Can anyone suggest the best workflow for FCE?

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Level 1

0 points

Can anyone suggest the best workflow for FCE?

Hi,

I'm a newbie to FCE. I've been on the support site for about 4 hours...

I have HDV sequences (16:9, PAL 1440 X 1080, using a Sony HDR-HC1 camera) and need some advice as to the best workflow to get the highest quality product suitable for a short-film competition that will be broadcast on TV in 4:3.

It should be easy enough to letter-box the final product but I'm worried: I need to have "info strips" along the top and bottom of the frame (like in TV commercials- "Buy Now! Call this number!" , etc.) AND above that, at one point, subtitles as well.

With the letterboxing I'm worried that the valuable vertical space I need for the "info strips" and subtitles is going to make a very conjested frame when the short movie is viewed on a TV. Will the "info strips" be legible?

Is there a way I can avoid letterboxing by cutting off the sides of the frame? What would be the best way to add these "info strips" given the above? I want the short-movie to look as if it was made for TV. The output will be on a DVD via iDVD. If I get short-listed I will need to provide the film on a BetaCam SP tape.

Thanks in advance,
Dave M.

iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8) iDVD, FCE
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Posted on Dec 5, 2006 11:34 PM

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Answer 1

Andy Mees

Level 6

12,610 points

Dec 6, 2006 4:26 AM in response to nucleus9

one workflow would be to master your short in 16:9 using the native HDV codec.
then when you have locked down the fininshed edit you can "nest" it into a 4:3 SD sequence using a codec such as DVCPRO50.
in the 4:3 sequence your edit will appear letterboxed. the letterbox area is a perfectly viable space to put these "info strips", as long as the text falls within the 4:3 title safe area.

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Answer 2

nucleus9 Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 8, 2006 11:51 PM in response to Andy Mees

Cheers Andy for your reply,

one workflow would be to master your short in 16:9
using the native HDV codec.

I'm not sure if the footage is already imported in this form: it was imported from tape with the "HDV-1080i50" option from Easy Setup.

then when you have locked down the fininshed edit you
can "nest" it into a 4:3 SD sequence using a codec
such as DVCPRO50.

How do I do this?

in the 4:3 sequence your edit will appear
letterboxed. the letterbox area is a perfectly
viable space to put these "info strips", as long as
the text falls within the 4:3 title safe area.

Sounds good so far...
Dave

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Answer 3

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,819 points

Dec 9, 2006 2:25 AM in response to nucleus9

"'m not sure if the footage is already imported in this form: it was imported from tape with the "HDV-1080i50" option from Easy Setup."

That's the right format.

"How do I do this?"

Edit the material in an HDV sequence. When you're done and ready to create the letterboxing and text, change the easy setup to DV PAL. Make a new sequence and put the HDV sequence inside it. It will scale to fit and letterbox. Everything will need to be rendered, but you can add the graphics into the letterbox area here. When you're done render everything and export, or output to DV PAL 4:3.

Actually in your instance this would not have been the best workflow. It would have been better if you'd outputted a downconverted signal in DV anamorphic from your camera, edited in DV, and then done the letterboxing. But if you've already captured the material you should proceed as above, but maybe for the next project like this you can use the downconvert route.

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Answer 4

nucleus9 Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 10, 2006 1:05 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Cheers for your reply, Tom.

I'm going to make a short sequence tomorrow to test and see how that looks.

Will keep you posted.

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Answer 5

nucleus9 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 12, 2007 9:24 PM in response to nucleus9

Tom,

Shooting first on HD and converting to 4:3 after might be the best method after all because it has allowed me to do a 16:9 master at the same time which looks great (though in the wrong aspect ratio)- BUT...

I have an annoying legacy left over from the transfer from 16:9 to 4:3 by nesting: some of my shots are incredibly flickery. None of this flicker is seen on the 16:9 version. I can think of no reason why this should occur just because it's now in 4:3.

These shots, only some, tend to have ocurred when i have slowed the footage down but are not confined to that alone- is there a suggestion you can make about that? Could it be anything to do with frame blending or anything else you can think of?

Once this final hurdle is overcome my joy will be perfect.

Gratefully,
Dave

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Answer 6

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,819 points

Jan 12, 2007 9:52 PM in response to nucleus9

It's hard to tell without seeing it. You could deinterlace those pieces in the 4:3 sequence. Slomo should be frame blended.

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Answer 7

nucleus9 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 24, 2007 11:12 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Tom,

Found some interesting things:

1. the field dominance shifts when going from the HD (16:9) to nesting the 4:3 DV PAL; after rendering, every clip in the sequence had a "field shift" filter automatically placed on it (+1) except the flickering images-- once they have the filter too, they work fine!

It seems that the conversion process places this filter automatically on all the clips but for whatever reason the filter was not on these clips which lead to the bizarre flickering.

2. de-interlacing, as you suggested, smoothed the movement even more, though frame blending was not as good.

So now the result is fine, the short film is sent and my joy is complete (for now!)

Thanks, Tom, for all your help! You're a legend. Can't thank you enough.
Dave, Perth, Western Australia.

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