Print to Tape problems

Hi,
I cannot successfully get my Print to Tape/ Edit to Tape working. I have completed most of the tricks. Trashed Preferences, Refresh av, plug and unplug the fire wire cable and reset the preferences, which might be the problem as I start to get confused after many tries.
My camera seems to be connected (audio is coming through) but no picture.
My system is a Power MAC G5, camera -Sony 2100 mini DV.
I have successfully Printed to Tape in past using the same system.
Thanks, Jandy48

Ok,
I figured it out.
My compressor settings needed to be changed in the SEquence settings from none to DV/DVCPro NTSC.
(I use none for export to DVD Studio Pro).
Once I re-rendered the sequence at these new settings everything worked out.
Best , Jandy48

Good call. Now, for more additional info, None is not a supported editing codec. It's an 8 bit RGB codec with no compression.

For FW devices, the sequence needs to be set to the same codec as the format you are going out via FW to.



www.strypesinpost.com

Hi,
Thanks for responding.
Regarding the None "setting"-
I am creating and editing animation clips made in Photoshop to Flash to Quicktime to After Effects to FCP.
I am assuming that None is the least destructive export before I compress the file for a DVD.
Are there any other settings that you would recommend?

>I am creating and editing animation clips made in Photoshop to Flash to Quicktime to After
>Effects to FCP.

I'm not a motion graphics guy, so I don't really understand the Flash part, but if you're converting to .flv or a web based codec, then this may be a bottleneck. Usually i get my stuff from the graphics guys in either a TGA sequence or Animation, and I'll convert them to whatever i'm on.

But in this case, you need to stick to DV, as you're going out to DV. Then it gets rendered to DV and it goes out DV stream via firewire. You can't get any better than DV if your final output is DV.

For DVD, the better the quality in the better the quality out. Compressor can work off None, but if what you're getting from AE is Animation, then exporting in Animation is good enough. In this case, your final resolution will be mpeg2 (8 bits, 4:2:0) with long GOP mpeg2 compression at whatever bitrate you choose (best to stick to the DVD presets in Compressor if you're unsure). If you're exporting off the timeline, Compressor bypasses the sequence codec and renders from the source file.



www.strypesinpost.com

Thanks,
I have never used the TGA sequence but I have used PNG. Also, I have used Animation and the Photo-Jpeg has given me good results.
However , with Animation and other codecs I am never quite sure how or if I should key-frame and
how to calculate the best settings.
The other thing is I do not use Compressor and just export a reference quicktime into DVD Studio Pro.
Are there advantages to Compressor?
By the way I have FCP 4.5 not the latest version which might make difference.
Anyway, I appreciate the feedback.
jandy48

>However , with Animation and other codecs I am never quite sure how or if I should key-
>frame and how to calculate the best settings.

The keyframes setting should be set to "all", and NOT "25". This ensures that the clip isn't temporally compressed and is at maximum quality.

I don't think there will be a major quality difference. I usually use Compressor as I have more control over the encoding.

To clarify the statement when I said it's not supported for editing, I mean that that's because it's a huge file and requires a high sustained bandwidth for playback. None is usually used only for archival.

Also, check if there is any gamma shifts between transitions. You can tell when you play between segments that require rendering that the brightness level seems to suddenly shift. If this happens, hit apple 0, go to render settings and select "render in RGB". I do mostly video work, so I'm almost always on a YUV based codec.

Alternatively, you can also edit in an Uncompressed timeline. Doesn't really make that big a difference except that you can't print out to your DV deck.



www.strypesinpost.com

Thanks-
I am experimenting with different export solutions for DVDs and your information is helpful.
I keep reading that the Animation codec is great for pieces that have large flat areas of color but not pieces that have a lot of motion.
Does this information line up with your experience?
Jandy48