

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

Hey, look around and piece together your own system. Sometimes you can a lot of extras by spreading out your purchases.

Also, I see no "Apple Care" on there - that's #1 for purchases. Without it, you will get screwed down the line...my G5 crapped out 2 weeks after I bought it. Soo...I'm in the know about it. I've got the Apple Care and it was worth the price.

I'd try and scale back a little if you don't need all that stuff right now. You said you use ProTools? You can get ProTools with the MBOX for $400 now online..so, you'll have your audio suite right at home. Everyone knows that audio is MORE important than video, so think about that when you buy.

One more thing - if you get a G4 dual maybe you can save $1000? I have seen incredible deals...and I have both a G5 1.8 single and I have a G4 dual 1.25 -- both are comparable with speed.

Just my 2 cents...you asked!

Murph

Dv requires qabout 13 gigs pre hour to store. So 120 gig media drive is a little more than nine hours.

Not sure if you are commited to Mac or Pc, but you might visit DVline.com to see what 5 grand will get you. A whole lot more. If you like protools, you'll like avid. (Same people) Avid ships with copies for pc and mac as well.

Unless you've bought MB already, you could take a look at my Film Effects package (www.nattress.com) which will do all that you need while remaining inside FCP and getting faster render times too.

If you go down the MB route, your workflow is ok. You'd have to save each shot out of FCP as a seperate movie and re-make the edits in AE if you want to use the opticals. This is a realy pain which is why I developed an all FCP workflow.

It might be better to do all editing in FCP first, then all MB last.

If you're de-artifacting, I don't know if that will transfer to DVD because DVD has the same colour sampling as PAL DV. However, you say you're doing chroma-key work. I'd definately use the de-artifacting on those shots before applying the chroma key to make the edges as good as possible.

If you apply the MB to the finished final sequence, you'll have the easiest time of it, but you won't be able to use the optical effects as they require the shot at a time workflow.

Graeme

Hi guys,

I'm a bit puzzled on what's happening to my footage upon batch capture into FCP4. When FCP captures my clips and I place the clips into the timeline- I am getting 1 second handles with the audio but not the video????? In other words the clips have a second of audio before and after the video- everything is synched correctly and the audio does indeed play in sync with the footage- but why am I getting the second of audio before and after the actual video.....I find myself going to each clip and chopping off the handles- this is very annoying and I'm sure I have a setting or preset set wrong somewhere- but I've gone through my settings and cannot find where the problem lies- anyone have any clues??

The only thing I've changed is that I've set captures to DV anamorphic as I am shooting with an Optura which shoots 16:9 (native optical)- so aside from specifying DV 16:9 I don't think any other settings have been changed.

Thanks guys!

(Soundtrack is AWESOME!!!!!!!)

Hi guys.......I'm trying to view some ASF files generated by my Canon Optura 300 which are supposed to be mpeg-4 compressed videos shot onto SD cards (just for the heck of it)......Windows Media Player for OSX will not play the video- but the audio does indeed play.......VideoLanc can play the video but not the audio- so I have no stand-alone player that can play the audio and video together as intended.....the Canon manual says to go to canondv.com for a QT plugin for mpg-4 videos- but no such plug-in can be found on the site and my QT already plays MPG-4's yet can't play these ASF's.......anyone have any clue as to what can play ASF's on a Mac OS X machine?

It sounds like the mpeg4 video codec is missing from your
Windows Media Player. Which version did you install?

No, Microsoft doesn't give the Mac version the same features. Steve, if you send me a short clip I'll try and find a player for you.

<<<-- Originally posted by Graeme Nattress : Unless you've bought MB already, you could take a look at my Film Effects package (www.nattress.com) which will do all that you need while remaining inside FCP and getting faster render times too.


Cheers. Just downloaded the demo for your page. I'll surely give it a try

I still have WMP for Mac v.7 on my PB and it plays asf files taken from the sd card on my cam - but I have a Panasonic, not a Canon.

hello,

i am currently trying to determine what i/o card/box i need to purchase, as well as a jbod drive system capable of playing back high res files. as such, this is my situation:

i need to take a series of images(stop frame animation) that are 2k scans(35mm) ... not telecine, but actual sequencial RGB files(raw or tiff). these files will be individually edited(special fx, compositing, etc.) and then they will need to be downsized to hd so i can play them as movies and view the quality of the footage itself, and the footage/frame/sequencial images with compositing/fx added to them. the final product will be a DVD, and a digital intermediate 35mm film print. therefore, it is extremely important i am able to edit these 2k image files so they can be output back to film, as well as be downsized to hd, sd, and dv for dvd and tape output.

can anyone offer some real world, sound advice as it relates to being able to do this realistically and without a great deal of problems? i have a dual g5 2 gig computer with 8gb of ram.

i am considering the decklink hd card and the xraid from apple. perhaps 8 u320 scsi jbod drives in a dual channel casing with dual channel card. i have looked at cinewave, pinnicle, aja, etc., but really cannot determine which setup will best serve my needs. any help is greatly apreciated.

eric

Hello,

i have a fully legit copy of FCP4 that i need to use but my iBook, 900 mhz will not run the programme what whould users reccomend,

i think the ibook is not up to FCP, no? well what could i get for about a grand, like, i would like a powerbook but this is out of my range, a G5 is similar price, basically for good editing on FCP 4 what machin do i need to get

ive been looking at a G4 desktop, arounf 80gb hard druve/1.25 Ghz processor/ 768 mb ram, what does this sound like/????


Cheers All

Nick

I'm running FCP3 on a system like this, but with more RAM (G4/1.25 ghz/1.28 gb RAM). I haven't tried FCP4, but have no doubt that it would run. These machines should still be available new for around $1,300. You will also want a second hard drive, either internal or firewire, bad idea to edit video from your system drive. I use a second 160MB internal drive and a bunch of firewire drives.

FCP 4.x requires a minimum of a G4 processor to run. I believe your iBook uses a G3, hence the inability to run FCP 4. I agree with Boyd on the use of a dual processor G4 Power Mac and an economical solution. You might also look into the eMacs, as some users report fair performance with FCP 4. The new iBooks use G4 processors and might be an option if you need portability. Real Time video performance will be limited, but the iBook is an option.

I run once FCP 3 in a PowerBook G3. I uninstalled cause it was a friend who install it (as a favor) but it did run well.

I'm Using a G4/1ghz eMac with 768mb ram and am very satisfied, though I'm going to be maxing out my ram soon. Chris

I'm not a Mac specialist at all but don't you need the Cinema Tools
for this with the high resolution hardware that Apple sells ($$$)?
I've seen some demos of that on IBC last year.

I copied a quicktime file from one disk to another on my mac the other day, it's an hour's worth of video, and makes up half of my 2 hour sequence in Final Cut. I just dicovered that the file, now in it's new position, has changed from being a quicktime file to just showing up as a plain document file, thus rendering half of my project offline. The size is identical with the movie (ca. 13 gigs).

This happened on my G5, with OSX and FCP4. Any help greatly appreciated!

I agree with Richard, for 5k, look into buying an Avid Xpress DV turnkey solution. I've been editing with Media 100 and Avid Media Composer for years (for the Media100 it wasn't by choice - I was assigned the position to edit with it because my old company bought one and they'd be damned if that room wasn't getting booked). I've found that professional production houses (at least around Boston) use some form of Avid. If you're not an Avid editor, you're not really taken seriously. I know some of you might be offended, but that's just the way it is.

Well i have an idea. I cant tell you why it happend but i might be able to help u get it back. make a copy of the file like it is now and put it in a safe place. Then take one of the copies and just tell the OS to open it as a quicktime document by default. If the data isnt trashed you should be back in business. You might have to find the media again in FCP but if it works im sure that wont be much of an issue.

Thanks to you all for your input!

As someone who wants to edit my own stuff--as oppsed to seeking a pro job in post-production--my main concern is a good-looking final piece with ease of use, maximum of options and minimum of system crashes. In the end, content is king, right?

Also, is the G5 so different in design that it can't be considered the the succeeding generation of the G4?

Gratefully yours,
Carl Russo

Evind, Paul's absolutely spot on: In 99% of the cases, this is an OSX file system goof up. You can rename the file if you need to, CTRL + click it, and choose the programme you wish to open the file with with the commnad you'll see on the menu that opens up. You should be able to open the file then. In FCP, choose the reconnect media option by CTRL-clicking on the offline media file, selecting reconnect media, and relinking it to the file you have (hopefully) recovered. If you've renamed the file, be sure the Mathcing name only option is unclicked, or it won't let you select the renamed file.
Hope this helps! Best of luck!
Ram

Hi,

I kinda have a big Problem with Capturing.
Using Canon XL1s, PowerBook 1.33Ghz aka 17 inch and Final Cut Pro 4

Ok when I start to Capture the Footage (Firewire Pal or/and Firewire Pal Basic)
it will just stop during the Capture but the DV is still rolling.
After a bit I'll get a error (can't remember what is was) something about drop frame or Tape has reached the end of the Tape. Which is not true or it will just sit there and fill my Hard drive up with
non usable DV files.

Oh yeah my scratch disk is a LaCie 120Gig.
Connection: Xl1s to LaCie to PowerBook.
I also tried straight to the Powerbook.


um help

Thanks


P.S. i already tried reinstalling FCP, didn't help :)

Sounds like you have time code errors on your tape. You will not be able to batch capture. You'll have to manually capture the clips you need. Search the archives in the DV tape forum (Long Black Line) for answers to time code errors.

Also, is the G5 so different in design that it can't be considered the succeeding generation of the G4?
The G5 is definetly the replacement processor for the G4. Apple has switched vendors for processors and you'll see very little of the G4 in the future.

Hey, thanks for the tip.

But I could not fine anything in the forum that
would help or resemble my problem.

:(

I used the search function and entered the key words FCP preferences delete and this thread (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18209&highlight=FCP+preferences+delete) was referenced. I'm not sure it will solve your capture issues, but it may be the solution.

Does anyone have any info on where I can get an expansion chassis for a Mac running OS X- I'd like to have around 6 hard drives in the chassis and not configure them as a RAID- just standard HD setup.........anyone know where I can find an expansion chassis?

(Mac G4/933)

promax sells a 4-drive chassis. It'll take up 1 PCI slot with a SATA controller. $2000 for 1TB.

With the G4 having 4 internal drive bays, that gives you 3 bays. With 7 drive slots, that's about 1.75TB... about 130 hours of footage.

There are probably some cheaper solutions but they may not come with support from a VAR like Promax.

Steve i have kind of been looking at the same thing. What I want is an external firewire case to throw about 4 EIDE drives in. Check these guys out. http://www.granitedigital.com/ Im almost sure they all can be set up in some RAID config which you dont want and I wish they didnt do because I just want the extra drive space like you.

Paul

For more info, check out this article.

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/trashing_fcp_prefs.html

What about a FW card and 4/6 FW drives? You can daisy chain them if necessary.

Hi, I record a 3 hours concert and when I start to edit I noticed that the audio it's too loud and i hear lot of distortion (That's because i forgot to activate the "MIC ATT" of my camera). I need to know if exist some kind of filter or trick or miracle to correct this problem.

PLEASE!!!!!!

I'm sure that you don't want to hear this, but once you exceed 0dB in digital audio, you're screwed. That's why you need to keep your peaks no hotter than -12dB -- -20dB isn't a bad idea, either. You can always bring it up in post, but cannot salvage digitally clipped audio.

Thats right, you can drop the volume down but there's nothing you can do about the distortion.

Can you get the audio of the concert from another camera?

Nop. My camera was the only one. Because I use it to broadcast the concert via Internet and I just decide to record it. I'm gonna check with the sound people and hope that they record the concert in CD.

:-(

Thanks both of you....

I need to know if exist some kind of filter or trick or miracle to correct this problem.
There are some filters that make digital clipping sound less bad, but they won't really fix it. Waves Restoration Bundle has such a filter (it's expensive). Bias Peak (should come with FCP) may also have a filter like that.

But basically you'd need a reshoot or a miracle for good sound.

I've been planning to buy a Mac G5 and the 17in flat screen. I called Apple in N.Calif and was surprised to find that they were will to give me almost a 10% discount to the store retail price. He even gave me more Ram. I've always thought that Apple wouldn't give discounts for brand new machines.

Also, someone recommended to me to get Two 17in flat screens with the G5. I will be using the G5 for editing. Do any of you have two screen hooked up to your Mac and if so please explain why?

The G5's are not brand new machines when thought of as using high technology that is in a constant state of change. The G5's were introduced in June of 2003. The first G5 (single processor 1.8GHz) was discontinued 5 months later. The current G5's are expected to be replaced within the next month or so. Major upgrades to Panther are expected at the same time.

I am using FCP with a G5 and I am going to be connecting two standard computer monitors to my system. I will also be connecting a broadcast quality JVC monitor and I am getting a lot of conflicting information as to how to connect the JVC to my G5. Do I need to connect it through my DVX-100A as the FCP manual states? or is there a direct connection/card etc for the G5?

Many thanks.

Rich,

To answer your monitor question...

The simple and quick answer as to why most editors use two monitors is because of screen real estate, or space. When you open your timeline, your viewer, your browser, and any other new windows in <Insert Your Favorite Editing Program Here>, things can get pretty crowded on just one screen.

Having the ability to move windows around and onto a completely separate monitor will create a comfortable and organized workspace that will probably help your workflow.

The most common connection is via the video out jack on your camera, or preferably, an external deck.

I'm wondering if all DVD's use the AC3 audio format ? I have QT Pro 6.5, and just bought the MPEG-2 Playback Component because it was "capable" of playing VOB's. Of course it isn't much use now that I've found out it doesn't support AC3 audio. Thanks !

Kirk

If you're burning your own, you can write either AC-3 or AIFF. The advantage to AC-3 is that it has a lower bit rate and you can put more video on a DVD at a higher bit rate.

See this article: http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/a_pack_warmouth.html

I have some rather nice clips that should have been shot using an ND filter- is there a way to tone down blown-out highlights or areas of over-exposure in post using FCP4?

Hi,
I am working on a project in which there are multiple songs playing. some of the Songs I got for mp3s some from cds, all but 1 sond fine. There is one slow motion sequence in which I have put an mp3 over and this is the only place in the project that says the audio requires rendering. After being rendered there are strage blips and wavers in the song, it isn't constant but sounds quite anoying. I am using FCP 4 on an 876 mhz PB G4 running OS 10.2.8, 768mb of RAM and editing off a firewire maxtor hard drive. Can anyone help me with fixing this?

Thanks,
Drew

MP3's need to be converted (I use QuickTime) to AIFF files before use in FCP. When do the conversion make sure the audio settings match your project settings.

You can also do 5.1 channel audio with AC3, which most professional DVDs have. Stereo is soooo "yesterday". Step up to 5.1, folks. Give your audience a treat.