I am about to purchase a used iMac G3 to use it as my editing back-up. I have found a few good deals out there but none of these computers come with the original restore CDs. Does anyone know if there is place where I can purchase the restore CDs for, say, the iMac 600MHz Graphite? Do you think that the restore CDs that came with my eMac will work with the iMac, if needed?

Thank you.

I've considered playing around in the unix command line for other problems/fixes/adjustments, but always decided against it out of fear of screwing something up. I guess its really not such a big deal when, like you said, it can just be reloaded, but I'll still pass for now.

I'd planned on heading up to his office and getting everything lined out today, but can't seem to get ahold of him yet. Once everything is said and done, I'll post the results and how they were achieved.

Good Morning.

I own FCP Pro and am just now learning to shoot HD with my JVC 10u.

Should I puchase the FCP HD s/w or the Lumiere plug in?

Thanks for any advice.
Tom

I have a dual processor G5.

When I view 'all frames' from the timeline out to my external Sony deck FCP crashes. If I view the same timeline footage on the desktop (without using an external firewire connected deck) FCP does not crash.

I did a test with iMovie and the timeline won't play through to the deck either.

So I think I have some firewire issue. (I've tried both the front and rear firewire ports, by the way...and other firewire devices like hard drives work fine via the ports.)

Thanks in advance for any advice about this.

Steve

Without the FCP HD software the Lumiere HD app is pretty useless on a Mac. You want to get both, and FYI they just released a new updated version today. It's a good time to buy it...

Murph

Murph,
Lumiere HD website states that only FCP Pro is required (4.0)
for the plug-in to work.

I'm sure I'm missing something but have to make sure before I spend
so much money.

Thax again.
Tom

You mentioned the HD version, so that's what I thought you wanted to know about. If they say 4.0 then of course that's accurate.

Murph

Thanks Murph.

So I am assuming that simply upgrading the the FCP HD ver from
my current FCP Pro is just not enough, correct?
Then I have to ask, what is the advantage of the HD ver over the
Pro ver is any?

Thanks again

Find out if they have a special rate for storing "fragile" cargo on their planes. Not sure if this particular airline does it, but many do. You have to pick up your "luggage" at a special terminal.

If not, I would wrap the box in another box with more popcorn to prevent punctures from getting to your computer and to absorb more shock. But overall, it should be fine unless they really abuse it. Can you insure it?

What OS are you using and what hardware, ram etc?

G5
dual 2GHz processor
2.5 GB DDR SDRAM

os 10.3.5

It should be exactly the same as standard DV, but just check the anamorphic 16:9 checkbox.

Hi all

Wa trying to export a video clip today for playback on a pc. I found it almost impossible to get decent quality using a codec that windows would playback natively.

I used compressor but found that any of the codecs and compression schemes i used would not playback on pc (windows 2000) without attempting to download a codec (which failed)

I then used FCP itself using Export | Using Quicktime compression which was better but I'm still not sure which codec I should use to get max quality at a reduced resolution, say 320x200 at a small size.

Ideally I'd like to not have to download a codec on the pc as the people I give it to may not be connected to the net when viewing.

If anybody has good settings for a codec to use I'd be intrested in trying it out.
Many thanks
Donie

Quicktime:

sorenson3 for video. The codecs you pay for give much better quality.

audio:
mpeg4 is excellent, but requires QT6 instead of 5.
qdesign gives compression, but sounds bad.
IMA 4:1 is lossless in nearly all cases, but doesn't give much compression.

If you have space to burn, MPEG1 will give very good compatibility. Make a autorun.ini so it autoplays on PCs. Roxio Toast can do this I believe, or you could just create the file. check videohelp.com

If you have a PC, export a DV AVI to it (or print to tape and capture on PC). Use Windows Media Encoder (free). Excellent quality if you use the newer codecs, but those require a codec download.

i don't know if i can insure it... but most of people say the box thing should do so i think you're right i might go for that and ask the company aabout this fragile item thing. thanks

I'm in the market for a new machine. My budget is tight so I'm leaning towards the refurb G5 but now i'm wondering if i shouldn't go the Imac route.

I'm striclty DV Cam/mini DV right now and I'll be using FCE but would probably upgrade to FCP sometime in the future.

How does the Imac compare to the regular G5 when running FCE, FCP, DVD Studio Pro?

Thanks for the comments.

Go for the G5.
The iMac is good, but when you get into FCP, you want to be able to use firewire 800 drives. I don't believe you can put a card that will do this into an iMac. Also, if you want multi monitor functionality which makes your editing workspace twice as large, the iMac won't allow this either. Do yourself a favour, when it comes to crunching picture/video files, get the biggest, baddest machine you can afford.

With the 4:1:1 color space in DV, my composites have not exactly been perfect. I have read about some devices that supposedly upconvert or soften the DV image into a 4:2:2 colorspace but for this I would require and SDI capture card. Supposedly, Vegas and Avid have a codecs or filters that can help in this regard. Is there a filter or codec for FCP that can help make my comps cleaner?

Dual processors is a big boost to productivity. Get the PowerMac if your budget can stand it. Refurbs offer a very good value and carry a full warranty. Apple Care is also available if your interested in a longer warranty.

The tower will give you...
dual monitor video card (I think- might want to research this)
space for internal store. Internal drives are cheaper, faster, and more problem-free (a number of FCP users report dropped frames when capturing to firewire drives). Internal drives aren't that portable.

You should check the customs requirements - some countries don't allow you to bring anything other than laptops- and new or used is also an issue- they're protecting their markets. You would probably hate to lose it at entry !

Hi all,

I need advice on what sort of external hd would suit a PB12 inch

If I want to capture to an external hd...

the only option I can see is to get a USB2 external drive and use the PB's firwire port for the camera...is there any other options?

also - could anyone who's done this/similar setup comment on the performance of this config - including any dropped frames issues etc?



thanks

I am preparing a project that will be shot on an Ikegami HL-DV7AW in 16:9. The project will partly be sponsored by a number of NGO's who will want a b-roll afterwards. And since they can't use 16:9, the b-roll has to be 4:3.
Can I scale up 16:9 footage to 4:3 without quality loss?
I know this can be done with 16:9 digibeta material without a problem, does the same apply to 16:9 on DV-Cam? (the Ikegami has native 16:9).
BTW I know we'll have to think about framing etc, we'll be following the BBC guidelines ie shoot 16:9 with 14:9 aspect ratio framing, this makes the conversion to 4:3 less of a hassle (in an aesthetic sense ;-)
thx in advance
Michiel

I personally would downscale the 16:9 to fit the 4:3 ratio. I much prefer the black bars at top and bottom to the loss of image composition.

There are several options, but no guarantees that one is better than the other. You can use a FireWire hub and plug both camera and drive into the hub. Capture to the internal drive via FW and then copy the material to your external FW drive. People seem to have the most success (fewer dropped frames etc.) with the later, but it takes longer. The USB2 drive is another option that is problematic. Several of my students try USB2 drives each term. Some have good luck while others have issues with dropped frames and audio sync. Some students have plugged the camera into the drive and tried capturing with some limited success. Lastly there are PCMCIA FW cards that give you another port.

I understand what you mean (and agree), but unfortunately orgs like World Wildlife Fund, with 25 offices worldwide, don't have much use for 16:9 archive. And the broadcaster will want to air the shows in 16:9. Caught between a rock an a hard place here, as they both will be co-financing this project.
I think the trick is to ask for a few extra shooting days on each location in order to secure properly shot 4:3 b-roll footage...;-)

The other method (besides letterboxing) to convert 16:9 footage
to 4:3 is to do pan and scan where you crop the footage to a 4:3
frame and scan accross the image where needed.

I'm not sure how you would do this in 4:3, but I can't imagine it
would be that hard. It should be easy to do in Vegas on the PC
(what I'm using) and can't imagine FCP not being able to.

I live in Holland as well so in case of trouble (don't own a Mac so
can't help you there, sorry) shoot me an e-mail.

Good luck.

Unfortunately, the 12inch powerbook does not have a PCMCIA slot (that and only having 1 FW port has prevented me from getting it). Depending on your drive, you might be able to just daisy chain from your camera, to the HD, to the laptop, but I would expect dropped frame problems because the data has to get to the computer and then rerouted back to your HD.

In your case, other than saving directly to your internal HD, a USB 2 hard drive is probably the way to go. The only other option I can think of is a Ethernet HD which I've never tried and is much more expensive. If possible 1) get a drive with both USB 2 AND FW ports and 2) test it out to see how it does before buying.

Don't forget to factor in the cost of a monitor if you go the tower route (which is probably the way to go).

Hello,

I've done most my editing with Avid and Vegas, but may get a job using FCP, I know it is similar to Avid, but it has its differences, especially with stuff like effects and titler, is there a good online tutorial site (preferably with video or flash) that can help bring me up to speed? I am by no means a novice editor, so the more advanced the better. Thanks! (whos knows, i may even get a mac for myself)

Here's a good place to start your search (http://www.apple.com/software/pro/training/), Steven.

nice, but i should have also added the F word (free) ;-)

Ken Stone (http://kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/fcp_homepage_index.html) has some very helpful tutorials on his site.

does anybody know why motion isnt available as a free download like adobe offers AE and such?

JR

Do you need help with your PowerBook or not?

Apple does not provide free demos, company policy.

Just for the sake of future problems in this area... I can second Stephen's solution of reinstalling to 10.3.4. Everything went together without any problems and seems to be working great.

cool thanks, a friend of mine had the Lynda.com DVD for FCP and it's actually quite good.... ....looks as if FCP is quite alot like Avid and Premiere Pro, although I like the layout much better then Avid.

Grr, can't figure this out. I was recording an interview w/ a wireless mic to the left channel, but nothing to the right. I needed to dump the footage fast so i could take it home, b/c all the decks and cams were checked out for the weekend. I dumped it into imovie, and it captured the stereo pair, but with nothing on the right channel. i popped it open in FCP, and now I can't figure out how to separate the two channels so that I can get rid of the right channel.

Select the tracks in the timeline, then Modify > Link which will separate the audio from the video tracks. Now select the audio tracks and Modify > Stereo Pair. Now you can select the unwanted right channel and hit the delete key to remove it.

Also just a reminder for future users to not panic when they do this and hit 'play'. You need to go to each one of the clips and change the balance from -1 or 1 to 0 for it to go back to stereo.

Another suggestion is when you have clips with only one channel of audio, target just one track in the timeline before you insert the clip. By default 2 tracks are targeted when making a new sequence.

I'm working for 2 years now with FCP (4 nowadays) without having any major problems. Until today!

While trying to capture I get this strange and annoying GENERAL ERROR, which makes it impossible to capture my new footage.

I'm capturing on an external Firewire 800 250 gig harddisk. Mac is an dual 1,25 G4. Worked and captured on it without any problems for months. Did not adjusted or modificated some settings ; touched nothing.

How bizarre! Quit a problem for me now!

Uncontrollable device, Pal, Pal basic ; tried everything. Help!

I currently have FCP 4 running on a Dual 2 GHz G5 w/2.5 gigs of RAM. I just completed the upgrade from OS 10.2.8 to OS 10.3.2.

I have downloaded the FCP 4.5 HD upgrade and am attempting to install it but I get an error message stating that it can't be installed and that I must make sure that my FCP 4 software is located in the Applications Folder and is called "Final Cut Pro".

I have checked - FCP 4 is located in the applications folder in a folder called "Final Cut Pro 4" I tried to install it 5 times. I even changed the name of the folder to "Final Cut Pro", but continue to get the same error message.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Paul

I'll put a plug for the 38+ Final Cut Pro Quick Tips I have over at my site.

Cheers

Have you tried capturing to your internal hard drive? Have you tried capturing old footage again? This just might help narrow down whether FCP is having problems, if it is FireWire or maybe that particular tape...

What OS, what version of QT, how much free space on FW drive, have you trashed the FCP preferences, have you repaired permissions, what format is the FW drive formatted?

Trash the FCP preferences, repair permissions, update to 10.3.4

Ok here's my situation. I have a G4 and a G5. I know how to make the G4 be the slave by using firewire so I can move files over to the G5. It works by showing the Macintosh hard drive of the G4 on the G5, but I want to know how to get it show the second drive of the G4 on the G5. Please help!

Thanks - will do ASAP

Wouldn't it just be easier to hook the two up via an ethernet cable and use appleshare to do both drives on the G4 at once? At gigabit speeds this should be comparable to FireWire I would think...