HD Sequence to Digi Beta

i have an HD sequence that i need to output to digibeta to screen at a film festival.
the sequence settings are DVC PRO HD 720p60
i have access to a high end edit suite that uses avid but has dvcam and various other decks.
what is the simplest way to get the highest quality output of this sequence (only 3 mins) onto a master that i can then make a beta sp copy of?
and i don't want to lose the aspect ratio of 16x9
thanks in advance!
keith

Well, if you capture your footage using one cards codec, then getting another to play it out might be an issue. Since AJA and Decklink are the big players, I'll wager they had an AJA card and it couldn't read your footage, or couldn't cross convert it due to that codec issue. It also might be that SR decks are a bit more tempramental and need fairly exacting signals in order to record properly. I'm guessing here, as I have never needed to output to HDCAM SR.
I capture my footage via firewire (Varicam) and P2 import (HVX-200), so the codec that I have is the native codec of the format. Decklink and AJA cards can read, and output that format...for it is a native FCP codec. So for me it is as easy as that.
Shane

Similar Messages

Playing out Alpha to Digi Beta

Hi all
I have to playout some image sequences to Digi Beta and also play out their alpha channel to tape for an edit in a linear suite. So far I have been unable to do this in FCP 4.5, i can see the alpha but am unable to play it to tape.
In Avid I would just import the image seq, drop it the time line and select show alpha. Job done. I'm sorry for comparing this to Avid but that's my background!
Any gurus have any suggestions?
iMac G3 600MHz, 12iBook Combo G3 900Mhz, iPod 10G Mac OS X (10.2.x)

Yah, I just cut a white slug on V2 and my alpha bearing material on V1, then I set V2's composite mode to Travel Matte Alpha. You may need to invert depending on your requirements...
Patrick

Edit to tape - timecode mismatch between timeline & output tape (Digi Beta)

I'm trying to edit to tape (insert) a programme. The clock drops in on exactly the right frame but by the time I get to the end of part there's a 2 frame difference between my timeline TC and the master tape's TC. In other words my timeline ends at 11.30.00 but when I play back the recorded tape the same frame is now 11.30.02. Is there a) an explanation for this and b) a solution? I need frame accuracy as I'm exporting my audio to OMF for the dub. Any advice hugely appreciated. Thanks. J
Digi Beta - Uncompressed 8 Bit - PAL.
Dual 2.7 G5 Mac OS X (10.4) Blackmagic HD Link
Dual 2.7 G5 Mac OS X (10.4)

Jeremy,
Wish I could offer more help other than to say Blackmagic is usually pretty quick with a fix once they identify there is a problem. We're in Sydney, and had some problems with dropped frames a couple of years ago, and they did some very quick testing and realised that they hadn't tested there new drivers with Batch digitise - point is, they issued a fix (updated driver) extremely quickly.
Go through your supplier and see if you can get their ear, especially if you can identify the problem happening consistently.
Tim

What capture card do i need to export to digi beta recorder dvw-m2000p

hi i have just purchased a Sony dvw m2000p digi beta deck and need to export my movies to the deck. we are using premier pro sc5.5 and want to know what capture card to use. can you help.
regards,

I will start by saying that I have never done an export to tape but my Blackmagic Studio card has all the correct outputs for working with tape.

Capturing from Digi-Beta or Mini-DV

Our first two projects were supplied to us on Digi-Beta, but for ease (we don't have a Digi-Bet deck) we had these transferred to Mini DV which we then captured into Final Cut Pro using the DV preset.
Does anybody believe there would be a significant improvement if we were to hire in a Digi-Beta deck and capture direct at full res (we'd probably need a RAID for this?), and then export to DVD Studio Pro?
Considering how compressed DVD/MPEG2 is, we'd be interested to know if there would indeed be a discernible difference in picture quality/sharpness.

You'd need a Raid or at least a firewire 800 drive which can play back a single track of 10 bit.
I would think a mpeg created from an original 10 bit media source would look a little cleaner than a dv dub of that source. How much cleaner? That would probably be up to your to decide. I'm sure one of the more tech oriented guys could say what the exact difference could be...
I bring dv in as 10 bit from an original dv source because I do lots of filters and graphic stuff. To me, even dv brought in at 10 bit looks better than dv brought in at dv, but different people have put up engineering specs to show that there is not a discerenable difference. In my mind, I can see a difference in color and gradations of color...to me it is worth it.
I guess the question is how much more image quality do you need and is it worth the price of the hardware?
Do a test. Get a minute or two of digibeta captured for you somewhere and bring it through the dvd creation workflow. Do the same with a dub of the same footage and check 'em out side by side.

Digi beta PAL editing on i Mac

Hi all. I am a film editor who has recently bought fcp and is eager to do my first professional job on it. An opportunity has arisen and I'm thinking of doing it at home on my imac (2.8 Intel Core Duo with 2Gb RAM). I'm unsure whether Pro Res 422 clips from the original Digibeta rushes will run smoothly on my machine. I am asking because I will be digitising the footage at an edit house and then bringing the files back home on a drive. so I need to know the maximum res my machine can cope with before digitising.

You might get away with uncompressed 8 bit on a FireWire 800 external drive. Do a small test first.
A few years ago I had to edit a long form project on a G4 from digi beta material. I captured through another companies machine with a Black Magic card to DV, retaining original timecode and edited at home.
Obviously, this was only to edit. I then went back and batch captured the finished version at full res to do color grading and titles.

Digi Beta into FCP

Hi, I am shooting a documentary on Digi Beta. Can anyone advise on the best way to get the rushes into FCP. I have a Sony Z7 to import DV via firewire so do I need to convert Digi to DV ? If so what happens to the quality?

David Bogie Chq-1 wrote:
Jon, sorry to butt in, I don't know this deck, but doesn't this FW connection convert the DigiBeta to DV? Does the deck is show up as an external drive?
bogiesan
I own this deck but I've never used it via FireWire because I have a capture card. I had assumed it would capture as regular NTSC but further research indicates that you are correct - it does down-convert to DV.
Which means, I guess, that there is no way of doing this without a capture card.

Digi Beta-DV editing- DVD for reproduction....Best workflow

I have access to 3 digi beta cameras to film a concert of band....
I would like to then edit it in FCP V6....
I have a mac book pro Intel.....and a E-sata drive attached to the Macbook pro..
vias PC express card.
I know that I would have to get some kind of box to convert it to DV for editing..
Just wabnt to know what format,etc...
Then I would like to out put it to DVD studio pro for production...
Its all a bit new to me at the moment.....any thoughts or advice would be appreciated
Mac book pro 2.33 Intel Mac OS X (10.4.9)

You'll need a way to capture the digi beta... i.e. a deck... which do you or will you use?
You could just take the analog out from a betacam deck, and capture that signal via a DV camera, but it wouldn't be as good as using an Io for the job via SDI...
You'd need a keyspan adapter to capture the timecode correctly if you use a DV deck or camera for the transcode.
After capture to DV, the rest of the wrokflow would be pretty much the same as any DV workflow.
All that said, you'd have a much better looking edit if you captured the digibeta thru an Io HD to Pro Res 4:2:2 or to uncompressed 10 bit SD (which would require a faster drive setup)... but that won't be available until July sometime.
Jerry

Digi-beta capture - uncompressed 10-bit or prores hq

starting a project that was shot on digi-beta many moons ago. editing on fcp 7. i'm asumming given the difference in the data rate between uncompressed 10-bit & prores hq that there "must" be some compression loss, but is it enough to make it worthwhile capturing in uncompressed 10-bit. obviously prores hq file sizes are much smaller so that shoud make editing easier. i do want to maintain highest quality possible. final product is dvd & digital download. thanks for any advice.

The ProRes envelope is 10-bit, so you're covered on the biggest difference between digi-beta and all the pedestrian standard def formats. "Normal" ProRes 422 is 42 Mbit/s for SD at 29.97, HQ is 63 Mbit/s. Either should serve well.

Digi Beta master

Hi All,
I have a project in final cut that has to be submited as a Digi Beta master.
How do I go about doing this?
Thank you.

A fully fleshed out how-to could easily be a book chapter or even a section with several chapters.
If this is a once in a while thing for you, and you don't have a background with broadcast tape decks, I do not suggest you take this on, unless you are prepared to spend days prepping and getting the output right.
You are probably better off taking the digital beta output to a post house, as others have suggested.
By way of explanation, here is an outline of the steps:
1. Research and buy the card. Black Magic Design Decklink or AJA KONA. You will want to output SDI with embedded audio. Between $1500-$3200.
2. Install the card with the correct version of the drivers for your version of FCP, Quicktime, and OS. The support pages on their websites are OK, call them if you need help. AJA has a better reputation for support, Black Magic Design is a little less expensive to purchase.
2. Test the output. You will want an external video monitor that takes SDI input. This will allow you to confirm you have a video signal. You will also want to test your audio output. The most convenient way to do this is to embed the audio in the SDI. This means you just need one coaxial cable with BNC connectors to carry the signal from the card to the deck. You can do it other ways however. For testing purposes I usually confirm I'm seeing the analog audio outs, as I don't own AES monitoring, or de-embedders.
3. Rent the deck. DVW-500 or DVW-2000. About $525 a day. Allow yourself extra time (like an extra day or maybe two) if you haven't done this before. Rent from a house that will give you a hand with menu settings, etc. Plan to spend a lot time figuring things out.
4. Black burst. When ever I'm mastering to a deck I provide a common sync source to the card and the deck. This might not be strictly necessary, but it eliminates something that any trouble shooter will ask you when you call. You can get an inexpensive black burst generator for about $350. Run BNC from the Black burst generator to the sync input on the card and the sync input on the deck. Set the deck and the card to get their sync externally.
5. Connect the SDI out of the card to the SDI in of the deck.
6. Connect audio cables, if you choose not to embed the audio.
7. Connect speakers to the deck. XLR out of the deck to self powered speakers or to an amp. Make sure you can monitor all the deck's channels individually.
8. Connect a video monitor to the deck. I like to take SDI into one monitor input, and composite with TC overlay into a second monitor input. I monitor SDI for quality, and TC overlay to confirm timing and edits.
9. Set the deck up so it is ready to accept your audio. You need to decide if you will be sending analog, AES, or embedded. You need to set the deck up to take your choice.
10. Stripe the tape with appropriate time code. Start at 00:58:00;00. Use drop frame (probably, ask the people you are delivering to.) This involves understanding how to set internal time code on the deck. Read the manual for your deck. I usually feed black out of the card and crash record a the head of the tape. Get it going and come back when it is done. You will probably have some trial and error here if you haven't done this before. Stripe as many tapes as you will need (typically one back up to send, and another back up to keep in house.)
11. "Facs" (short for facilities check) the deck. Send Bars and tone from FCP. Set your tone to -20 (probably, ask the people you are delivering to) and set the record pots on the deck so they are seeing -20. Confirm bars are passing through the deck in EE (electronics to electronics – sometimes called bypass.) Set the audio tracks in your timeline to go to the correct tracks on the deck. I do this while the deck is in EE. I check this by sending one channel of audio at a time and confirming that it is only going to the corresponding channel on the deck. Be prepared to spend some time in the FCP manual to get this correct.
12. Read up in the FCP manual on "Edit to Tape." This is important to understand. You will probably want to use the mastering method, but it is important to understand inserting as well. This will save you time if you need to pick up the edit mid-stream or drop a last minute change into the tape.
13. Tweak the settings in FCP so your edits land on the correct frame. The FCP manual covers this.
14. Record Bars and Tone and Slate to tape. As per delivery requirements.
15. Start your program at 1:00:00;00.
16. Leave room for commercials or breaks, as per delivery requirements.
17. Watch and listen to the output of the deck as you record. Watch for problems.
18. Check the record. Playback your work so you can be sure it is all there.
19. Make a second copy if it is required for delivery.
20. Make a copy that you keep in-house. In case something terrible happens when you ship the tape.
If you aren't going to do this very often, you will save yourself a lot of pain by hiring a post house or an editor with the right background and equipment.
If you do decide to give it a try expect problems, and be prepared to spend a lot of time in the manuals for FCP and the deck. Also be prepared to call the card manufacturer if you have problems during the set-up. Try not to get frustrated – this is not easy unless you do it all the time.
Good luck.
Tom M

Digi beta export help...

Hi all,
Client is asking for me to do an edit over night from footage shots during the day, broadcast quality, to digi beta.
Never delivered anything to such format...
We are prepared to hire a DB deck , etc, but how does it work...
shots at the moment are shot in DV. (I have already expressed my concerns that DV for broadcast is not great but hey...
1. I am guessing that a DB deck will take in firewire otherwise will the mac need a video card that talks to the deck?
2. Export using compressor to what settings?
3. basically how do I get my edit from mac to an external deck?
Any help would be greatly appreciated...
the gig is next week...
At the moment, as the gig is in London (and we are not) there is no requirement of sending a power mac over to do the work. We will be working on laptops. So if the deck requires a pci card, then we need to consider sending desktop macs over.
Help??
Steph

Any help would be greatly appreciated...
the gig is next week...<
the advice on hardware is excellent. My advice is better: Get on the phone and find someone who already knows how to do this and hire them as a subcontractor. Hire their gear and bring it onsite or just get them into the loop.
You cannot hope to acquire the hardware, get it debugged and get yourself trained up to do this job with any credibility. Unless, of course, you have confidence, time and skill. Get out the American Express card and go for it.
bogiesan

23.98 SD down to digi beta weird?

My workflow is this ... I shot everything on a hvx200 at 720p 24p. I brought and cut everything in at 23.98. I exported a standard def. clip at 720X486 16X9 clip at 23.98. I layed it off to digi beta right out of my 23.98 timeline. When I watch it back it looks great but I thought it would introduce a 2:3 pulldown cadence but all I see when I toggle though frame by frame is stills ... nothing interlaced. Anyone know why this would be? Will this create issues for anything later?

You are doing kinda what I need to do. We shot it all on a XL2, 24pa, 16:9. Edited on a 23.98 timeline. But I am going to go out to MiniDV, then DV to DigiBeta, since i have no digibeta deck. So how does FCP convert the 23.98 up to 29.97 that I understand to be digibeta, if there was no pulldown cadence added? How does the 24p convert from progressive to interlaced? On print to tape, does FCP know what to do?
So much to know, so little known......
bob

PAL Digi-Beta Capture to Hard drive - which codec?

What would be the best codec to capture a Digi-Beta PAL tape (25fps film-sourced telecine) to a hard drive? I'm thinking ProRes 422.
And is there any way of calculating the file size for say 100 mins?

Yep, Prores 422 coming off Digibeta DVW-A500P's. We used to do all editing in uncompressed 8 bit
but Prores 422 proved to be a much more efficient way of working in terms of rendering out and storage. We created Prores easy setups for all suites and changed over with very little fuss.
Hope this helps
PS Nice Site. Worked with Stephen Weeks on a documentry series in the 80's!!

Can I output to Digi beta on 4 channels of audio discreet?

Network requires program on digibeta with stereo on 1 and 2 / mono split track on 3 and 4. Will FCP allow me to do this in one pass?
Normally I would have to print my stereo tracks with the video on one pass
then go back and insert discreet tracks on 3 and 4 as a second pass.

Hi. I had to learn how to do this under pressure recently. It wasn't as intuitive as I would have hoped, I haven't had the repetitions necessary to know it by heart, and I'm not near a system that is connected to a deck.
What I do remember though is Command-Zero for current sequence settings, Audio Outputs tab, select four channel audio in the drop down menu. Make output channels 3 and 4 mono.
It is important to remember that you are setting these output tracks for you current sequence only. If you want to make a reusable output setting go to Final Cut Pro > User Settings then the Audio Output tab.
In your timeline right click on your audio tracks (different from output channels - very important distinction) and assign where the track will play out. Right click near the lock but not on it, on the left side.
I went to Help>Final Cut Pro User Manual, then typed "edit to tape" and read everything. I learned a lot and avoided many, many traps. Probably saved me hours and hours of time in the long run.
Best of luck.
Tom

Digi-Beta PAL into FCP Question

Hi Folks,
I have a project come in shot on DigiBeta and need some advice on the correct set up to edit in FCP. The job will output back to Digibeta.
Advice appreciated.
Cheers
Nick

Wrong forum. Head over to Final Cut Studio.
P.S. You'll need a decent capture card made by AJA or BlackMagic.

HD Sequence to Digi Beta

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