Preparing and Capturing 2D Animations from FlipBook: A Primer By: Krishna M. Sadasivam and Trina Pinkney Revision 1.0.5 January 26, 2005 NOTE: This document assumes that you have captured your images with FlipBook, with the intention of transferring your animation to tape. For information on using FlipBook, please consult with your course instructor. If you would like to capture video footage from VHS into the computer, please read the Importing Video from VHS tape from Premiere section on page 7. 1. On the PC, with FlipBook opened, select File -> Publish. You are exporting the flipbook sequence you ve created to an AVI (movie file). 2. When the dialog box appears, under CODEC, select DiVX 5.2 Codec from the list of options. You must use this particular video codec if you are planning to use Adobe Premiere on the Macintosh. Uncompressed or Cinepak encoded AVI s will not play properly under Premiere. (NOTE: You may also use Apple s Final Cut Pro to prepare your files for tape, and it WILL work with Uncompressed or Cinepak codecs. This will be discussed in a separate section below.) 3. Be sure to always save your AVI file onto the PC s G drive first. Doing so is much quicker because you are saving to the PC s local drive, as opposed to saving your AVI file across the network to the H drive. You can then copy over your file onto your H drive to preserve your work. 4. Login to the Macintosh. Your homespace (H drive) should automatically appear. If it does not, see step 5. Otherwise proceed to step 7. 1
5. If your homespace does not appear, or if the file exists on a different drive / machine, you will need to use the Connect to Computer Art Computers application (located on the Desktop). The Connect to Computer Art Computers application that is on the Desktop by double-clicking its icon. (see below) 6. When the dialog box appears (see below), select the following from the drop down menu: a. Connect to a PC b. Room of the computer c. machine number d. share (usually TEMP) e. your NT username and NT password 7. Locate your AVI file. Copy this file over to the StudentFiles folder on the Desktop. 2
8. Launch Adobe Premiere (located in the Adobe Applications folder on the Dock). 9. IMPORTANT: Make sure that the CMPA FireWire Capture and Output option is selected on the dialog box which appears. 10. When Premiere finally loads, go to Import -> File and select your AVI file. 11. Drag your AVI into the timeline window. Save your Premiere session. Select from the main menu Timeline -> Render Work Area. See the example below. 12. On the Ocean Matrix FireWire switchbox, be sure to press the button corresponding to the Mac workstation you are sitting at. 13. On the Panasonic MiniDV deck, insure that the INPUT SELECT is set to DV and that REMOTE switch is set to OFF. 14. Make sure that the dedicated display monitor (which looks a lot like a television set) has the UNCOMPRESSED SCAN button (located above Video A) pressed. Without this button pressed, you will not see your footage on the display. 15. Power the TV ON (if it isn t already) and on Channel 3. 16. Press the TV/VCR button on the VCR console so that VCR appears on the LED display. 3
17. Place your VHS tape into the VCR and press the RECORD button. Now, in Premiere, select File -> Export Timeline -> Print to Video. Your animation should appear on the TV. 18. Hit the STOP button on the VCR when you have finished. You have now successfully captured your animation to tape! Using Final Cut Pro to Capture your Animation to VHS: This section is for those students and faculty that are interested in using Apple s Final Cut Pro for outputting their animations to tape. Final Cut Pro is optimized for the Macintosh, and is much faster (and easier) than the Mac edition of Premiere overall. It also offers more flexibility in terms of adding titles and looping your animations, etc. 1. On the PC, select File -> Publish. You are exporting the flipbook sequence you ve created to an AVI (movie file). 2. Select UNCOMPRESSED as the video codec and save out the AVI file onto your G drive. NOTE: You may also use the Cinepak codec, but quality is marginal. 3. On the Ocean Matrix FireWire switchbox (located on the Mac side), be sure to press the button corresponding to the Mac workstation you are sitting at. 4. On the Panasonic MiniDV deck, insure that the INPUT SELECT is set to DV and that REMOTE switch is set to OFF. 5. Power the TV ON (if it isn t already) and set to Channel 3 if it isn t already. 6. Press the TV/VCR button on the VCR console so that VCR appears on the LED display. 7. On the Macintosh, launch the Connect to Computer Art Computers application that is on the Desktop by double-clicking its icon. 8. When the dialog box appears, select the following from the drop down menu: a. Room of the computer b. machine number c. share (usually Temp) d. your NT username and NT password 9. If you have typed everything correctly, your temp drive should now appear on the Desktop. Open the Temp drive and locate your AVI file. Copy this file to the StudentFiles folder on the Desktop. 10. Launch FinalCut Pro (located in the Sound & Video folder on the Dock) 11. From the main menu, select File -> Import -> Files Choose the AVI that you copied over. 4
12. Drag your AVI sequence onto the time line and under the Sequence menu, select Render All -> Both (this will render audio and video components of your animation). 13. Select File -> Print to Video. Within the dialog box that appears, you can add color bars, loop your animation, and add a black screen between loops. You can also add a title by selecting Slate and clicking on the Clip Name pop-up menu, where upon you can type the name of the clip. 5
14. Place your VHS tape in the VCR and hit RECORD. Click OK on the dialog box and your animation will now output to the television display. Hit the STOP button on the VCR when you have finished. You have now successfully captured your animation to tape! Importing Video from VHS tape from Premiere The following text outlines the steps required to successfully import video FROM a VHS tape into Premiere. 1. Press the switch corresponding to the Mac you are using on the Ocean Matrix FireWire switchbox. 2. IMPORTANT: Make sure the Panasonic minidv deck has the following settings: INPUT set to LINE. REMOTE set to OFF. 3. Launch Adobe Premiere on the Macintosh and select the CMPA Firewire Capture and Output option. 4. When Premiere finishes loading, go to File -> Capture -> Movie Capture. A dialog box will appear. 5. For Capture Location (where you are planning to save the footage) select the folder (under the StudentFiles folder) that you would like to use. 6. For Video Preview and Audio Preview, select Same as Project. 7. From the pop-up menu, make sure that Device Control 2.0 is selected for device control. Click OK to accept these settings. 8. Hit Record (the small red button) on Premiere. Play your footage from the VCR. Hit Stop in Premiere, when you have completed your recording session. 9. Save your file (File -> Save). Congratulations you ve captured video footage into the computer! You can now edit it within Premiere or FinalCut Pro. 6
Troubleshooting Techniques: Adobe Premiere 6.5 1. Make sure all other applications aside from Premiere are not open. This will give Premiere more memory to operate with, and will, as a result, improve video playback. 2. Be sure to render your work area (Timeline -> Render Work Area) 3. If audio portion fails to play under Premiere, go to the File -> Export Timeline -> Movie and save out your exported movie. A new window with your newly created movie will appear. You can use this movie for playback out to tape. 4. If all else fails, reboot the Macintosh and re-open Adobe Premiere. If this document has failed to answer your questions, please contact Krishna Sadasivam (Systems Office) or Trina Pinkney (Cage) with feedback. Here are some additional references you may find useful in using Adobe Premiere (all links are active and current as of July 22, 2004) : Premiere Basics: http://www.aluminumstudios.com/digitalvideo/software/premiere/premiere_basics.html Converting Between QuickTime and AVI formats: http://www.synthetic-ap.com/tips/qt2avi.html Frame Rate Conversion: http://www.aluminumstudios.com/digitalvideo/advanced/conversion.html Format Options for Making Web Movies in Premiere: http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/1804a.htm Using Video Compression with Premiere: http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/9a86.htm 7