FCP to Avid

Hi all,

I've just completed a S16 shoot that's being processed and going to an HDCAM SR master.

From that I'm getting an HDV dub to do the offline.

My question is, what are the best and/or cheapest methods to conform the offline to HDCAM SR, and should I do my sound mix in FCp do it all in the avid and leave the offline as video and basic sound edit in fcp?

More info please.

What did you offline on? AVID or FCP?
How are you online-ing?
Was it transfered to 24, 25, or 29.97 fps
What's your target master frame rate?
What's your final screening? Festivals? Broadcast?
Do you have money for a pro audio mix? A pro colour correct?
What what what what what......

When the student is ready the teacher will arrive.

ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!

"an HDV dub to do the offline"

that's a pretty bad codec to opt for when you have a choice of others.
if you are cutting FCP, go for one of the Prores flavours.
AVID has it's own lo-res codecs you could use.

sound edit in a DAW, not an NLE, would be my advice.

you can conform in FCP, or Avid

as andrew says, more info, please.


nick

Why HDV? ProRes HQ is a lot more suitable and FCP-friendly and should cost the same or less at any decent post house- maybe even less because it's a straight 1:1 capture HDCAM>AJA or Blackmagic HD-SDI card>ProRes. Vs. a tape step. Not to mention it's high quality enough you could easily use it as your online- especially if you're finishing on tape or DVD.

I'd wager HDCAM>ProResHQ>HDCAM layback will be almost identical in image quality to HDCAM>HDV > online to HDCAM, especially coming off of Super 16mm. But it would cost a *lot* less money because you'd skip the online entirely.

As for the sound edit- that really depends on how far you wanted to take it. Final sound mixes can be done and are routinely done in FCP alone. No better or worse than an Avid editor could do soundwise. You could also easily output an OMF from your final edit in FCP and have someone do it in ProTools.

Noah

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No HQ, no HQ, no HQ. Not for ONLINE unless you are going to deliver 2K. Normal ProRes for ONLINE reasons.

[forums.creativecow.net]

Now...for an OFFLINE codec, look at DVCPRO HD. NOT HDV, NOT PRORES.

Why online on an Avid? Just curious. If you do that, you will need to get Automatic Duck for seamless transistion. www.automaticduck.com


www.shanerosseditor.com

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agree re: no HQ,

but why DVCProHD over Prores?

Prores is not very much bigger in file size,
and the new LT version would be smaller, i'd imagine.


nick

ProResLT is the same size as DVCProHD, but full-raster and probably a little cleaner

OK...fine, LT. Too new for me to remember it. Still using FCP 6.0.5 at work.


www.shanerosseditor.com

Listen to THE EDIT BAY Podcast on iTunes
[itunes.apple.com]

2We are mastering on HDCAM SR 1080 25p, with the intention of projecting as well as going on a website. The project is a teaser/proof of concept for a feature which I'm directing, and it's being used as a promotional tool to help raise the rest of our funds.

All of this is being done as favours, so my offline has to be done at home on FCP on an MBP but I don't have the cards or the drives to online it. Hence I'm doing an HDV offline (dubbed from my masters), then conforming to HDCAM SR.

The online and finish is being done on an AVID because it's a favour and it's being done for free. The audio mix for this is leaning more towards functional than precise as it's impossible to get London streets to be silent when you're trying to shoot an empty London.

I'm trying to avoid getting Automatic Duck simply because when we do the feature I won't be editing it. This is a bodge job purely for the teaser.

HDV is still a crummy codec to edit with.
if you dont have Prores (FCP6 and up)
definitely use DVCProHD

if it's only offline, you could even use DV.

HDV takes a really long time to export, so there are real benefits from not using it.


the simplest path from FCP to AVID is via an EDL.

EDLs carry cuts and dissolves only, no fx.
use one EDL per layer of video.
simplify your timeline as much as possible before you make the EDL.

if you need something more complex, maybe your avid buddy has automatic duck.

FCP is fine for simple audio.
i dont have an opinion on which would be better, FCP or AVID, imagine they'd be about the same.
id imagine it would be easier doing the audio edit in your FCP project,
where you will have access to your rushes, if needed,
also you may well be adding fx, etc as you edit,
and trying to get that across to avid without automatic duck would be difficult.


good luck with your project,
nick

Yeah, just do your offline in DV.

Make sure your offline dub tapes have burned-in timecode from the SR deck. If all goes well, you won't need it ? but if you ever do need it, you're going to need it really, really badly.

Do an EDL test right away, before you spend a lot of time on the cut. Throw a couple shots from different reels onto your timeline and send the EDL to your Avid guy. That'll help you identify any potential gotchas.

Yeah but um you know- you don't *need* an online if you capture to ProRes. I.e. the Avid offer- as generous as it is- is totally unnecessary and will only delay things...

Noah

Final Cut Studio Training, featuring the HVX200, EX1, EX3, DVX100, DVDSP and Color at [www.callboxlive.com]!
Author, RED: The Ultimate Guide to Using the Revolutionary Camera available now at: [www.amazon.com].
Editors Store- Gifts and Gear for Editors: [www.editorsstore.com]

Due respect, I'm not sure I'd characterize an offer from an experienced online editor to finish your short as "unnecessary."

(That's me, naturally, making the assumption that the offer came from an experienced online editor, not a tape op with a Web tutorial, a free night and the keys to the online suite.)

I wasn't impugning the Avid editor's skills- we know they are all awesome or they wouldn't be on Avid. Merely suggesting that if the only reason to take the trouble to online at all was because of the free offer it's not really a necessary step.

Final Cut Studio Training, featuring the HVX200, EX1, EX3, DVX100, DVDSP and Color at [www.callboxlive.com]!
Author, RED: The Ultimate Guide to Using the Revolutionary Camera available now at: [www.amazon.com].
Editors Store- Gifts and Gear for Editors: [www.editorsstore.com]

Maybe (and I think that's debatable anyway) but I don't have access to the HDCAM SR deck and capture card with FCP, nor the money to hire them in.

But the offer to finish on the AVID is coming from an experienced editor and is free.

By the way thanks all, I figured it was either the EDL or Automatic Duck, and I may still go for AD if there are problems, but it's good to know that provided I stick to one layer using an EDL should work.