Many of us have been editing with FCP for a few years now and were exited when Apple finally decided to re-write FCP from the ground up finally giving us a 64bit architecture, FCP only works on the Apple Mac so if you are intrenched as most of us are in the Mac platform the alternatives are AVID and Adobe’s Premiere Pro.

Sadly, Final Cut Pro has been haemorrhaging professional customers to AVID and Adobe since the introduction of FCP-10. Walter Murch reckons he has finally reached the end of the road with FCP, Vincent Laforet a big player in the USA is now editing on Premiere Pro, our good friend Alister Chapman from XDCAM USER has written this blog recently…

Alister “Well I’ve been deliberating, experimenting and talking to other editors over which NLE to adopt following the launch of FCP-X. I’ve played with Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 which is really easy to transition to from FCP as it has a similar interface and editing style. I’ve experimented with FCP-X, which is very fast but has so many missing features and forces you to work in ways I don’t always like and I’ve even considered ditching my Mac’s and getting PC’s to run Edius or Vegas. Vegas is very powerful but has a quirky interface, while I hear nothing but good things about Edius, I guess I’m just not ready to ditch my Mac’s just yet. So that leaves Avid Media Composer.

For a long time my biggest issue with Avid has been the inability to use 3rd party IO devices like low cost Blackmagic or AJA HDSDi cards. But that’s all started to change. The current version of Media Composer (5.5) will allow you to use a Matrox MXO or AJA IO Express. So now you can easily connect to the external world from your Avid edit suite. A few days ago Avid announced that they will soon be releasing Media Composer 6 which is to be a very significant update.

MC 6 will make it much easier for 3rd party IO manufactures to produce cards that will work with Avid. It will also work natively with Apple ProRes, so all my old ProRes files from my FCP projects will go straight in to Avid. In addition Avid are introducing a 444 version of their DNxHD codec, so this will be a good match for my F3 and S-Log.  Avid also supports 3D editing and now comes with a comprehensive set of production tools including Boris Continuum, Boris Effects, SonicFire Smartsound, Sorenson Squeeze and Sonic Avid DVD (PC Only). Media Composer 6 is also a 64bit application show should run nice and quick.

It’s been a while since I used Avid on a day to day basis so I will have a bit of learning to do, but it’s reassuring to know that Avid are specialists in NLE software, so it will work and will do what an editor wants.  So with the software chosen now all I need to do is work out which external IO to get. As my Mac’s have Thunderbolt, the Matrox MXO boxes make an interesting and low cost option.”

Apple have made a fundamental mistake bringing FCPX onto a mature professional marketplace by re-writing and changing the game plan way beyond what many of us would accept. If you had tinkered with iMovie then you were almost there, it was a very bad miscalculation by Apple to assume everyone was now solid state and and even worse to assume we were past outputting to DVD let alone Blu-ray.

I cannot recommend FCP-10 as a professional platform as it’s fundamentally flawed by not having a bolt on DVD authoring program let alone no way of previewing your output to a professional monitor.

Preview and multicam are being added to FCPX as I write but I think it’s now too late for Apple to play catch up over AVID and Adobe and if you need a suite that gives you editing and DVD authoring all on the same platform then look no further than Adobe’s Premiere Pro for Mac or PC.

AVID in my opinion could have cornered the market if they had brought out Media Composer 6 at around £800 but at £1749 the full retail price and not having a DVD authoring program dedicated to the Mac platform it’s a price many of us are not willing to pay.

Pulitzer prize winning photographer, turned HDSLR Filmmaker Vincent Laforet, created a new hour long tutorial detailing his complete Abobe Premiere workflow. The informative video is especially useful for those disgruntled Final Cut pro X users who are thinking about making the switch to Premiere Pro.

The important point some people are missing is that Final Cut Pro had built up a large professional following quite a few crossing over from AVID and without doubt it was the number one editing platform, many of us are still cutting on FCP-7 and in my opinion the only company listening to the needs of professionals is Adobe…they at least not only came back to the Mac platform but gave us a 64bit version without changing the program itself…something Apple should have taken on board.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

While you are waiting for the Canon announcement here is some interesting info from AVID, Media Composer 6 is an all new built from the ground upwards 64bit edit system.

AVID could have stolen a fair number of Final Cut Pro editors but the general consensus is that it’s far too dear standing at £1799 which is a shame, £799 or less would have tempted a few us over to the purple side but when you consider FCPX is getting a major upgrade in January and at £199 is still a better option than AVID at £1799.

Just in case AVID are unaware we are going through a recession and everyone is tightening their belts, clients are not spending full dollar so it’s sheer madness to think we are going to spend £1799 on software we don’t need.

AVID is a “once upon a time” software in other words once upon a time AVID was the first name in NL editing but lost the plot a few years back and was largely overtaken by FCP and Premiere Pro…how sad !

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

Sorry for lack of content but I had a small window of time to refurbish my edit suite and as I knew from five years ago it’s no mean task. Wires, cables everywhere and everything in the wrong place so I decided this was swap over week.

The old desk was a pig to un-assemble and was a lot heavier than I was expecting, a re-design of the new desk gives me a welcome set of drawers to keep my SDHC cards in place while editing.

As your keen eyes may have noticed I am still running Final Cut Pro 7, I do not have the time to look at FCP-10 till the next major upgrade due out at the end of the summer. So thats me a new desk and finally computers, VCRs, remote controls and everything in it’s place

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

Finally Premiere Pro comes of age with CS5.5 and we now have an AVCHD preset for 1080 50p which is just on time for the new camcorder from Sony, the NX70 which has 1080 50p built in.

It only remains for us to see if Final Cut Pro 10 is equipped with the same preset though I have no doubts that it will have. The major fly in the ointment is the boxes that ingest and output video to my monitor the AJA io HD, as yet it has no preset for 1080 50p, I hope AJA address this otherwise I move over to Matrox.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

I was reading a post by Walter Biscardi during the week about a producer who left the last of his budget to post production so much so that he employed a college student to give him a rough cut of a production that was being submitted to Sundance.

Part of Walter’s post…

“Producer:  He didn’t meet either of the requirements I set for him AND gave me a “finished” project that I couldn’t use. I’ve already paid him for 6 out of the 8 weeks, in the good faith that he’d finish the project per my requirements and continued to send payment after he failed to do so. I know it sucks for him because he really worked all day and night the last week, but this is a business and his actions caused me to lose money. And honestly, better prioritizing on his part would have prevented this entire situation (he spent days color-correcting while raw footage was waiting idly by to be cut into coherent scenes). As an editor, what would you expect from your client if this had happened to you. What do you think would be the fair thing for me to do?

Me:  This is a business for you.  It’s a learning experience for him.   He’s a college student, he’s not a professional editor.   You made the decision to hire him I’m guessing because he was ridiculously cheap.  Therefore you owe him the payment.

Our one hour documentary took 6 days to color correct with a 30 year Colorist doing the work with professionally calibrated equipment in a professional color suite.   So that fact that he took days is not surprising in the least.   I would expect a non-colorist to take at least 2 weeks to color correct a one hour film.   Did you tell him not to color correct any of the scenes until the film was completed?  In fact, why were you color correcting the film at all when you had such a tight turnaround?    That’s another mistake and something that you as a Producer needed to clarify with the editor.

As a professional editor you would not have had anything to submit to Sundance without giving me the final payment so the fact that you even had something to submit is remarkable.   As a professional editor, I would have prioritized the edit to complete the story first and finish second.  But in college you’re all about impressing people with your knowledge of software and effects, so playing with graphics, color enhancement and the like are what it’s all about in college.  So I’m not surprised he wanted to play with looks on the film instead of finishing it first.

All in all, you chose the wrong person when you decided to hire someone in college to do a highly professional job.   As the Producer it is your responsibility to hire the right people to complete each task of the project.   It sounds to me like you did not budget near enough money for Post Production or you would have hired a good professional editor or Post facility.   This happens all the time here and what usually happens is a facility like mine has to come behind and clean up the mess.

Sorry to be so blunt, but you made a very poor choice to choose such an unqualified person to cut a project for such high profile expectations.”

To read the rest of Walters blog : http://www.biscardicreative.com/blog/2011/05/post-production-is-not-an-afterthought

Well said Walter… I would have told him to enter his production into a place where the sun does not shine, this brings me onto another pet hate of mine, using the wrong equipment for the job…

I got a phone call only today about a chap who was disappointed with his Sony PMW-350 “It does not produce good sound” I was told could I give the chap a phone please, knowing the camcorder very well I was surprised the here this comment till I phoned the chap.

It turns out that his “Bogart” editing system will only ingest one track of sound from his camcorder so there was the first problem solved, it was not the camera at fault but the poor choice of editing equipment that was to blame.

Secondly the way this chap works is to let the sound take care of itself which is why the music is fine but the verbal part of his track is low, also, using one gun mic mounted on the camcorder is not the solution for good speech.

These two stories are very similar in the fact that all the money has been spent up front with little to no thought when it comes to editing the finished production.

When I budget for any job the same money is divided equally to the filming and editing as they are both equally important, it’s all very well getting the best DP to film with a RED ONE if you cant then afford for a 4K editing facility.

Editing can make or break a production it’s where the magic is added, the music is blended, the graphics added the footage graded etc, etc.

You need not only a competent editor but a decent NLE to edit with and if you are prepared to use “Janet and John” editing equipment you get what you pay for.

 

 

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I think it’s important to discover what your editing software can do before buying a camcorder, this is especially so when it comes to AVCHD. As a rule of thumb the most recent version of your software will stand a better chance of editing AVCHD than buying a new solid state camcorder and crossing your fingers.

Apple Final Pro 7, Avid Media Composer 5, Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 and Sony Vegas Pro 10…all of these packages will run AVCHD but sadly none of these NLE software supports 1080 50p which is going to play a bigger part during the introduction of Sony’s NXCAM Super 35mm camcorder due out June/July 2011.

I get at least one phone call a week talking about AVCHD and compatible software and it’s normally people running earlier versions of the above software, I can’t make it more planer if you want to upgrade to HD and especially AVCHD then you must be running the most up to date version of your software to stand a chance.

Everyone wants the best camcorder and usually spends good money on the “flashy” end of the video process but so many of you neglect the belt and braces part of your business the EDIT SOFTWARE the second most important part of your chain and you can’t be bothered spending three to five hundred pounds to upgrade to the latest version of the software !

UPDATE : I guess I missed the best of the lot…EDIUS 6 not only does it handle AVCHD natively but it edits 1080 50p as well…fantastic…sadly unless you are willing to run your MAC in PC mode via Parallels then this software is PC only, I would have been tempted bar for the need for a PC !

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

The name of this interesting App is 1st Video; it was designed by startup company Veicorder Technology Inc.. It was realeased yesterday and costs $9.99 at the App Store.
I had the opportunity to review Vericorder Technology’s apps at the 2010 NAB Show in Las Vegas. As matter of fact, I downloaded their Showcase app and produced a few field reports on the RTDNA conference and the Showcase app itself. I was, indeed, impressed with Showcase, which can produce video slideshows using the iPhone’s still picture camera and microphone.
With 1st Video, you can shoot and edit video and audio right on your iPhone. Your video can be posted or shared on blogs, YouTube, and even newsrooms; all of this using the 3G network or an internet connection.

For on-the-spot freelance news coverage is beyond great. 1st Video’s President and CEO, Gary Symons, told me that they are developing a system that will allow freelance reporters to subscribe their services to a computer intereface allowing major news networks to pinpoint through GPS the freelancer’s location. What does it mean? It means that in breaking news situations or stories in remote locations demanding immediate attention, a freelance reporter can be located and hired on the spot, and reports can be filed using a data network.
For instance, if there’s a flash flood in Iowa and network reporters can’t make to the scene for any reason, a registered freelance reporter in the affected area can be found with the help of GPS, and hired to produce a news report about the flood using her/his iPhone.
I purchased yesterday 1st Video – Consumer Edition and gave it try. The interface was easy to use, the real-time response was impressive, and the tools provided by the app to edit video and audio were more than I thought was possible in an iPhone. I put together a simple piece of video and exported it to YouTube directly from my iPhone. Here’s the final result:

Posted by  www.mediaissues.org

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The new UltraStudio Pro is the world’s first broadcast quality SD/HD capture and playback solution for USB 3.0 computers! UltraStudio Pro combines the latest broadcast technology into an attractive ultra-thin design that looks great on your desktop!
UltraStudio Pro has the power you need for the most demanding broadcast and post production environments. With the incredible speed of the new USB 3.0 interface built- in, running at a massive 4.8 Gb/s, UltraStudio Pro easily has enough speed for the highest quality uncompressed 10 bit HD video with the maximum real time effects!
Advanced Broadcast Technology
UltraStudio Pro packs state of the art broadcast technology into an impossibly thin design. You get more video and audio connections, high quality up, down and cross conversion, full 10 bit video, internal SD keying and more!
UltraStudio Pro also includes a massive number of video and audio connections including 3 Gb/s SDI, HDMI, analog component, composite, s-video, 4 channel analog audio, 2 channel AES/ EBU audio, genlock/tri-sync and RS422 deck control connections. UltraStudio Pro even includes a broadcast quality 7 foot/2 meter breakout cable, so you’ll save hundreds of dollars on expensive professional cables!
There’s even an independent SDI output that’s down converted for simultaneous HD and SD monitoring while you work! The built-in up, down and cross converter lets you edit in one format, and then output to any HD or SD format!

Innovative Design
UltraStudio Pro’s innovative design looks great on your desktop while hiding the cables behind the unit. With dozens of audio and video connections built-in, you can keep your studio neat and clean! UltraStudio Pro includes audio level meters for accurate audio level calibration.
UltraStudio Pro’s chassis is machined from solid metal with high grip silicon feet, so it’s strong enough to withstand the most harsh broadcast environments.

UltraStudio Pro $895

HDW : Before you get excited remember this will only work with USB 3.0 computers which makes it USB-3 PC compatible at this moment in time but I am reliably informed you should be able to buy a USB-3 slot in board fairly soon from Apple. The one thing that bothers me about this product is the breakout cable…a mess of cables…personally I would have preferred a breakout cable that terminated into a 18″ rack mount box.

According to the information we all have at hand right now, the next-gen USB standard should become available for commercial applications in 2010, and Apple should be one of the first companies to embrace it. Why? First, because people missing FireWire may not be happy with USB 2.0, and second…

…just think about the USB 3 specifications: speeds up to 4.8 Gbit/s (600 MB/s), as well as a powering system which intelligently cuts power when your USB 3 device is idle!

Since the USB 3.0 Promoter Group has announced the completion of the USB 3.0 specification and the USB 3 release is, practically, a part of the past, but if you’re one of those working in a company that’s going to mess with this new technology, you may want to take a look at the specification and adopter agreement, both available here. After all, there’s still enough time left until USB 3.0 arrives in consumers’ hands, but you wouldn’t like to miss the USB 3 train, would you?

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

HDW : As a Final Cut Pro user I find this very tempting indeed. In the early days I used Premiere 6.5 moving over to Premiere Pro 1.5 then onto Final Cut Pro. I found Premiere Pro overly complicated with a lot of finicky controls very like Photoshop. The NVIDEA Quadro FX4800 for my MacPro would cost £1500 then add the cost of CS5 and you are looking at an upgrade price of around £3000 !

This new 64bit Premiere Pro with the Mercury Playback Engine is fantastic it’s the first NLE package to be able to run 4 streams of native 4K RED files as a multi-cam production…nothing can touch this as far as I am aware. 9 streams of P2 full HD footage in real time, this baby will bring HD editing beyond the 21st century.

Apple are a long way off bringing FCP anywhere near 64bit and as it stands Compressor and DVD Studio Pro are a joke. The one sole program that saves FCPs butt is Motion. Motion is streets ahead of After Effects and far easier to use but for this one program I for one would kiss good-by to FCP and who knows if the £3K became accessible that jump may be sooner than later.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

Today, Apple announced its new tablet – the iPad. Which is great for watching videos, but not so great at creating them. For that, we still need laptops and tower computers.

With that in mind, I’m up in San Jose, CA, this week in a series of meetings with Adobe about all kinds of interesting stuff.

During the course of our conversations, I learned a couple of things that I wanted to share with you.

First, Adobe made the decision that all their future applications will be 64-bit only. For Mac users, this means that this will require hardware that can run OS X 10.6. Fortunately, Apple has made 64-bit support simple by building it into the OS. If you can run Snow Leopard, you are all set.

For PC users, the issue is more complex. 64-bit means that you need to buy a 64-bit-capable system. However, many less expensive PC computers on the market today are only 32-bit. This means that whenever Adobe releases new software, it won’t even install on these 32-bit systems; even if you bought it recently.

(Note: This also means that new Adobe software won’t install on Macs that can’t run Snow Leopard; which includes all non-Intel/Macs and anyone not running at least OS X 10.6.)

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As a side note, the reason that 64-bit support is so important is that it provides support for vast – and I mean truly HUGE – RAM memory. Currently, 32-bit systems, like Leopard, only allow an application to access 4 GB of RAM. 64-bit systems allow applications to directly access HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of TERABYTES! Sheesh….!

The second big benefit of 64-bit support, according to Adobe, is that applications run much faster because they need to access the hard disk much less frequently.

Better speed and performance are both good things in my book!

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A second new technology that Adobe is talking about publicly is what they call the Mercury Playback Engine. Currently, this runs only in Adobe Premiere Pro and what it provides is blazingly fast performance for video editing.

The Mercury engine works in both software and hardware. And, using just the software engine, its pretty interesting.

However, when you add hardware, the speed explodes into almost frightening performance. The key point, though, is that the playback engine is optimized for NVIDIA graphics cards. (Meaning that ATI graphics cards are not supported.)

When you connect an NVIDIA graphics card to your system, performance is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Real-time multi-camera playback of four native RED 4K files. Real-time color correction with multiple filters applied to the same clip. Real-time editing of native AVCHD video, no transcoding required.

Adobe tells me that when assisted by an NVIDIA card, Premiere Pro operates 50-100 TIMES faster than it does in software alone.

At this point, both of these are technology demos. Current versions of Adobe Production Premium don’t support these features. However, as you are planning your hardware purchases for the year, you might want to keep these thoughts in mind.

Currently, Final Cut Studio does not support 64-bit memory addressing, nor does it support hardware acceleration (Motion does, but the other applications do not).

Adobe is giving us just a glimpse of what we can look forward to later this year. Hopefully, Apple will follow suit.

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One other note. Next generation Adobe software will also be multicore aware. This means that the more processors you have in your system, the faster the software will run. This, too, is something Final Cut Studio does not currently support.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd