Thanks to both of you. I will try your suggestions

FCP 3 academic version vs regular
 

Just wondering what the differences of FCP 3.0 Academic version and the regular version?

The software is exactly the same, no differences of any kind. The difference is in the EULA (end user licensing agreement). You may not do any work for profit with the Academic version, no exceptions. The EULA may be upgrade by contacting the Apple Store and paying the difference in the two versions.

The replacements are shipping and everyone I've talked to (8 to 10 users) that has received one has been 100% satisfied.

QuickTime 6.1.1 available
 

The latest version of QT is available as a stand alone installer or over the internet via Software Update from you System Preferences.

Any idea if this fixes the audio sync issue with FCP?

At work on windows right now :(

I'll try it tonight. I have not seen any reports one way or the other yet.

Dual monitors using FCP 3
 

Just wondering if someone can tell me the advantage of purchasing a second 17" lcd screen for Final Cut Pro editing.

A second screen is good as you can make your timeline the full width of "screen 1" and have your browser, toolbar and audio levels meter on your "screen2" and still have large viewer and canvas windows open at the same time.

Better for me however would be to have a single 23" monitor, as a long timeline would more beneficial great, less zooming. I only have one monitor on my Mac though and frequently change to different window, arrange settings (standard and customs that i have made)

dropped frames and batch capture errors
 

Ok

I'm still trying to properly capture to FCP 3. When using batch capture i set my in/out points and log the clip. Once i click batch the source material will cue, then show the first frame of my footage and freeze. Shortly after I get an error about dropped frames. I'm running a Dual G4 1.25 Powermac with 768mb ram , capturing on to my primary 80gb disk. I'm filming with a Canon GL2 and capturing my footage to the mac with a Canon ZR40.

Any thoughts on this?

Virus Protection?
 

Felix,

If you have any virus protection turned on, disable it. It has been reported, and I have experienced it myself, that virus protection can be a leading cause of dropped frames. I haven't had one problem capturing hours of footage since I did this one simple step.

Good Luck,

Bill

No i uninstalled Norton, but it's still happening.

Have Apple talk and all network connections (including internet) off. Do not use server to set date and time (see Date and Time System Preference) turn off mail or anything that polls the system or a network at specific intervals (check mail every 5 minutes etc.).

Do you have your drive partitoned? That can be a problem. If the OS (OS 10.2.4 etc) Application (FCP 3.x.x) and your media are all going to one large partiton, that can cause problems. Depending on how full the drive is, it can have problems accessing the OS, App and write media all at the same time. Partitoning the drive may help. How full is the drive? Are your FCP preferences set up for capturing from Canon DV? What version of FCP, OS and Quicktime are you using?

Mac OS X networking
 

I use my Windows PC for After Effects work and it renders while I use my Mac. So obviously I like to transfer the files back and forth via ethernet for this use. I have Jaguar and use the desktop "GO" menu to connect to my PC, which it sees, but when I try to click on it I get the message "Dave has not been installed correctly" and I can never access my PC. I tried a demo version of Dave way back before Jaguar and have deleted everything on the computer with the word "dave" in it, but I still get this message.

Any ideas how I can rid myself of Dave once and for all and use the natural networking abilities of Mac OS X to transfer my video files?

Thanks.

Go to the Dave website (Thursby?) and look for a document on how to uninstall Dave. It is a little tricky from what I remember, so they published a how to. I may have a copy on my desktop system. I'll check for it tomorrow. Let me know if you have any luck finding it.