Hello--

I own Final Cut Pro 3 and I'm renting the DVX-100.

I intend to go back to video, maybe to DVD.

From what I've read, shoot 24P NORMAL and edit in a 23.98 timeline. Basically just edit like normal.

I have a few questoins about this.

- Is using FCP 3 to fix the audio drift a pain? Or maybe I won't even notice this. I was going to upgrade to FCP 4, but then I would need to upgrade my whole setup. Basically I would have to spend at least 2000 dollars to get the computer I want and the FCP 4 upgrade and besides SOUNTRACK, I don't know if that is worth it at this time, in other words, is the audio problem a simple fix.

- I am shooting basketball scenes. At the end, I want a slow mo of a Kid trying to dunk a ball and for it to freeze frame on it. I want to shoot using 24p for the film look, but would shooting 30 p (at least for this scene be easier?)

If I'm editing is a 23.38 timeline, will the footage blend together well?

-I have a scene where I want to keep the camera in the same place. I have a shot of a pile of CD's and I want to move them from the right side to the left side that appear to move to the other side without anyone in the shot for say one 30 second shot when it is all done. What is the best way to do this? It's a timelaspe shot or sorts. Maybe an animation shot.

I thought maybe just not move the camera... film for 5 seconds.... then move the cd to the other side and never stop filming.. then later I can edit out me actually moving them, but that might appear jittery.

Any tips?


- 16x9 -- I'm still very unsure about this. I'm almost afraid to use this setting figure it will be a headache in post. Shoudl I use it in the DVX-100 with my setup or just add the letterbox affect later?

Thanks you.

Bumping this up... Anyone?

From what I understand of FCP 3, you can't edit 24P in a 23.98 timeline. You'd either have to upgrade to FCP 4, or edit your footage in a 29.97 timeline, keeping the camera's automatic 3:2 pulldown sequence intact.

There is no "audio drift", there's a slight audio alignment issue: when shooting in 24P modes, the audio precedes the video by a frame or two. It doesn't drift in and out or anything, it's always at a fixed offset. Most people don't even bother to fix it, but if you want to compensate for it, you can just slide your audio to the right a couple of frames. Apparently FCP 4 has a setting that can compensate for this during capture.

If you want to do slight slow motion, 30P is excellent for that. If you want to really slow down the motion, shoot 60i.

As for 16x9, there isn't a 16x9 setting in the camera, just the letterbox option. Letterbox just adds black bars at the top and bottom. Some people think this is silly, and they shoot 4:3 and add the bars in post. I like having the bars there, it makes composition easier and saves a step in post, but you're free to choose either method.