If you could give one piece of advice to a beginner...

#2 -what wgzn said is good. I would say shoot, shoot, shoot - the more you shoot, the more you will learn what works and what doesn't.

also, since a good video is 70% good audio, as a sound guy, you've already got a leg up.
 
If you haven't used AFTER EFFECTS before, I'd use MOTION in FCS2 instead. They're both pretty similar, although AFTER EFFECTS has more breadth in terms of effects. But MOTION is fine.

FCS2, along with AVID, is becoming more and more the industry standard. There's nothing wrong with PREMIERE, but not many film/TV studios use it. I used Adobe products for 10 years and liked them, especially After Effects, but they had limitations when it came to color grading. As soon as FCS2 came out and included COLOR, I switched over and am absolutely satisfied.

I've NEVER had a problem using the HVX with FCP.
 
dvxhutch said:
If you haven't used AFTER EFFECTS before, I'd use MOTION in FCS2 instead. They're both pretty similar, although AFTER EFFECTS has more breadth in terms of effects. But MOTION is fine.
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i'd have to disagree there... while i love fcp, the other apps are well... free for a reason. color may be the exception. i haven't really used any other grading software but color seems pretty powerful and the integration is cool.

as far as motion vs. after effects, not even close. if you learn both you will understand. yes they kinda both do the same thing in the same way a honda and a ferrari both do the same thing. no contest.

soundtrack pro is ok if that's all you have but can't hang with pro tools or logic.

i don't use livetype and wouldn't know what to compare it to so maybe it's cool. i dunno. i do titles in AE.
 
soundtrack pro is ok if that's all you have but can't hang with pro tools or logic.
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That's certainly true, but STP was never designed to compete with PRO TOOLS or LOGIC, but with SOUNDBOOTH. It's primarily for dialogue repair, enhancement and foley / SFX editing, and it works fine for that. It also has 3 DVDs worth of audio content (sound effects and the like) which SOUNDBOOTH hasn't, so it's definitely got the edge there.

Pro tools and logic are fantastic apps, but probably a bit complicated at this stage of starting out. If you want to compose your own music further on down the track, you'll want one of them.

as far as motion vs. after effects, not even close. if you learn both you will understand. yes they kinda both do the same thing in the same way a honda and a ferrari both do the same thing. no contest.
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Well, I think there is a contest, although you're right, AFTER EFFECTS certainly wins it.

But I still think if you've committed to FCS2, try MOTION first, and if it's not giving you everything you need, get AE. But don't overload yourself to begin with, it can be very daunting trying to learn everything!

All the best
 
AE and Motion have different approaches to compositing.

But Motion does some things very well that AE does not.

And vice versa. AE is in version 10 or something if you look at the progression.

Motion is at 3. I use both and have for years

But the Ferrari/Honda comparison to me at least doesn't do service to the capabilities of either app.

Sometimes AE acts like a Honda, and sometimes Motion acts like a Ferrari
 
Once again there's been a ton of digital ink flung about in the perpetual pissing contest over this or that NLE. Yea tools are important, but in the end they'll all turn the screw - so go hijack some other thread and get back to the question.

When the celluloid hits the candle - it's all going to come down to CAN YOU TELL THE STORY in this medium. If you can, the rest will come. If you can't, all the gear in the world won't save you.

My 2 cents - the three tools you most need right now - (inverse order) good field mics with wind treatment ; a good basic light kit (softboxes). You're painting with light - your construction sticks are going to be like painting with a mophead - possible - but hard. ; and MOST important - A CREW. This biz is so incredibly hard to do alone it's for all rational intents and purposes impossible. Start scouting now - the right crew is pure gold, makes the incredible possible.

Sounds like you've got a tremendous opportunity that you've righteously earned. Congratulations and Best Wishes! :beer::beer:
 
pixelated said:
Sounds like you've got a tremendous opportunity that you've righteously earned. Congratulations and Best Wishes! :beer::beer:
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Thanks! I'm truly blessed to have this unique opportunity. It's a position I dreamed of having 10-15 years out of college and they gave it to me before I even graduated! And to make it all the better, they're paying my salary while I learn how to do the job they've hired me for... yeah. Pretty much can't imagine anything better than this. Especially because they've already told me they want to travel internationally to various mission fields where we're working to shoot promo documentaries on our mission teams... And I LOVE to travel.
 
And I LOVE to travel.
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Ah the exuberance of youth! Just be careful what you wish for. It's been my experience most mission sites will never make Conde' Nast.:D

Seriously, life should be an adventure, and it sounds like you're off to a great start.
 
pixelated said:
Once again there's been a ton of digital ink flung about in the perpetual pissing contest over this or that NLE. Yea tools are important, but in the end they'll all turn the screw - so go hijack some other thread and get back to the question.
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Kinda of thought discussing the merits of software was on point.

I guess I missed something?

Turning a screw with a hammer won't work. And you could be the best storyteller in the world, but nobody's going to read it without a typewriter and knowing its capabilities.

Anyway, lighting and sound are critical. But knowing how to use your tools is easily the most important factor IMO.
 
David... can you tell me when and why having the native MXF file meta data has helped in the editing process... what data is missing when converting to QT..

Cheers
 
Apart from the transcoding process I don't see what benefits working with native files has...

you'd rarely cut from the original files so you'd make a dub anyhow which takes as long as the transcoding process generally...

Cheers
 
It's not just working with the metadata; that's only part of it. It's working with the MXFs the way they're supposed to be used. Why transcode if you don't have to? Why run 24p standard through Cinema Tools when you don't have to? Why give up the possibility of exchanging work cross-platform? Etc. Etc. Etc. A compromise you don't mind is still a compromise. Other options don't make you compromise anything.

(To say nothing of upgrading HVX/P2 firmware and the other stuff you can only do in Windows.)

My comments, of course, are in no way intended for Mac/FCP users as an audience. You just keep on keepin' on. :thumbsup:
 
Lez said:
David... can you tell me when and why having the native MXF file meta data has helped in the editing process... what data is missing when converting to QT..

Cheers
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Here's an example of the kind of data you can access with the metadata:

1214080117.jpg


Many of those fields can be freely set, some in camera (MORE the higher up the camera food chain you go), all in P2 Viewer/P2CMS, and all in Edius, for example. You have a great deal of useful info to use -- name your shoot, name your camera operator, name the clips, location, etc., what card it's taken from, and so forth. Having this information at your fingertips while editing -- and even being able to manipulate it while editing -- can be VERY useful, especially from a media management standpoint. Even something as simple as using your user-assigned clip name with the clip icon in your media bin instead of the arcane "0002GD.mxf" (or "0002GD.mov") makes things just that much more pleasant.

You may not use it every single time. You may not prefer to use it at all; that's your choice. But the option is still available, and that's because the NLE is working with the MFX data the way it's meant to be used.
 
When I transfer footage, most if not all of the first set of data is included in the FCP bin.

MxF file details are not, nor is the shoot. As to the serial number, at least to me that's not important.

The point I'm making is the most relevant info is the first ten line or so grouping.

But you need the other stuff for whatever reason, you won't get it in the log and transfer.
 
EDIT: I changed the screen grab above to reveal more of the meta data fields.

There are other fields available; they're just not used in this example here.

A sample HVX workflow might be -- shoot on set. Use the shot marker to mark your "circle takes." Offload your card; bring your virtual card into P2 Viewer. Look at the shot-marked takes only. Edit/insert whatever data you want. Get rid of unwanted clips (or not). You've done a ton of organizing and media management goodness before you get to the NLE, and then when you get into an MXF-aware NLE, all that goodness is available to you.

Just a sample of what you could do, and the kind of things P2/MXF is supposed to allow you to do, and some of what you lose by losing the meta data.

(To say nothing of archiving and being able to search on that data as keywords, etc..)
 
David Jimerson said:
A sample HVX workflow might be -- shoot on set. Use the shot marker to mark your "circle takes." Offload your card; bring your virtual card into P2 Viewer. Look at the shot-marked takes only. Edit/insert whatever data you want. Get rid of unwanted clips (or not). You've done a ton of organizing and media management goodness before you get to the NLE, and then when you get into an MXF-aware NLE, all that goodness is available to you.
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Much of that data can be entered prior to shooting. If you have the luxury of having a script supervisor, you can pre-load a metadata file for each scene's shoot. Then all that data will automatically be attached to every clip you shoot.

If using Raylight on the Mac, it can actually organize and sort your clips based on the metadata, filing certain clips in one bin, other clips in another bin, etc.
 
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