Nope. Just like distorted audio, once it's gone, it's gone. You can lower the brightness, but the blown out areas will still be blown out.

You can try rendering some CG to fill in the blown out areas. :)

Just wondering how most liked to use each aspect of each program with regards to titles and text-

Jeff

Don't seem to see any adjustments in the controls tab or anywhere else for he speed of the scroll. Am I corrrect in that in depends on the length of the clip?

Just curious if there was a way to dial in an exact speed since I have read that by setting the speed at certain intervals (even/odd numbers) you can reduce flickering. I've certainly noticed that scrolling text looks very different depending on the speed-

Jeff

What editor are you using?

Also, what facility in the editor are you using for your text?

AIFF is not a DVD compatible format. Perhaps your DVD authoring
package accepts it, but the current list of supported formats are:

- PCM
- MPEG audio
- AC3 Dolby Digital
- dts

All can be stereo or multi channel surround.

See the DVD FAQ (http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html#1.23) for more info...

Well, the subject could be a tad misleading, but I don't think it is.

I filmed a wedding a little over 2 weeks ago, and I'm nearly ready to burn it onto DVD, using DVD Studio Pro 2. What the happy couple asked me to do, was, when the DVD is put in, and they wanted to play through the movie, the only title that would appear would be the first one. Saying something like So and so's wedding on this day...

Now, when what they also requested, which is the main reason I'm seeking advice, is when they go to the chapter selection page, when they select a chapter they want to watch, they want a title to appear, then the movie starting. So, my question, is how to I set it to do that?

I thought I had it figured out, but I don't remember anymore... I guess turning 20 really is old...

Anyways, would you be able to export all of the titles, 25 total (it's a lot, I know, but it's what was requested) and somehow put each titles before the video on the chapters page?

I'm looking for the easiest way, but I'm ok for doing things which take some time, but the end justifies the means.

Thanks again!

Nice catch, Rob. I was thinking of the AIFF you can bring into SP2 rather than the PCM output. I still like the bit rate budget of AC3, even when it's just stereo.

Cheers

If I remember correctly (and this is from long ago) AIFF is basically
just another form of PCM. So your authoring package is just
writing it to disc as PCM (probably) or perhaps recoding it to
MPEG audio. Keep in mind that PCM encoding is LOSSLESS, which
the other formats aren't and it can even go to 96 khz / 24 bit
if you want (only not with full surround then due to bitrates),
although not a lot of people have the audio equipment to hear
the difference with that.

So if you want maximum audio quality PCM is the best way to go,
but ofcourse AC3 and especially dts sound good as well.

If you want more technical details on the possible audio formats
and what frequencies etc. are supported see section 3.6.2 (http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html#3.6.2) of the FAQ.

Yes, the speed of scrolling text is varied by how long the clip is. I do not know of a way to input the speed you want it to travel at, I would just recommend playing with some of the controls, because there are a few options, but I found that it's a quick trial and error thing. It usually takes 2 times, maybe 3, to get the speed you want it to be at.

Hope this helps.

i just like plain text. Plain text over video or on black. But then perhaps I just have no imagination....

Under your Tools drop-down menu, you can use Quickview to check up to a 10 second segment for speed. It's pretty handy and saves having to render the entire roll to check it.

I'll second that, Joe: I'v efound that if you can keep the text relatively simple, it's impossible for the guy at the VHS copy place to screw it up, or bad technical quality on a broadcast system to mess up.
Having said that, of course, I must add that a good technician can and does preserve quality on titling (no bleeds/jitters etc.)

I can't seem to find the final answer to this. Is there any way to shoot 24p and edit in FCE? Thanks, Grant

I don't use FCE, but my understanding is that 24p can't be edited in FCE. You'll need to get FCP in order to edit 24p.

What is the best way to unmount my Lacie d2 Firewire External HD since my eMac (running OS 9.2.2) frooze and needs to be shut down. Could someone respond asap? I have two important projects on the Lacie and cannot afford to lose/damage them. Thanks.

I don't think there's a lot you can do other than shut your mac down if 9.2 has crashed. Generally speaking you should be OK from my experience. But I would go out immediately to a local store (like CompUSA perhaps) and get a copy of DiskWarrior. Then after re-booting the mac run DiskWarrior and have it check the drive before attempting to do anything with it. While you're at it, you might want to invest in another external drive and run a backup.

I had a crash during a backup between an internal and external drive (under 9.2) and to my horror both drives appeared to be trashed! Of course this was at 4:00 AM while finishing a huge project as well. I spent some nervous hours until I could get back with a copy of DiskWarrior. Happily it repaired the damage on the external drive, although the internal was never the same.

Boyd, thank you so much for your quick reply.

Should I unplug the Lacie before shutting down the eMac?

I used a scanner to make some copy's of graphics out of a book. I plan to zoom and move over them to give them just that little bit more. But when I put them in the timeline they all of sudden have "lines" running downward and when I pan and zoom they show up because they start to interference like a tv monitor would do when you shoot it( or if you are filming a person with a shirt that the camera has problems with, you know what I mean?)
I have no idea what is causing this, the files are frame size 1639x1275 and photo JPEG,
I tried tiff files but no difference ...

I checked the manual and I saw that you need to import the grahics the size dv would like but I have no idea how to do that + I would like to zoom so they need to stay good when I get close( I use wireframe and resize the image the way I want)
Is this the proper way? and next what is wrong with the images to behave in such a way?
ps
Because I wanted to check the sequence settings I did that command but fcp then all of sudden quits on me, any suggestions?

Hi David,

The images probably have a fine dot matrix in them if they are grayscale or tonal. This is a part of the printing process and will cause a moiré effect when combined with the grid system of a video image.

You can try slightly blurring the images in Photoshop before importing them to FCP.

I hope that's a help,

Just reboot the Mac. You should never unplug a mounted drive. If your machine is locked up, the drive can not be unmounted. Your drive will probably be OK, unless it is the source of the error.

thanks for the info, I will try that...but is that really the only way? cant I do that in fcp as well ? or will that not work as good?
Do I need to a fotoshop file at DV targetresolution or can I leave them as big as they are?

I tried that and it works fine!! If it wasnt for this forum I would have pulled my hairs out a long time ago....
thanks!!

no problem,

I'm glad it worked.

I have to downgrade my OS from panther to jaguar because avid wont run under it. I have everything so it is not a problem...but I noticed that it will put all my old OS files in a special file and create a new OS Jaguar... Will I have to install all the programs all over again or can I simply place them in my NEW HD?

greetings

The OS installer will move all your applications to the new Jaguar Applications folder (assuming they were in the applications folder to begin with).

I tried to launch Final Cut, and couldn't, followed by a message "please insert the original CD that was used to install Final Cut Pro"...Any thoughts whilst I try to re-locate that disk?

Sounds like the invisible file that contains serial number data is corrupt, or got moved. You can try deleting the preference files and restarting. Do a search and you'll find by instructions. There are three preferences files that need to be deleted.

I'm sure this has been covered, but one of the advantages of iDVD3 over iDVD2 is that it can include chapters. I know that it can add them with iMovie, but can I add these markers with FCP4 and have them recoginized by iDVD3? If not, I guess I'll have to get DVD Studio Pro 2 (which I want anyway, but $ is always in the way!)
If it's easy, how do I do it? If it's hard, I guess I'll honker down and read the manual.
Thanks
-Kyle

Many users report lots of trouble upgrading to iDVD3. I wouldn't fix what isn't broken. If you do have to upgrade, I'd back-up before doing so.

In FCP you can add markers and change them to chapter markers. m to add and mm to edit them if I remember correctly. Otherwise right click and it's in a menu somewhere. I don't use iDVD2 (or iDVD :P) so I'm not sure if that works, but it should.

Did you move the software to another computer maybe? Otherwise I think Jeff is correct in that the file is damaged. Whenever you install or move FCP you will need to have the original disk that came with the software. In fact they have used some sort of copy protection scheme such that a backup copy of the CD won't even work, it must be the original Apple-supplied item. I think they can send you a duplicate for a fee, provided you can prove registration. However FCP 3 is old now, so I don't know that they're still supporting it in that way.

Start searching for that disk, I think you're going to need it...

Hello all,
I noticed something rather strange while capturing for my current project. Im runnning 2X2Ghz G5 FCP 4.1.1 - capturing with a Sony DSR-50. When capturing I decided for organization reasons to change some of the clip names and naturally decided to change the media file name at the finder level and reimport as to avoid confusion later. (confusion==having a master clip and a media file with different names). So when I reimported the renamed QT I noticed to my astonishment that the Media End TC was now different than the originally captured file by a couple of seconds!! The Media start time was uneffected. My thoughts immediately went to - OK worse case scenario my drive dies and I have to redigitize... will it restore the clip and me be on my merry way. Hmmm... still not sure... just checking out there to see if anyone has run across this non-frame accurate problem. Thinking it was a software glitch I called Apple. Nice guy, his response - the manual somewhere refers to the fact that you must reconnect media instead of reimporting... geee thanks. Ill add that to my exceptions list. Reminds me a bit of English class.

anyone?
thanks
j

I don't ever rename clips. It's asking for trouble. Same with just moving clips and not using the media manager.

Have you played the clips? Are they the same or different?

Yes I have played the clips.
When I put the original clip on V1 and the name-modified clip on V2, I found that V2 contains 1sec 5fr additional media than the original clip - (you actually see the timecode break occur on the QT). All footage appears to be frame-accurate when compared to tape up to the point of the tc break.

When testing to see if the longer clip will batch capture .... mixed results.

So, I guess manually attempting to keep things clean and tidy between clip names and media file names is a no, no. I better brush up on the Media Manager a bit more...

j

If you want to try to separate your media files, you can also use the color labeling provided in Panther.

I've been trying to do this for the last couple hours. I've got my GL2 connected to my G5, and I can see the live video in the capture preview window, and the audio meters indicate sound. When I click on capture now, I get the message "Waiting for timecode. Device must be in VTR mode when device control is enabled." It shows VTR OK in the preview window. I've tried Realtime and Firewire from the View menu with no success.

So, needless to say, I'm stumped on this one. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Kirk

Not sure about this since I have never tried, but the error message sounds self-descriptive. Did you try disabling device control? You might have a look at BTV Pro (http://www.bensoftware.com/btvpro.html) for live capturing and monitoring on the Mac. Very nice little shareware program. I've used it on my Powerbook as a field monitor.

Thanks Boyd. I must just be missing some setting in FCE. I just went into iMovie with the camera connected, and from there I can monitor the live video, and capture it by just clicking on import.

I think the titler in FCP4 is aweful, but I'm sure if you're only creating simple text then it should suffice.

I cut mostly television commercials so the necessity of having an intuitive titler is greater. I was really dissappointed with the lack of a standard WYSIWYG within Final Cut Pro.

Livetype has some cool features but having to export an entire project into livetype and then back out to FCP for export to tape is too cumbersome for me. So is the option of creating titles first in photoshop.

Our Avid Xpress has a WYSIWYG titler, so does our AVID DS, and even Adobe Premiere has a decent titler, so I guess I just assumed FCP had the same, but sadly I was mistaken.

Eddie

Whenever I apply a drop shadow and motion blur to a clip using the motion tab FCP4 decides it does not want to render.

If I only use one of those effects it renders fine, but when i apply both FCP opens the render status window for a split second then disappears, leaving my timeline unrendered.

Is this a glitch in the system or am i missing some sort of software setting? I'm working with 10 bit uncompressed media via an AJA IO.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

Eddie

Have you tried selecting the clips with the attributes applies in the timeline (so that they are "highlighted") and then select "Render Selection"?

Yes. No luck.

I tried everything I could possibly think of and have narrowed it down to a problem with applying both the drop shadow as well as motion blur at the same time in the motion tab.

I've recreated the problem numerous times with different clips just to be sure it wasnt just a random issue.

Thanks for the reply.

Eddie

I've never used FCE, but on FCP 3 you would go to "Audio/Video Settings" under the FCP menu. There is a pulldown menu "Device Control Preset". Based on your error message I assume you need to choose "non-controllable device" from that menu.

I've done it couple of times and it's like Boyd Ostroff says "Audio/Video Setting" / " non-controllable device"

Edward,
I do not believe that this is a malfunction at all. You did not tell us nearly enough to enable an accurate diagnosis.

Based on what you did indicate, however, I would guess that your "problem" is actually related to (a) your the real-time rendering / timeline preference settings (on your sequence of your general prefs) and/or (b) the processeor platform of your Mac.

Spend some time with the FCP doc, particularly familiarizing yourself with the various RT and rendering settings.

Trying to finish up a "huge" project and my dual monitors just spazzed out!!! Everytime I try to turn a monitor on, the monitor goes into shut down mode and will not respond to my mouse???

So, I shut my computer (G4 Dual 1g) down and restarted with the same result. Eventually went around back of computer, unplugged monitor cables and tried to plug them back in, switch them around, etc. Nothing is working....so now I'm stuck with 1 monitor.

I can get an image on both monitor, so I know the monitors are OK, I just can't get an image from both at once.

It sounds like the video card that drives the monitors has a problem. Are you using two video cards or a single card with two outputs? What version of OS X are you using?

Want to install panther but need stability.

Um, well.. yeah. They work decently together. No worse than 10.2.8 and FCP 4 I'd say. But have fun with Panther in general. I don't care for it. I'll pass and wait for the far superior 10.4 "Calico".

OS X 10.2.6 is the version I'm using and the card has 2 monitor outputs.

For me it worked better than 10.2.x. Much better.