Sharing HDV QT files with someone who doesn't have FCP

Here's what I'm doing: I am recording HDV video using my Sony Z1U camcorder, and am going to be capturing it in Final Cut as HDV, and then putting the files on a hard drive for someone else to edit, who is going to be doing some work with it in After Effects on his Mac, but he doesn't have FCP.

I sent a test file over to him, and he wasn't able to get any video, but the audio worked, which means there's a codec issue.

The question is, how can I get him this codec, or how can he acquire the codec?

Thanks!
Casey Petersen

The only legal way for him to acquire the codec is to purchase Final Cut Pro.

However, HDV isn't the best codec for effects-intensive work so you'd be better off converting it anyway. I would normally recommend ProRes but he will only be able to read ProRes files, not write to them. Animation or Uncompressed would therefore be better.

My software:
Pro Maintenance Tools - Tools to keep Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro running smoothly and fix problems when they arise
Pro Media Tools - Edit QuickTime chapters and metadata, detect gamma shifts, edit markers, watch renders and more
More tools...

>I would normally recommend ProRes but he will only be able to read ProRes files, not
>write to them.

You can export a ProRes file and have her (can we have some gender equality?) render out as Animation. I'm not sure if they can render out as Uncompressed, but that would be ideal. Make sure you check for gamma shifts after the AE pass.



www.strypesinpost.com

Jon Chappell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The only legal way for him to acquire the codec is
> to purchase Final Cut Pro.

I was under the impression if you purchase QT Pro, as opposed to the free version included with the OS, you can open these files.

The pro in QT pro is an enhanced player that includes image control and file conversion functions. Nothing is added to QuickTime's capabilities, only to the player.

All the best,

Tom

Calibrated has a decoder....

[www.calibratedsoftware.com]


www.shanerosseditor.com

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

The question is why would you want to send hdv to your online/graphics guys?



www.strypesinpost.com

Actually, he's not doing graphics for it...I am doing a 8mm film transfer for him and he is planning on just re-sequencing it to chronological order and possibly making simple titles. He doesn't have FCP, but is familiar with AfterEffects and says he can do the editing he wants to do in that.

> The question is why would you want to send hdv to your online/graphics guys?

I believe what strypes meant is, HDV is a very poor, very inefficient codec. How come you chose that format to work with? Why not ProRes 422, Uncompressed HD, DVCPro HD?


www.derekmok.com

Oh, well...for one thing, we were originally going to do this in standard definition 4:3, and later decided since I was shooting the film with the Sony Z1U anyways, to simply record it to HDV.

Then we thought that I could capture the video for him to a hard drive, since he doesn't have an HDV deck (and record it simultaneously to tape [for backup] and hard drive).

That's pretty much it

We're trying to do this in one step to save the customer money.

Thanks!
Casey

You can capture as prores via Fw. Just make sure you make multiple back ups. That way, everyone is happy including the customer.



www.strypesinpost.com

The only concern then is file size, since there are about a hundred reels. I can leave this decision up to the customer, though.

Thanks!
Casey

I don't understand the film transfer and z1u part. You hooked up the scanner to the camera?



www.strypesinpost.com

I am shooting the projected image...it's kind of a complicated setup (to explain, that is...plus I believe it's patented).

Shoot...I just realized that we normally do this through a proc amp and do simple color corrections live (to save the customer money, as opposed to bringing all the footage in and color correcting in post).

Hmmm...this process may not work unless you know of a proc amp that works with Firewire and HDV. This might not work as smoothly after all...will have to do some thinking about this!

This sounds familiar... Send the signal out via component and send that through a proc amp and capture through a capture card or iohd and capture as prores



www.strypesinpost.com

Yup...so I only need to buy a new proc amp, as well as a capture card for my MacBook Pro (do they make those?). Any recommendations?

Saving money is kinda expensive!

The Aja kona control panel has proc amp control. In fact most capture cards should have it. You could try looking at the Matrox series for laptops. With a capture card you can monitor your work. You are one step closer to owing professional setup.



www.strypesinpost.com