lafcpug Forums

Which software to learn and use for grading? (no replies)

Joe Riggs — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:31:22 -0700

I would like to get away from Apple's Color and choose a new piece of software for conforming/grading and become fluent in it. I'm debating between Resolve, Scratch, Lustre and Baselight, any thoughts on which one to go with and why?

5D and 7D clips problems in the time line (2 replies)

maltess2 — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:05:02 -0700

Hello, I wan to edit a diveo with 5D ad 7D clips. I did the log and transfer process to prores 422. I drag 5D clips into the timeline, than when I put the 7D clips, I get a render green line. The same if I put the 7D clips first, then I get the green line fo 5D clips.

I was suggestad in another forum that 5D could be 25p and 7D could be 30P or different. But I did check sequence setting and thay both seem to be 25P, when i check the 7D clips properties I see they are 25fps.

What am i doing wrong? how can I work with both clips?

Best regards

Viewer & Canvas (2 replies)

Larry Garb — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:15:06 -0700

Is there a way to switch control between the viewer and canvas using the keyboard and not have to use the mouse to move the cursor between the too?

making a slide show in FCP with stills (7 replies)

evasajovic — Wed, 16 May 2012 06:20:53 -0700

Hello
I'm trying to do a split screen slideshow for a plasma screen where the left images run at a different time to the right ones. But what comes out after the export looks pixelated and blurry.
I'm not sure at what res and size to import the images, what to set my sequence to and how to export to create best possible picture?
Thank you.
e

OT: RIP Perian (1 reply)

strypes — Tue, 15 May 2012 04:43:00 -0700

All good things must come to an end:

[perian.org]

Alternatives?

OT: RIP Horst Faas, Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist / Combat Photographer (1 reply)

grafixjoe — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:39:13 -0700

...who captured several iconic moments during the Vietnam War, died May 10. He was 79.

[www.npr.org]

FCP7 system requirements. (4 replies)

ianedit — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:21:09 -0700

I just posted the previous topic but I was also wondering if I can run FCP7 on a macbook running 10.6.8 with a 2.4 GHZ intel core 2 duo with 2GB of memory 1067 MHz DDR3?

I am not cutting on it, just practicing and refreshing knowledge ( haven't used it in two years ) for a job I have coming up on a real setup.

Ian

Does anyone know where I can get a copy of FCP7? (4 replies)

ianedit — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:21:37 -0700

Does anyone know where I can get a copy of FCP7? I am in NYC.

OT: EPK and related deliverables (1 reply)

Andrew Kines — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:13:46 -0700

Hey there,

I wasn't able to answer this question for a director friend of mine and I thought the hive mind here might have some data to share.

What are people using to distribute EPK's or scene clips for news/entertainment? That is, when I did have some interaction with this part of the industry we got Beta tapes with the trailers and a few scenes on them. How is that stuff being delivered to all the local stations and the different channels these days?
An FTP or some server variant?
A data DVD or DVDs?
USB sticks?

thanks for any suggestions

Respected Production Credentials (no replies)

J.Corbett — Mon, 14 May 2012 09:17:55 -0700

Most with certificates associated to this industry have some type of credentials to show. Some have been to FullSail or a college to get graphics or production degrees. Others have a variety of function or software specific certificates.

I have:
FCP5, Motion2 from apple
Adobe PS,AI,FC,AU from Lynda
C4D from lynda
Lighting Certificate from AI atlanta
AE from fxphd

Your portfolio speaks volumes about what you do but there are still some that look for key credentials.

So, What credentials are respected by the industry other than 2-4year degrees?

Questions for a colorist (no replies)

Joe Riggs — Sun, 13 May 2012 04:27:50 -0700

Typically, would a client sit in with you as you color or would you do a first pass and then have the client come in?

What are the things you need to discuss with the client before hand (other than how to deliver the drive, project), I'm thinking more creative, like do they want a cool or warm look, etc...

Color vs Devinci resolve?

Thank you

exporting XDCAM files for the web (8 replies)

marknormanaitken — Sun, 13 May 2012 04:47:26 -0700

Hello
I'm struggling with exporting XDCAM footage to publish on YOUTube. I'm exporting the file as Quiktime Conversion and as an H264. The file comes out at 1.3GB and it's under 2 mins long. I then run the file through streamclip to deinterlace it. Then I upload onto YOuTube and it won't play smoothly.

Could someone please give me the settings for web export to achieve the best quality and playback.
Thanks.

Here's how to get Mercury Playback Engine to work on an ATI OpenCL Card. (no replies)

Russ Blaise — Sat, 12 May 2012 14:35:25 -0700

I found this on the COW site: <

> This is how you enabled OpenCL on an ATI card. It will only work in PPro CS6. Not AE. It worked fine on my ATI Radeon HD 5770 card on my Mac Pro 1,1.

Converting footage for a reel with footage from different frame rates... (2 replies)

picoblvdent — Sat, 12 May 2012 08:56:31 -0700

Recently I was contracted to edit a cinematography reel with footage from various sources. I've had problems in the past with footage in differet frame rates playing back in a stuttering effect. My solution is make the timeline base 29.97 and the 23.98 footage should fall into place?... I've had similare issues with a doc I cut recently with varied source materials.

30 frame dailies keep breaking in 24 frame projects (1 reply)

Ethan — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:51:14 -0700

I'm working on a film where they shot one angle, from one scene @ 29.97 to give it a different look.

This show has double system sound. I sync the dailies, they play ok in the source window, they might even cut into a 23.98 sequence ok, at first. Then all of a sudden the shot is out of sync, and the daily is broken and out of sync as well.

I resorted to cutting that particular bit in a 30 frame sequence and exporting it as 23.98. I cut That file into my 23.98 timeline, and then pasted the edit from the 30 frames sequence over it, and made the clips inactive, after adjusting them. I'll turn them back one when the show goes to CC.

These are ProRes Proxy files. Is this normal behavior?

Descartes en FCPX (no replies)

drkabuto — Fri, 11 May 2012 02:46:54 -0700

Buenas,
Edito en FCPX clips tomados con la Gopro hero 2, mi problema es que estos clips están grabados de un tirón (duran una media hora cada uno), pero al final solo utilizo unos poco minutos 2 o 3. Ahora lo que hago es arrastrar los clips al timeline y ir cortando, coleos incluidos. Mi pregunta es: hay alguna forma de eliminar el resto del clip largo y, por decirlo de algún modo, consolidar estos pequeños cortes? es que no gano para disco!.

Espero haberme explicado bien. Muchas gracias!

Problem exporting to Quick Time Movie (2 replies)

PR.2000 — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:04:53 -0700

I try to export my timeline content (between in and out) to Quick Time Movie,
but it doesn't work anymore. Only the first clip is exported, not the whole timeline.

It worked before, I'm sure of that. I must be doing something wrong.

Please Help.

PR [the Netherlands]

SDXC Cards and older MACs (3 replies)

dmings — Fri, 11 May 2012 05:53:49 -0700

We have just recently purchased a JVC GY-HM150U and some of the new SDXC cards. The only computer that will recognize is our brand new MAC with FCPX. Is there a patch or update that will allow the older MACs to recognize these cards? This isn't really an FCP problem as much as a MAC OS problem. Thanks.

Premiere Pro CS6 - easy transition (19 replies)

Andy Field — Sun, 13 May 2012 08:12:21 -0700

Cut first short spot on Premere Pro CS6 - extraordinarily easy transition from FCP7.

1st impressions - the good

incredibly fast -- red render bars - yellow render bars - PP ignores them and keeps editing without a stutter on macbook pro intel core i7 8 gigs of ram.

virtually no transcode with anything you throw at it - just toss it in the timeline and edit (only caveat - it comforms all audio to whatever you've set the timeline to usually 48K so there's a slight delay if you are mixing audio rates on ingest

FCP7 Keyboard shortcuts -- it's like you never left FCP - they all work (just select that custom keyboard) and if there's something that's not in there - easily assignable

Skimming - track assignments - motion moves in the CANVAS or whatever they call it - just as in FCP7 - one thing took a while to realize -- you must double click the canvas window to get the motion controls inside the window ..or just do in the motion tab in the viewer window

Audio mixer -- must turn on write on the mixer channel to record the keyframes in real time with a mix -- slightly different than FCP - but useful and big timesaver over rubber banding in FCP x

THE DIFFERENT

this is the biggest difference -- you get the time hit on ingest with FCP7 - transcoding and re-wrapping video

with PP - you get the time hit on export - it doesn't use render files (if you chose to render in timeline - but it's not necessary) it basically transcodes everything on export to the format you want....this takes much more time than you are used to in FCP 7 --

This was just my first spin with this - but very impressive.

Can't open ProRes 422 in AE or Premier CS5.5 (2 replies)

BeyondFilm — Wed, 09 May 2012 23:55:06 -0700

I have provided footage to colleagues in India. The footage is ProRes 422 (HQ) files. They work on PCs using windows 7. They say that they cannot get the clips to open in Aftereffects or Premiere 5.5. (Sorry I do not know the exact version of 5.5)

I too have a PC running windows 7. I can open and work with the files in AfterEffects CS 5 (V10.0.2.4). I also have Quicktime 7.7.1. It all just worked for me. I did not need to load any new codecs. I just opened the files directly and could edit them.

Any obvious steps they should try such as...
Update quicktime to latest version?
Update CS 5.5 (any recent patches specifically for this?)?
Do they need a codec not present in the Cs 5.5 installation?

I had another colleague mention that this was a known issue. That CS 5.5 AfterEffects and Premiere will not open proRes files. Is this true? If yes are there any work arounds?

Sony HDV and Snow Leopard...HELP! (5 replies)

mattsilfen — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:50:58 -0700

Running Snow Leopard on a 2.66 GHz Macbook Pro with 8 GB RAM.

I was unfortunately given a tape based Sony HDV camera to shoot on a current gig (Sony HVR-Z5U) and I cannot capture in Final Cut 6 or 7. I've done some research and I see that it's a Snow Leopard issue.

Snow Leopard is simply not seeing the firewire for both my Sony Deck (HVR-M15U) and camera (HVR-Z5U). I'm trying to see if my company can rent me a older machine that runs Leopard (though I'd prefer a different camera), but does anyone have a fix for this?

Is anyone able to capture Sony HDV with Lion?

Introducing Pro Versioner - backup and versioning for your projects (no replies)

Jon Chappell — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:56:40 -0700

We're pleased to introduce our newest product, Pro Versioner for Mac, an extensive backup and versioning tool for your creative projects.

Pro Versioner is a 64-bit upgrade to FCP Versioner that offers a complete UI overhaul. The app automatically takes screenshots of your workspace and allows you to annotate backups to help differentiate between them.

It is now app-agnostic, meaning you can use it with Final Cut Pro 6 and 7, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro - or indeed any host application.

Pro Versioner keeps every version of a project for the current day and then whittles them down over time. This is much better than conventional autosave, where only the most recent 20 or so backups are kept. Backup management is completely customizable and it's much more intelligent than in the previous version. For example, if you choose to keep 3 versions for every day older a week, it will now keep the first backup of the day, the last backup of the day and one right in the middle, instead of just keeping the three latest versions.

It can also now sync your backups to the cloud. This is great for giving you an extra layer of protection in case your backup hard drive fails or you fall victim to fire or theft. We're currently offering Dropbox support and we'd appreciate feedback on which additional services our users wish to sync to.

video: [www.youtube.com]

I've been field-testing it on a large project for the past four months and it's been a lifesaver. It's a Final Cut Pro 7 project and we've had lots of issues with multicam angles switching seemingly at random. Pro Versioner was invaluable because it meant we could easily go back in time and compare versions to see which angles were correct and then remove the multiclips. It's also comforting to know that our project backups are on Dropbox if anything should happen to the facility or our hard drives.

Pro Versioner is an invaluable tool to manage your project versions and prevent disasters. To find out more, see the Pro Versioner site, read the user manual or download the free trial.

Automatic Duck (1 reply)

TroyChristian — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:20:17 -0700

Imported an OMF into FCP 7.0.3 using Automatic Duck. I can see all clips etc. but am not sure how to make the audio dudes edit decisions appear in a timeline. I am sure I am missing something simple. Any help avail out there?

Client sitting here ugh.

Thanks!

Recommendations for capturing HDV thru component (7 replies)

CaseyPetersen — Sun, 13 May 2012 18:21:29 -0700

We still use the old Sony Z1U cameras for a few projects from time to time, and only one of ours has a working firewire output...the others have been blown out and the costly repairs to them are not in the budget.

I'm wondering about being able to capture component HDV video, and I know there are several products out there, but I would appreciate a recommendation on an affordable (yes, I mean cheap) solution to be able to capture component HDV video (and it's corresponding audio, naturally) into a MacBook Pro.

Thanks in advance!
Casey Petersen

billing rates/freelance charges (18 replies)

bluey — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:09:07 -0700

Hi all - i'm currently negotiating a trailer/promo job for a 3 day conference in London, and was wondering what (any of) you would charge for a similar job. I'll be working with stock footage as well as voice-over supplied by the client, and be responsible for graphic elements/titles, sound mix, colour grade etc. The end product will be 2-3 minutes long and delivered encoded for web use.

The client 'has money' although i wouldn't want to high (or obviously) low-ball him . .

Any feed-back appreciated,
Bluey

Re: "They call it FCP 8!" Adobe CS6 Out now! (2 replies)

strypes — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:59:19 -0700

[www.adobe.com]

Upgrades only through Adobe.com.

IMDb uploads (5 replies)

Douglas Villalba — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:49:19 -0700

Hi guys
Have any of you been ask to upload a feature film to IMDb for festival submissions?
I recently finished a movie I directed/DP/edited and the producers are ready to start submitting to festivals. IMDb now owns withoutabox.com so they can store the digital movie to have the festivals view it from IMDb rather than uploading to all the festivals.
Now my question. I'm been ask to compress the whole 81 minute movie at 720p 30 in less than 2GBs. Can this be done and still keep a good quality image? The original is 100 GBs of ProRes HQ
Any idea of how to compress it with good results?

FCP 7 and Motion 4 - bad quality text output (5 replies)

ponzzz — Wed, 09 May 2012 09:05:26 -0700

Sorry my subject is less than descriptive. Here is my problem.

I am having difficulty getting text to not look all "SD" when generated in Motion 4.
I generate a project file in Motion and put it on the timeline as usual. But, the text looks crappy.
I have to export a mov file...which is kinda weird.

My FCP sequences are ProRes 422, 1080, 29.97.
So, exporting mov files solved the problem, although its a crappy workflow.

now, I am having a terrible time with a ProRes 422, 720, 23.98 sequence.
I can't get any text to look right...it looks pixilated as opposed to vectored.

the Motion Project file looks like crap, the exported QT movs look like crap...
I've tried exporting ProRes, Animation, Uncompressed...everything looks like crap.

I have recently upgraded to FCS3 and never had this problem with FCS2.

If this is a known problem does anyone have a work-around?

thanks,

Pons

EXR file transfer (2 replies)

Daniel B. — Mon, 07 May 2012 19:11:52 -0700

Hello,
How would I take clips from a project in a MAC using FCP 7 and using EXR (whatever that is) to transfer that clip to a PC for effects work--or it needs to be put into an EXR format for the PC. There's a good chance I've phrased my question incorrectly, apologies, if I did.

Output to Youtube (11 replies)

bmart — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:46:31 -0700

Good Morning,

Final Cut Pro 7. I have an 85 minute video that I want to break into several smaller segments and publish to YouTube. What is the easiest way to segment the file for output without altering the full video.

Thanks :