DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK phần 6 pdf

CHAPTER 11 EDITING HARDWARE 251 The JVC BR-DV600 DVCAM format VTR. FIGURE 11.6 The Sony GVD-900 MiniDV walkman can save wear and tear on your cam- corder. FIGURE 11.5 icantly cheaper (starting around $1000) but will lack professional features and high-quality internal components that will save you time and trouble. DVCAM and DVCPro decks will allow you to master to the larger and some- what more stable DVCAM or DVCPro tapes, and will provide advanced features like RS-422 device control and XLR audio I/O. SDI, Firewire, or Analog I/O The deck you choose will have to have the right type of interface for your computer. So, if your computer has a digital interface such as Firewire or SDI, you’ll need a deck with the appropriate interface. Similarly, if you’ll be using an analog digitizing card, you’ll need to get a deck with outputs that are compatible with your analog digitizing system. Whether you need composite, S- Video, or component connectors will depend on your analog card. See Chapter 5 for more details on digital and analog video interfaces. Not all companies are fully compliant in their implementation of the Firewire interface. If you’re considering a particular Firewire-equipped deck, don’t purchase it until you’ve checked with the makers of your editing software. DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK 252 TABLE 11.1 VTRs compatibility chart. Many digital video decks can play (but not record usually) multiple tape formats. Be sure to check each manufacturer’s specifications if you need a VTR that plays back multiple formats. Tape Format Can Also Play Digital-8 Hi8 Sony DV DVCAM Panasonic DVCPro DV* and DVCAM Sony DVCAM DV* JVC Digital-S S-VHS Digital Betacam Beta SP Betacam SX Beta SP DVCPro50 DV, DVCAM and DVCPro DV DVCAM** D5 D3 D9 –HD Digital-S *DV tapes must be recorded in SP mode to play back on DVCAM and DVCPro equipment. **Except the Sony VX700 and VX1000. CHAPTER 11 EDITING HARDWARE They should be able to confirm whether a deck will be fully compatible with their software. Sometimes, one or two features of an editing package will not work with particular decks (or cameras). If you aren’t dependent on these features, then go ahead and buy the deck. TIP Buyer Beware Just because a deck uses a digital video format does not mean that it necessarily offers digital I/O. Some professional decks, like the Panasonic AJ-D450 (Figure 11.7) come with analog I/O only -you have to add an optional SDI board for digital I/O. This is also true of some Firewire-compatible decks. 253 The Sony DSR30 DVCAM deck with Firewire I/O is capable of reading en- coded Cassette Memory information off Sony DV tapes, a feature that allows for automatic handling of footage shot in the 16:9 aspect ratio. FIGURE 11.7 Device Control Your digitizing hardware needs to be able to control your video deck to search through a tape, and to start and stop the playback and record processes. This is accomplished through a serial connection between your computer and deck. If you’re connecting your deck to your computer via Firewire, then your software will most likely perform deck control through the Firewire cable. If you’re using an analog or SDI editing system, you’ll need to string a serial cable between a serial port on your computer and a serial port on your deck. There are three popular serial device control protocols: RS-422, RS-232, and LANC (also called Control-L). • RS-422 is the professional industry standard and carries the SMPTE timecode signal, which, combined with the right VTR, allows for frame accuracy. RS-422 allows the longest cable lengths—up to 1,000 feet. • RS-232 and LANC are not capable of frame accuracy. You can, however, buy an external serial protocol converter to change your RS-232 or LANC into RS-422. But if you already know you need RS-422, it’s best to start with a VTR that offers it. Frame Accuracy Frame accuracy means that when you tell your video deck to make an edit at 1:02:10:30, it will make the edit on that exact frame—it won’t miss its mark by one or more frames. If you plan to lay your final edited project off to tape in a single pass, then you don’t need to worry about frame accuracy. But, if you want to lay out your finished project in pieces—as you run out of disk space, for example—then you’ll need a frame accurate deck; in other words, one with RS-422 device control and SMPTE timecode. Most VTRs are rated by their manufacturers as to their projected frame accuracy, and many DV format VTRs are rated at +/–5 frames, meaning your edit could miss its mark by as many as five frames in either direction. If this isn’t something you can live with, be sure to buy a VTR that is frame accurate, and uses RS-422 serial device control rather than Firewire-based device control. Play-Only Decks Many professional video decks are available in a much cheaper, “play-only” format—you can use them to play tapes (i.e., for viewing, logging, and capturing), but not to record. For example, Panasonic offers the DVCPro AJ-440 is a play-only counterpart to the AJ-450 (Figure 11.8). These decks are a great option for lowering your costs if you need to rent a deck to do some capturing for a day or two. Or, you can buy a less-expensive play-only deck for digitizing, and then use your camera for your final output. TIP Video Deck Rentals Remember that to rent expensive equipment, you’ll need to establish credit at a rental facility 7–10 days prior to renting it. VTR Cleaning and Maintenance The smaller your recording format, the more destructive particles of dust and debris inside your VTR can be to your video signal. Most VTR manufacturers make head cleaning products specifically designed for their VTRs. Clean- ing the heads of your VTR should be done no more frequently than every 50 DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK 254 CHAPTER 11 EDITING HARDWARE hours of use. A head cleaning cassette works by running an abrasive material across the playback and record heads in your VTR. Overuse of head cleaning cassettes can result in unnecessary wear and tear on the heads. After inserting the head-cleaning cassette, press play or record, depending on which head you want to clean. Be sure to stop the cleaning cassette after five seconds—the abrasiveness of the cleaning cassette generates heat and can actually damage the innards of your VTR. Never re-use the cleaning cassette once it reaches the end—it’s the equivalent of washing with a dirty sponge. Always refer to your owner’s manual for specific cleaning instructions before any attempt to clean your VTR. Also, remember that prevention is the best medicine and keep your workspace free from smoke and dust. TIP Power and Security Many editing systems include a battery back-up, in case of a power failure. These batteries act as a central power switch for the system and, in the case of a power failure, keep the system running long enough for you to save your work and shut down properly. 255 The Panasonic AJ-450 DVCPro deck with optional SDI I/O. FIGURE 11.8 As with video, using the analog audio inputs or outputs on any of your digital decks, cameras, or your computer will result in a digital to analog (D/A) conversion that might lower your audio quality. Unfortunately, true digital audio connections using professional digital AES/EBU connectors can cost a small fortune. If you’ve invested in a high-end video deck with digital audio I/O, sticking with digital audio I/O in your audio equipment may be worth the ex- pense. However, for most independent filmmakers, digital audio is a luxury that is both expensive and unnecessary. Good analog I/O using balanced XLR cables will prove satisfactory for most producers. Audio CDs An external audio CD deck is unnecessary these days because your computer most likely has a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive in it that you can use to import audio tracks from a CD. You’ll end up with something close to timecode if you import audio this way—the imported audio track will always start at 00:00:00:00, and the duration of the track should remain the same every time you import it. So, if you lose your audio media you can reconstruct your tracks using this “bogus” timecode. If you digitize your audio CDs from a CD player, you won’t get the CD’s timecode, and you may be subjecting your audio to at least one digital-to-analog conversion. DAT and MiniDisc You’ll need a DAT or MiniDisc player if your production audio was recorded on either of those formats. As with VTRs, just because DAT and MiniDisc are digital formats does not mean that all DAT and MiniDisc decks have digital I/O, in fact many of them don’t. TIP Grounding Your Electronic Equipment Heavy-duty electronic equipment, such as video editing system hardware, should always be grounded. This means using three-prong AC cables plugged into a grounded (three-prong) outlet. Some video decks also have an extra ground wiring input. Audio Mixing Boards Audio mixers can save you the hassle of having to constantly re-cable your system every time you change audio sources. For as little as $40 you can buy a Digital Audio Equipment DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK 256 CHAPTER 11 EDITING HARDWARE simple four-channel mixer such as the DOD 240, which is ideal for field use and simple editing systems. The next step up runs from $200–$500 and adds more channels, equalization, and gain control, like the Mackie MS1202-VLZ (Figure 11.9). And finally, an eight-channel digital mixer, like the Tascam TCM-D1000 (Figure 11.9), will run upwards of $1,000. 257 A. Mackie 12-channel analog mixer B. Tascam 16-channel digital mixer The Mackie MS1202-VLZ analog 6-channel mixer and the Tascam TCM- D1000 digital 8-channel mixer. FIGURE 11.9 A video monitor is a crucial component of every editing system. If you’re using a Firewire/DV editing system, you must have a video monitor to see full-mo- tion, full-res video (don’t rely on the LCD screen on your camera, it’s simply not good enough). If you’re using an analog digitizing system, you’ll need a video monitor to see a more accurate, interlaced output of your video. NTSC video is particularly notorious for its poor ability to handle saturated colors. Using bright colors that aren’t “NTSC legal” is a common mistake— the saturated reds that look great on a computer screen will bleed, flicker, and generally look awful on an NTSC monitor. (PAL shares these problems, but to a lesser degree.) Having an NTSC/PAL playback monitor next to your computer monitor lets you keep track of how well your video is holding up, and is essential when creating graphics, special effects, or animations that will be output to tape. Video Monitors Hot Air The equipment described in this chapter, along with your computer processor and storage drives, can add up to a lot of hot air in the editing room. Invest in air-con- ditioning if you live in a warmer climate—your equipment will perform better, your computer will be less prone to crashing, and you’ll be more comfortable. Professional Video Monitor Features Like all video equipment, professional video monitors—$300 to $6,000— offer extra controls and features that go beyond the typical consumer television monitor. Here’s what you can get for the extra dough: • Better video quality. We’re not just being snobs here, even a lower-end professional monitor will usually deliver much better quality than the average television. • Horizontal line resolution. Professional NTSC/PAL monitors have a horizontal line resolution ranging from 400 to 800 lines, which (simply put) means they are better than most consumer-grade monitors. • High-end I/O. Just like professional VTRs, pro monitors can have analog Y/C, analog component, and SDI I/O • Switchable aspect ratios. Many pro monitors can switch between 4:3 and 16:9—a boon for projects shot with anamorphic lenses or destined for HDTV, although the image will be letterboxed. If you want a bigger image size, you’ll have to spring for a true widescreen HD monitor like the one in Figure 4.12. • NTSC/PAL switchable. Many pro monitors can switch between NTSC and PAL. This is a great asset if you shoot your DV film in PAL but need to create NTSC video supporting materials such as trailers, press kits, etc. • A/B input switching. Most pro monitors allow for more than one input source, and you can switch from the “A” source, usually your NLE, to the “B” source, usually your primary VTR. (Note: This doesn’t work for DV-format editing systems, since all your video will be coming through your VTR.) This can be useful if you output your project to tape and want to compare what your computer is sending out to what your video deck is actually recording. TIP DV Decompression A hardware transcoder such as the Sony DVMC-DA1 will let you capture analog formats through your Firewire port, and will also help you save wear and tear DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK 258 CHAPTER 11 EDITING HARDWARE on your digital camera or deck when editing. Because the transcoder can convert the digital information coming out of your computer into an analog signal for your NTSC monitor, you won’t have to use your camera or deck to preview your edits. The unit will set you back about $500. • Underscan, horizontal delay, and vertical delay. These features let you troubleshoot any video signal problems you may be having. If you want to learn more about video signals and how to diagnose them, check out www.dvhandbook.com/monitors. TIP Calibrating Your NTSC/PAL Monitor Just like computer monitors, NTSC/PAL video monitors need to be calibrated. See Appendix A for instructions on calibrating your NTSC/PAL video monitors. TIP Cheap Trick If you can’t afford to spend the money on a professional video monitor, you can set- tle for a cheap consumer television set. Just make sure it has the right inputs to work with your system. If you can afford it, at least spend the money for a TV with S-Video input. The improvement in quality is worth the money (Figure 11.11). 259 A Sony Trinitron professional NTSC/PAL monitor with analog component and S-video I/O. FIGURE 11.10 The cables that connect the various parts of your editing system together serve to transport the video and/or audio signals from component to component and are the key to maintaining signal integrity. Below are illustrations of the most common cables you’ll encounter. (Figure 11.12) Varying configurations of BNC cables are used to carry SDI video, analog component video, analog composite video, AES/EBU digital audio, black burst and VITC timecode signals. RCA cables are used to carry analog composite video, SP-DIF digital audio, analog audio signals and LTC timecode signals. XLR cables are used to carry analog audio and AES/EBU digital audio signals. Mini cables carry consumer analog audio signals. 1/4≤ or phono cables are used to carry analog audio signals, particularly to and from headphones. RS-422, RS-232 (not shown), and LANC (not shown) cables are used for serial device control. Pro- prietary S-video (not shown) cables carry the Y/C video signal. And last, but not least, 4 and 6 pin IE1394 cables are used to carry DV video, DV timecode and DV device control signals. TIP Back to Front The best way to see if a piece of equipment is right for your needs is to look at the rear panel. Usually this is where all the hardware connectors reside. If the connector you need isn’t there, the deck might not support it. A look at the rear panel of the JVC BR-DV600 in Figure 11.5 shows that it has Firewire I/O, analog component I/O, analog composite I/O, analog Y/C I/O, RS-422 deck control, BNC sync input for connecting to a black burst generator, two 1/4 ″ phono audio channels I/O, BNC timecode I/O for dubbing, a single BNC analog composite video monitor out, a single 1/4 ″ phono audio monitor out, an AC power connector and a DC power connector for battery run operation. Hardware Connectors DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK 260 This break-out box from a DPS Reality system has every sort of connector you’ll ever need. FIGURE 11.11 [...]... using the 60 cycle (60 Hz) tone that accompanies the color bars Open the audio level meters and move the sliders until the tone peaks at 0 (Figure 12 .6) Now you’re ready to start logging your tape Remember: You should perform these steps any time you change tapes! With practice, the process will only take seconds to complete 273 DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK 274 F IGURE Capturing in Edit DV 12 .6 Tutorial... Apple’s Final Cut Pro, you’ll need to “calibrate” your timecode before you start logging, and every time you change to a different video deck Refer to your user manual for more information 265 DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK 266 3 Keep a Database of All Your Media Your NLE software will keep track of the tape number, timecode indices, and comments for every clip in your project At times, other people in your... information yourself S TEP 3 Rewind to the head of the tape and play When you get to the bars and tone on the tape, you’re ready to start calibrating First, take a look at your waveform 267 DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK 268 Vectorscope Composite Waveform Input Gain Controls Horizontal Line Selector Component Waveform Source Timecode Display Video Image Audio Level Meters & Controls Video Preview Image Capture... thoroughly before you dive in Consider rental equipment the equivalent of a test drive You may save yourself the trauma of a dozen little nasty surprises later CHAPTER 12 Preparing to Edit 263 DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK 264 I N T HIS C HAPTER • • • • • • • • • • Worst-Case Scenario How to Organize Your Project Logging Tutorial: Setting Your Video Levels Tutorial: Logging and Capturing Tips for Better Logging... 0 IRE, 7.5 IRE and 10 IRE C Waveform for lines 201- 263 F IGURE 12.4 These small steps correspond to the three small black bars in the bottomtest pattern These two-field waveform images show how the proper video levels for the three standard NTSC test patterns should be set The waveform shows the brightness of a particular image DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK 272 The top test pattern has a bar for each... the left corresponds to the black color bar If you are setting the black level for North American NTSC, CHAPTER 12 PREPARING TO EDIT F IGURE 12.2 Capture utility from Ulead Media Studio Pro 269 DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK 270 Input Track Selectors Audio Level Meters Source Timecode Display Tape Transport Controls In and Out Points Clip Duration Vectorscope Tape Number Input Gain Controls Horizontal Line... Now find the out-point and set it by typing “O” or clicking the “Out” button on your interface Again, check your timecode Don’t forget to leave a couple of seconds of handles at the tail DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK 2 76 S TEP 3 Now you need to enter a name for your shot Most NLEs also allow you to add other information: the shot number, the take number, whether the take is good (g) or not good (ng), and... 00:00:00:00, your software is probably creating a default timecode for the media, also known as “bogus” timecode, since it is effectively meaningless This means your NLE is not reading 285 2 86 DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK your tape’s timecode Check your capture settings, device control settings, and your device control cabling Make sure the timecode from your deck is compatible with your software Some... switch to a higher quality setting Because you’ve already logged each scene, the computer knows where each clip is on each tape You’ll simply need to adjust the settings and recapture 279 280 DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK C AREFUL C APTURING To get the best quality, you must carefully set the video levels for every scene and/or lighting change (unlike before where you applied uniform levels to the entire... circular boundary near the red vector, which indicates that there is oversaturated red in the image Certain types of colored lights, like neon, often go beyond the legal NTSC color spectrum (Color DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK 282 A This waveform reflects the area near the top of the image where the sky and building are extremely overexposed Pulling the whites down will make them "NTSC legal" but they'll still . every time you change audio sources. For as little as $40 you can buy a Digital Audio Equipment DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK 2 56 CHAPTER 11 EDITING HARDWARE simple four-channel mixer such as the DOD. you save wear and tear DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK 258 CHAPTER 11 EDITING HARDWARE on your digital camera or deck when editing. Because the transcoder can convert the digital information coming. to log videotape, and of course, you can log from within your NLE itself. Logging DIGITAL FILMMAKING HANDBOOK 266 Standalone Logging Software There are a number of standalone logging programs such