DV Feature Film project

THE TOOLS

1. 25 each, Sony DV 3CCD cameras. PAL

2. Using Century Optics Widescreen 16:9 adapter to take advantage of full 4:3 chip, giving me a squeezed image. [centuryoptics.com]

3. Using FCP 4.5, digitizing normal 4:3 PAL, editing with Squeezed image.


THE QUESTIONS?

1. Want to output, 16:9 "letterboxed" as well as 16:9 "anamorphic video" versions.

2. Want to produce an NTSC and PAL versions. DVD being the final product.

3. Is this best done in Compressor or Quicktime conversion and what would the settings be? New to FCP, just made the leap from Avid.

Your help is much appreciated.
j.

in general:

work in the native format, right up untill, and including mastering.

make the various versions from the native format master.

native format in this case being 16/9 PAL.

DV, too is the native fortmat, so work in that untill the end.
some question still remeins for me over the best way to finish:
up res the DV, or re-capture into Uncompressed.
if you up-re the DV, you might need some colour smothing filter. one comes with FCP, another is the Graeme Natress plug in "Nicer" i think.

if DVD is realy the finished product, then staying DV might be the way.
also,
there are options when making the DVD to make a 4/3 letterboxed version, i think.
otherwise drag your fine cut 16/9 sequnces into 4/3 sequnces in FCP. they will be letterboxed.
to make an NTSC version, Graeme Natress again makes the best sofware for this. Better than Compressor. Check out his website

[www.nattress.com]


cheers,
nick

Little added comments:

> Want to output, 16:9 "letterboxed" as well as 16:9 "anamorphic video"
> versions.

Use Nick's methods above, but I also recommend that you make separate self-contained QuickTime movie files before doing those outputs. A nested clip (which is what your 16:9 sequence will be once it's imported into a 4:3 sequence) causes playback problems in the output because they bury the media in yet another layer, and it necessitates a whole new set of render files.

Besides, if you're doing DVD burns, the letterboxed version of the DVD needs to have the letterbox as part of the image and not dependent on a 16:9-mode-capable device. Which means you'll need a separate movie file, already pre-crunched.

If you ever mistakenly capture one of your clips as non-anamorphic, no need to recapture -- just click on the "Anamorphic" column in your Browser and the computer will tag the clip as Anamorphic and make it behave as one. No harm, no foul.

> Want to produce an NTSC and PAL versions. DVD being the final product.

FCP is supposed to be able to do the NTSC/PAL conversions in itself, but they look really, really crap. Unviewably crap. Definitely explore Graeme Nattress' conversion filter as well as other options to see which one suits your fancy.

> Is this best done in Compressor or Quicktime conversion and what would the
> settings be? New to FCP, just made the leap from Avid.

For your DVD prep, QuickTime Conversion wouldn't really be suitable, and DVD Studio Pro and iDVD's built-in compression wouldn't be sufficient for getting a one-hour-plus feature onto DVD. Use Compressor.

If you're using DVD Studio Pro for the DVD all you need is a 16:9 version. DVD Studio Pro can letterbox set the movie to letterbox automatically on 4:3 sets. You set your movie track mode to16:9 letterbox and the file will work right for all sets. You do the same for menus, build 16:9 and set them to letterbox for 4:3.
I've been doing this for a series I'm editing and it works great.

<<1. Want to output, 16:9 "letterboxed" as well as 16:9 "anamorphic video" versions.>>

As stated above, it's very easy to create an anamorphic DVD in DVD Studio Pro that will revert to letterbox on 4:3 screens.

<<2. Want to produce an NTSC and PAL versions. DVD being the final product.>>

2.5 options there. 1) Use Graeme's Standard's Conversion to do it in FCP. I've had good results with this myself, although the conversion may take a while. 2) Have it done via hardware at a Post/Dub house like The Post Group. Maybe less expensive than you think. 2.5) Upgrade to FCP 5 and try the new Compressor PAL > NTSC option. It's supposed to be good, but I've not heard any first-hand reports on this as of yet.

<<Your help is much appreciated.>>

No problem at all. Best of luck.



- Justin Barham -

i read that while the Compressor version is OK at highest settings, that takes about 5 times longer than graeme's.
and at lower settings it looks bad.

so graeme is still the winner here.

but he offers free demos, so you can make up your own mind.

nick

I agree with Nick. Graemes tool is great and is superior to Compressor.
With PAL - I think -you have another easy trick, just set the frame rate to 24, squeeze a little and let the other components do the rest. It's 2 percent difference in speed, but that's normal in PAL land and anywhere else.

Andreas

Five times longer?? When I tested it, it took over 35 times longer!!!

Yes, PAL 25p to NTSC can work via the 4% slowdown method. This is not too good for complex audio though, but it looks nice :-)

Graeme



[www.nattress.com] - Plugins for FCP-X

thirty five???
that's so incredible. no wonder i wrote five.. should have double checked your post.

so you;re saying take your finished piecs at 25fps,

confom to 24, or 23.97

and reverse telecine back to 30 or 29.whatever?

that's a good idea.
you would want to have finished your piece, and have the audio all mixed, i;d say

has anyone figured out the new pitch audio filter?
the gradations dont make any sense at all.

nick