FCP 5.0 and Varicam

[alonerdottiearebel]

We just shot w/ the Varicam supposedly at 720/24p. We had someone digitize the media and there are potential issues. He used the AJ-HD1200A deck to digitize via firewire into a G5 laptop. We are now using the new Dual Intel running FCP 5.0 to mark and edit footage.

These settings are the same for all of our media: Frame Size = 960x720; Compressor = DVCPRO HD 720p60; Audio = 16-bit, 48k; Field Dominance = none; Pixel Aspet = HD (960x720).

The settings that vary are Video Rate and Data Rate. 1/3 of the footage is at 23.98 (5.7 mb/sec) while the other 2/3 of the footage is at 59.94 (varies from 8.2 to 13.9 mb/sec).

Would the HD1200A automatically adjust to the correct frame rate when playing back for capture? What if it was recorded at 23.98 but FCP was digitizing at 59.94 (would FCP just double frames?)?

Which set of digitized footage is correct? (i.e. which do we need to redigitze?)

Another potential problem looks to be all digitized media has "001" listed as its Reel even though we had 50 different tapes. Will this be a problem down the road?

Thanks,

 

[TimmyD]

Hi there. I've never dealt with HD, but I can tell you what I would do in your situation. I would simply try and export to your camera a short clip that has the 5.7 Mb/sec date rate clip alongside the other clip, and see what happens. If everything goes fine, I'd say the rest of the project should go off fine.

As for the reels, that information is simply there to help you organize your footage. You say you had 50 tapes... that's a damn lot of footage. FCP won't yell at you for having everything with the same reel number, but it may make it harder for you to organize and keep track of everything.

Thanks,
TimmyD

 

[alonerdottiearebel]

Thanks for the advice.

For exporting, are you talking to tape? We're doing everything in 23.98 and finishing on HD tape. The deck is about $500/day to rent so we hate to rent it just for running a test.

I'm thinking the Reel # problem comes if we have a post house do the online at the end. We would need to generate an EDL to give them but the EDL would indicate that all the footage came from Reel 001 therefore they would have no idea where to pull shots from. But we can manually change the reel #s so we'll probably do that now just to head off any crazy issues later.

-PW

 

[Vance Evans]

I just finished an HD project using the Varicam and the same 1200A deck, into FCP 5.1.1 using firewire. The frame rate and capture settings will determine data rate.

If you want to edit in a 24p based timeline you should be capturing at "DVCPRO HD - 720p24" for all your 24 fps (23.98 fps) footage and all your overcranked footage should be captured at 60p.

The deck does not "automatically adjust to the correct frame rate..." You'll need to install the Frame Rate Converter and follow other certain steps. All your questions will be answered if you read this and follow the steps: http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/dvcpro_hd_workflow_balis.html

I would also suggest re-logging your footage and correctly naming each tape (*_001, *_002, *_003... etc.). FCP defaults to 001 each time you open the log and capture window, so you'll need to watch closely for this. Sure, you could fumble through the tapes and timecode later, but...

Hope this helps_

 

[alonerdottiearebel]

We will definitely take the time to fix the reel #s.

Can we still work in a 23.98 sequence even though some of our footage was captured in 59.94? Or since we are just beginning to edit, should was take the time to recapture the 59.94 clips?

Thanks,
PW

 

[Vance Evans]

Varicam and FCP workflow

Varicam and FCP workflow

The only time you want to log and capture at 720p60 (assuming you want a 24p timeline) is when your footage is something other than 24p (for fast or slow motion).

Simply, if you shot 24p and want a 24p timeline, then log and capture at 720p24.

See the workflow pdf from kenstone for more detail, but I would recapture all 24p material at 720p24. There are ways around it, which would involve the Frame Rate Converter, but you would be creating a few more, and cumbersome steps.

Vance_

 

[alonerdottiearebel]

Apparently the Varicam always shoots at 60 even if it is set to 24fps. It shoots 60 but then flags the footage so that decks read it as 24. That's what people seem to be telling me.

We're recapturing the 1/3 that was at 23.98 at 59.94. Side by side tests seem to indicate that there is a slight improvement in image quality of our 59.94 vs. the 23.98.

The Frame Rate Converter from Panasonic apparently strips the timecode so that it is only useful on select shots (like a slo-mo insert).