help!!!!!
 

hi i was wondering how you would run a tv as final out put with two monitors with a power mac. i know how to run the two computor screens but how do you get the final out to be a tv

thanks matt

p.s. two monitors or one and why.

Lots of people run S-video to a production TV from their miniDV cameras, since most NLE's send out the source/preview monitor signal to it as you work. That's how people without distribution amps and all that jazz do it.

One monitor, because two is expensive and when I worked with Avid systems all I ever needed was one. I have two eyes, but they usually only look in one direction at the same time.

I sporadically run s-video to my tv (next to my monitor) via my firewire conected dv capture cam while editing mostly for a broader idea of how some of the colors and other imagery elements might translate into a standard NTSC television signal. I can get easily distracted however, so I don't do this all the time.

I basically use a two monitor system because my main computer is a Powerbook. I find that when doing some fairly intricate stuff, whether it be with video, audio, or photo apps, I like to have many of my tools and palettes on my smaller monitor that is part of the Powerbook while my content is displayed on my larger external monitor. This is easy on the eyes, and allows me more room to lay my stuff out for a smoother work environment and I think much more efficiancy.

Just my two cents.
-Jon

There are PCI cards that can be added to a Powermac G5 that gve you additional video output capability. Some have s-video, others have component etc. Alternatively, ther are Firewire to video devices from companies such as Canopus and others that simply connect to your computer as a Firewire device and give you video output. As mentioned, some cameras do this (it's called passthru) and can be used if you don't mind the wear and tear. All of the above result in devices that FCP recognizes and can be used by FCP as it's external monitor. There are many uses for multiple computer monitors that can make you more efficient. Your mileage may vary.

If you add another video card you can use the digital cinema desktop feature in FCP to send output to a third screen. The problem with this is that the quality is not nearly as good as what the computer sends over firewire to an external device. It's great for working with HDV, since you can't send video over firewire in that case, but for regular DV it isn't an optimal solution.

Here's one of the firewire devices that Ernest mentioned: http://www.adstech.com/products/API-...sp?pid=API-555. Personally, I send firewire to my DVD recorder and use a monitor connected to it via component video.

Regarding 2 screens vs. 1.... I'm the odd man there. I have 2 screens connected to my Mac, but I rarely use the second one. I dislike having to mouse between the two screens, and especially dislike the long distance I have to travel between the menus on the main screen to the stuff on the second screen. But of course, the trick is to have a main screen that's large enough (I have a 23" Cinema Display). It also has a lot to do with the type of things you work on. I do CAD and 3d modelling. For this kind of work, bigger is better since you can see more of the image.

Also realize that when you plug in a second screen you split your video RAM in two. So if you have a 128MB video card each screen will be allocated 64MB. Depending on the software you run, this might affect performance. FCP doesn't seem to mind, but Motion does.