HD Film Look & 23.976
by Chris Carnazzo
on
Jul 17, 2008 at 11:50:20 pm
Hi everyone,
Forgive me if these questions are basic, but it's my first HD session. I've got a bunch of footage shot on a Sony XDCAM EX. That's the camera that records to solid state memory. I was able to transfer the clips to mxf files. Now, I need to start cutting.
After playing with the settings, it looks like it was shot in 23.976 fps. My final output needs to be 1080i. So here are my questions.
- What project settings do I need to use? ((i'm assuming 1080p/23.976, but please correct me if i'm wrong))
- What is the film option ((options are 16mm, 35 4perf, 35mm 4perf)).
- How can I monitor the video using a Media Composer 3.0 and a mojo SDI? Even if it's standard def, it would be nice to have CRT client montior.
- What do I need to consider when I send to a graphic artist using after effects? I've never worked with film. Does a pull down coversion come into play?
- I can't seem to export quicktime movies. keeps crashing when i try to edit the codec settings. Is an avi @ 24p ok? Does that mess anything up?
- Is there anything I need to know about a downconversion to SD? It'll be letterboxed.
Re: HD Film Look & 23.976 by Job ter Burg on Jul 18, 2008 at 6:04:22 am
- if your sources are 1080/23.976p, then your project should be that as well
- the optional film settings will determine the way that various Keykode and Edgecodes are calculated and counted. You can activate them, but you don't have to. If you do, you might choose for 4-perf 35mm.
- I'm pretty sure that if you want to have an SD client monitor fed by your Mojo, then after capture/import, you need to switch the project type to SD 23.976 NTSC.
- If you are in a p-project, you don't have to worry about pulldown when doing QT exports. You can export 23.976p QT movies. A frame is a frame is a frame. No field order stuff either.
- I originally had the same issue with Quicktime exports on v3.0. Avid support advised me to go into QT settings, and select to not use DirectX but GDI only. That solved the issue for me. Much easier to do QT exports than avi, IMHO.
- You mention a 1080i deliverable. If that is SD, then I think your Mojo will do this if you switch your project to 23.976 NTSC.
However, if you need to go from 23.976p HD to 60i HD, AFAIK you can't do it straight from an Avid. Maybe on Symphony Nitris, but I'm not sure. You could also playout 23.976p, then use the deck to convert to 1080/60i.
Your Mojo SDI won't output any HD, so you'll have to do the HD playout on a different system. Adrenaline-HD, Symphony Nitris, any Nitris DX or Mojo DX system.
Re: HD Film Look & 23.976 by Chris Carnazzo on Jul 18, 2008 at 3:28:32 pm
- source seems to be 180/23.96. It's the only project seeting that works
- i chose the 35mm 4 perf settings at random. seemed like a good idea. glad to know it'll work out. kind of lept before i looked.
- If I make this switch, can i switch back to HD without need to redig or uprez?
- Good to know about the pulldown. I've never worked with film before. I've spent my career in local TV and never had to worry about anything that wasn't shot on video, or already transfered.
- I will the quicktime fix immideately. Thanks for the info. Very frustrating. To the point we considered scrapping avid for FCP.
- As far as the deliverable, i think my final export will be a quicktime movie with h264 codec for a playback server. But we might want to back up the master to tape. Not sure. If so, what would I need to do to put this back to a sony HDCam ((HDW-1800)). I know the mojo can't put it back to HD tape, but i have a final cut machine that can.
Re: HD Film Look & 23.976 by Job ter Burg on Jul 18, 2008 at 4:16:05 pm
If you switch your project to SD, the footage itself is unchanged. Renders/titles/effects will happen in SD, though, so they will need rerendering if you go back to HD. You can go back to HD in the software and rerender. However, if you need to output to HD tape, your Mojo won't do that, you'll need Adrenaline HD or Nitris or Mojo DX or Nitris DX. Or you can export a QT, import that into your FCP system with HD-SDI out and play that out. I have very little knowledge of FCP, so can't comment on the exact procedure. The Avid will allow you to output a 23.976 progressive Quicktime, though.
I believe the Quicktime issue is a rare one. I only had it on one of my machines. Tech support gave me that fix, and it worked instantly. However, if everyone ditched their NLE at the very first issue they encounter, there would be no NLE's in the world. I'm not saying I like bugs like this, I'm just saying jumping ships is hardly a viable option.
Re: HD Film Look & 23.976 by Chris Carnazzo on Jul 18, 2008 at 4:35:58 pm
thanks again for the bug fix. i've been on the phone with avid for days. this clear up our final hurdle to getting the machine up and running.
using the sd format. i can now use the client montior. and the 16:9 option on the montior does the rest.
i can't thank you enough for your help. now, i just have to sit down and do some work!
i agree with the NLE. we're an avid shop, but recently brough in a FCP station. it does some things really well, but has its pitfalls. neither is perfect, just different trade offs.
but we are also at a cross roads. do we upgrade our avids to hd or go FCP? but i think these fixes pushed us back to the avid camp. too much invested in storage and training.
