DVC Pro 100 tape to Final Cut Pro workflow - please help

[gmehje]

I hope that you could give me some advice.
I have a film maker shooting onto DVCPro100 tape and an editor lined up to edit in Final Cut Pro. The problem is the footage is shot in USA and editor is in the UK. It needs to be edited the next day after filming stops at 7pm (approx 2hr footage edited down to to 20 minutes).
I don't understand HD formats and the film maker expects a specification so he can do the output from tape.
He also expects us to sort a ftp site for transfer.
Could anyone kindly let me know what I should ask for from the film maker and direct me to some ftp hosting that may be suitable?
Any help greatfully appreciated!
Many thanks in advance for any guidance.
(By the way - the editor is on holiday with no mobile access so I cant ask her!)

 

[spinnerlys]

I hope that you could give me some advice.
I have a film maker shooting onto DVCPro100 tape and an editor lined up to edit in Final Cut Pro. The problem is the footage is shot in USA and editor is in the UK. It needs to be edited the next day after filming stops at 7pm (approx 2hr footage edited down to to 20 minutes).

120 minutes of DVCPro 100 (also called DVCProHD) will take approximately 88GB if captured with the DVCProHD/100 setting in Final Cut Pro.​

I don't understand HD formats and the film maker expects a specification so he can do the output from tape.

What do you meant by "output from tape"?​

[/QUOTE]He also expects us to sort a ftp site for transfer.
Could anyone kindly let me know what I should ask for from the film maker and direct me to some ftp hosting that may be suitable?
Any help greatfully appreciated!
Many thanks in advance for any guidance.
(By the way - the editor is on holiday with no mobile access so I cant ask her!)[/QUOTE]

I don't know about any FTP site offering that kind of capacity, but you may also need lots of upload bandwidth to even get it done via one night, lets say 8 hours, as 2 have been spend capturing the tapes.
You need an upload speed of at least 3.2MB/s (25.6Mbit/s) to upload 88GB in 8 hours.
You may need to compress the footage and use H264 as codec, but you will lose information via compression.

Is there no other way, like sending the tape per express or courier via plane?

 

[gmehje]

Many thanks for your post.
Yes, we I think they should compress the format. The first deliverable is web movies - but they also want it in 'hd' to show on LCD screens.
I'm sorry I don't know much about this.
I assumed that they captured to footage onto a HD tape
Then they needed to 'export' off the tape onto a digital format that could then be ftp'd.
So I wondered what 'compression' specs we could give them to output to make the file sizes not crazy large but the quality still good.
Does that make sense? I'm new to all of this!
Kind Regards and many thanks

 

[Richardthe4th]

Hi,

Let's see if I understand you correctly.

The film is shot in the USA. Regarding 'export the tape' probably the best thing to do is use Final Cut in the USA and capture the tapes. Regarding the format (DVCProHD) and the FTP, you can best use ProRes to get a smaller file size. If the first output is for the web, use ProRes LQ.

You FTP the ProRes captured files to the UK. Option 1: there the editor imports them in her project. Option 2: you also send the project file with the capture information. And the editor edits the weboutput

For the highres/HD output (later I understood, no hurries, after the weboutput is finished), you can send the tapes to the UK, or capture them in the USA with a higher ProRes and FTP that (bigger file size, will take longer, doesn't matter, you have more time)

If the editor has a good project set up, she can replace the LQ files with the newer ones.

Does this make sense? I think this is a good workflow.

=> Ask the filmmaker if they are used to final cut and can capture to ProRes LQ.
=> And check this workflow with the editor and filmmaker (they have to agree) (holidays?)

OK?

Good Luck, Richard

 

[gmehje]

Hi Richard, That is hugely helpful. I am very grateful for your time and your reply. Many thanks, lots to think about!

 

[Richardthe4th]

You're welcome, glad to share

A thought about FTP. You need to think about up- and downloading times.

If all has to be done in 8 hours:

• capture
• upload/ftp in the usa (takes time)
• download the ftp in the uk (also takes time, only possible after the upload has been completed)
• edit
• ftp the result (small size possible, doesn't take a lot of time to up- and download)

If this gives problems, you can split the upload in several different smaller files. The workflow then becomes:

• Upload file 1 (usa)
• If upload is ready: download file 1 (uk) and upload file 2 (usa)
• If upload is ready: download file 2 (uk) and upload file 3 (usa)
• etc

Does this make sense? You have a tight planning, agree carefully on the workflow...
grtz

 

[gmehje]

Many thanks Richard, I think this makes sense.
I especially like the idea of editing the low res and then swapping in the high res when it becomes practical.
Kind Regards