mixing HDV, XDCAM 422, and H.264 from 7D

Hi,
I'd like to mix footage from a PDW700 (XDCAM HD422), a Z5U (HDV), and a 7D (H.264) - 1080/30P. My first attempt resulted in out-of-sync material. I would greatly appreciate some advice/guidance.
Thanks,
Herb Forsberg

Herb Forsberg
Cinematographer
NY/NJ
Local 600/NABET 16

More details would be good- frame rates, frame sizes, etc...



www.strypesinpost.com

How far out of sync? How many frames out is the audio after one minute, ten, an hour?

Also, describe first attempt.



www.strypesinpost.com

Wow! You guys in LA are quick:-). For the 7d material I converted it via Compressor to ProRes HQ. For the XDCAM 422HD material I used log and transfer, then exported to ProRes HQ. For the HDV material (it was on a CF card) I used log and transfer, then exported to ProRes HQ. I then made a new project and brought the elements in as ProRes HQ, all at 30P. The PDW700 was set to 1080/29.97P, the Z5U (HDV) was set to 1080/30P (i assume that's 29.97), and the 7D was set to 1080/30P (which I think is 29.97). In FCP I chose an 'easy setup' of ProRes 422 1920x1080 HQ 30P 48 kHz. The audio sampling rate on all the clips was also 48kHz. I can't tell you how far the sync drifted since I've trashed the whole kit-and-kaboodle, but the longer it played the farther it went out, and if I stopped playback and restarted playback it would start out in sync even though the same bit had been out of sync just before I stopped the playback.

I'm guessing it's a dropping frames on playback. What kind of drives are you running off. And can you turn on "report dropped frames on playback" in the user preferences?



www.strypesinpost.com

Media is located on a caldigit hdelement esata raid array. I've just turned on "report dropped frames on playback" in the user preferences. I'll now try to reconstruct the same project (since, as I mentioned, I deleted the whole thing). BTW, all the material was drop frame. Thanks.

Thanks for your help. I think it's pilot error with relation to my AJA KONA LHi settings. If I go to 'view' and select 'digital cinema desktop preview' under 'video playback', it plays fine. Back to the tutorials and AJA forum for me. Thanks again.

Herb Forsberg