Can u read my current setup and make any suggestions?

[msf]

I have just started making movies (amateur) from all kinds of media ranging from 40 year old slides (converted), 40 year old pictures scanned, VHS tapes captured, new photos scanned, and digital camera pictures and dv video captured or imported. Everything works so far, but I don't know if I am missing any obvious nuances.

My goal is to make amateur montages of all the above assets, and put them to music using appropriate transitions and effects. I started with Imovie and Idvd and got bored with the limitations so have upgraded to final cut pro and DVD pro.

I would like to make a series of statements and have someone with experience correct me or qualify them before I learn the hard way. Please forgive any misnomers are naivety if anything sounds stupid.
Also, this request is selfishly wrong, so if you are kind enough to scan it, help on any statement would be appreciated.



Equipment:
MacG4, OSX
Canopus analog/digital converter (the medium priced one)
HP Scanner
Sony DV camera
Decent VCR/DVD player
Lots of Hard drive (including external)

Software:

Final Cut Pro HD (5 I guess)
DVD Studio Pro
Adobe Photoshop 7
A couple of free or shareware utilities I thought I needed like MP3 trimmer.
No other plug ins or major software like Soundtrack Pro, Motion 2, Mac the Ripper, ffmpex, avid, vegas, etc.....as a matter of fact I don't know what any of those things do or if I need them.


Please comment on the following with DVD production as a goal:

1. My Hardware, including the Canapus is fine for my purpose and I don't need a capture card or any other hardware. T/F?

2. My software is fine for starters and I am not missing any essential tools. T/F?

3. I play with my pictures in Photoshop first the best I know how, cropping and editing and fixing imperfections, and then I may make final adjustments with FCP if I want to.

4. I scan pictures that are small and/or where I may want to use effects like motion, Ken burns, or zooming in at higher resolution than 72 dpi, often 300 which I may change in FCP later to save space after I look at them (I'm not smart enough to know in advance exactly what to do until I see it).

5. Some pictures, like portraits, I use Photoshop to put a white background at 720 x 480, so that the image looks better on TV than it would with nothing to either side of the photo. I am experimenting with nesting, and fancier backgrounds to get a little more exciting.

6. For regular non-hd DVDs for television, I try to end up with an edited image of 720x480, however someone told me I should choose 720x540 because a regular TV cuts off the top and bottom and or condenses it to 720x480...or something like that. Which is correct?

7. Can I make rolling titles in FCP or Photoshop or can you recommend another software.

8. I've found FCP does not like MP3's so I convert them with QuickTime to Aifs. Is this true and what can you tell me about importing music?

9. I don't understand most audio lingo, but I know I am importing music with different formats, bit rates, and mono and stereo and any other differences that can occur when you get assets from many different sources. Does FCP take care of this or should I edit them to be the same before importing to FCP?

10. I use the audio level equalizer gizmo in FCP to make the music approximately the same volume throughout the project and that seems to work. That sound right?

11. I have never experienced an "out of sync" problem yet...but will I and will it be because I am dealing with different formats of audio and or video?

12. Why have I not had to care about AVI, DivX, XVID, ASF, MOV, RM to MPEG VCD or SVCD, CVD, DVD and third party converters yet? Is this because FCP takes care of it?

13. Finally, is this a good way to handle my files...?

Create folders for assets.
Import them to FCP and make different sequences.
Save the project.
Combine sequences and export to QuickTime movie, choose mpeg2 double scan, and make sure the other settings are up to snuff, and make a FCP movie.
Burn it with DVD Pro (which I am still learning how to make chapters etc) using a DVD-R because they work in more players.

If I should ever want to make something other than a DVD, like a streaming vide clip I can always go back to my project and export it from FCP because that will be the best way?


Thanks for anyone who had the patience to read this and respond.

[terryj]

I have just started making movies (amateur) from all kinds of media ranging from 40 year old slides (converted), 40 year old pictures scanned, VHS tapes captured, new photos scanned, and digital camera pictures and dv video captured or imported. Everything works so far, but I don't know if I am missing any obvious nuances.

My goal is to make amateur montages of all the above assets, and put them to music using appropriate transitions and effects. I started with Imovie and Idvd and got bored with the limitations so have upgraded to final cut pro and DVD pro.

I would like to make a series of statements and have someone with experience correct me or qualify them before I learn the hard way. Please forgive any misnomers are naivety if anything sounds stupid.
Also, this request is selfishly wrong, so if you are kind enough to scan it, help on any statement would be appreciated.

First, welcome to our little corner of the universe,
glad you are here.
Your intentions seem admirable, So let's hope we can
assist you best as possible...

Equipment:
MacG4, OSX
Canopus analog/digital converter (the medium priced one)
HP Scanner
Sony DV camera
Decent VCR/DVD player
Lots of Hard drive (including external)

Ok I assume you are running at least a Dual Processor G4 of some kind, or if running a single CPU G4, that it is 733 mhz or better.
I also assume that you have a Canopus ADVC-100/-110,
a standalone box ( not the PCI card ADVC-55).
You also don't mention how much ram you have,
at least 1GB is essential nowadays.

Software:

Final Cut Pro HD (5 I guess)
DVD Studio Pro
Adobe Photoshop 7
A couple of free or shareware utilities I thought I needed like MP3 trimmer.
No other plug ins or major software like Soundtrack Pro, Motion 2, Mac the Ripper, ffmpex, avid, vegas, etc.....as a matter of fact I don't know what any of those things do or if I need them.


Please comment on the following with DVD production as a goal:

1. My Hardware, including the Canapus is fine for my purpose and I don't need a capture card or any other hardware. T/F?

RAM, RAM, RAM.
At least 1GB or more if your G4 can handle it.

but, True.
The Canopus ADVC-100 or te ADVC-110 is sufficient yes for
Analog to Digital Conversion.

2. My software is fine for starters and I am not missing any essential tools. T/F?

False.
You need to also get Quicktime Pro and the Quicktime Pro M-PEG2
component ( both should have come with legit copies of
Final Cut Pro. So you may have them, you just didn't mention
having installed them).

3. I play with my pictures in Photoshop first the best I know how, cropping and editing and fixing imperfections, and then I may make final adjustments with FCP if I want to.

ummm...sure. I usually make FCP the last part of the equation,
( Pictures are scanned, cropped, color adjusted in PS,
saved to DVD dimensions ( DV NTSC)
and
THEN export finalized into FCP).

4. I scan pictures that are small and/or where I may want to use effects like motion, Ken burns, or zooming in at higher resolution than 72 dpi, often 300 which I may change in FCP later to save space after I look at them (I'm not smart enough to know in advance exactly what to do until I see it).

Size appropriately in Photoshop, then place in FCP.
Broadcast is 720 pixels x 480 pixels at 72dpi.
Anything higher than that gets lost in the translation
to DVD.

5. Some pictures, like portraits, I use Photoshop to put a white background at 720 x 480, so that the image looks better on TV than it would with nothing to either side of the photo. I am experimenting with nesting, and fancier backgrounds to get a little more exciting.

ok.

6. For regular non-hd DVDs for television, I try to end up with an edited image of 720x480, however someone told me I should choose 720x540 because a regular TV cuts off the top and bottom and or condenses it to 720x480...or something like that. Which is correct?

Martin Sitter, DVDSP VQS Guide, page 62:

"overscanning , the process by which TVs hide the distorted edges of video, will cause your video to be displayed at less than the defined NTSC and PAL standards."

again, page 67

There are two forms of NTSC video, DV NTSC ( 720x480) and D1 NTSC ( 720x486). If you plan on working in D1 NTSC, then create your Photoshop documetns at 720x540 and then resize them to 720x486, and then crop off six lines to make it 720x480. DVD Video uses 720x480
(DV NTSC) so if creating stills in Photoshop for DVD, first create the stills at 720 x 534, at 72dpi, then go upon saving, first go to image size
and change to 720x480, stil 72dpi, then save.

7. Can I make rolling titles in FCP or Photoshop or can you recommend another software.

Livetype, which should have come with your FCP package.

8. I've found FCP does not like MP3's so I convert them with QuickTime to Aifs. Is this true and what can you tell me about importing music?

AIFF, 48khz, 16bit, srtero, No Compression.
You can play the music selection of your choice in iTunes,
edit the music in Quicktime Pro, and saveto AIFF.
You are pretty much on the right track here...

9. I don't understand most audio lingo, but I know I am importing music with different formats, bit rates, and mono and stereo and any other differences that can occur when you get assets from many different sources. Does FCP take care of this or should I edit them to be the same before importing to FCP?

all audio should be the same along your tracks in FCP.
If you mix or match types, it will take it that much longer
in Compressor to get everything in sync for DVD.

10. I use the audio level equalizer gizmo in FCP to make the music approximately the same volume throughout the project and that seems to work. That sound right?

yup.

11. I have never experienced an "out of sync" problem yet...but will I and will it be because I am dealing with different formats of audio and or video?

yes, in theory either mixed video or mixed audio can cause you headaches. Best to get everything in line before sending it to
Compressor for DVD.

12. Why have I not had to care about AVI, DivX, XVID, ASF, MOV, RM to MPEG VCD or SVCD, CVD, DVD and third party converters yet? Is this because FCP takes care of it?

Are you creating/ingesting any of these types?
When you do, they will start to crop up and you will get problems,
without having the proper codecs installed.

13. Finally, is this a good way to handle my files...?

Create folders for assets.
Import them to FCP and make different sequences.
Save the project.
Combine sequences and export to QuickTime movie, choose mpeg2 double scan, and make sure the other settings are up to snuff, and make a FCP movie.
Burn it with DVD Pro (which I am still learning how to make chapters etc) using a DVD-R because they work in more players.

that's one way of doing it.

I prefer:

Create folder for project assests
Import into FCP.
Arrange clips on timeline
edit
save project
export to Quicktime as FCP movie.
Convert to Mpeg-2 ( CBR or VBR, depending on footage)
Convert audio to AIFF
Convert AIFF to AC3 using A.Pack
assemble pieces in DVD Studio Pro
Format to DVD using DVD Studio Pro
Burn Formatted DVD (VIDEO-TS folder) using Toast 6

If I should ever want to make something other than a DVD, like a streaming video clip I can always go back to my project and export it from FCP because that will be the best way?

yes, you can repurpose your FCP project at this point by going back to
FCP.

Thanks for anyone who had the patience to read this and respond.

your welcome. Post back with any other questions!

[msf]

your a saint...I am n awe of your patience...there are a couple of things that I will be posting to clarify some new questions you raised but THANK YOU VERY MUCH for answering a long newbie post.
Hope I can repay the favor someday, but somehow I doubt it will be with expertise in video.

best regards,

Mark

PS - next posts will be to everyone so as not to impose directly on you.

[terryj]

Your Welcome, looking forward to your new questions!

[Frobozz]

A wealth of info for Final Cut users is at
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/fcp_homepage_index.html

[msf]

Dear Sir;

Yiou wrote "Size appropriately in Photoshop, then place in FCP.
Broadcast is 720 pixels x 480 pixels at 72dpi.
Anything higher than that gets lost in the translation
to DVD" in response to question 4 above.

But I have scanned images at higher resolutions (and saved them at, say 144, 288, or 300 dpi (once at 1200 but I learned my lesson). When I do this, I can use the motion effect and zoom into faces with little or no distortion, it worked in Photoshop, FCP, DVD Pro, and looked great on the TV on the DVD...obviosuly it is much more resource intensive and I may be 'overkkill" sometimes but isnt it true that higher dpi is essential for zooming (with motion effect)?

Am I missing something?

thank You,

Mark

[terryj]

Ken Stone, Preparing images

Specifically:

A few other tips:

If you plan to do a 'Ken Burn's effect', enlarge or move around inside your image (a photograph for example) you will need more digital information to avoid pixillation. There are two different ways to do this.(1.) You can increase the overall dimensions of the file and leave the dpi at 72. For a 2X enlargement create your file at 1440 x 960 or for a 4X 2880 x 1920. Another way to achieve the same results would be (2.) to increase the dpi of the file, leaving the file dimensions at 720 x 480, from 72 to 144 dpi for a 2X enlargement or 288 dpi for a 4X enlargement.

However, anything higher is overkill and when the
whole project is ran through Compressor, you will
have to adjust your bitrates accordingly to
compensate for your extra dpi. To avoid having to adjust
the bitrates project by project, I stay with the #1 method,
and adjust the size, but STAY at 72 dpi.

[msf]

so if i used option one, and my goal was to, say, zoom into one persons face in a family portrait, which took, say, 2x equivalent of a zoom, I would have to use the motion effect to start the image out at 50% (to get the whole family) and the make a key point to go to 100% at the appropriate time that I wanted to "zoom" into an individuals face (which is really just putting it back to its actual size and "moving" it to his face while restoring the image to its actual size.

Never thought of it that way....thank you.

And I assume from your quote I should always stay in proper mutiples of 720x480 by 72 dpi (either way I do it) because FCP prefers that ratio(s).

Will acropped image of, say, 1440 by 480 (pretend I scanned one of those panarama pictures, I'm not but sometimes I have the ability to elongate the image so I can do a Ken burns like effect with out seeing borders, background or edge of images.) will that screw things up or just take longer to render?

I only ask this because my project hopes to include closeups of people's faces that aren't real big in the original and I find it less fullfilling when you see the edge.


Thank you

[terryj]

so if i used option one, and my goal was to, say, zoom into one persons face in a family portrait, which took, say, 2x equivalent of a zoom, I would have to use the motion effect to start the image out at 50% (to get the whole family) and the make a key point to go to 100% at the appropriate time that I wanted to "zoom" into an individuals face (which is really just putting it back to its actual size and "moving" it to his face while restoring the image to its actual size.

Never thought of it that way....thank you.

your welcome.

And I assume from your quote I should always stay in proper mutiples of 720x480 by 72 dpi (either way I do it) because FCP prefers that ratio(s).

Will acropped image of, say, 1440 by 480 (pretend I scanned one of those panarama pictures, I'm not but sometimes I have the ability to elongate the image so I can do a Ken burns like effect with out seeing borders, background or edge of images.) will that screw things up or just take longer to render?

I only ask this because my project hopes to include closeups of people's faces that aren't real big in the original and I find it less fullfilling when you see the edge.


Thank you

it will make it longer to render, yes.