2009

• Safety transfer: Safety transfers are extremely conservative, with the camera negative
being transferred as neutrally as possible. The emphasis is on maximizing the amount
of color and contrast within the widest available dynamic range of the video recording
format, while avoiding clipping in the highlights and shadows as much as is reasonable
(although some highlights, like direct light sources, sun glints, and lighting reflections,
should be clipped). Creative adjustments are usually not made, and although the
resulting video image often looks a bit dull, the video signal has the maximum amount
of image data for doing high-quality color correction later. If you’re ultimately mastering
to videotape, doing a safety transfer of all the footage you intend to use ensures that
you don’t have to retransfer your material after you finish editing. If you plan to color
correct the material during the finishing process, a safety transfer gives you the most
flexible image for making your final adjustments.
• Best-light transfer: The opposite of a one-light transfer, a best-light transfer is the most
time-consuming and expensive method of transfer. Each section of film is transferred
with individual settings, as necessary. Time is taken to do careful grades and creative
adjustments. Best-light transfers usually take place when the footage is being
retransferred after the offline edit has been completed, but sometimes best-light
transfers are done right from the beginning of the process, to ensure that the footage
looks its best from offline through online.
Popular Formats
Film is typically transferred to high-quality tape-based formats suitable for mastering,
including Digital Betacam, HDCAM, HDCAM SX, and D-5, although other formats may be
used for specific applications. Transfer to tapeless formats is becoming increasingly
available. If you have a choice, you should decide whether you want to manage physical
videotapes or volumes of digital media files.
Method of Ingest
If you’re ingesting a low-quality transfer with the intention of retransferring later, or if
you plan to output a cut list for an eventual negative conform, you need to have the
transfer facility provide you with a telecine log file to import into Final Cut Pro (or
Cinema Tools). Final Cut Pro uses this list to create a Cinema Tools database, along with
a set of offline clips that you use to capture the transferred video. All of the necessary
film metadata is tracked automatically. If you’re ingesting a transfer that was done at its
final quality so there’s no need for a retransfer, this step isn’t necessary.
To actually ingest the media, you use the Log and Capture window, as with any tape-based
format. See “Ingesting Tape-Based Media” for more information.
Clip Organization
Organization happens during the telecine session, when you initially decide what footage
to transfer. Typically, each camera roll of film is transferred to a new reel of videotape.
(Each reel of tape usually starts at a new hour.)
36 Chapter 2 Ingesting and Organizing Your Media