I’ve never edited 16mm film. I’m hoping to shoot my short in May (the schedule isn’t set yet), and the plan is to put it on BetaSP and edit it on a Mac G5.
Questions:
[ul][li]If I decide to actually cut the negative, can I send the edit disc from Final Cut Pro (which would have the cues on it), the camera original footage, and the DAT audio to a negative cutter to be conformed?[/li][li]Would the audio have to be on fullcoat? Or could the audio be taken directly from the DAT (or disc) using the FCP cues?[/li][li]How would the edge codes on the film relate to the timecode on the FCP file?[/ul][/li]Also: How do SMTPE codes work? My camera has a crystal motor, but no timecode electronics. I don’t know about the audio recorder, since we don’t have one yet.
Right now, the plan is to shoot on film and edit on video, then output the final product to DVD. But it would be nice to have an edited film negative and film print, even if it will never be projected.
Silly question but is using Beta as an intermediate step better than using digital tape? I’m presuming there would be one less conversion since tape to computer is a transfer with the data unchanged.
I can’t find my copy of the Filmmaker’s Handbook, but I recall that it answers all of your questions. I think it also has an emphatic: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON’T CUT YOUR OWN NEGATIVE, but that’s for you to decide.
Right. I don’t want to cut my own neg. I was just wondering how the conformer would do it if I gave him the edit disc, original footage, and audio tape.
How about asking the lab / cutter what they need from you? If you explain that this is your first 16mm project, I’d like to think they’d be more than happy to go through the nuts and bolts of time codes, edit cues, sound, etc.
Especially if you preface the query with “what will make it easier for you?”
