The seventh episode of THE EDIT BAY is now available for download. This one is about intentionally makking mistakes. I did that on purpose...really, I did.
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I rushed my cat to the 24 hour emergency vet last night. Bad wound on his tail from a battle wound he apparently got weeks ago. Infected. And the bill just completely wiped out my budget for Vegas. So, I will be staying home, petting my poor cat and attending to his wounds.
Next year.
Alex over at EDITING ORGANAZIZED has made a quick simple plugin for creating a lower third with background. Even made a gradient background possible. Oh, and this plugin is free...and we all like free, simple and easy to use.
Gotta love the simple stuff.
Thanks Alex.
Watch this video.
'Nuff said.
Other than the site that it came from is HERE. So if you want the story, there's where to look.
Seriously, look at it. Automatic Synchronaization by Singular Software is truly amazing.
Shooting with 2 or more cameras? Did you start and stop one or more of them a few times? Oh, did you forget to slate or clap? Tired of searching for a common event to sync to? Me too. This does all of that, automatically.
Watch the demo...then download the beta with sample software and try it for yourself. I did...pretty freakin' amazing.
NOTE: This says it is a PLUGIN, and it really isn't. It is a separate application that is stored in the Applications folder. Highlight your clips, then run the App.
If you go to iTunes, and go to PODCASTS>TV & FILM and choose AUDIO PODCASTS, you will see that THE EDIT BAY is "New and Notable."
Sweet!
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To those who shoot and edit with HDV, this is nothing new. If it is, then you haven't been looking hard enough. This is something VERY common with the GOP formats, HDV specifically. A producer of mine was seriously considering a Sony ZU1 as the b-camera to a Varicam. Until he shot some test footage, and went frame by frame on a zoom shot and saw...well...this.
This is the crap you see when you pan, tilt or zoom quickly. Now, all of you HDV fans, justify THIS. Tell me that this is acceptable. Apparently it is because Discovery cleared HDV for BRONZE level programming, and it is acceptable by other networks. BetaSP never did this. Digibeta never did this. D2, MII, Umatic 3/4", D1...even DV never did this. Yet this is common with HDV.
To me this is unacceptable. But, this is what I am stuck with for now.
Most people think that 'rolling shutter' is something they can live with too. Why are our standards getting worse?
THE METAMORPHOSIS OF THE DARK TOWER
When it comes to a lot of things I am a do-it-yourselfer. One of those things has been a self made RAID. And the one I initially made gained me a little notoriety. This was called the Popsicle SATA. This all came from the need to play back uncompressed 10-bit footage, without breaking the bank.
Now that RAID didn't hold up...structurally speaking. The rubber bands were wearing out. So I upgraded that RAID by using screws to replace the rubber bands.
But then the internal heat on the G5 was getting to be too much, so I then purchased an external PC case, and thus the Dark Tower RAID was born.
Now I have gone to the next level.
I was asked by Enhance Technology if I would like to try one of their products. I asked for the StorPac S35T...that is a 5 bay tray loaded unit that takes up 3 5.25" slots on the front of the PC case. They sent it...I installed it...and promptly asked to keep it. Well, I said that I wanted to pay for it, because I liked it. A lot.
Here is what it looks like:
5 removable trays, and you can buy additional trays so that you can just have them on all the drives you need to put in this thing. Let's look at the back:
Three ports for power (I have that), and then 5 SATA connections...the blue ones on top. Because these are direct SATA connections, you'll need to get a Port Multiplier...like I did. I got this a while ago, so that I could attach the 5 drives I have in this thing to the CalDigit FASTA 4e I have. Works great.
OK, so I installed the unit, and attached the SATA connections from here:
To the Port Multiplier:
So I went from internal drives that were pretty difficult to swap out (which I needed to do a couple times as I backed up my P2 footage) to a case with hot swappable drives. From this:
to this:
Ahhh...much better. Now you see why I didn't want to return it.
Now we run the AJA Drive Test on that and we get what I expected:
Those are the speeds that you can expect from a 5 drive Raid 0. This was how I played back uncompressed HD. Now...the scary thing is that, well, now two companies offer these speeds in a TWO drive raid. MUCH cheaper too...CalDigit and G-Technology.
I currently am using this Raid for two purposes. As my show backup (backups of all the shows I worked on) and P2 backup drives...then I remove them and put in four 1TB Hitachi drives that I am using to store the footage for a doc I am working on. All works pretty well. The fan is a little noisy...I can now tell that the unit is on. Before it was so quiet that I would forget to turn it off. But now it is a tad louder. Not good for audio editors, but fine for me. The fan keeps the drives cool and that is what I want. And it isn't like it sounds like an aircraft carrier.
So if you are a do-it-yourselfer and want to build your own eSATA Raid 0 unit with PC cases and the Enhanced Technology enclosure...this is for you.
Get them while they're hot! The new MXO2 1.3 drivers are out. They enable the MXO2 to do quite a lot now.
Matrox MXO2 version 1.3 provides the following:
• Scaling on the input for capture.
• Improved support for 720p workflows.
• ProRes 422 720p capture on a MacBook Pro.
• Improved support for 1080p workflows.
• Support for 1080p at 23.98 fps via the HDMI output.
• Preservation of 23.98 fps when cross converting from 720 to 1080.
• RGB component output.
• Apple Xserve support.
• Matrox MXO2 Rack support.
Be sure to download the MXO2 documentation to read up on this yourself.
So I will be attending NAB this year...ON MY OWN. I will not be working for anyone, which is a first for me. I'll be able to take my time and walk the floor and really look at the offerings. Instead of gobbling down lunch and dashing around the hall grabbing brochures and glancing at the products. I can also stay up late partying, and SLEEP IN. Before I would still stay up late partying, but have to get up early and work the floor the next day. SO to those who I talked to first thing after the doors opened, I apologize. Now I can sleep in and get rest and lounge by the pool for a while subjecting the other poor guests to my not so hard editor's body.
WHY AM I SAYING ALL OF THIS? Well, to let people know I will be there and to keep an eye out for me if they want to meed me (picture is here on the Creative Cow, although my hair is a bit shorter)...and to say "Hey, if you want to go to, I have a free passcode for you to use to get you onto the floor for free." So...
Hey, if you want to go to, I have a free passcode for you to use to get you onto the show floor for free:
Free Exhibits Passport Code: TP01
This pass includes access to the exhibit floor and the opening keynote - a $150 value. Please pass along and visit http://nabshow.com/passport to redeem.
There, now your trip to Vegas just got cheaper. Now you just need to find a decent hotel. And take cabs...rental cars and driving is just too much of a pain. Plus with all the partying you do (this is Vegas)...you'll want a cab.
Walk the floor...there is a LOT to see...covering all aspects of broadcasting. And look at the SUPER SESSIONS too...they offer valuable information on a variety of topics from the top people in their field. Yeah yeah, it is back to school in Vegas. Just know that after school activites are better than they were in high school. Well, funner.
See (some of you) there.
The sixth episode of THE EDIT BAY is now available for download. This one is about running into someone you worked with before, but never actually met.
To play in your browser or download direct, click here.
To subscribe to this podcast in iTunes, CLICK HERE.
OK, I need to clear the air with some people. On this current job, I am considered a FINISHING EDITOR...or another term for this is ONLINE EDITOR. I am not, nor do I consider myself, a COLORIST. A colorist is someone who only color corrects, and can work MAGIC with Color, or a DaVinci. Me? I can make things look good and make the signal legal for broadcast. I might be able to pull off a decent secondary or two and use a power window, or regions, whatever you know it as. But I do not know the finer details of color correction...I make no claim to that.
My job is to take the creative cut, prep it for online by dealing with the speed changes and moves on stills...add the final graphics, add the final text and credits. Media manage the project and recapture any footage that might need recapturing. Then yes, I take it into Color to color correct and send it back, but most of the stuff was shot in camera so I don't have to treat it much. Mainly I make sure it looks good, consistent, and is legal. Then I output to tape. A lot of busy work. The work of an online editor.
And thus far I am enjoying it. Enjoying getting out of my creative head and into my technical one. At least for a little while.
FINALLY, what many of you have been waiting for...the results of my independent tests of the G-Raid 3 and CalDigit VR. I'm going to cut to the chase...if you want to know what lead to this, read this blog post.
Now...for all of these tests I relied on what EVERYONE relies on to test drive speeds, the AJA SYSTEM TEST application found at www.aja.com. But I also utilized a new tool that John Flowers has been working on...the HD SPEED TEST. I used version 1.1, beta 4. This is still in beta, so keep that in mind. To read the reasoning behind this app, and how it works, click here.
And the machine this was tested on is an early 2008 MacPro 3.0Ghz with 4GB RAM, and the eSATA controller card is the CalDigit FASTA 4e card. FYI.
OK, moving on.
First up...the G-Raid 3...because it arrived first. The FIRST thing I did was run a speed test on my original G-RAID...the FIRST one, the one with PATA drives and not SATA drives. So I could have some sort of comparison. Just for kicks and giggles really. So here we go.
The original G-RAID...via firewire 800:
About 60 write and 67 read. Not bad. This is fairly decent for DVCPRO HD...I can get 3 streams. OK, let's look at the the G-Raid 3 via Firewire 800:
68 Write and 83 Read...significant improvement.
Now, what you have been waiting for. G-Raid 3 via eSATA. Ready? Sit down.
220.5 MB/s Read, 217 MB/s Write. From TWO DRIVES! Wow. Before this you needed 5 drives to get this performance. Now, let's see what the HD Speed Test got us:
Well, we see a variety of numbers...one for each codec type. Which one to believe? Well, I guess that depends what format you are working with....there is no "overall" ranking. Not sure why certain numbers are lower with certain formats, but as you note, when I run the AJA test I choose the highest format possible, 10-bit uncompressed 1080.
Let's take a look at my home built Dark Tower SATA RAID. This is a 5 drive (5x500GB = 2.5TB) port multiplied device.
SAME NUMBERS as the G-RAID 3. Five drives vs two drives...both eSATA. I did not run the HD SPEED TEST on this setup.
OK...but that was a test with the drive EMPTY...which every one likes to test their drives as because, well, they are faster. But let's take a real world stab at this. Let's fill the drive halfway...put 1TB of stuff one it. Music, video files, pictures...the usual stuff. Now we can see some real numbers, not marketing numbers. This is where I employ both the AJA test and the HD Speed Test. First AJA:.png)
189MB/s Read, 185MB/s Write. Still very respectable. Lets look at the HD Speed Test:.png)
Just a small dip in performance...like 3MB/s across the board. So those are great numbers. The thing that gets me is how the AJA tool drops so much while the HD SPEED tool remains consistent. Whatever...believe the numbers you want to believe. I might be more inclined to trust the HD SPEED TEST, because the streams of RT it shows is what I get when I run my tests.
OK, moving on.
Now onto the CalDigit VR. Just like with the G-Raid, I am going to run the numbers on the S2VR Duo first...just for comparison. Bear in mind that unlike the first G-RAID that had PATA drives, this one utilized SATA drives, and I am connecting via eSATA, so it will be a bit faster. I just wanted to compare the S2VR Duo to the new CalDigit VR. So...the S2VR Duo via eSATA:
154MB/s on both Read and Write pretty much. Very good. Now the CalDigit VR...empty:
216.6 MB/s Read and 204.4 MB/s Write. Slower than the G-Raid 3. Not by much...they are close, but it is slower. There is a TURBO mode on the drive, so I turned that on and saw if there was any difference:
Slight. Nearly the same results Read, slightly better Write. But those numbers fluctuate plus or minus 4 points anyway...I ran multiple tests and they were up and down, I just chose the average numbers.
OK, running the HD SPEED TEST:
OK...looking at all the numbers we note only a slight difference. One to two points lower than the G-Raid3. Slower, but not a noticeable difference.
Moving on to the real world tests. The CalDigit VR 50% full...exact same stuff that I put on the G-Raid 3:.png)
178MB/s Read, 173MB/s Write. A full 10MB/s slower than the G-Raid 3 at the same capacity. Close...but the G-Raid clearly wins. Now, the Flowers HD Speed Test:.png)
IT'S FASTER! According to this test the drive is FASTER with more stuff. So it doesn't make much sense. I am not a highly technical guy, so I'll leave this to the technical guys to figure out. Going by the current industry standard the AJA test, the CalDigit unit is slower. But the Flower's Test has it faster. Who to believe? I guess this will be up to debate.
According to the AJA test, the G-Raid3 wins hands down...full and half full. Clearly faster. Is that difference noticeable? Doubtfull, but...G-RAID3 wins. According the the HD Speed Test...the G-RAID3 also wins empty, but half full, the CalDigit wins. I'll chalk this up to the fact that the HD SPEED TEST is still in Beta.
Note that both had dips in drive performance. That is due to neither of them having a dedicated RAID controller card. Without that they are on their own and prone to those dips.
OK...there was also question of the STURDINESS of these drives. Which one was the more solidly built. Let's take a look at them just sitting there.
The CalDigit VR is clearly bigger. And yes, it is heavier. Nearly twice as heavy as the G-RAID3. The CalDigit VR weighs a whopping 6.6 pounds...the G-RAID3 a mere 3.8 pounds. If this sits on your desk that wouldn't really matter, but if you pack this for on the road travel, or want to throw it in your backpack, that is a BIG difference. Gotta be the added components, because this drive is very versatile. The G-Raid is a simple drive...RAID-0, plug and go. The CalDigit VR has many options. But I'll tough upon those later.
DURABILITY. Well, by holding them and pushing on them and poking them fully assembled, they are both pretty solid. Not sure what the big issue with durability is. If you drop the drive, the last thing you worry about is the integrity of the case...the drives will be jostled so much the data will be as risk. BUT, since someone called this into question, let's open the cases.
G-RAID3
Looks solid enough...and looks exactly like the other G-Raid cases I have had. Nothing's changed. But, why change it when it works? Looks good, feels solid, nothing lose...even the SATA cables seem secure. I see no issues with this case.
CALDIGIT VR
Now, right away you can see something that might be cause for concern....there are no four solid walls, but a faceplate that seems to be only connected to the base. That would seem flimsy. However, that isn't the case.
See that bracket? Well, that is the anchor. It keeps that faceplate solidly in place. Yup, I jiggled and wiggled...it is pretty firm. I have no doubt that this is solid and will hold up. Even to being dropped from a few feet. But again, if these drives are dropped from your desk, the last thing you need to worry about is the case. It is the second thing. Since I wasn't given permission to destroy these drives, I did not perform that test...the DROP test.
Now...let's look at the price and options these drives offer.
The G-Raid3 is simple. $499 for 2TB ($519 on B&H, and they are usually the CHEAP place to go). Quad interface...USB 2.0, FW400, FW800, eSATA. Adapter for eSATA is extra. And the only option is Raid 0...meaning the two internal drives are hardware raided together...striped for speed. Simple, cheap, sturdy, reliable...FAST. Freaking fast for a two drive unit eSATA. Worth every penny.
CALDIGIT VR is flexible. $664 for 2TB ($165 more than the G-Raid3). Again, Quad Interface....USB 2.0, FW400, FW800 and eSATA. And this unit ships with a free eSATA extender. This handy thing allows you to connect to the two spare eSATA connections on the logicboard of the MacPro...and provides instructions on how to do so. And unlike the G-RAID3, this unit isn't only RAID-0. You can configure this Raid 0, Raid 1 (protected...mirrored data on both drives) and JBOD, meaning the drives show up as separate drives. And the LCD and interface allow you to not only monitor the heat, fan speed, raid type and a few other things (serial number, firmware version), but also works as an interface to do a few things like choose the RAID type for the drive. And the drives are removable, so you can use it as a stand alone storage case and just order more drives as needed.
OH, and both drives have the same level of noise, which isn't much. Sure, if it is on the desktop with you, you'll hear them. But if they are below the desk on your computer, or off to the side somewhere, you won't really be distracted by them. Both fans are pretty decently quiet.
So...final tally.
SPEED - G-RAID3 wins. Minus that little oddity in the HD SPEED test (app still in beta), it wins using the industry standard test...both empty and real world scenario.
DURABILITY - I would say tie. They are both very solid when together, and very solid when taken apart. Since I didn't drop either one, I can't say for sure. But they are both solidly built, no matter what the companies say about the other guy.
FEATURES - CalDigit wins with the ability to configure their unit in one of three ways, and with the ability to monitor various things.
NOISE - Tie.
COST - G-RAID3 wins. $165 cheaper than the CalDigit...both in 2TB configurations.
CONCLUSION? If you want a nice simple drive to edit HD video with that provides lots of space and speed, the G-RAID3 is for you. It is light, simple to use, and durable. Great little unit. I lost faith in G-Tech a while back when the G-Raid 2 had issues with daisy chaining the units (performance would drop from 65MB/s to 16MB/s), but this drive has returned my faith in the company and their products. The G-Raid 3 is a great little drive that I'd recommend to anyone.
If you want a drive with more features and one that is customizable...if you have a bit of the inner geek in you and need such things (I do at times), then the CalDigit VR is the drive for you. Fast and durable, and with features that make the extra money needed to get one worth it to many people. CalDigit has always been one to turn out great products, and this is no exception.
CHOOSE ONE? I can't. I like both...can't I have both? If cost was a factor then the G-RAID3 will be the clear winner. But if you have the extra cash, the added features of the CalDigit VR might be worth the cost. So YOU choose. I gave you a bunch of things to take into consideration. Now it is up to you.
(NOTE: If you look seriously at the HD SPEED TEST results...these units are very close, with the G-RAID3 winning empty. But then the CalDigit VR does BETTER when it has footage on it. I ran the tests with the full 1.2 non-beta version of the Speed Test and the results remainded the same. More data on the Caldigit, the faster it gets. Now, the debate about the validity of this tool can commence.)
OK, I am posting this blog again...making a few changes and adding the fix that I got to work this morning. I originally posted in in anger and frustration, and one should NEVER post in anger and frustration. I have since cooled down, and have made changes to the post to tone down my original rantings. It is still about 90% intact, and addresses the issue. OK, here we go.
If I died and went to editor hell, I would be glued to my edit desk and forced to edit HDV for eternity. So far that is what my day feels like. Something that should have taken 1 hour, has taken 7 hours of my life. I have been beaten down by this format after 1 week of working with it.
What is my latest issue? Well, it is pretty freakin' bad.
I am attempting to capture HDV footage into Final Cut Pro FCP 6.0.5 on a MacPro (early 2008) running 4GB RAM and utilizing an AJA Kona LH capture card. The HVR-1500 HDV deck is connected via HD SDI, 9-pin (RS-422) deck control. We are capturing HDV shot on the Z7U and we are capturing it as ProRes...some shots capturing offline as DV. Why? Don't ask me. That was something that happened before I got here....they had their reasons...DECK issues. Something I have talked about before.
So what I needed to do was recapture all of the DV footage as ProRes, to match the rest of my footage. So I duplicated the sequence and separated all of the DV footage from the ProRes footage...and deleted all the footage in the sequence save what I needed to recapture.
From there I highlighted the sequence and opened the Media Manager, and chose CREATE OFFLINE, and chose Kona LHe ProRes 422, chose 1 second handles (to deal with time code slippage)...and clicked OK.
So now I have a project with all the media with handles that I need to recapture. But 6 times out of 10...60% failure rate...I get this error message:
Now...the media has been captured, it just won't reconnect. If I try to capture again, it will fail again. After a few attempts it will capture and reconnect. But now I have MULTIPLE captures on my hard drive taking up space....because they were captured but couldn't reconnect. BAD.
When I go to manually reconnect this footage, turning off the MATCH NAME option and navigating to the file that was captured for that clip (I navigated to the last clip captured) and I get this error:
If I force the issue and tell it that I don't care...connect to that clip, it says that the output was adjusted. And now the clip is 2 to 4 seconds off. Outside my 1 second handle zone and unusable...as it doesn't match the offline cut. It is way off.
OK...let's look at two files that were captured for one clip. Both of these files say they couldn't reconnect.
Two completely different file sizes. So not only is the out point incorrect, and the in point incorrect, but the DURATION is also incorrect. This is a bag of hurt.
Now, let's open one of the failed clips and look at the MEDIA START timecode that was captured, and compare that to the MEDIA START that the clip needs in FCP...
Over 4 seconds off. VERY bad.
Here is a pic of a clip that was captured properly...the same clip as we see above:
The timecodes match.
SO here I am, on hour 6 of capturing footage one shot at a time...making between 4 and 10 attempts per clip. With a clip being captured successfully at the first attempt about one out of 10 times...causing mild surprise. Surprise that it worked the first time.
NOW...THAT WAS YESTERDAY. CUT TO TODAY. I came in early in the morning, determined to figure this out. I posed this issue to a few people, and got a few suggestions. As you can see in the comments, Andrew suggested a viable workflow that Walter Biscardi from the Creative Cow says that he does, and that works for him. I also got a couple more suggestions, that had me using the current deck, so let me go there first.
The FIRST suggestion was to change a setting in the DECK CONTROL PRESETS in the Audio/Video Settings from USE DECK CONTROL SEARCH MECHANISM to DO NOT USE...because obviously the deck control was faulty. So I tried that. And things got a LITTLE bit better. 10 clips, 7 captured fine...3 did not. Better than the 4 captured 6 did not in the nightmare listed above. But still not good. So then I hooked up firewire and tried firewire deck control. Nope...back to being bad bad bad. Even switched the firewire to DV...same issue.
Then I tried what Andrew said in the comments....that Walter Biscardi method. His method is to NOT USE THE HVR-1500 DECK AT ALL! How about that? So I grabbed our other HDV deck, the lower end HVR-M10U. This has Component outputs, so I used those to connect to the Kona LHe. Then I used firewire as deck control.
Guess what? It worked. FLAWLESSLY!
Seriously...I highlighted 10 clips, bit BATCH CAPTURE...it captured all of them, without that error popping up once, and every clip was...well, at least 2 frames in sync. Most were spot on, 3 needing shifting. Still...that rocked! Thank you Andrew for pointing out the solution that Walter came up for this. Oh, the one drawback? The M10U shuttles in near real time. Meaning that it fast forwards and rewinds maybe 1.5x to 2x faster than it would play the footage. That means that it will take some time. But it is still a much better thing that that 1500 deck and the nightmare capture issue I had. OH, and HDV does look very pretty...I'll give it that. Although I haven't started color correcting it yet...so...we'll see.
OK...reposting this. But I will leave the sheep video at the bottom, for your amusement.
Thanks everyone.
The fifth episode of THE EDIT BAY is now available for download. This one is about bidding on an agency job, and losing it for the oddest reasoning.
To play in your browser or download direct, click here.
To subscribe to this podcast in iTunes, CLICK HERE.
HDV is a consumer format. Sony itself has said so. So why have they made so many "prosumer" cameras? Because there is a market for it. But the format is anything BUT professional. Can a guy grab a camera, shoot his friends skateboarding, edit this and throw it up on YouTube or make a DVD? Sure they can. And just because SURVIVORMAN shoots with HDV cameras doesn't mean it is professional.
Bear with me as I rant a bit about this format...
I knew there was a reason I didn't want to work with the HDV format. I read all of the issues on the various forums...GOP format makes rendering take forever, 4:2:0 color sampling, start and stop makes new clips (time code breaks in essence), highly compressed (HD signal on the same tape as DV...wow). Oh, there are people who offer solutions like "capture as ProRes to stay out of the GOP format and get into a better color space when editing." OK...fine, I hear you, But that too has issues.
Here, let me explain what issues I am faced with.
Issue #1: Timecode breaks confuse the crap out of the deck. THE PROFESSIONAL DECK...the HVR-1500. It hits the break, then backs up, then goes forward, then backs up...does this little square dance for a minute or two until it decides that can't find the new in point (who the hell knows WHY? It's right there!) and then it bombs out. This happens all the friggin time. No, we don't shoot time of day. This is just regular INT GEN timecode. It's as if the deck hits the break, tries to capture right from where it left off, but because of the break it can't figure out how to pre-roll properly. Very odd for a "professional" deck. OH, and for the record, we are connected via HD SDI to AJA Kona 3 capture cards with RS-422 deck control. Also tried firewire deck control with similar results.
And it isn't a Final Cut Pro issue. I have researched this issue and it pops up in Avid and FCP forums. I have called people who shoot this format and they have the same issue. It is a format and deck issue. Their solution? Dub the tapes to make one long unbroken code...either to another HDV tape or to another format. Waste of time and resources if you ask me.
ISSUE #2: This company shoots many scene at 8fps. Recording 8fps onto the 29.97 fps tape, so it looks streaky and blurry. This worked for while until TWO TAPES came in that we couldn't play on any of the decks. Plays back black, both out to the monitor and to the FCP capture tool. We could see the image if we fast forward or rewind, but not play. Someone suggested that this is a timecode issue...that somehow the timecode track on the tape is fubar (look it up in the wikipedia). But the tapes weren't damaged, not visibly anyway. So I suggested that we try playing them back in the camera that they were shot with. One tape played fine in the camera, and was dubbed to a new tape, but the second tape doesn't even play back in the camera...nor any HDV camera that we have.
To all those people who say that when you shoot to tape you don't lose footage...I say HA! Sure you can...always could. I have had plenty of experience with tapes that have had issues where they didn't record timecode to the tape (damaged record heads, dirty heads). And anyone who has shot tape knows that dropouts are VERY common.
So...why did we shoot HDV? Well, the typical arguements. "Tape is cheaper than those P2 cards," "I am wary of tapeless formats because you might lose footage (debunked)," "we won't need a field technician for offloading cards, with multiple hard drives," "oh, we can just capture to ProRes to avoid the GOP issue."
OK...let's look at this.
-"Tape is cheaper than those P2 cards."
Initially...sure. But after a while all those tapes add up. P2 you use again and again and again. And you are only assessing this as a PRODUCTION COST...not an overall project cost. Let's factor in a few more things. DECKS. You need to buy or rent decks to capture this footage. With P2, or SxS, no decks required. Direct import into the computer. This not only saves money on decks...but MAN does this save TIME! Now not only can you import on one machine...you can import on MANY machines. You can import on all six edit machines if you need to. Manpower time...saved. Therefore less money is spent on their overtime...or extra time. And P2 imports faster than real time...MORE time is saved.
So with HDV, you saved a little money during production, but then added a lot of money in post...deck rental and cost of paying your employees more for the extra time needed.
And one HUGE headache with tapes...prioritizing. Two projects, tapes came in for both...both are under the gun to work with this new footage. Who gets their footage first? Now you have editing sitting on their thumbs while they wait for more footage...adding a day or two to the editing days...and THAT time is a lot of money.
-"I am wary of tapeless formats because you might lose footage"
This is a ridiculous statement. Raise your hands if you lost a tape full of footage during production. OH, I have. Ever experience tape glitches or dropouts on tape? I sure have. And I have seen digital hits on P2 and SxS too...it happens. Ever have a tape ERASED via a big magnet, or a degaussing machine due to carelessness? I have. Solid state solutions work if you are careful and back up the cards before erasing. Yes, that is an extra step, but if people are paying attention, it works great. Whenever someone ISN'T paying attention, that is when you lose footage. Taped and solid state.
-"we won't need a field technician for offloading cards"
With tape, no you don't True. But the cost of that person during production...that body...cheap compared to the hours you pay one or more assistants in the post process to capture tapes.
-"We can just capture to ProRes to avoid the GOP issue."
This brings up ANOTHER cost issue. HARD DRIVES. DVCPRO HD P2 takes up very little space. Capturing everything as ProRes...in a shared storage environment? Duuuuuude. For one guy that extra firewire drive isn't much. But to go from 12TB to 18-24TB on a SAN? Not cheap. Not by a longshot.
Now, capturing HDV as Offline RT...possible I suppose. Something we are considering. But then we STILL have Issue #1, the deck cha-cha-cha about the timecode.
Sorry about this. This is my first full on HDV project. The one time I was saddled with an HDV project I captured HDV as DVCPRO HD and that made my life EASY. I logged and captured...and since it was a small project I didn't run into too many issues.
HDV gets an even bigger THUMBS DOWN from this editor. A format that is consumer, and should stay consumer. IMHO.
Earlier when I gave my first impressions of the MXO2, I made these first impressions with a BETA version of the software. I had the 1.2 drivers but they didn't do all that I needed. I needed to upscale SD to HD. I thought there was something that I overlooked. The website said that the MXO2 did upscaling of SD to HD...but it did it on OUTPUT, not injest. I didn't know this, I was digging around looking for that option...couldn't find it. So having a pal at Matrox I asked "hey, I need the MXO2 to do this, can you help me figure it out?" He did by sending me beta drivers that had the option I wanted.
Well guess what? These drivers will be coming out VERY soon. Matrox is putting on final touches and prepping them for release. I hope I get this done before they have them out there.
Here are the new features you can look forward to with these new drivers.
Scaling on capture
THis is what I was talking about...scaling on CAPTURE. The Matrox MXO2 now has a checkbox in the AV INPUT tab of the Matrox Control Panel called SCALING. If you have an SD source, all you need to do is check that box, choose SD as your source (then there is an aspect ratio box too, options for 4:3 and 16:9 source input), and then you are done in the MXO control panel. That simple. Now select the destination format in FCP – Codec of your choice. The MXO2 hardware scaling will either up/down/or cross to the destination format selected by you. DVCPRO HD, ProRes, Uncompressed HD...720p or 1080i. Connect any source and scale it to your desired resolution! And yes, it works. I captured all of those formats...with the same frame rate, of course.
SD-720
SD-1080
720-1080
720-SD
1080-720
1080-SD
This feature also allows you to monitor while you capture. Your destination format is output simultaneously for monitoring or recording directly from the various MXO2 outputs, all outputs are the same. I was able to see what I was capturing directly from the capture card to my monitor.
Direct capture of 1080p 23.98 sources from 1080p 23.98...on a LAPTOP!
Capture directly to 23.98 frame rates from 23.98 SDI sources. This feature enables support of the Apple ProRes422 codec on Intel based Core2Duo MacBook Pros in 1080p 23.98. While the other frame rates are more demanding on the processors, 23.98 has a low data rate so you can get away with ProRes encoding on a laptop...one of the newer MacBook Pros, or one generation back. I haven't tested this yet, but I plan to soon. In case you don't know why this is an issue, the MXO2 does not have an on-board ProRes encoder, so it relies on the computer processors to handle the encoding, and on a laptop that is asking a lot. But now, with the lower frame rates, that is a possibility.
Preserving 23.98 while Cross Converting 720 - 1080
While cross-converting 720-1080 the Matrox MXO2 now offers you an option to output 23.98 directly from the FCP timeline. You now have the option to select a 23.98 timeline to be outputted at 29.97 or 23.98 while cross converting from 720 or 1080. So if you have a 720p 23.98 timeline and you need to deliver a 1080i59.94 master (running at 29.97), the MXO2 handles that conversion in the hardware. The only other card to do this is the Kona 3...so this is huge.
RGB analog support
Analog component output now offers you the ability to select whether you would like to view your production in either a YUV or RGB color space by providing an RGB analog output option in the MXO2 control panel. This is ideal for RGB monitors or needing to work in the RGB color space. Ideal for SCART monitors.
Capture 720p 23.98 with user input
Connect a 720p 59.97 source and capture a 23.98 file directly into FCP. Set capture in-point in FCP, set cadence off-set in the Matrox Control Panel, and capture a 23.98 file from a 59.97 source, resulting in a 720p 23.98 file. Just another workflow example to enable Apple ProRes422 codec to be captured with Intel based Core2Duo MacBook Pros in 720p 23.98. An example of this would be capturing DVCPRO HD footage shot 720p24 but recorded onto DVCPRO HD tape, that runs at 59.94.
Closed Captioning – capture – edit - output
My friends...this, IS BIG.
Capture - Acquire your footage with digital closed captioning via SDI and the SMPTE334 specification.
Edit – While editing, the MXO2 will preserve your closed captioning data throughout the editing process. The Matrox MXO2 with FCP allows you to trim, add effects such as color correction, adds titles or credits and still maintain your closed captioning data. When you are ready...
Output - the Matrox MXO2 restores your digital closed captioning to your SMPTE334 compliant device – in either SD or HD. Even more, if you need to scale on capture with digital closed captioning information, or you need to scale on output, or even while cross-converting, you can count on the Matrox MXO2 to preserve your data throughout your production!
DO I really need to tell you how big of a deal this is? Currently, if you capture ANY closed captioned material with ANY capture card, and do anything that requires a render, and you render...THE CLOSED CAPTION DATA IS LOST! Gone...bye bye. But now, with this update, the MXO2 can capture that footage, and you can do all sorts of things. Replacing shots however, won't work...as the data is encoded onto the footage, and if you remove the footage and add new footage, that section of closed captioning will be gone.
HERE IS WHY THIS WORKS: The MXO2 stores the information in an audio track, so you can cut away you video as you want/need add some B-roll for a second source, and still have the CC intact.
True 23.98p HDMI support
When working with 23.98p material and timelines. Use your HDMI monitor and the MXO2 HDMI output to view a true 23.98p signal and not a PsF signal.
Again, that I haven't tested yet...but I will try to when the final firmware update comes out.
I really like my MXO2...glad I have it. It now does everything I need to have done. Analog capture, digital capture, upconverting SD to HD, cross converting 720p to 1080i or 1080p. Nice.
After a month and a half of nearly nothing...small job here, small job there, feature doc to tackle in the meantime...so I guess by nothing I mean nothing FULL TIME PAYING. After a month of being without FULL TIME gainful employment I am now full time gainfully employed. And this time I won't be a creative cutter, the offline guy, I will be the online editor...the finishing guy. Color correcting, formatting for output, adding the final audio from the mix.
It's nothing I don't know...I did this for Andrew Jackson and Mexican American War. Only this time I will be using COLOR. Before I relied on the 3-way color corrector and Colorista. And I like Colorista, only this is a multi-station environment, so I need to use a standard application, so I will be using COLOR. About time I learn this application.
To learn this application I am turning to a tutorial DVD. I have two, COLOR, done by Alexis Van Hurkman, the guy who wrote the Color Manual, and has that great Encyclopedia of Color Correction. The other DVD I have is from the CreativeCow.net. Walter Biscardi's STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE'S COLOR.
Which did I choose? Well, I chose Alexis' because I have his book and liked it, and, well, I got it first. If I get lost I might switch to Walter's.
The fourth episode of THE EDIT BAY is now available for download. This one is about working from home. Distractions galore!
Oh, look! A chicken!
To listen online or download direct, click here.
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I received my MXO2 a few months ago but have lacked the time/project/decks to be able to test it out. The best I could do was hook it up to my computer an HDTV and go "Yup, that outputs a GREAT image" and to my HD CRT and say, well, the same thing. When I got it I was working on an Avid at a production company, then, well, I was unemployed.
But then my first opportunity to test it came.
A company I work with a lot that is primarily an Avid house, but they have one FCP system. Mainly to capture footage for their graphics department, but lately they have put it in use to capture footage for an editor who will be cutting a show on FCP. This show was shot on HDCAM at 1080 24P and they were having issues capturing the footage at a lower resolution. They had an older G5 and older Decklink card and I thought that was the issue, so I asked to borrow the Sony J-H3 HDCAM player and check it out on MY system, using the MacPRo and Matrox MXO2.
Needless to say, I was able to capture just fine. Uncompressed 8-bit, uncompressed 10-bit, DVCPRO HD, ProRes, a custome offline RT Photo JPEG setting I made (full dimensions, but lower image quality). Then I was able to test this on my laptop, capturing the footage as DVCPRO HD (1080p) and as ProRes...but only for 2 min at a shot. The laptop, of course, is not up to the task of encoding ProRes for long stretches. That is what the MacPro is for. But, I again was able to capture into my custome Photo JPEG setting just fine.
So for HD on a tower and a laptop, I give the MXO2 big thumbs up. No ProRes on a laptop, that is the limiting factor. If you are fine with capturing as DVCPRO HD on the laptop then this will be fine. Since it connects to the MacBook Pro via the Express34 slot, the only hard drive option you have is FW800 or FW400, so uncompressed is out of the question. BUT...attach this to a tower and all the options are available. Capture as ProRes to a FW800 drive, then bring that to your laptop for editing. Assuming you have two computers.
Now...onto the next test.
I landed a 3 day job cutting a demo reel for a producer/director I worked with, and ALL of the footage he has was on digibeta or betaSP. So for that I rented a Sony J-30 player. I was able to capture the footage as DV50 and it looked great. On BOTH editing systems, MacPro and MacBook Pro. Both performed flawlessly. And the majority of the digibeta footage was also ANAMORPHIC, and I just enabled that option in the Easy Setups and it captured anamorphic.
Now onto what I REALLY wanted to test...SD hardware upconvert to HD. Now that I had the J-30 and some great looking tapes, and a few betaSP, I had some good source material to test this out. Now, to do this test I needed newer software drivers than I had. MXO2 software version 1.2 didn't have this upconvert option that I could see. So I e-mailed Matrox asked them how to do this, and they replied "with this version of the software that is still in beta, 1.3." So I installed the new version and there was this new checkbox in the MXO2 System Preference A/V Input tab called SCALE INPUT FOR CAPTURE. That tells the MXO2 to upconvert the incoming signal to HD. You have a dropdown menu that allows you to choose between SD, 720p and 1080 as the incoming source type.
Then in FCP you choose the format you want to capture it as in the AV Options and it will capture as that type. 720p 59.94 DVCPRO HD, 1080i 29.97 ProRes...whatever you choose. Now...It did have this option for 16:9 to SD aspect ratio, but that didn't seem to really do anything. When I captured the first tape, this nice betaSP doc on grizzly bears, it upscaled VERY nicely. And captured it full frame, meaning full 4:3 with pillar boxes of black on either side. Nice.
Then I moved onto one of the anamorphic digibetas and chose ANAMORPHIC in the ASPECT RATIO box thinking that I was now telling the MXO2 to expect an anamorphic signal and capture accordingly. But when I looked at what I captured, again, it was pillar boxed. My nice anamorphic signal was pillar boxed. I checked the ANAMORPHIC option and it only stretched out the pillar boxes.
So I asked Matrox what was up with that. Why does it only capture pillar box? Well, as of now, that is the only option...to capture SD as Pillar Box. Because 99% of the time SD will be 4:3, and they are trying to preserve the entire frame...so you can frame the image in your 16:9 project the way you want by zooming in and crop it manually. Apparently they weren't expecting anamorphic SD. Who blames them? This is a rare format. BUT, they said they'll get on that for the next build.
So I captured ProRes, DVCPRO HD, uncompressed 8-bit and 10-bit, 1080i 29.97, all upconverts from BetaSP and Digibeta. And they were very clean captures. This card upscales beautifully. And the pillar box is just fine for 4:3 footage, as I would like to zoom and reposition on my own to get proper framing, but when it comes to the anamorphic stuff I can't capture that properly yet.
And just like any other capture card, you still have to capture 29.97 as 29.97...like to like Hz. You cannot change frame rates as you capture (except 29.97 as 59.94 DVCPRO HD 720p...that is a similar Hz), so you cannot capture 29.97 as 23.98. That conversion has to be done later, with something like Compressor.
EDIT: I need to make a few corrections...and a comment or two. First off, when I wrote this post I was using a beta version of the drivers...the 1.3 version. The current version of the drivers, 1.2, do not upscale on import, only playback. The 1.3 driver is the one that enables upscaling on ingest. And they have fixed it so that it will do pillar box and anamorphic, based on the issue I had. The 1.3 drivers will be due out soon...so more on them later. In the meantime, I am digging the MXO2 more and more. Analog inputs and outputs, SDI, HDMI...720p to 1080i crossconvert. I have yet to test that, but it is there. But thus far it has everything I need.
The third episode of THE EDIT BAY is now available for download. This one is about temp music.
To play in your browser or download direct, click here.
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Avid has released a NEW update. This is something VERY unheard of in Avid land. It used to be a year between updates, but since last year they went from 2.8 to 3.0...then a few bug fixes, then 3.0.5 answered a great request to highlight everything on the timeline from here to the left, or right, or in to out. Then 3.1 added more stuff. A flurry of updates, enhancements and fixes.
And they aren't done yet.
Avid just announced Avid 3.5...and it is stock full of features.
- No Dongle. Online activation now...OH, and 14 day free trial. Take that Apple.
- Stereoscopic editing. For those not in the know, that is the 3D format that is making a comeback.
- Key frameable color correction
- Avid Media Access Architecture: Customers can automatically link clips from a third-party volume (Panasonic P2 or Sony XDCAM HD/EX) devices into an Avid editing bin, without having to transcode or store the media on their system. HUGE.
- Native XDCAM support
Oh, who am I kidding. Scott Simmons of the EditBlog already wrote a GREAT in depth review of this update on Studio Daily. I won't even try to repeat what he said as he said it best. So go there and read it.
No mention of pricing yet...3PM today for that.
