http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22545

:-)

Thought I'd cover some territory and save some time.
I'm hoping to order DVDSP2 and whatever else I'll need, and have it by the weekend. I repeat: is my computer enough for these programs (FCE,DVDSP,TOAST,....)? Any other programs that I need to start dvd authoring and production? Help! Please!

Shawn

Hard disk size? Lots of disk space and RAM really help when editing video and creating dvds. A quick check of the boards will probably show quite a few discussions involving firewire drives for storage, etc. (I have two extra drives, and I only use iMovie and iDVD, so...)

I don't have a program suggestion but I looked at your other thread and have something to add.

You'll want something to make your DVD's look nice because you don't want to write on them with felt pen. Oh, and don't use labels - many people have had problems putting labels on DVD's. Get yourself a printer that prints directly to them. It depends on what quality level, run size, and bank balance you have which will influence what you buy. There are nice thermal printers for several thousand bucks, but I recently bought a Canon i865 inkjet printer for NZ$430. It's absolutely perfect for what I do. I only run off a few DVD's at a time so I don't know if it will be robust or quick enough for you.

The quality is impressive for my needs and at about 1 minute a disk, I can handle that.


Cheers
Aaron

Thanks for the replies!

What would you say a healthy amount of RAM is?
I will check around on what others have said here, it's just that I'm trying to get up and running by the weekend, and so am asking dumb questions as well as doing the research.
Thanks again.

Have I got enough processing power to, I don't know, not cause problems?

Shawn

It sounds like the card has a dead output on one side. Here are the sets to follow to try to revive it. Good luck.

DANGER! This procedure exposes you to high voltages that can result in death or serious injury. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS PROCEDURE IF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN CERTIFIED AS AN APPLE-AUTHORIZED TECHNICIAN.
1. Check all video cable/card connections and connector pins.

2. Remove all third-party devices.

3. Reseat the video card.

4. For the Power Macintosh G4 (PCI Graphics) computer, check jumper block at J25. Make sure it is the correct color for the processor type, that it includes all required inner metal clips, and is installed in the correct direction. See "Processor Module" in Service Source Take Apart for more information.

5. Clear parameter RAM. Hold down Command-Option-P-R during startup but before "Welcome to Macintosh" appears

6. Reseat SDRAM DIMMs. Make sure DIMMs are PC-100 DIMMs.

7. Remove all SDRAM DIMMs and try replacing them one at a time to test. Replace any bad DIMMs.

8. Power Macintosh G4 (PCI Graphics): Reset Cuda chip. Refer to article 95065: "Power Macintosh G4 (PCI Graphics) Resetting the Cuda Chip".

9. Reset the logic board:
- Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics/Gigabit Ethernet): Refer to article 95037: "Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics/Gigabit Ethernet): Resetting the PMU on the Logic Board.
- Power Macintosh G4 (PCI Graphics): Refer to article 95066 "Power Macintosh G4 (PCI Graphics): Resetting the PCI Logic Board".

10. Test with known-good monitor. Replace monitor if necessary. Refer to appropriate monitor manual to troubleshoot defective monitor.

11. Replace video card.

12. Replace processor module.

13. Replace logic board.

Hey, I have a powerboook G4 with 512mb of ram and have had quite alot of success with both FCE and DVDSP. In november I recorded my high schools production of Annie, edited two camera angles togeather and color corrected. Outputed the two hour movie into compressor. Compressed for DVDSP and burned about 60 disks all togeather and the computer never skipped a beat. I have never tried toast so I do not know how that plays into the equation.

Brian

This procedure exposes you to high voltages that can result in death
I get dibbs on Jason's Mac!

Good news, Brian, glad to hear it.

Can't be too careful these days.

My G4 wont recognise blank DVD-R's and just spits them out after trying to read them for about a minute. It even happens with the Apple DVD-R's they supplied when I bought my G4. Can anyone offer any solutions as I dont wanna have to put it in to Apple again because of the downtime.
Any help is appreciated!

Thanks, Tim

I've heard this is a drive failure (hasn't happened to me personally)...
make sure they're not dvd+r's and if they're dvd-rw's use disk utilities to erase them.

My guess is that it's a faulty drive. I'd think you could yank it and mail it in...

get a usb drive for the time being or if you have a dual optical grab a dvd read drive and then you have two...

could i ask which software you're using and at which point you're inserting the disks?

Which SuperDrive do you have?

can you still burn CDRs?

Anybody ever experienced the following Cant find my OMFI Mediafiles(avid) in the finder when i use find, however the files are there when I open the disk...(or when I use the command "reveal file" in Avid Xpressdv.
It seems to be the only thing my os cannot find...

Are there many FCE users out there who are also utilising DVDSP. Succes? Problems? I ask because I had a fellow recommend strongly to upgrade from FCE to FCP, expressly to work with DVDSP, that I will probably avoid compatibility and workflow issues. Does this make sense to others who know better?
(I am about to get DVDSP, and it will be a professional dvd product type of application). Or is FCE going to be fine?
Thanks very much!

Shawn

Apple has posted some photos (http://www.apple.com/hotnews/articles/2004/03/oscars/) of the production of the 2004 ceremony's opening montage.

Sweet Airstream studio. Thanks for the link Ken.

Seems when I preview and or buid disc in SP 1.5 I get a pumping and breathing effect on audio as well as dropouts and phased sounds. The audio (16bit,48k AIFF) is encoded in APack to Stereo AC3 192kbps - Dianorm set to -31 and Preprocessing is set to none. The AC3 monitor will play back the audio fine. Thought it was just the preview so i built the disc and it happens here as well playing the Video TS file with Apple DVD player. Any ideas what could cause the problem? System is 10.2.8 -FCP3- DVDsp 1.5 - 1.2GB ram. thanks Matt

I am starting to wonder how good A.Pack really is, because this is a common complaint. Notice when the sound is supposed to be loud like an explosion (you DO have explosions in your video, correct?) it gets exceedingly quiet and stays quiet for awhile and then begins to slowly creep back up.

For what it's worth, my 5.1 mixes never pump when played back on a 5.1 system, unless some moron has his DVD player/receiver set to "nighttime" mode or something else equally retarded that quiets the loud sounds. I wish I could program the DVD not to play unless the player/receiver are set up the way I want 'em. I don't think you can take Apple's DVD player off of "nighttime" mode so it will always give you the pumping. When my 5.1 mixes are played back in stereo, I will sometimes hear the pumping.

Also, leave the dialog normilization at -27. I never touch it. I don't even know what it is supposed to do, but chances are it was designed to mess up your sound instead of just compressing the damn file. Be sure to set the sound to "Complete Main" as well.

Sorry Ted no explosions. Just live concert audio. Complete main is selected and I set Dianorm to -31 following a tutorial over on Ken Stones site when I was researching this problem. Thanks

well the downgrading did not go exacly smoothly... lot of files wont open anymore, I have lost my quiktime pro and safari had to be installed again and the recent problems I am having with fcp are probably also related.
I have no idea what I am supposed to do with the file called "previous system"
greetings

I think the problems I am having with fcp are quiktime related... When I open it and want to look at the registration nothing happens, there is no box were formely I could enter the pro-key. I have to versions of installer on my computer all of sudden. 1.3 and 1.4 (the last one does not work)

help

Hi folks, I've been a PC user for long time, and use Vegas 4.0 which I really like, but I frequently see reviewers start with the preface - "Of course, Final Cut Pro is the standard for NLE.

So....pardon this question, but what is the difference between Vegas 4.0 and Final Cut Pro?

I really appreciate your knowledge, as I clearly have none.

Thanks,
Milt Lee
Lee Productions

There are big, big difference between Vegas and FCP. If you use FCP Vegas will make no sense to you.

The workflow is completely different. You can try the demo for Premiere Pro, which is very similar to FCP. FCP can handle pro formats like SD/uncompressed, HD, etc. whereas other NLEs may not be able to do it or are expensive like Avid (in the past Avid cost a lot more than it does now). FCP has better media management and has some more useful editing tools like roll edit, which Vegas doesn't seem to have. Vegas gives much more performance for the dollar, has much better audio capabilities (but no OMF export), and some other differences. Vegas seems a lot more stable and doesn't have the "preparing video for display" crap.

FCP now comes bundled with Livetype(titler), Soundtrack (like Acid), Cinema Tools, etc.

2- FCP isn't really the standard for NLE except in some areas like movie trailer editing (and maybe in budget places where people buy the cheapest system available). Avid is really the industry standard in most areas. It shouldn't really matter though unless you need to online on a Avid or FCP system. Get the NLE that's right for you. Since you like Vegas you might as well stick with it unless there's something lacking.

Thanks, I really appreciate the honest appraisal!

I do like Vegas, and I especially like the audio capablities. At some point, I expect to be doing doc's that I want to show on Public Television, so I want to have something that I can output in a broadcast standard.

Thanks,
Milt Lee

Milt,
As a relatively long-time FCP user I concur with Glen's remarks. Although FCP is well on its way to becoming a mainstream professional editing tool on par with Avid, Avid has had many years of headstart and has a dedicated sales force permeating the film and broadcast industries.

I would only add this thought. Technical aspects aside (ex: format and functional limitations) the tool you use to edit your work means squat. Viewers of your work don't know and could not care less if they did. If you have become adept with Vegas, Premiere, iMovie, Bozo's Magic Editor, etc. and it serves your requirements use it and be happy. (Editorial comment) I think that far too many people devote far too much energy and expense toward their tools rather than their skills. From what I've seen Vegas, in particular, has matured to a very full-bodied editor leaving little to be desired.

Have fun!

If anyone was looking into this thread a burn and playback on a consumer DVD player resulted in no audio stuttering or dropouts and breathing like I was experiencing on the DVDSP preview and Apple DVD player.

The same audio pumping happened to me also.

What I did was set the dialog normalization to -31 and on the Preprocessing I set the Compression Preset to None and unclicked all the filters (RF Overmodualtion Protection, Apply Low-Pass Filter, Apply DC Filter, etc.)

Hope this helps, let us know if you get it straightened out.

Hi.

I finished a job in FCP 3. Exported to a selfcointained FCP file and then recorded a iDVD, dvd.
This DVD was then transfered to a BetaSP.

Not the ideal transfer, I know. But how bad is it?

Thanks.

There is no way of knowing without seeing some examples. iDVD also does not have an adjustable compression setting. The compression is all handled behind the scenes by the software with no input from the user. So, long programs get more compression than short programs.

What did the signal start as, Beta SP, DV etc.? Transferring from DVD to SP is certainly not the way to go to get the best quality.

Hi Jeff!

It started as DVCAM..
I only have the fcp selfcontained file left. (ca 1.3 gb for five min of video. Is that uncompressed??)

what would be the best way of doing it?

Down grading is never a good idea. Programs that aren't designed to work with the old OS are put in the application folder. You need to get QT Pro registered to FCP.

DVCAM is a compressed format. Then iDVD recorded another compressed format (MPEG-2). All that compression is not good for image quality.

Thanks.

So what would be the best, shortest(?), way of making a DVD or alternatively a beta tape.
I work with a dvcam camera, fcp3 and a mac with superdrive..

Thanks.

Going straight from FCP to Beta would be better than using a DVD as an intermediary step. The added compression of MPEG-2 decreases image quality.

Ken, thanks for the editorial comment! I was telling my wife about this thread last night, and she said essentially the same thing - "I hope that this isn't just another way to keep you from doing what you love, and not thinking that it's good enough."

I really appreciate your words,

Milt Lee

I am looking to purchase a NTSC Broadcast Quality Video Monitor to hook up to my G4 Powerbook. Can anyone tell me where I can get the best quality monitor for the lowest price? Thank you.

Use the link in my signature to our sponsors. Sponsors support our community and forums. Our sponsor are well known and offer all the major brands at great prices.

Hello,

I do not use FCP but I was wondering whether FCP can export an DV AVI for use on a PC. Can you install say the Matrox DV codec, or Canopus codec and export from FCP using them?

Cheers,

Ed

Yes. Export using Quicktime conversion and select DV AVI (can't remember exactly what it is called). The codec is exactly the same for Quicktime DV (DV is DV, except for the way the file stores the information and the headers and all that kind of stuff), so Final Cut Pro can play and edit DV AVI's without any problems. But PCs are too limited to be able to edit Quicktime DV's for some reason in many cases. As far as those proprietary DV codecs go, you are probably out of luck. Why are there proprietary DV codecs anyway? Man I'm glad I keep all of my video in the Mac world. :)

Hi Ted,

Thanks for your answer.

Do you know whether the audio is imbedded in the video or a separate audio file, Like WAV?

Cheers,

Ed

I just bought a Sony DSR-11 deck. It's very cool...but, I've yet to be able to capture with it. I keep getting drop frame error messages. Never had them when I captured from the camera. Anyone have an idea as to what I am doing wrong?
Mickey

Everytime I leave FCP 3 on for a long time and don't touch the keyboard green bars appear all over the screen. I cannot get rid of them so I have to shut down the program, put the computer to sleep and then wake up and reenter the program. This is very annoying. Does anyone have this problem and is there an easier solution, like a refresh button? Thank You.

I can't say that I know exactly what's causing the "green bars" but it sounds like it is related to your energy saving / sleep settings. Open your System Preferences facility and poke around in the Energy Saver settings. Also look into the Screen Saver settings.

Does the computer go to sleep? Are the greeen bars part of the screen saver? What happens when the computer wakes up?

What were the tapes originally recorded on? Have you cleaned the heads on the DSR-11. Quite often the heads on new cameras and decks need to be cleaned.

The tapes were originally recorded on either a Cannon XL1 or a Cannon GL2.

Using FCP4 there is no problem viewing them in the log and capture mode, but when I attempt to capture I get a time code error and jerky playback within a few seconds.

I have not cleaned the heads. I am reluctant to do so until I'm sure that is the problem. Is it possible I've overlooked a preset or preference setting?

Mickey

The green bars aren't even really bars. I would say green streaks and green patches. When they appear I can't run the program properly. When I shut the program down, the green streaks are still there until I put the computer to sleep. When I wake it up again, they are gone.

Ok here goes....

I have the option of getting 2 x 17" lcd's or I can get 1 apple 20". The only thing is, the apple 20" is the far end of my budget. Is it worth double the 2 x 17" lcd setup?


Thanks in advance.