Music Composer with questions regarding Quicktime Compression

Hello everyone. (I hope I'm posting in the correct forum)

I'm a music composer, and dont have much knowledge with FCP or quicktime conversions, so please bare with me. I'm scoring a movie that was shot on DVCpro HD at a frame rate 23.98fpc (with some slow motion shots at 59.94, meaning they edited the project at 59.94fpc in FCP) and I need to get a movie file to start working on scoring the project, and they are asking me what I need, and I'd like to double check with you guys to make sure I'm doing this right

First off, they are asking me what frame rate I want. I obviously want the same frame rate as the final film, which will be 24fpc, right? Or do I want the 23.98 or 59.94 file? (The film makers really should know this, but after a bad experience with a past project "drifting," I like to double check their work).

They are also asking me what quicktime compressor I want for the visual data. Since I will be running my composition program (LogicPro) pretty hard for this project (mainly RAM/disk speed but good deal of processing as well), are there any recommendations for the best compressor to ask for? I will be placing the movie on its own FW800 drive, so does file size matter when streaming a video of a separate drive for overall performance? If not, would it be best to get the raw, 17GB file? If size does matter, would it be best to get the smallest file possible (that I can still see the picture) to conserve resources? Do different compression settings effect quicktime performance in programs differently? If so, which is the best, least taxing compressor to ask for?

Sorry for all the questions. I just want to make 100% sure I'm doing this right! Thank you in advance for your help!

BTW, congrats on the popularity of your user group! Its great to see such an active community of film makers! Even though I'm a musician, I'm bookmarking this wonderful forum, as I'd love to know more about the process! THANKS!!

I'm not sure about frame rates, but I do audio post for a couple of series and I have a few opinions about what format I want to work with. I use Digital Performer and I'm pretty sure Logic is similar. After trying a number of different codecs I ended up asking for DV encoded files. Of all the encoded files I tried, Cinepack, Sorenson and mp4 I found that DV format requires the least system resources, meaning processor usage of them all. Some of the other codecs would tend to choke up, even at smaller sizes than DV. DV's also great because you can hook up a DV converter to a firewire port and watch the video on an external monitor.
Hope this is of some help.

Hi-

I'm with Vince on the codec.

I'd also suggest you break up the film into reels, if they are editing that way, rather than have a continuous file. Makes for easier conforms when things change, as well as being a little less cumbersome.

Regarding frame rate: Find out what frame rate and format they are going to mix to on the dub stage, and go with that, if possible. It might not be the same as the final delivery format.

Best,

tc

maybe start up a conversation with the mixing facility.
i take it the project doesnt have a post supervisor?
if they do, then start talking with them.
i think the answer you want can be found somewhere in your team,
be it those il;ve mentioned, or others like the sound editors.

& we're always willing to help out here, of course

DV is great,
but if you want something a bit smaller,
i;d try PhotoJpeg with a quality setting of 33%

you could also try a small frame size (say %50 the original)

as the other point out DV is great for getting the image off your computer screen and onto an external monitor (TV)
if you cant get an external monitor, then try the PJpeg or DV.

cheers,
nick