The better external FW drives incorporate a fan also. The FW buss does not provide enough power to run a fan, drive and controller etc. There are several small, portable drives available that are buss powered and allow editing via FW. Ken uses the Wiebe Tech drives for this, I believe.

Interview with Walter Murch
 

Approximately a year ago an article was published indicating that Walter Murch was using Final Cut Pro to edit "Cold Mountain". With the introduction of the film, Apple has published its own interview on their site. A 16 month editing job...ughh! I hope they weren't paying him by the hour.

There's also an interview in Post Magazine this month, which can be found at the following link...

http://www.postmagazine.com/post/art...l.jsp?id=79165

Can't wait to see the movie!!! Score FCP! :)

Are all those programs you listed for the mac?

I assume so, just wondering.

Which one is the best to get.

So far soundsoap is doing a decent job.

No need to buy New OSX
 

Imovie 3.0+ is free for download. there is no need to buy OSX if you dont want or need to. Just DL thought Updates in the systme preference or support on apples site.

How to Hook Up an NTSC Monitor for use with FCP?
 

How is it made possible to use an NTSC viewing monitor with Final Cut Pro?

Thanks,

C. Cook

FCP Beginner Question - Importing Audio/Playing Back
 

Getting my feet wet here. I'm new to FCP but not new to Video & Audio. I've tried everything I could think of and I haven't had good results.

When I import an mp3 into the timeline all I hear during playback is "beep beep beep". Yes I know this means it's not rendered yet. But I never had to render audio in other programs before playback like in Vegas or Premiere.

I rendered the audio and now the music is very chopping. Does this have to with the sampling rate? and conversion quality? If so, will FC convert the sampleing rate just in the timeline temporaly so I can hear the audio right?

Does the imorted Audio need to match the project sampling rate to play correctly? Or is there a converter?

I give up!

Hi Mark,

Do a search this topic has been covered before. Export the mp3 through QuickTime and change it to an AIFF file. Also give it the properties of your sequence (48KHz?) Then import it into FCP and it should play without rendering.

Lots of ways:

1. Choose firewire for external video, plug into your camcorder and plug your monitor into the camcorder via either s-video (better) or RCA plugs

2. Choose firewire for external video, and use a DV deck, converter box or a DVD recorder with a monitor connected to it with either component (best), s-video (better) or RCA

3. Use either a second video card, a dual-headed card, the VGA or s-video out on a powerbook and choose it as your external video source.

Problem Solved. Thank you

FCP4: Moving audio and video independently
 

With FCP 3 I was able to move audio and video tracks independently along the timeline...meaning when I clicked on a video track, its audio track didn't highlight as well and vice-versa. I've been trying to do the same thing with version 4 now but can't figure out how to set it to do that.

Any help out there?

There is a sync or lock button hidden in one of the menu's. Where I can't say casue I just work up, but its there and you can.

I will follow up a little latter for ya.

Aaron,

Found it. Thanks.

Should just be a button on the upper right corner next to the timeline, right? Right next to the SNAPPING button.

Ted,

I found it through the menu, but looks like you're right. I need to sit down and do some serious updating for version 4. There are quite a few new gizmos that I'm not sure about.

Weird startup
 

At work a coworker (OS X 10.2.8, G4 at a speed unkown to me) was cursin' and throwin' fits at his machine as he tried to get it to capture footage. I of course pointed and laughed at him. He rebooted and it was taking a very long time to boot. A few minutes later he blurted out "I thought Macs were supposed to boot fast!". I looked at his screen so I could laugh at him some more, but I saw something I had never seen before: A gray screen with the "fan blades" and above that was a dark grey circle with a slash through it (like the red circle/slash in those No Smoking signs). We hard rebooted again and it booted up just fine. Anyone have an idea what that screen is or means? I know it flashes a question mark when it can't find a startup drive.

It might have been an Open Firmware screen. I'm not sure.

importing
 

We shot a feature film with Panasonic Ag-DVX 100 and are going to edit in Final Cut Pro 4.0. This is my first time really using Final Cut.

My question is, what are the ideal settings to import, if my ultimate plans are to press a DVD.

Do I need to have a 24p timeline, or is the footage already downconverted and I should use a 30 timeline.

I've read a multitude of boards trying to figure out the answers but it seems everyone has different suggestions.

thanks
clark

It depends what mode you shot your footage in...

If you shot in 24fps, then edit in 24fps. If you shot 30fps, then edit normally using the canned settings (should be something like NTSC 48khz [super]white).

24p
 

should have said:
I shot 24p standard (not advanced)

i heard that even when you shoot 24p standard it does a downconvert while recording and you ultimately edit in 30i anyways. is this wrong?

thanks
clark

<<<-- Originally posted by Glenn Chan : It depends what mode you shot your footage in...

If you shot in 24fps, then edit in 24fps. If you shot 30fps, then edit normally using the canned settings (should be something like NTSC 48khz [super]white). -->>>

Movies edited on FCP
 

The movie 'Cold Mountain' was edited on stock FCP systems -

http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2003/12/19/murch/

They could set up 4 FCP editing systems for the cost of one Avid system. The article also points out that the Coen brothers new movie 'Intolerable Cruelty' was also edited on FCP.

At the end of the article it recommends that aspiring editors start to learn their trade on FCE then move up when they can.

How to add that widescreen look to your film
 

I shot my film using the DVX-100 in 4:3.

I'm using FCP 3 to edit.

I edited my footage, but now I want to add the widescreen look (black bars on top and bottom).

What is the best way to do that?

Step by step would be great.

I remember doing it in an editing class I took and it took a few cllicks of the mouse, and some rendering if I remember correctly.

Let me know how to do it.

Thank you.

Go into the motion controls and crop your footage. If you for some reason want it to look exactly like 16:9 letterboxed, then use the widescreen filter as a guide.

I have always just added the Widescreen filter set to 1:78 (from memory gives you 16x9)
Is there a benefit to crop using the Motion tab options?

Export using QT conversion
 

I use to be able to select Export, using QuickTime conversion, then select MPEG2 option. But now that option has vanished.

I recently updated to Quictime 6.5 and FCP 4.1.1

Anyone know how to get this option back. I guess re-installing DVDSP will do it. Ideas?

renders faster :)

good idea, thanks for the tip!

support from apple on final cut pro 4.0
 

I'm about to purchase a power mac g5 dual 2.o, AJA IO, and 750 gb xserve. The only thing that cocerns me is how is there support. I Don't want to spend all this money and my system be down all the time. I need to be very productive with this system. Also I'm migrating from a windows bases DPS Velocity sys, IF ANYBODY HAS FINAL CUT PRO 4.0 TRAINING VIDEOS OR DVDS I'D BE INTERESTED IN TALKING TO YOU


TORREY C. HARRIS
LT Productions llc
Cell# 1-985-969-6203
Home# 1-225-209-9640

Hi Torrey,

As far as CD and DVD traing goes, the best source is what my good friend Philip Hodgetts has to offer http://www.intelligentassistance.com and http://www.dvguys.com

Also, Steve Martin from Ripple Training has to offer http://www.rippletraining.com

Also some free learning resources:
http://kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/fcp...age_index.html
http://www.creativecow.net/index.php?forumid=8
http://www.creativecow.net/index.php?forumid=79&hubid=6

You can also find out what free User Groups are available in your area at http://www.apple.com/usergroups Perhaps you could start your own FCP User Group!

Here's a neat link to see how others use Apple Video Solutions http://www.apple.com/pro/index/index.html#provideo

Please do keep in touch!

- don

You may be interested in Apple's Professional Video SupportLine. The cost is $800 a year and includes support 7 days a week from 8am to 8pm. If you don't need that type of support there are support boards on the web to aid in answering your questions.

For what it is worth, if you can manage to take some time off between January 5-9 and if you are able to make your way down to the South Bay area, there is also MacWorld San Francisco http://www.macworldexpo.com

You'll get to interface with all of the manufacturers and hundreds of exhibitors http://www.macworldexpo.com/macworld...&sort_letter=a

Plus our FCPUG MacWorld Theatre will be bigger than ever this year, with a huge offering of training sessions and filmmaker showcase http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/...=1070541856000 A great way to meet and greet fellow industry experts and network with fellow FCPUG-associated filmmakers from around the world.

Neat little clip: http://www.macworldexpo.com/convdata...wsf03-14mb.mov

One of my favorite extra-curricular activities in SF is to visit the CityLights Bookstore near Jack Kerouac Street on Columbus Ave http://www.citylights.com.

If anyone is planning on attending, definitely let me know! A fun time is guaranteed for all.


- don

QT & Panther: Slow?
 

Has anyone experienced a problem navigating to open files with Quicktime (including today's upgrade) in Panther? When I open QT, suddenly everything turns to molasses. If I click on a file to open it in Quicktime, there's about a 3-second lag before the "open" button in the file viewer window becomes highlighted to click.

I re-installed DVDSP and the latest update 2.0.3 and its all back to normal. Thanks.

Are you saying Quicktime was updated today or was Panther updated today? Did it do this before said update? I've noticed no problems on my crappy eMac office computer with Quicktime 6 and Panther. I don't have Panther at home.

I updated Quicktime today (through software update) hoping that would take care of the sluggishness. It's been slow ever since I upgraded to Panther. Before that, no problem.

insufficiant content for edit
 

how do I add transitions to clips that are between 10-20 seconds in length w/o getting this "insufficiant content for edit" crap? anybody run into this thorn before?

Think about it: If you are doing a transition, you need footage from both of the clips. If there is not enough footage for the transition, you cannot do it.

One way to put the transition in is to get rid of a bit of each clip, move them together, then drag the transition on. You need "hidden" footage there for the transition to work.