Hi all

I'm trying to add a logo at the bottom of my screen and I'm having trouble. I've created the logo ok in photoshop cs and I've imported it into FCP 4.5 HD.

I have two video tracks. the lower one is my footage and the upper one is my logo. I created the logo as a image with a transparent background. The image I copied to the layer so it has nothing on it only the logo. the rest is transparent.

OK, so it works in that I can play back the video and the logo is sitting on top nicely.

However, I want to fade the logo in and out so I stick a standard fade at each end, this is where I'm confused.

What it's doing at the fade out is the start of the fade makes the underlying video go black and both the logo and the video fade. The logo fades away. the underlying video fades in.

Similar at the fade in at the start of the logo, just reversed.

I'm guessing the alpha channel is not correct. When I save As... in photoshop it doesn't allow me to select that I want an alpha channel so I guess I'm not doing this correctly in photoshop????

Can anybody enlighted me? Please

Thanks
Donie

http://www.apple.com/support/powerbook/displayprogram/A limited number of 15-inch PowerBook G4 computers exhibit a display issue which may cause faint white spots to appear on the screen over time. The 15-inch PowerBook G4 Repair Extension Program is a worldwide program covering replacement of LCDs that exhibit these white spotsI have one of these defective screens myself, but keep putting off the repairs since I hate to give up my computer!

Hi Boyd

They don't affect the newer 1.5Ghz machines... yet.

Thanks
Donie

Yes, there are a limited range of serial numbers that are affected on the first batch of aluminum powerbooks. As luck would have it, my Titanium powerbook got "fried" in an accident at work and I had to get an immediate replacement. I went to CompUSA that night and got one of the very first 15" machines they received. This is why I hate being the first kid on the block with the newest toy ;-)

I need to get a thirty-second video clip, (with only one track of audio) I assembled in FCP 3 (0SX) to my web designer. What is the procedure? I imagine saving it as a Quicktime Movie is the way to go, and if so, what are the correct compression rates, sizing, etc.? One limitation I have is dial-up modem, but I'm thinking I could probably burn it to CD and mail it off. Any thoughts?

Your web designer probably doesn't know how to encode it?

If they do, mail em a mini-DV tape. If they have a PC with a firewire card and a camcorder, they can capture it and use Windows Media Encoder.

You doing it:
If you have a PC, use Windows media encoder. Excellent quality (better than QT) and free. Export a DV AVI from Final Cut and put that onto your PC.

Mac:
If you pay for software you will get better quality. Sorenson pro codecs are what you'd look at.

I assume you want to do things for free.
Export from Final Cut...
codecs:
video: sorenson3
audio: mpeg4 audio
frame rate: probably bump it down to 15fps or less. Motion is usually not that important, but depends on your material.
frame size: bump this down to whatever's appropriate. the dimensions have to be in right aspect ratio, usually 4:3.
quality: use something between 10-40. I never have had good results using "limit bitrate to..." (leave that unchecked).
keyframe: you can leave this alone, doesn't make a major difference.

audio:
mono (listen and check that phase cancellation isn't causing problems).
32khz sampling rate or lower for music. 22.1/24khz for voice should work. That sampling rate can be ok for music too.
bitrate set as low as possible to balance compromise between sound quality (how many artifacts) and compression/size. The lower bitrates are the place to start.

A friend of mine has an AJA IO card working with a G5. He says that a DV tape captured to the G5 through AJA IO has better picture quality because the card "doesn´t compress the clip". I didn´t understand! If I capture directly through the G5 firewire, not using the AJA, the compression is gonna higher than the usual DV compression? What is the benefit of the AJA card?

Did you try keyframing the actual track opacity to fade out and in. I use this method for simple fade ins/outs rather than using the transitions.

hi matt,

i got it to work. i needed a proper alpha channel on the picture rather than just a transparent background.

however, once i got that to work i ran into another problem. When I render the transitions the bitmap during the fade gets blocky??? What the heck is going on??? It's extremely noticeable. The bitmap in the outside the transition area is perfect.

I check that all settings I know about were set for high quality...

Any ideas???

Donie

Hmm not sure but i would just save the logo as a .psd file. I dont flatten my images i usually just import the logo as a saved .psd file with an empty transparent layer into FCP and then delete the empty layer in the FCP timeline. I know it may not be the right way but it always works for me.I dont even mess with the alpha channels but I guess you would have to if you are flattening the image and saving as a bitmap?? There is a nice tutorial over at www.kenstone.net that expalins a logo "bug" this may help.

None if you are using a DV camera. DV is already 5:1 compressed,
no way about this. AJA might *re-compress* it though, but it
cannot work with an uncompressed signal since it is not send
over the firewire chain (from the DV camera).

I've shortly checked out the AJA IO and they do say uncompressed
over firewire. But that must be to another device that supports
uncompressed as well, which a DV camera DOES NOT!

However, in theory he *might* be able to get a a *slightly*
better signal if the AJA can capture the analog s-video out of
a camcorder.

It has never been proven yet that this actually does yield a
higher quality picture. It also depends on the quality of the
then digital -> analog -> digital conversion process and the
compression/codec used for the final digital file format.

Your friends explanation for why the image is "better" is not accurate. DV through Firewire is basically an exact copy of what is on the tape, a transfer of 1's and 0's, no generation loss, no compression or uncompression. Your friend is simply converting the DV codec to a SD codec.

Before the advancements made with recent upgrades to FCP 4, in the old days of FCP 3, some people would capture their DV through an analog convertor when working with chroma keys and extensive colour correction. The DV would be "uncompressed"* to an SD format, which could be helpful in eliminating the stair-stepping common with the native DV codec. This technique applied a colour smoothing to the DV for better chroma keying within FCP 3, which is generally acknowledged to have had weak chroma key tools.

But this conversion does result in a generation loss of image. Now, with better DV codecs, improved colour tools, and generally better performance with FCP HD, this technique is often only used by people who got in the habit a couple years ago. Now, I believe, it is arguable that the generation loss achieved by doing a DV to SD conversion for editing is not worth any possible gain in working with colour. Some would agree with me, but I am positive there are just as many people to make the argument otherwise.

* All video is compressed to tape. DV, SD or HD, analog signal or digital. It is simply a matter of degrees of compression. The native compression of DV is 5:1 and I put the word "uncompressed" in quotation marks because it is a little misleading in this context. Uncompression of DV results in a generation loss, larger file size, and questionable benefits. There used to be a great article on the Ken Stone pages <http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/fcp_homepage_index.html> on this very topic, but I cannot locate it now.

There's no need to use a PC. The quality with Quicktime is just fine, simple and will work on the most computers. You can get some visual improvements with other QuickTime tools tools such as Sorenson but I gather that isn't the scenario you are looking for. There's two Export features in FCP. One is to export a full quality DV file. THe other is to export to one of the many QuickTime compressed formats for CDROM, the Web etc. You want the latter.

From FCP:
Open the assembled timeline
Select File->Export->Export to Quicktime (or something similar)

In the resulting dialog box, you get to name the output clip and tell QuickTime what settings to use. You should see settings for Modem, DSL etc with various quality (High, Medium, low). If you don't have this drop down, you've picked the wrong Export.

Doing it this way uses preconfigured presets and ensures the best compatibility across computers in use by those visiting your website.

Create as many as you think you want to offer on your website.

Has anyone used these yet?

And, did the On-line Registration process, to authorize them, all work ok etc

I was working on footage today on my AGDVX100 and when I went to batch capture the next set of scenes the screen stayed blue, the time showed that it was playing through footage but again it just stayed blue, we even tried another tape which we know had footage on it. So the camera itself isnt showing the image. It still works fine in record mode....what am I missing here. Please get back to me ASAP this if for the 48 hour project..!!!

What does the camera show on it's LCD screen?

I just ordered my new dual 1.8 ghz powermac, and I have FCP 3 on a student license. How much does it cost to upgrade to the educational version of FCP 4. Also, can you upgrade to the production suite from FCP 3? If so, how much would it cost for the educational version. I tried looking at Apple's website, but it only told me how much it costs to upgrade to the non student versions of production suite and FCP 4. Thanks.

You have to contact Apple Care for the upgrade price. I'm not sure their is an Education upgrade from FCP 3 to FCP HD. A new version of FCP is due soon, so you may want to wait to upgrade unless you have an immediate need to do so.

Hello, all. I've been putting subtitles in FCP4 on a feature I'm working on. I'm using the Text effect under Text Generator in FCP, not LiveType. For the first 15 minutes of footage I had no problems just typing in a subtitle and dragging it onto the timeline, and nothing required rendering. But all of a sudden, every time I add another text clip, it has a red bar over it. I have no idea why, since I've been doing this for a couple of hours, and nothing needed rendering before now.

Just as a test, I started a new sequence with no video clips on it, and even there the text needed rendering.

I'm running this on a Dual 2 GHz G5 with 1.5 GB of RAM, so it's not that the machine is slow. And I'm not doing any super-complicated effects or compositing. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Did you change size, color, outline or anything about the subtitle?

The EDU price for the Production Suite (full versions of apps) is $499. That's a steal.

I don't think there is an upgrade price from the Education version of FCP 3 to Production Suite (Education version).

I don't know about FCP but, on the AVID MC Adrenaline they work fine and they are awesome!

RB

When you say the screen was blue, do you mean the camera screen or your monitor on the Mac?

<<<-- Originally posted by Jeff Donald : Did you change size, color, outline or anything about the subtitle? -->>>

I changed nothing. Everything is exactly as it was for the last few hours. In fact, I even copied one of the titles that was fine and pasted it at the end of the same timeline, and it said it needed rendering. I've tried switching from Safe to Unlimited RT, and still everything I type now needs rendering.

Is it possible that there's a limit to how many text clips I can use before the machine can't handle it anymore in real time? They're simple white letters, no drop shadow, no movement, that appear and disappear (without a fade) on top of footage. Subtitles.

On a side note... Would I be better off trying to do subtitles in LiveType? I would think it's more complicated switching between the two, but maybe there's a more streamlined way of doing this. Thoughts?

Ok thanks guys. I appreciate the answers.

I am using FCP 4 and when I go to export to video, and run my sequence it plays on my agdvx100 when in VCR mode but there is no way for me to record it onto the minidv tape.....or am I missing something? How do I get my movie out of fcp4 and on to a minidv tape using an AGDVX100, I only have till 4 to figure it out for the 48 hour film fest...please help.

I am using FCP 4 and when I go to export to video, and run my sequence it plays on my agdvx100 when in VCR mode but there is no way for me to record it onto the minidv tape.....or am I missing something? How do I get my movie out of fcp4 and on to a minidv tape using an AGDVX100, I only have till 4 to figure it out for the 48 hour film fest...please help.

I would not use LiveType for subtitles....Title3D would be a better option for what you are trying to do.

What may be a problem is if the clips you are applying the text to has been color corrected, or had any motion effect, or regular effect applied to it (even dissolves). This will cause you to have to rerender your clips.

While you are putting everything into the timeline, you can certainly lower the quality of your video in the Render settings, that may get you back to green and allow you to play your Timeline in the computer. You may also want to turn off External video while you are doing this (unless you have a client).

Before you export to tape you will need to render your entire bit.

Hope this helps

Cheers

File --> print to video is one.

Or to go to tools --> edit to tape and do an assemble edit by dragging your sequence from the bin area into the window.

Or play from the timeline and hit record on your camera. This should be a last resort thing in case you get dropped frames or sync issues or whatever.

Before exporting to tape:
check that ins and outs are at the right point. at the out point, you may wish to nudge it a frame back because FCP includes an extra frame.

un-write protect the tape. make sure you don't record over useful stuff.

Hi Tim,

Check out this link.

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/qt_movies_from_fcp.html
Jerome

yea i figured out print to video which gives me the tone and color bars I needed as well. But I couldnt get it to record on the camera. Eventually I learned that not only do you have to push the vcr rec button on the camera but the saftey button next to it, this way you never accidently tape over stuff in VCR mode....well it almost cost me my entry...but it should already be there now. Thanks for your help.

Long story longer.
(g-4 dual 1.25, aaja kona sd card 2 medea raid drives, beta 1800 and a dsr-45 running thru AJA card and monitor, piggybacked)

I had to trash preferences.
mac stopped seeing the medeas' on start up.
trashed 'em and it now it sees them.
dont know how that worked but im not questioning it.

however, 'Effects handling' now says FCP with the option of none,
where they all said Blackmagic before.
also, the beta and dsr routed monitor see video during capture and clip playback but not in the timeline and will not record video using crash record or print to tape.
audio is there.
i reinstalled Kona to no avail.
im in a pickle.
any thoughts?

When you reinstalled Kona was FCP open? Make sure the application is closed before installing options or plugins. When you trash preferences you're setting all your custom settings and options back to Apple defaults. You need to set your settings and preferences back to the way you had them before.

yes, i beleive it was.
should i close and reinstall?

I think there is a button in the print to video window to automatically start recording. It looks like I am too late, I hope you figured it out.

To countinue my thread of panic.
have discovered that the clips in the broswer while played in the viewer will export and crash capture.
i still cannot export the timeline.
where to look next?

Try deleting Kona again, and reinstalling it, but with FCP closed. You can't have a program open and update it, at the same time. Your FCP preferences may need to be trashed again as well. I would trash preferences in FCP. Startup FCP, then close it. Install Kona software. Repair permissions to System drive using Disk Utility, Start FCP and set preferences (personal settings) back to the way you want them.

Hi all

I've filmed some stuff in 4:3 mode on my XLs1 and I want to show it as widescreen. Can I just mask it so that it plays OK on a 4:3 tv and can be displayed OK on a widescreen tv???

Is there a nice way to do this in FCP4.5??? I've used the filters but they all require rendering which is a pain. Can't I just stick a photoshop file on top of the footage to get this effect without rendering??? I've tried a few things but I'm unsure of the best way to go about it. Searching the web is not getting me further either.

I'd appreciate if soembody could explain the correct way to achieve this...

A photoshop mask file would be appreciated as well if that's the way to go...

Many thanks
Donie

I don't think there's any way to do this without rendering unfortunately. Do you just want to letterbox? That would be the only way for it to look right on a 4:3 TV. On a widescreen TV it will still be letterboxed, but most of them have a "zoom" mode which will cause it to fill the screen.

Another approach might be to turn it into anamorphic 16:9 by cropping and stretching, then burn to DVD. The DVD player will automatically provide a letterbox for 4:3 sets. Of course this will also require rendering.

Here are a few related threads which might be of interest...

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31987
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27748
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30068
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25441
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24850
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16465

<<<-- Originally posted by Boyd Ostroff : I don't think there's any way to do this without rendering unfortunately. Do you just want to letterbox? That would be the only way for it to look right on a 4:3 TV. On a widescreen TV it will still be letterboxed, but most of them have a "zoom" mode which will cause it to fill the screen. -->>>

Thanks Boyd, I'm begining to understand...

Do you know the values which are normally entered into the crop for the letterbox shape to be acceptable? I guess it's about 10% or more at top and bottom, but how many lines exactly shoudl I use to be 100% correct?

Many thanks

Donie

<<<-- Originally posted by Donie Kelly : how many lines exactly shoudl I use to be 100% correct? -->>>

You should crop 60 lines from the top and 60 from the bottom such that the active image area is 720x360.

Hey Jeff,
Thanks for your suggestions.
I talked with the Kona support and they just had me update my drivers.
worked out all the bugs.
duh

Cool, thanks Boyd, many thanks...

ok, so i searched a little trying to find out exactly how to completely uninstall fcp4 as well as how to trash preferences.

I couldnt get any help, so im making a thread thats clearly about this alone.

I tried just deleting the fcp program in the app folder, but when reinstalling, it refered to the install as an upgrade... then when i opened fcp it was as if id not done anything new. i was never asked for my licence code. How do i completey remove all traces of fcp4 so as to do a clean install?

on a similar note, how do i just trash the preferences so that im starting from default again on everything without a reinstall?

i wish i were smarter, but resourceful's gonna have to be enough.

heath

Here is the list of files (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93811) to delete if you want to uninstall FCP. Check this post (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26728) at the top of the Mac forum.

How can I rotate a video clip 90 or 180 degrees in FCP?

1. Select Image+Wireframe in the [ ] drop down menu in the Viewer.

2. Set the view to 50% from the drop down menu such that you can see a gray border around the image.

3. Point the cursor to the center of any of the image edges; it turns to a rotate symbol.

4. Drag to the desired angle, hold shift to constrain to 45 degree increments.

Alternate technique:

1. Click on the Motion tab of the Viewer

2. Either use the compass dial to rotate with the mouse, or enter an angle in the numeric field.

you can also use the dial in the motions tab to rotate the video more then once around, as many times as you want. just select a number in some multiple of 180 or 360 or just some high number that will spin it long enough for your clip.

If you use a multiple of 360 you can control exactly how many times it will rotate though and you can be assured it will end in the right position.

Thanks Boyd. That's two now.