davidm

XMLPro from Gallery Software manages FCP to Protools workflow. http://www.gallery.co.uk/XMLPro/xmlpro.html David Madigan

I'm currently working on a feature with Metacorder running at 30fps/48048 for direct import into Avid. Metacorder doesn't stamp the files as 48.048 because of a perceived "illegality" with this method. It seems that while it's required to have 30fps/ 48048 stamped files for an import into a 23.976 or 29.9 - 48K session, if the there is to be a re-conform at a later date then the 48.048 files will need at least to be re-sampled 48.000. My sound editorial team don't support this view as all my audio is ingested into the Avid and subsequently everything is output in the OMF. T hey will not do a re-conform and will never go back to my original reels. Well, if they have to they can deal with it. My workaround in providing 48.048 stamped files was to use a program called Remetacator from Maggot software. The current release of Remetacator enables each file to be re-stamped one at a time - a fairly time consuming & repetitive process but it solved the problem. Maggot have kindly provided me with a beta version which does batch conversion of my daily audio and retains all the metadata and iXML. My beta version of Remetacator also allows for iXML track name editing which is handy for fixing up the odd mistake. Not sure when the release version will be available. http://www.maggot.co.nz/software/remetacator.shtml David Madigan

Thanks for the comments, in particular Wolf. Perhaps my problem is limited to the fact that I always see video assists from the one supplier and I'm very suspect of the mass of wiring and boxes on the video assist Magliner. I suspect all assembled to a price rather than a specification. Our monitors are newish Sony LMD 2030's & 2010's. David Madigan

I have experienced the delay in HD downconversion but in this case we are shooting film. We have a standard PAL video taps on Panaflex Millenium's David Madigan

I'm getting a little tired of vision delays on LCD's used for video assist systems. Typically the delay seems to be around 4- 6 frames. For some reason, everyone on set seems to think this a sound problem. The people who supply the video assist systems say there's no LCD's video monitors available with low delay - say 1 frame. When I suggest that there's no problem with CRT's the video assist crew all get grumpy and start mumbling about how heavy they and the director wanting a large monitor (to watch a low res picture from a film camera tap!) On my current shoot, I purchased a Behringer Shark DSP110 and settled on 0.25 seconds delay on the Comtek feed. This was fine until the director and script supervisor ended up in the set near the actors. Having the delay was fine looking at the monitor but when they look at the live action...... Does anyone know of low latency LCD video monitors out there being used in video assist systems? David Madigan

I own a pair of MH 2882's, one on my cart and the 2nd as a spare and playback interface. The converters are fine by my ears and by all accounts are still highly regarded for their sound despite their relative age. Here's some pictures of the interior - http://img.indigom.net/img_2882/ There's about to be a significant SHARC / DSP upgrade for the 2882 DSP version. The upgrade will be will also be able to be field installed on both the non DSP and DSP versions for $400 US. No mod's, just open up and drop it in. The software is regularly updated and includes a basic multitrack recorder. The DC connector is a 2.5mm socket rather than an XLR. David Madigan

While it's great that Apogee have put a 4pin XLR on the Ensemble, apart from their excellent converters, there's not much else to make the box superior to anything else on the market. Apogee claim that the Ensemble is "the first all digitally controlled, professional audio interface, designed specifically for the Macintosh". I have a pair of Metric Halo 2882's and they are definitely Mac only and have been around for over 5 years. Also the MOTU Traveler has simultaneous AES and SPDIF in and out giving it 4 channels of digital I/O whereas most of the other interfaces are AES or SPDIF, or in the case of the Apogee, SPDIF only. The interface that I'm considering for next year is the Sonic Studio 304, which is effectively a Metric Halo 2882 but is line level only and has 8 channels of AES I/O in place of the ADAT I/O. I want the the 8 channels of AES to connect to a second recorder. On the subject of 48.048, I use a recorder - currently a 744T or an Ambient Lockit to guarantee a highly accurate time-base to clock my interfaces. While it's quite possible that say the Rosetta 800 has an accurate clock by film and broadcast standards, most products aimed primarily at the music market will claim a stable clock in terms of low jitter and digital purity, rather than an accurate low drift time-base. David Madigan

I don't use Rob's carts but have been using his boom holders for many years. I added the coffee cup holder to my cart about 12 months ago and just about every craft service person in town is now trained as to it's location and purpose. Thourouhly recommended. David Madigan Auckland, New Zealand.

I have been running Metacorder for two years as my primary recorder. My current setup is a G4 Mac Mini & Metric Halo 2882. My mixer is a Sonosax ST8D. Timecode and word clock are from an Ambient ACL201-II Lockit box. My Mac Mini electronics have been mounted in a 1U Travla rack mount enclosure along with a firewire DVD RAM drive, a 5 port Firewire hub, a Carnetix P1900 car computer power supply and some additional cooling. I purchased Metacorder after arriving at the conclusion that it is important to have 100% accurate scene and slate metadata as most of my audio is imported into an Avid. I was impressed with the false start routine on the demo and also wanted electronic logging. I have a 744T for mobile use and` as a backup for my mix tracks. Having also used a PD6, Deva IV and a Cantar, I believe that Metacorder is a great cart based primary recorder. I 'm currently recording up to 1 + 6 dual poly files to an "audio" partition on the system drive although I have also recorded to external firewire drives in the past. For rushes delivery I supply a DVD-R on short term projects and on longer shoots I mirror to firewire 2.5" hard drives and send in a DVD-R archive disk the following day. I did use CF cards for rushes on one feature but found the occasional file didn't copy properly. What I have got working but have yet to install is a 2nd hard drive on the Mac Mini's CD drive IDE bus connector. I'm intending to use the seccond drive as my primary audio drive and the audio partition on my main drive as the secondary drive when I upgrade to an Intel mac Mini later this year. Tips: 1) I use a Fujitsu "Happy Hacking Lite II" keyboard which has function keys enabled by using a "fn" key. This saves accidentally bumping the F keys (while typing) as they are used for arming record tracks. There's nothing worse than sending in an odd numbered poly file to an Avid. 2) I run a simple AppleScript to auto start Metacorder. With OS X 10.3.9 Metacorder could launch as a startup item but Apple changed the USB power up sequence for OS X 10.4 and the USB dongle now powers up after the startup items and thus Metacorder required a manual start. 3) I have cut the voltage wire in the firewire cable between the Metric Halo and the computer. While there's no problem running Powerbooks and Mac Mini's off Apples mains power adapters and using standard firewire cables to an interface, I find that when running a Mac Mini directly off a 12 volt gell cell or when using battery adapters such as the Carnetix on my Mac Mini or a 12 volt car adapter on my Power Book, there's a substantial amount of computer power noise leaking onto the power supply and firewire power lines. With a common power supply this leaks into all the audio components. My solution has been to have two identical power supply systems (float charger and gel cell), one feeding the audio system and one feeding the computer system. This arrangement is audibly superior to a single power supply system. David Madigan Auckland New Zealand