Digitize Me (help)

C

Calvin3

Member
Hi all, I'm in the process of a move and I am trying to utilize as much cheap access to local LA facilities/equipment as I can before I hit less film-friendly environs.

I've got footage from a 35mm short project on DVCam and Digibeta tapes as well as non-timecode DATs that I need to get digitized and onto my portable HD so that I can take it all with me when I move and not have to worry about looking for decks in the deep south.

I'm pretty set on using FCP in my home Mac system and that's what i have access to here as well. Up until this point I've only worked a little with Avid, so I'm basically showing up on Monday to an unsupervised FCP bay with access to DVCam and Digibeta decks and need to figure out how to get what I have digitized and then back out to my Lacie HD. Any suggestions as to user guides available online or pointers that might help would be greatly appreciated.

Also anyone online who currently lives in the SE? I'm heading to SC and wondering what kind of user network exists out there.
 
You should probably buy a book if you don't already have one. Digitizing is simple but it has it's variables and I don't feel like going into it, sorry.

If there's a spare Firewire port then you can digitize directly to your LaCie.
 
Try a few shots to get the hang of it. Work out a system of scene names, take numbers, etc and enter in log notes as you go by using the log and then batch capture process. That will make it much easier to organize and locate the shots you need.
Read through the manul and use the help menu.
 
do you happen to have vhs dubs of your stuff with window-burned tc? that would make your life a whole lot easier. you could create a new fcp project, set up your browser window with the columns you need and hide the ones you don't. you might consider using one of the customizable columns (either "comment" or labels,) to indicate whether it's dvcam or digibeta.

then, you'd export a tab delimited batch list which would give you a file you could open up in excel. (or you could do a formatted batch list to open in a word processor.) then you could basically log the whole thing at home with a vcr. enter reel names, in and out points, and name clips, and add any other info you like (scene names, take numbers, etc.) as long as you don't screw up the excel document (don't add any new row or column headings, and use the proper punctuations in the timecode,) tha excel doc will import right into fcp at the rented suite, and from there you just do a batch capture.

of course, if you had window burned vhs dubs, you could also capture from those (at offline quality) and set fcp to read the window-burned tc info, and actually create a fcp project which you could open at the suite. toss the vhs-captured media from your scratch folder, and batch capture from there.

but you probably don't have it that good. but if it was me, i'd see if i could get those dubs made first, to save yourself from having to log everything at the suite. the best thing would be to go in there and either just open a project, or import a batch list or edl, and then everything would be butter.

ps- no one says "digitize" anymore. that's totally early 90's :) everything on those tapes is already digital.

the dat stuff should be easier, especially if you're on a g5. just find a dat deck with optical out, and you're g2g. you can pick those up for a song off ebay. if this suite doesn't have a deck, just buy one off of ebay when you get to the se.
 
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