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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Solution to solve quality problem

A

Avi Liani

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Dear All,

I think I found solution how to screen quicktime movie in theater with 100% quality.

There is two rooms in theater. One is 500 seats room, where they have DCP projector. So I am making DCP files for that one

But second room which is 100 seats room, they have small screen and they do not have DCP projector. They told me to record blue ray, which is not good quality of course. But now I think I find solution.

What about to connect Mac Mini with HDMY/DVI directly to film projector in theater? the movie will be on 1TB disc which will be attached to Mac Mini by FireWire and Mac Mini will be connected by HDMI/DVI to the projector. And regarding sound, it will be connected in MAC. So projector will play Quicktime movie which is best quality.

Does this make sense?
 
Simply put:
No

What would work was an SDI playout...
Which means a tower + FCP/Something else + Kona + audio (de-embedding of the SDI audio) +

I have done it, it is doable, but easy... Not really...
 
Gunleik Groven said:
Simply put:
No

What would work was an SDI playout...
Which means a tower + FCP/Something else + Kona + audio (de-embedding of the SDI audio) +

I have done it, it is doable, but easy... Not really...
Click to expand...

I could not figure out your post

I talked with them and they have experience with this
 
It's still not a very good solution...

Much worse than blueray...

But then again: That depends on your understanding of the signalchain and different media...

Don't get too hung up in "best", but more in "what you can manage to look good".

Those may not be the same, but choose the one you can accomplish!
 
the problem is the data rate of the movie and pushing that through all components without stuttering or hang ups ...

The basic idea of playing the Quicktime with QT Player in fullscreen mode into a Projector, using it as second screen or mirror the desktop, works of course.

In simple concepts,
to avoid stuttering in playback it needs:

Fast Machine, FAST DISKS, fast enough video board ...
and fast enough physical connections of all these elements ...
guess plenty of memory is always good ... ;-)


Gunleiks method would work for sure and his advice is golden ... ;-)

"Use what you can manage to look good" ...
in your budget, i would like to add ...

If the mac mini is all you´ve got ... then the constraint and only options are in the choice of codec and frame rate ....

On a side note:
I have projected a single QT movie from 1 Powermac to 6 connected projectors to have a 18m x 1.5m screen ...
It was for a commercial installation and lowering the frame rate to 15 fps was fine ... this may not be an option for a movie theater .... lol ... ;-)

Whatever your idea, Test it, make a 3-5 min version, enough to have all components stress tested and have it loop ...

:-)
 
Just make sure it will run without any hiccups or hang during the real thing! If they tell you "no problem" make sure they take full responsibility if they have enough time to do a test run on their own or make sure you can do a test yourself as proof - watch your deadline and don't come up with this one or two days before the screening.

A hang or playback issues are the worst things to happen - it's even worse if it is a premiere or first screening with important audience (big screen or not). I've had it all and it was not nice - also make sure to have a fallback solution for worst case scenario (even if it's only a DVD - better not HD and working than a black screen)...

And just to mention; Did you consider playback from a video deck?
That would also be a very reliable and safe solution if you ask me.

Would be good to know what projector is available in the second room - maybe blu ray is not so bad at all taking all the effort you need for Quicktime playback into consideration... I'm pretty sure there is a reason why they told you a blu ray will work - just think about it.
 
Peter Stelzhammer said:
Just make sure it will run without any hiccups or hang during the real thing! If they tell you "no problem" make sure they take full responsibility if they have enough time to do a test run on their own or make sure you can do a test yourself as proof - watch your deadline and don't come up with this one or two days before the screening.

A hang or playback issues are the worst things to happen - it's even worse if it is a premiere or first screening with important audience (big screen or not). I've had it all and it was not nice - also make sure to have a fallback solution for worst case scenario (even if it's only a DVD - better not HD and working than a black screen)...

And just to mention; Did you consider playback from a video deck?
That would also be a very reliable and safe solution if you ask me.

Would be good to know what projector is available in the second room - maybe blu ray is not so bad at all taking all the effort you need for Quicktime playback into consideration... I'm pretty sure there is a reason why they told you a blu ray will work - just think about it.
Click to expand...

Thanks

What you mean by video deck?

I will make new blue ray today and check tomorrow
 
Strongly suggest you stay away from playing out of the Mac mini .
Including all mentioned above and the very probable sync, LUT and gamma problems. You may well also have a scan conversion issue, depending on the projector, in which the projector may expect fields in a certain way but the DVI port wont transmit them correctly and you could end up with jaggered lines across the image.
I had the misfortune of attending a screening in a theater and they played it off of a MBP via DVI and that is what happened. Not a good look for a first time screening.

By video deck I think he means convert to a hi quality format and hire a deck for the screening. It will have balanced audio out and at least an SDI out. Digibeta is quite common place though SD. Otherwise it cold be an
HDV deck but you will be dealing with hi compression so may not be what your after.

As for the testing test the mac mini and have with you a blue ray and a DVD test them all and see what works.
 
hmm, a video deck is a video deck...? Sorry, my native language is german.
a tape based video player unit, I'm sure you know it...

for HD it would be for example a HDCAM or HDCAM SR player...
of course you need a playout on Tape (always good to have anyways) and if you don't have access to such a unit you need to rent it but on a daily basis it should be affordable. Is it for one screening on one day only or is it for a longer period?
 
Peter Stelzhammer said:
hmm, a video deck is a video deck...? Sorry, my native language is german.
a tape based video player unit, I'm sure you know it...

for HD it would be for example a HDCAM or HDCAM SR player...
of course you need a playout on Tape (always good to have anyways) and if you don't have access to such a unit you need to rent it but on a daily basis it should be affordable. Is it for one screening on one day only or is it for a longer period?
Click to expand...

Got it

I will check, mac mini, DVD and BLUE RAY and let's see which is best

I organized screening of this movie which was on DVD in small room and everything was OK, but this is big movie, I was not involved in technical issues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9UeDHvxfkI&feature=related
 
Last edited:
Which issues do you see in your Blu-ray? We've recently shown a short film shot on RED in a sold-out theater packed with 250 people and everyone was going "wow". And the footage was critical, very delicate whites and much texture.
 
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