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Filed under: Cameras •compression •Editing •Post Production •Software •Tips •Final Cut Pro •

DSLR Post Webinar available On Demand, extra questions answered

How to do a multicam(music video) edit in FCP using dslr material?

Once footage is converted into your editing format then DSLR material is just like any other piece of media so no special care has to be given to the clips at that point. If you’re asking how to do a multicam music video edit in general then that’s way beyond the scope of this post. But you should look to auxiliary timecode for one (here’s an article I wrote about just that) or buy Mitch Jacobson’s Mastering Multicamera Techniques book which, full disclosure, I had a very small hand in helping him put together.

Any problems with Grinder? I’ve experienced altered audio. Sounds like the Chipmonks.

I have seen no problems with Grinder altering audio.

Could one make batch convertions in MPEGStreamClip?

Yes, MPEG Streamclip does have batching capabilities. Look under the menu List > Batch List and you can then use a saved preset for the batch.

I have a question, are there any tips for syncing audio from a sound recordist - is it best to sync the rushes first or to add sound after the edit?

I would always sync the sound first. My techniques involve making a sequence with synced sound and then either copy/pasting from one timeline to the other or loading the synced sound sequence into the Viewer/Source monitor and using that as a source clip (careful NOT to nest the edit in FCP). I don’t use merged clips in FCP as they seem to always cause problems if you have to media manage and/or move an edit. The new version of PluralEyes will also create a new master clip that uses the recorded production audio. While I haven’t tried this feature yet it’s a brilliant idea.

Can you do the frame rate conversions in bulk?

Yes, by using the Batch Conform command in Cinema Tools but BEWARE when you choose a single clip in a folder full of clips it will conform EVERY clip in that folder as that’s how Cinema Tools rolls. And it’s a destructive operation, changing the file itself. That’s often okay as you want to slomo all of your 59.94 clips but it’s very important to be aware when you perform a destructive operation to your media.


What is the best way to make slow mo for 5d, shot on 24p?

You can apply speed effects or motion effects via Media Composer or FCP’s built-in speed tools. But fake, post-production slowmo often looks a bit fake, stuttering or showing some nasty artifacting. That’s just part of slomoing in post. I heard Apple Shake has some nice technology built in that does a decent job and that tech might be in Motion as well. Media Composer has several different rendering methods for slomo that can be experimented with.


How do you deal with mixing 720 and 1080 footage?

Your editing application will usually either scale up or scale down your footage depending on what your base editing format is. In FCP that’s your sequence where in Avid that’s your project. And they do a pretty good job of up or down rezzing footage to match.


Why not just Slo_Mo in FCP or Motion?

When you shoot 59.94 and conform to a 23.98 frame rate you are getting a frame by frame “slow down” of the clip which means it’s a clean clip without the artifacting or frame blending that happens when you try to slow down footage in post. If you conform a clip via the Cinema Tools method and then take that same clip and slow it down in FCP and then step through the image frame by frame you can see this happening.


What is the difference between using cinema tools or grinder to do slo-mo versus using the speed tools in the motion tab of FCP?

See question 31 above. Cinema Tools or Grinder is actually CONFORMING the clip to a new frame rate and giving you a new clip slowed down to that frame rate vs. just an effect where the software has to interpolate what to do with in between frames or figure out how to create new frames and how to handle the changes from frame to frame.


how to deal with mixed footage of a Canon 5D together with say, Sony HVR-Z1 (=50i)?

I think the most important thing when mixing any other camera with a DSLR is to match the frame rate ... and usually that means 23.98. A traditional “video” camera shooting a native 23.98 frame rate is going to have more of a “film look” (to use a cliched term) and be easier to match. Then it’s often a matter of a good color correction to match the footage. That’s where a trained colorist can work wonders.


4444 too high for DSLR?

Yes, ProRes 4444 is overkill for H264 originating Canon footage as this codec was designed for higher end, full color space workflows (It’s 4:4:4 as opposed to 4:2:2) and to carry an alpha channel. If you’re passing shots back and forth to vfx then it might be worth it but for general DSLR usage it’s overkill.


How do you obtain a flattened image?

Check this FreshDV post that links to a number of articles about setting up your DSLR for flattened shooting.


If using native editing ? whats you color grading workflow?

The only time I use native editing is in Avid Media Composer (and that’s rarely as the native H264 performance isn’t perfect) or Adobe Premiere Pro CS5. Then I just use the built-in color correction tools. In FCP I’ve already transcoded my DSLR footage to a flavor of ProRes so then I just send the edit over to Color or use Magic Bullet Colorista from within FCP.


What specs are required for smooth native playback?

True, smooth native playback of Canon’s out-of-the-camera H264 files require Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 and it’s Mercury Playback engine for “smooth native playback.” Otherwise it’s transcoding into ProRes for a Final Cut Pro edit or DNxHD for an Avid Media Composer edit. While Media Composer 5.0 does support native H264 playback via its great AMA architecture I’ve found less than smooth playback on the slower of my two Mac Pro’s so I usually transcode the material once in Avid and I’ve made my selects.


What hard drive do you recommend for a MacPro for native editing?

None since I wouldn’t recommend native DSLR editing unless I was working in Premiere Pro CS5. As for intermediate codecs like ProRes or DNxHD, they can perform well with any of the hard drives that are geared toward video editors, like the units from G-Technology or CalDigitg the. Firewire 800 can work but the best bang for the buck is to invest in an e-sata card for you Mac Pro as many of these drives now come with an e-sata connection. A RAID configuration is faster than a single drive but there are different types of RAID that offer speed vs. redundancy though that is way beyond the scope of this document. A couple of internal hard drives in the MacPro can be raided as well for good performance.

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I hope these answer most of the questions left from the DSLR Filmmaking Post Workflows webinar. If you didn’t see your question it was probably answered in the podcast that was recorded after the webinar. The full package is available for $25 from New Media Webinars. Thanks to those who attended. I jotted down these answers over early coffee so if I’ve missed any vital information then feel free to follow up in the comments below.

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Timelapse photography isn’t undercranking. That’s really a totally different thing. Sure the effects might be somewhat similar in the end but it’s a totally different approach and technique as to how the two techniques would be shot.

Posted by Scott Simmons  on  06/29  at  08:14 PM

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