Editing at the consumer and pro-sumer level

Following is an actual email thread from one of our contacts who is mac-based.

Dear Kirk at BetaSPtoDVDcom,

Does final cut pro or final cut studio output to flash format for the web?

I have a client who wants a promo video to do double duty--display on the
web AND to play on DVD at trade shows and such.

But since I have yet to get the software, I thought you may know--maybe even
point me to pro vs. studio--vice versa--or even another video editing
solution.

I'm simply not happy with the image quality of iMovie.  I'm guessing the
slicker programs will produce TV-quality images.

Also, is it possible to grab footage from DVD movies and use them in Final
Cut?  Y'know--grab some war footage from Saving Private Ryan, or something?
Or a full moon shot from a Werewolf movie?

S'all fer now.  Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Joe

___________

Hi Joe,
First of all, iMovie is TOTALLY broadcast quality. If you are not 
getting great quality, then you either have low resolution source 
footage, have an old version of iMovie, or have are using some incorrect 
settings. In fact, iMovie even supports HD!!! So I wouldn't spend the 
money for Final Cut solely based on the broadcast quality issue.

Final Cut can make .FLC files, but it is not great at it and the files 
are usually bigger than they should be. For making Flash files, I sometimes use a 
program called Sorensen Squeeze and it works pretty well.

As for ripping footage from a copy protected DVD, you are going to need 
a DEMUXING program. Then you are going to need 
a DVD ripping program like Cinamatize. 
Cinematize is a great tool and we use it all the time. It can rip any DVD that is 
not copy protected. If the DVD is copy protected, then you have to start 
with the aforementioned demuxing application.

The other way is to do it analog style. Just patch cables from the dvd 
player though a professional video deck or TBC (timebase corrector). 
Those will strip off the copy protection in real time.

One word of caution though... we do not advocate using any copy-protected material unless you are legally allowed to do so!!

On the issue of Final Cut Studio vs. Final Cut Express, I would go Final 
Cut Express.  The Final Cut Studio has tons of stuff you will never use 
like heavy-duty motion graphics and pro sound editing. The learning curve 
on those tools is huge.

Anyway,  hope I helped a little.

Kirk

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