PC/Raylight to Mac/FCP

[quiet]

I recently shot a short film with the HVX200, which contains around 80 special effects shots. Getting the HVX pretty much blew our "new toys" budget, so for post we're having to stick with what we have.

What we have is, my editor works on a Mac and is doing the editing and color compression in FCP, as Mac-based editors are known to do. I've always been one of those PC guys (since I gave up being an Amiga guy, that is), and my PC is where the special effects are being done (animation, compositing, titles, you name it), with Raylight being my codec of choice.

I've been searching and lurking in this forum for a while, but can't seem to find someone with a similar workflow.

So what is the best way to get the final effect shots to my editor?
I'd prefer not to go uncompressed, as some shots have gotten into ridiculous sizes that my editor's Mac would rather not deal with. Is there any way to get Raylight to give me a DVCPROHD QuickTime file that will come up on the Mac lossless?

Thanks for any help you can provide.
-Patrick Algermissen
Poem Pictures
www.PoemFilms.com (http://www.PoemFilms.com)

[liquidlight]

Looking forward to this.. we have a similar workflow, and while we send everything back to final cut as uncompressed mov's, I'd like to know if there's a better solution.

[Arson]

Your editor will NEED your stuff uncompressed or he will be compressing twice and you will notice the double compression on the effects shots. Just go buy a 250g external drive for $99 or if its long spring $200 for a 500g...or for about 400 you can go 1 Terrabayte. Drive space is so cheap. Just format it fat32 so that the Macs can see them too.

[Barry_Green]

I think you could export to a Raylight .avi, then use DVFilm Maker to convert to a Quicktime .mov that the Mac could read. But I'm not sure; either check the dvfilm.com site or send Marcus van Bavel ("mvb") a message to ask about this.

[mvb]

I think you could export to a Raylight .avi, then use DVFilm Maker to convert to a Quicktime .mov that the Mac could read. But I'm not sure; either check the dvfilm.com site or send Marcus van Bavel ("mvb") a message to ask about this.

If you're happy with one recompression after the effects are applied then there is a way to get it into FCP without further recompression. That is to export from After Effects, or whatever you are using, a Raylight AVI, then convert it to a P2 Card image using P2 Maker (included with Raylight).

FCP should be able to import the P2 card files just like camera footage. If not however, you can definitely use Raylight for Mac http://dvfilm.com/raylight/mac to create a .mov link file which will edit in FCP like a regular DVCPROHD quicktime.

The P2 Maker process and the Raylight/Mac process both take place without recompression.

The first step, exporting with Raylight, obviously involves recompression if there are effects applied. I've created this sample showing what 1st generation losses are with Raylight, this is a 2-layer photshop file of the original image and the recompressed version:

http://dvfilm.com/customer/RecompTest.psd

[Pierre Petit]

if the virtual p2 card has files of more then 4 gigs in size just save to a ntfs formated drive. Mac will read it but cannot write back to it.Fat32 has a file size limit. With p2 maker you can make a virtual p2 of up to 32gigs if im not mistaken.

[quiet]

Thanks for your advice, everyone! We'll try a couple of the options and I'll post back which worked out the best for us, if anyone is interested. May be a while, though.

[THoff]

if the virtual p2 card has files of more then 4 gigs in size just save to a ntfs formated drive. Mac will read it but cannot write back to it.Fat32 has a file size limit. With p2 maker you can make a virtual p2 of up to 32gigs if im not mistaken.There is no such thing as a P2 file that is larger than 4GB, because the P2 cards are formatted using FAT32.

If you fill up a 16GB card with one continuous recording, you wind up with multiple 4GB clips that are (or should be) reassembled by your NLE. If you use a FS-100, the recordings are broken into 2GB chunks because of limitations in the FS-100.

[Pierre Petit]

noted

[quiet]

Well, it's been a little while, but I finally got a good-sized batch of effects shots complete and moved over from Windows to Mac. I used P2 Maker, and it was quick, easy, and any quality loss was negligible. Everything looks great so far!

I will update again if any problems come up. Or else, I will update when the project is finished in order to plug my .... I mean, to let everyone know how the workflow went.

Thanks again for all your help!