Open timeline in FCP 6 reliable?
 

The open timeline is a very interesting feature in FCP 6.0

I guess you can mix different frame rates & resolutions in a single timeline without having to render.

I'm a bit skeptical about the realtime playback when outputing to an analog deck like Betacam SP.

Will there be dropouts while the software is constantly changing frame rates & resolutions during playback?

If I were just exporting to DVD, this would be a non-issue, since the Compressor can take as much time as it needs to create the DVD files.

Live output makes me a bit more nervous. Is there a way to render your timeline for a more reliable playback?

>Will there be dropouts while the software is constantly changing frame rates & resolutions during playback?

I guess you will have to wait till it ships, in May, befoe you will get any reliable user feedback on this. But for what its worth, thats not my understanding of how it works. I beleive your timeline will still have a format, and that is what is output. Camera native footage included in that timeline that does not conform the timeline format will be transcoded in real-time.

>Is there a way to render your timeline for a more reliable playback?

You can always render your timeline.

So if the processor isn't fast enough or I use a lot of fx, it seems reasonable to assume that you still need to render your timeline, at least for live to tape output.

Scott

Print to video?
 

Wouldn't you print to video in order to playout to tape or any other format, thereby ensuring your sequence is rendered?

I use "Edit to Tape" and yes, it does prompt you to render your timeline if you haven't already done so.

I wonder if FCP 6 will require you to do the same?