I recently had a discussion with my friend who has a job in the media field, and he is shooting and doing things right, however it got me thinking that I never posted my post about shooting in 24p. He is not shooting in 24p, thank goodness, but so many people are; people who have no idea what 24p is. Only about .00000001% of the people out there should actually be using the 24p feature on their cameras; however every kid on YouTube thinks that shooting in 24p makes them a professional now at “Film Making.” Please, STOP! To understand why you shouldn’t shoot in 24p, let’s first define what the different framerates and resolutions are.
- Standard NTSC SD Resolutions = 480i, 480p
- Standard NTSC SD Framerates = 60i, 60p, 30p
- Standard NTSC HD Resolutions = 720p, 1080i, 1080p
- Standard NTSC HD Framerates = 60i, 30p
Now, you notice that I did not list 24p above, even though it is an option on pretty much every HD consumer and professional camera out there. Well, I hate to break it to you, especially those of you who used it as a deciding-factor in buying the model camera you did…”24p” is just a marketing gimmick. Unless you are going to transfer your footage to film, for theatrical release or inclusion in a professionally done hollywood film or BluRay production line, then 24p is useless. In addition to not gaining anything by doing this, you actually are loosing quality, since you have 6 frames per second that you are sacrificing, and could have, but are discarding at the shoot, so you can never go back and get that footage. There is no way to make 24p file look like it was filmed in 30p, so stop shooting in 24p. No, you are most likely NOT a film-maker, otherwise you wouldn’t need to have read this.
This is “The Complete Blu-Ray Backup Guide by milOtis”
- How to make a 1:1 1080p Blu-Ray Backup (to BD-R/RW)
- How to make a BD5 1080p Blu-Ray Backup (to DVD-R)
I have made my guide in the form of a PDF file, so that it is universal, and also because it is around 30 pages, with multiple images. The guide is an easy step-by-step method, with screenshots for each and every step along the way. The guide includes how to backup a Blu-Ray disc to another Blu-Ray disc, as well as how to backup your Blu-Ray discs to BD-5 backups (burned to DVD-R), but still 1080p and full 5.1 audio! This is the only guide you will ever need to backing up Blu-Ray discs to BD-R/RW or DVD-R/RW
NOTE: The DVD backup method is NOT an MPEG2-encoded backup! The files are still 1080p AVCHD Blu-Ray files, and playable on any Blu-Ray player, including the PS3. The DVD method for backing up will NOT play on a standard set-top DVD player.
NOTE: Neither the creator of this guide, nor any makers of the included software, will be held responsible in any way for the use or misuse of this material. This tutorial was created for those who want to protect their Blu-Ray investments, but do not have the technical knowledge on how to perform the backup process, as it is somewhat complicated. As previously stated, this guide is only to be used by those who own the Blu-Ray discs that they are backing up. You are prohibited from using this tutorial on discs obtained through rental or subscription services. Any use of this guide for all legal and/or illegal purposes is the sole responsibility of the end user. This guide comes with no expressed or implied warranty or guarantee of support, of any kind.
The above link contains the PDF guide. The guide itself contains links to the latest release of each individual piece of software that you need, and I do recommend getting the software from the latest download links located in the guide. If the need arises, I will update the guide with any new information or techniques that simplify and enhance the backup process, so you can rest assured this guide will always be up to date. Make sure to always download the link in this post to get the latest version of the guide.
You have seen the Mac vs PC ad’s saying that you should switch from PC to Mac, and they give a good supporting argument as to why…well, now the same is true for professional editing. Now, for the first time, Final Cut Pro users have a real “reason” to want to switch from Final Cut to Premiere, and hey guess what – you can still use MacOS if you wish since Premiere Pro is available for both Windows and MacOS.
Up until now (pre-CS4), it is just been a matter of preference, and whatever you were used to was the preferrable method of editing; kind of like o Mac and PC wre until 2006, when Mac overtook PC’s by leaps and bounds with the saturation of Intelbased machines into the Market. The reason there was “If Mac’s can do both, then why not get a Mac?” This statement is in reference to being able to dual-boot Windows Xp/Vista and MacOS on the same computer natively. No more need for emulation now with Intel based Macs. Well, the same reasoning follows with the new Adobe CS4 production software. Now that Adobe can do everything Final Cut can do (and more), then why not use it? Sidenote: At a pricetage almost half that of Apple’s software, there i sno more reason than now to switch.
Anyway, to get to my point about the one feature that would convince Fincal Cut Pro users to switch, the ability to edit multiple format timelines/sequences within the same project. Now, this might not sink-in immeidately to FCP users, because since the dawn of Final Cut, users have had to make sure hat ALL their source video matched their project settings. If you wanted to edit a project from multiple sources, you had to first convert them all to one common format, like QT/MOV DV (on mac) and THEN you could edit your video, only after you had converted it. Well, in Premiere Pro CS4, not only can you drop in multiple file formats from all over the spectrum of devices out there, but you can even create multiple timelines within a project that have totally different settings. One timeline can be HD 720p with 5.1 Surround sound, another sequence can be SD with PCM audio, while yet another can be P2 DVCPROHD with 7-channel audio. All of these can be editing within the same project, without the need for pre-conversion or separated projects like in Final Cut Pro.
Now, if this doesn’t convince FCP users to switch, then they carry the same traits as the people using PCs who don’t want to switch: Stubborn and comfortable. You see, people who dont switch editing platforms are the same…they are comfortable with what they already know, so they do not want to take a couple hours to relear new commands, keyboard shortcuts, etc. They are also stubborn or in denial, thinking that FCP is still superior in some way to Premiere Pro. This is a wrong assumption, and something that unfortunately cannot be swayed in the mind of the FCP user; thus the word “stubborn.” I actually have a friend who is a wiz at FCP. He and I pretty much knwo the same amount of information with FCP and Premiere Pro, respectively. So, he comes over with all his mutiple files formats, and says “Just put those into compressor, let them convert, since we have to do that before we edit anyway, and we can go kill a couple hours eacting lunch or something while they convert.” I just smiled as I plugged in the harddrive and began to drang and drop them directly into Premiere Pro. He saw what I was doing and repeated himself, “You have to convert them before you start editi…,” he stopped his sentence short and he just watched Premiere Pro absorb the files without the need for conversion and within about one minute we were ready to edit. He stood there, jaw open, wondering how on earth it did that. He then decided we should go have lunch anyway at that point so I could talk to him about all the cool things Premiere Pro can do. What I discovered in our conversation pretty much confirmed my suspicions. He, a typical FCP user, had never even tried/touched Premiere Pro because of all the anti/negative comments he had heard during his entire time as a FCP user.
And that, my friends, is the key. If you can get an FCP user to sit still, and shut up for 30 seconds and have them watch you while you play around with Premiere Pro, you will find them fixated on the screen. The only reason that FCP users don’t use Premiere Pro is sheer stubbornness and close-minded ness. My friend, that I just told you about now uses both. He is actually beginning new projects in Premire Pro and finishing old ones/changes in Final Cut Pro. The arrogance of the Apple/FCP community is just astounding, and like I said, if you can get one of them to stop badmouthing Adobe for 10 seconds and actually LISTEN, they will be way more interested and have much more fun than they used to, just like people who switch from PC to Mac.
Adobe Media Encoder CS4 is the biggest feature improvement/add of the entire CS3 to CS4 Suite upgrade. This, now stand-alone encoder, has combined all the features that Premiere Pro users have been wanting out of the export feature with the already existing Flash Encoder CS3 to make an all-in-one web and versatile media output program.
Adobe Premiere Pro users can now batch export multiple sequences, a big feature that is a must for professional editors. Many times a render, even with the best of the best computers out there, can take 20-30 hours, depending on how much integration with After Effects your Sequence (Timeline) has, as well as the number of effects (especially 3rd party) that it is utilizing. I had a sequence in a Premiere Pro 2.0 project a few years ago that took more than a full weekend to render. I began it when I left work on a Friday around 6pm, and came back Monday only for it to be at 95%; it finished around noon that day. However, many renders only take 6 hours or less, so let’s say you are making a wedding DVD. Professional editors typically will not split up every segment into a title, but rather have the entire wedding as one title, with multiple chapters; so that is one sequence. Then you have another sequence for the menu background, and a third sequence for the intro/first play video clip. Now, these might only take a few hours or minutes each, so you can now drop multiple sequences into Adobe Media Encoder CS4 and come back the next day, and everything will be complete. No need to wait for a render, before you can start the next one. This way you can get them all queued up, and let the computer handle the automation itself.
(click image to enlarge screenshot)
The second benefit that Adobe already had, yet it is now conveniently combined into the media encoder, is FLV/flash export. Before, you had to export your Premiere Pro or After Effects sequence to an AVI file, then drop that AVI file into a separate program called Flash Encoder CS3 which would then make it into an FLV file for web streaming. Adobe has cut the process in half, by now allowing you to go directly from unrendered Sequence to FLV in one step. Many Premiere Pro users might argue that this could have been achieved before using File/Export within Premiere Pro, however, the Flash Encoder CS3′s method of exporting a FLV is much different than the former Adobe Media Encoder’s method of exporting an FLV from within Premiere Pro. The previous stand-alone Flash Encoder’s algorithms (which were superior to Adobe Media Encoder’s algorithms (in CS3) are now built into the new stand-alone CS4 Media Encoder.
Adobe really hit one out of the park on this feature add when the recognized that users wanted the features and benefits of batch exporting, but the quality that Flash Encoder produces with streaming FLV files. Adobe could have gotten rid of the encoding algorithms in the former Flash Encoder and just used the faulty ones already existing in the media encoder export function; however they didn’t. They mixed the best features from both former CS3 operations to make the best stand-alone media encoder available. Adobe Media Encoder CS4 is really the most overlooked feature of the new suite, and I cannot believe that Adobe did not hit on this in their CS4 debut webcast, as it is the most welcome and advanced feature-add of the entire CS Suite upgrade.
The short answer? 720p. Now, here’s the long answer…
First we have to understand the difference between “p” and “i”. The “I” stands for Interlaced, and the “P” stands for Progressive. Video files, DVDs, and TV Broadcasts are either coded one way or the other, you don’t mix and match. If you do, then you get an inconsistent image because it was not edited correctly. Any video signal that you watch on your TV set will be 24fps (frames per second) (movies, film, etc…) or 30fps (sports, news, cartoons, sitcoms, etc…). A 1080 interlaced video signal (1080i) means that each frame contains only half the content of the picture content. Huh? Ok, let’s say you are watching NBC’s HD brodcast (1080i 30fps). Each second contains 30 frames. The odd frames contain 540 horizontal lines of the first image and the even frames contain 540 horizontal lines of the next image. Like, when a car goes by the screen, left to righ, the even frames contain where the car is going to be next, while the odd frames contain the current position of the car. The odd frames are called the “Odd Field” or “Upper/Top Field” and he even frames are called the “Even Field” or “Lower/Bottom”. Since the broadcast is 1080 lines, the Odd Field contains lines 1,3,5,7,9,11,13, etc…whereas the Even Field contains 2,4,6,8,10,12, etc…
Now…we as humans have a hardtime seeing just 1/30th of a second, so we can’t tell that video consists of tons of sequential/interlaced images, however, if we were to slow it down to 15fps or 10fps we would see lots of glitchy video. The first field contains the 540 odd numbered lines, because 1/30th of a second later, it is followed up with 540 even lines, completing the picture. So basically within 1 second of video in a 1080i brodcast, there are only 15 full 1080-lined frames, if they were combined (deinterlaced).
With 720p, you do not have the even/odd frame method of displaying the picture. Every single frame is a full frame, 720 lines. So the bottom line is that in a 1080i video you have 540 lines per frame, and in a 720p video you have 720 lines per frame. This is why the ABC network adopted 720p a long time ago, even when 1080i was an option, because when every frame is progressive you get a much smoother picture, on fast action scenes, sports, etc… So ABC made a smart move going 720p.
Notice the lines that display very clearly on interlaced motion. The lines are there during the slow scenes as well, you just don’t notice them until a fast, high motion sequence, occurs.
Sidenote: Don’t be fooled by this new Dish Network TurboHD service. It claims “1080p VOD” (video on demand), but all it is, is deinterlaced 1080i signals, because no network right now is broadcasting in 1080p. Right now if you have a “1080p” television, the tv is just deinterlacing the signal to make each frame a full frame…that’s it. It is just a cosmetic gimmick, you are not really getting a 1080p video signal. So all TurboHD does it convert/deinterlace the signal on their end before they send it out…it is still a 1080i signal, the only benefit is that it will look better on televisions that do not have a built in deinterlacer (i.e. older LCDs and RPTVs). Most every new TV now has a built-in deinterlacer that can deinterlace any 1080i signal. Why do you think their packages start at $24.99? It’s nothing new, but I am surprised they haven’t been sued by other companies since it’s not true 1080p.
So, back to the main discussion…720p contains full frames, for every 30th of a second, wheras 1080i contains interlaced frames every 30th of a second. If you were to convert 1080i to progressive you would get 540p, which is less than 720p. If you were to convert 720p to be interlanced you would have 1440i which is more than 1080i. You could even go as low as a 542p video signal. Even that would be higher quality than 1080i, because it would equivocate to 1084i (if it were interlaced). Get it?
720p is not only more lines in any way you look at it, but since every sequential frame is progressive (full, not interlaced) then it handles motion and fast action flawlessly. While 1080i has to produce two frames to give you a picture, 720p just has to produce one frame to give you that same picture. I will glady take (and film in) 1280x720p over 1920x1080i any day.
Sure, some of you guru’s might say “HVX200?…Why didn’t you get the Sony EX1 or the Panasonic HPX500?”…well you can just get off your high horses right now, because if this camera is good enough for feature film producers to use for short scenes, as well as the tv shows “24″ and “Law and Order”, then it’s good enough for me. (Besides, I’ve only wanted it for the last 2 years! and now I’ll have my grubby little mitts all over it)
Anyway, so I think we got a great deal, and I have a Firestore 100 lined up to be purchased next, with a 250gb harddrive purchased separately, which I will upgrade manually. I will make a blog/post when I do that, and how it went. I have yet to find anyone who has sucessfully been able to upgrade their FS4 or FS100 to 250gb from the original stock drive, but that’s just because I haven’t found anyone who has tried it yet. I did find a guy who upgraded his FS4 40GB to 120GB, putting in a Western Digital harddrive replacing the original Hitachi. Sidenote: I was surprised to find the drives inside the Firestore devices are only 5400RPM. Alos, if you are a Firestore owner, thinking of upgrading your firestore to 250gb also, there is only one drive you can use, it’s the Hitachi 250gb (model#: HTS542525K9SA00), since it has the same millisecond latency rating, RPM, and voltage requirements.
So, anyway, the HVX200 will be here this coming week, along with whichever Firestore I decide to get, the FS-100 or the FS4 Pro…still wavering on that one, since I’;m gonna upgrade the internal HD with either one, so whichever is cheaper I should chose I guess, but the FS4 Pro will allow me to record to HDV with my other camera which is HDV. The FS100 can’t do HDV, so we’ll see.
Anyway, here’s some pics. Can’t wait to play with it. I’ll post some test shots in 1080p and 720p, in all frame-rates since it has has variable frame-rate capability (something the EX1 cannot do, HA!)
This episode covers Part 1 of the Premiere Pro Basics. I go over what all the different tabs in the program do, and how they work together, as well as project settings, widescreen vs standards aspect ratios, and vital keyboard shortcuts. I am going to try to put these “basics” videos in layman’s terms, so as not to overwhelm anyone.
This episode covers the how and why about the software I choose to use as well as how these specific programs work together dynamically as my main production workflow.
This episode covers the basic overview of this blog. This is not one of the tutorial videos, but rather just a welcome to who I am, what I might be bloging about, and why I wanted to make this site in the first place.
