Stills for Final Cut Pro

[Jeremy Payne]

I've been hired to shoot stills that will end up in an a high-definition TV commercial/video.  I know very little about video.

I've been asking the editor to tell me exactly what format to submit the files in, and so far all I can get for an answer is "send me TIFFs or JPEGs".

I know the frame size is 960 x 720 and they are using FinalCut Pro.

My questions are:

*** Color space?  AdobeRGB ok?

*** Sharpening?  Do normal capture/creative sharpening and stop?

*** Square or 4:3 pixels?

*** Can FCP handle 16-bit TIFFs?  Should I bother sending 16-bit TIFFs or just send high quality JPEGs?

*** Should I resize to the frame size?  Send original size?  Crop to 4:3 and send?  They would need bigger than the frame if they wanted to Pan and Zoom, right?

Sorry for all the rookie questions ... but I've never shot for video before ...

Thank!

[Christopher Sanderson]

If it were stills for my production, here are my answers:

- Adobe RGB is fine; embed the profile
- original resolution 8 bit TIFFs (not JPGs; not 16 bit) - less any editorial cropping you may want to do.
- square pixels (let the editor make any adjustment necessary)
- do not assume any aspect ratio unless specifically informed.
- normal capture sharpening and modest output sharpening.

[Jeremy Payne]

If it were stills for my production, here are my answers:

- Adobe RGB is fine; embed the profile
- original resolution 8 bit TIFFs (not JPGs; not 16 bit) - less any editorial cropping you may want to do.
- square pixels (let the editor make any adjustment necessary)
- do not assume any aspect ratio unless specifically informed.
- normal capture sharpening and modest output sharpening.

Thanks!  When you say "modest output sharpening" ... in LR, would you use the "low" setting for "screen"?

[Christopher Sanderson]

Thanks!  When you say "modest output sharpening" ... in LR, would you use the "low" setting for "screen"?

I would use either Standard or Low - depending on the subject matter: fineness of detail, contrast etc. You don't want to make it too 'crunchy'