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cartTutorials a Safe Harbor blogAdobe Premiere Pro Transitions
Adobe Premiere Pro uses a single-track editing style for applying transitions, so to place a transition between two clips, those clips must be butted together on the same track. Older versions of Premiere used a two-track system, which meant the two clips would be on different tracks, with the ends of the clips overlapped. The transition or wipe would be placed on an effects track layered in between the two video tracks, with the transition duration determined by the amount of clip overlap. Since clips in Premiere Pro are placed end to end on a single track, there is no longer any area of clip overlap in which to place the transition. Thus, the end of the first clip and the beginning of the following clips must be trimmed before butting them together, in effect creating some overlap, or extra material, available for the transition to take place in. The transition is then dropped onto the joint between the two adjacent clips. If I want a one-second dissolve between two clips, I would trim 15 frames (one half second) of video off each clip where they meet. This creates one second of overlap, so I can then place a one-second transition where the clips meet. If I decide to lengthen the transition, one or both of the clips would need to be trimmed more to provide the necessary frames of extra video "overlap" for the transition. In the event that you have two clips on the timeline and are unable to drop a transition between them, even though you’ve trimmed the ends, zoom in to frame level ("+" key on keyboard) to examine the area where the clips meet. A small gap of one or two frames may not be visible without zooming in, but would keep you from applying a transition since the clips are not touching one another. If you are coming from Premiere 6.5 or another editing application that used a transition track, it may take a little getting used to in order to remember to trim the clip ends before applying transitions between then. Once you get a handle on the single-track workflow, I’m sure you will find it much more productive to work with as I have. RT.X2 LCD Display Calibration for CS4 Users
Matrox now offers a monitor calibration utility for RT.X2 users that allows the use of an inexpensive LCD display for accurate color grading. This does not apply to the RT.X2 LE or SD models, which lack the DVI output necessary to drive the LCD. The calibration utility is part of the new 4.0 drivers for use with Adobe CS4, and is accessed via the Matrox "TV" icon at the lower right of the Windows screen. Step-by-step illustrated calibration instructions are included in the Matrox User Guide .pdf file found on the Matrox driver disc in the "Documentation" folder, or online here: http://www.matrox.com/video/en/support/rtx2/doc/
Preloaded color bar graphics are included for NTSC, PAL, 720 and 1080 video formats. These graphics are output to your LCD, and will facilitate with the adjustment of hue, chroma, contrast and brightness. There is also a "blue only" mode for additional fine adjustment.
You don’t have to be a video engineer to achieve proper monitor calibration. Just follow the simple instructions provided to match your color bar display to the sample images, and in a matter of minutes, you will have a true-color display that you can rely on for accurate color reproduction for SD or HD editing with your RT.X2 and CS4. Interlaced vs. Progressive Video
For decades, NTSC has been the standard for US television and video, using the 29.97 frame per second interlaced video format. All standard definition TVs, video cameras and VCRs conformed to that spec, but now with HD video we hear a lot about progressive formats such as 720p and 1080p. What does this mean? Let’s use a round number of 30 to describe the number of individual "frames" that make up each second of 29.97 interlaced video. Each frame is made up of two "fields", with one field consisting of all the odd lines in the image, the other field having the even lines. Combining these two fields creates a single frame of video. Since there are 30 frames every second, each frame is 1/30 of a second long. As two fields are needed to create a frame, fields must be recorded every 1/60 of a second! The two fields combined create an entire video frame every 1/30 of a second. A typical video camera shutter speed is 1/60 of a second, so the two fields are captured 1/60 of a second apart from each other. When capturing moving subjects, some motion takes place between the capturing of the first field and the second field that make up the frame, so the images in the two fields may not match up perfectly, so fast motion may have "interlace artifacting" apparent in the picture. Hollywood movies captured on film use 24 frames per second, no fields, each frame being grabbed in its entirety in 1/24 of a second. At 24fps, the human eye can perceive that it is not viewing reality, like seeing "flip book images" displayed rapidly one after another, so subconsciously, a little imagination is used in your head to "make it real", filling in the blanks so to speak. This is what gives film its surreal quality, making it different than "video". We don’t know why, but we just like the look of film! In the video world, progressive video is the equivalent of film, capturing complete frames at once rather than mixing two interlaced fields. Many new HD cameras offer the option to shoot at 24p or 30p, which is 24 or 30 frames per second respectively, with the resulting images more closely resembling film than video. Of course, with less frames per second to work with, slow-motion may not come out as smooth, so there are certain trade-offs to get the coveted film-look. The videographer must also be careful to not pan too fast or the motion can look very jerky. It requires an entirely different way of shooting and editing and may not be for everyone. Of course, if you are videotaping a low-budget movie with the intent of having the end result transferred to film, then acquiring the video at 24 frames can make sense since no frame rate conversion will be necessary when transferring from video to film. Fast-action sports like football may also have a better "look" when shot in progressive. Another option for shooting Progressive HD is to use one of the new "60p" formats coming out, which offer 60fps shooting of non-interlaced video, in which case you can get smooth slow-motion. Some tapeless cameras even offer "overcranking", which records double the frames per second so that when played back at the normal rate you can achieve super slow motion! How Much Video Can I Fit on a DVD?
Video files must be compressed to the MPEG-2 format to meet the DVD specification. The amount of compression can vary, and is determined by the length of the program, as the compressed content must fit the available space on the DVD. At the highest quality setting, a standard 4.7GB DVD can hold 1 hour of video, but at a medium quality setting, the same DVD can hold 2 hours of video. If quality is not that important for your application, you can even fit 3 hours or more on a single DVD by compressing the material at a lower data rate. You will want to specify Dolby Digital (AC-3) audio in your DVD encoding settings, as this uses much less space than the standard "PCM" uncompressed audio, leaving more room for higher quality (less compressed) video content. While an encoding bitrate of 8.0 is about the maximum allowed for the video, I don’t recommend going above 7.0 as it can cause playability issues with some players, and any quality difference at those rates is negligible. A good rule of thumb to figure the encoding data rate is 4.5 for 120 minutes, 6.0 for 90 minutes, and 7.0 for 60 minutes or less. An easy formula to figure the proper rate is 560/minutes, assuming Dolby Digital audio encoding. MPEG-2 or H.264 for Blu-ray disc?
When encoding video for Blu-ray disc, you can use MPEG-2 or H.264 encoding. MPEG-2 is used for DVD, but a much higher data rate is used for HD content on Blu-ray, so the image can be quite good. The benefit of H.264 is that at the lower data rates used to fit long programs on a disc, H.264 is more efficient than MPEG-2 and will produce a better quality. At higher data rates though, this advantage is less apparent. Considering that H.264 takes about 5x as long to encode as MPEG-2, you must decide whether the content is worth the extra hours of encoding time. If your workflow is such that you can do the encoding overnight, then H.264 becomes a more obvious choice, but when the production demands speed, MPEG-2 is quite suitable for most jobs. Either format is supported by all Blu-ray players per the official Blu-ray specification. How Should I Encode Audio for My DVD?
There are 3 kinds of audio that can be used when authoring DVDs. Dolby Digital (AC-3) – compressed audio with a very high quality, taking up very little space on the DVD. This allows you to encode the video at a higher data rate for better quality since you have more space available for video content. Dolby is the preferred choice for DVD audio. PCM – uncompressed audio, no different than a ".wav" file in your editing software. Two hours of PCM audio can take up over 1GB, which is a good portion of your DVD, leaving less room for quality video, so I avoid the PCM option when Dolby is available. MPEG – has space requirements similar to Dolby, but is NOT officially supported in the DVD specification. If your authoring software does not offer Dolby and you really need the space, MPEG audio may be an option. Note that most DVD players work just fine with MPEG audio, but since it’s not part of the "spec", DVD players are not required to play it. It would be rare to find an incompatible player, so not much of an issue for small runs, but I would not recommend it for mass-duplication. NewTek TriCaster Live Web Streaming – Push or Pull?
The NewTek TriCaster, available in several models, offers live web streaming of the video content you are producing with the unit. Live streaming allows viewers to see your production across the local in-house network, or around the world via the internet. There are two available streaming options with TriCaster, known as Push and Pull. Pull is the simplest option for small audiences – users on the local network or the internet can "Pull" the stream right from the TriCaster itself. This works ok for just a few viewers, since your internet connection must support an individual stream to each viewer requesting it. Multiple streams will quickly overwhelm the capacity of the average broadband connection. Push is the preferred option, requiring the services of a CDN (Content Delivery Network) Provider. CDNs have the infrastructure and bandwidth to redistribute your stream to a worldwide audience of unlimited numbers, live! You will set up an account with the CDN, choosing a plan to meet your needs and budget. When you need to stream an event, it will go from your TriCaster direct to the CDN, which will relay it live to the internet for large audiences.
Do I Need Uncompressed Editing?
If you are doing work for broadcast delivery, you may want to consider capturing and editing in an uncompressed format. Digital video cameras all use some sort of compression on the video file before saving, or the data files would be enormous. Even though the source video may have been compressed, in an uncompressed workflow, further image degradation is kept to a minimum and graphics and compositing will remain cleaner. AJA and Black Magic Design offer capture and playback cards for uncompressed workflows. For Mac users, the ProRes 422 codec offers an alternative to uncompressed video, which lowers overhead while maintaining the quality. Note that some HD camcorders will output an uncompressed signal via HDMI or HD-SDI during a live shoot, passing the video direct from the imaging chip before any compression is added. In a studio setting, you could get true uncompressed video into your edit system this way. Once the video has been recorded to tape or flash card though, it has been compressed and you can’t get all the quality back. For hobby, event and corporate work being delivered on DVD, Blu-ray or the internet, compressed HD formats can look great and the end user might see no benefit to an uncompressed workflow, since the delivery format is highly compressed and the content may also be downsized. If producing content for broadcast, always check with the broadcaster to get their official requirements regarding workflow and delivery formats that are acceptable to their standards. What is AVCHD?
AVCHD means Advanced Video Codec High Definition, and is the new "standard" for consumer HD camcorders. AVCHD uses H.264 video compression, a type of MPEG-4, replacing the older MPEG-2 format used for DVD and HDV. H.264 is a more efficient codec than MPEG-2, meaning that at comparable data rates, H.264 will look better. The catch is that H.264 requires a lot more computer processing power for playback and editing. The current versions of computer editing packages such as Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, Apple Final Cut 6 and Grass Valley Edius 5 offer native support for AVCHD editing, but do require powerful computers. AVCHD camcorders are all tapeless models. Early units recorded to mini DVD discs, but due to limited record times, the disc-based cameras have been replaced by units that record to removable memory cards or internal hard drives with higher capacity. Because there is no tape transport, the cameras can be made very small and they use less energy. Video data is transferred from the camera by USB cable or with a card reader attached to the computer. Moving footage to the computer as data is faster than capturing tapes in realtime, and for event videographers, this could cut hours from each project. While AVCHD cameras will record full 1920x1080 video, bettering the 1440x1080 resolution of the MPEG-2 based HDV tape format, AVCHD cameras typically use a data rate of 13Mbps versus 25Mbps for HDV. This has precluded the cameras from professional use due to consumer-level video quality.
HDV went through some growing pains in its early days as editing software and computer hardware had to advance to where the workflow was faster and easier for the user. AVCHD is going through similar growing pains today. AVCHD is the future – it’s not going to go away, as H.264 is the new standard for digital video acquisition and distribution. Tapeless workflows have many advantages, and AVCHD is delivering it to the masses right now. With the constant advances in computer speed, working with AVCHD can only get better. Should I Convert My SD Videos to HD?
I hear this question quite often, and the answer is, "It depends." You might have a large collection of videos that you have shot over the years in standard definition that will be viewed on a new HD display. Would those videos benefit from an upconversion to HD, perhaps on Blu-ray disc? Probably not. Most new DVD players have special HD upconvert hardware built in that will make standard DVDs look as good as they can on your HD display, so the best bet for archiving and viewing with the least trouble and expense is by simply converting the footage to high-quality DVD. However, there are other instances where upconverting your footage to HD will be needed or advantageous. For example, when working on projects where SD and HD footage must be combined for HD delivery, you want to get the best possible quality from the older videos so they more closely match the HD clips they will be mixed with. Your nonlinear editing software will probably handle the conversion automatically by scaling the SD video up to the HD project resolution, but the results are usually not so great. The two SD video clips below were upconverted to HD using Adobe Motion's Scale to Frame feature. The clips are simply "blown up" without any special processing, resulting in a soft overall appearance, while having jagged edges at the same time.
In response to this need, vendors have developed software specifically for upconverting video with the best possible quality. Sophisticated algorithms are applied to analyze and process the video, enhancing the detail and sharpness for a much better looking result after conversion to HD. I recently tried the Boris Effects Continuum UpRez plugin for Premiere Pro CS3 and After Effects (also available for Final Cut). I brought some DV clips into an HDV project in CS3, and applied the UpRez effect from the Effects folder. The results are markedly better, as you can see here.
The Continuum Uprez controls are pretty basic and simple to use, allowing the user to "dial in" the settings that work best for each particular clip.
As expected for this type of processor-intensive work, rendering was not terribly fast, but the results were far superior to using Premiere alone to scale my SD clips up to HD resolution. Sharpness and detail were increased, while scaling artifacts and softness were virtually eliminated when comparing both methods using a split-screen output to an HD display. I own 2 HDV cameras and often use a third DV camera for additional B-roll coverage of weddings and events. For $99, the Continuum Unit UpRez plug-in can extend the useful life of that DV camera, allowing me to mix in those DV clips for Blu-ray delivery. Continuum Unit UpRez is available for free trial download from the Boris site, and well worth trying for yourself to see if it suits your needs. The demo sold me on it and I purchased a copy for Digital Vision Productions.
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