I didn't even get to the stopwatch part - just got the countdown infrastructure done. I'm busy on two video programming (non FCP) projects at the moment - perhaps I'll have time again after NAB. I've just put out a new Standards Converter update, so I've been really busy!

But I've not forgotten about the idea.....

Even still, for a real stopwatch, I'd video one, then matte it in....

Graeme

whats the difference b/t the two?
 

hey guys,
this is my last stupid mac question before i buy one... i promise :)

i was all set on a 12 inch g4 powerbook - shown here http://www.smalldog.com/product/12650753

but then i just came across this powerbook from the same dealer but in a different category and im not sure if it is what i want (which is a new g4 powerbook good for editing w/ as big a processor as i can get for the $) here is the link - http://www.smalldog.com/product/12651822

if somebody wouldnt mind telling me the difference it would helpp a great deal as i dont wanna throw $1500 at something that isnt perfect for me. thanks!

audio problems
 

I'm runninf FCP 3 on a new g4, have a seperate HD for media. Everything was fine. Then an audio problem happened. I can see the audio in the time line, but I can't hear it. I can play a CD, so the sudio problem is just in FCP.

So I poked around the settings and the problem went away.

Then I heard that you can set your perfs back to the defaults by doing this:

1) Go to: Users/[your user name]/Library/Preferences
2) Drag, "com.apple.FinalCutPro.plist" to the trash
3) Scroll down to the Final Cut Pro folder
4) Drag, "Final Cut Pro Preferences" to the trash
5) Drag, "Final Cut Pro POA Cache" to the trash

So I do this, and the audio problem returns. So I just take the old files out of the trash, replace the new files, the problem is still there.

I can see the audio, it's there, but I can't play it.

Help!

Did you empty the trash and restart or log out and then back in? Does the audio play in QuickTime? How are you monitoring your audio?

The one is the current version, introduced in September 2003. Your original choice is the first 12 inch PowerBook and had slower CPU (1 GHz vs. 867 MHz), mini-VGA video connector (vs. mini DVI), and slower USB (not USB 2.0). The newer version came with 256 MB or ram as standard and has a higher max ram and a better video card. Other than the above, they are identical in outward appearance. Since the difference is only $150 i'd go with the newer (higher performance) model.

Or create one in CG. Do you know anyone who has/works with a 3D program? There are a lot of them out there, and what your asking for is pretty straightforward. The rendered image could be ketyed into the corner as you'd like.

If you'd like, I'd take a crack at it for you. I have some 3D software, and I think I have some time next week.

Let me know!

Jeff, no I didn't log out. Sorry, let me give you a step by step.

I quit FCP.
I fiddled with the files as above.
Brought up FCP to check it. No audio.
Quit FCP.
Put files back.
Opened FCP no audio.

I never turned off the computer, restarted, went to sleep.

BUT WAIT!
Lastnight I read about the sound being funneled back to the VTR (In this case, my Sony VX2K) . So afterlunch I fired up the G4, opened FCP, unplugged the firewire from the VX2K, AUDIO! (I'm still just working in the FCP window, I haven't gone to QT or burned dvd yet.

So the problem is gone, but I would still like to know what I did wrong. Unless that is just what happens if you leave it plugged into the camera.

BTW I really love FCP. This is a great NLE program.

Thanks
Joe

help with the clock.
 

the time was somehow taken off my toolbar. how do i get it back? sorry for this question that is irrevelant to editing. when i go into system preferences and then into date and time and click on show date adn time in menu bar nothing happens and when i go back into it the selection is not selected anymore.

Apple Menu>System Preferences>Date&Time Preference Pane>Clock Tab>check the "Show Date & Time box>Quit System Preferences.

Ah, editing while I'm replying. Click on the Lock in the lower left corner. Use Disk Utility to Repair Permissions. Restart.

that didnt work either. just to make sure i did it right, it should be locked or opened? should the lock on the disk utility be locked too? if it helps all fo the status icons are gone. (like the one that says if i am available or not and the volume)

i called apple care. turns out it was a corrupt system preference. thank you for your help jeff. this post can be deleted.

SOLVED "offline" clips crisis
 

Hello! A call to the vendor of our original system (PROMAX, I must give credit where credit is due...) said it might be a THUMBNAIL CACHE problem. Yes... that was it.

I had to trash preferences, thumbnail cache and a few other things. It is apparently a common problem in FCP. On the mac.com website under FCP it is the second think on the faq or problem-solving list.


So I am much happier here.

For those interested in what is going on and what we do with our Canon DV1-S and our mac, see www.wozoproductions.org and click on the videos page.

Thanks everyone and talk to you soon,

Jane

Editing material shot in anamorphic mode
 

Hi,
I´m editing material shot on DVCam using the anamorphic button on the camera. I copied this onto miniDV and I captured some of the material without having the correct settings (DV Pal), realized my mistake, changed them to DV Pal anamorphic and continued. In my browser, in the anamorphic column, I ticked the clips that I had capured in normal mode.
I started a sequence in FCP 4 and everything seemed to be fine. I opened another sequence and did a copy-paste from sequence 1 to sequence 2. Suddenly some clips were distorted as if they had become super, super wide. My sequence looks like a terrible mess jumping from normal looking to super wide. It´s a mess.
Does anybody have any idea what is happening?
Thanks,
Kirsten

Hard drive for media storage, Firewire or ATA?
 

Hey guys,

I am buying a second hard drive for my FCP 4 editing setup, which consists of a Mac G4 with one ATA 80gb HD. Should I get a FW drive or another internal one? I have read some articles that say FW drives have problems with dropped frames and less real time effects etc., but there seem to be a lot of people using them for capture and playback. When I was in school we used FW drives for media capture and storage on our avid system, and that seemed to work fine.

Basically, I would like to know if you guys recommend internal or FW with price and performance in mind, performance being more important. I know it should be 7200 rpm, 911 oxford chip, 8mb/sec etc. Thanks, and if there is already a post that covers this exactly I apologize.

Galen Summer
Summertime Productions, Inc.
Denver, CO

Hi, and welcome to the forum. You may want to do a quick Search up top for firewire - this exact topic has been discussed a few times in just the last month. Even just earlier today.

A FW drive is an ATA drive inside an enclosure. ATA is definitely cheaper, faster, although you don't get the portability of firewire drives. Portability is good in a school situation since you can quickly "transfer" files around.

Dropouts after capturing?
 

Hi.

I just went through some material that I captured to the hard drive aa couple of weeks ago. There appeared two drop outs that hasn't been there before.

Is this common? (It's not a big deal, just to recapture but annoying and time consuming!)

Thanks.

(FCP 3 on a 1.25 iMac with a maxtor harddrive)

One advantage to an internal ATA drive is that you can stripe a pair of drives together with disk utilities (I think that's what I used) and the G4 will see the two drives as 1 drive, which is helpful for capturing lots of footage in a large project.

Minidisc audio capture problem
 

I have a G4 500 MHZ dual processor and am trying to capture an audio signal from the optical output of a minidisc deck. The USB interface I have outputs at 48 kHz, but I can only get my computer to capture at 44.1 kHz. Why can't I capture at 48? I don't like upsampling to 48 (the minidisc outputs at 44.1) and then downsampling to 44.1 at capture only to have to upsample to 48 again to make the AIFF file. This just seems like a bad idea. Should I send back the USB interface and find one that samples at 44.1? If I could find a way to get the computer to capture at 48 I guess that would work too, but it also seems like it would be better to add dither when I upsample, which is why I want to capture at 44.1. Help. This is more than a dyslexic person should have to try and comprehend.

real-time image flip
 

Forgive my ignorance, but I'm currently using Final Cut Express 1 and know very little about Final Cut Pro 4. I have an upside down video recorded (via homemade 35mm adapter) that needs to be flipped in post. Considering I have a fast G4, would a 180 degree rotation be accessible as a real-time effect and not require rendering?
I'm figuring this is the case and that I don't need to pursue any custom configurations for FCE because they'll be available after upgrading to Pro.

Have you tried capturing the MiniDisc audio via analog input? Try it and also try the same track capturing digitally and then listen to both closely to see if you can hear the difference. I totally understand wanting to get absolutely the purest sound possible, though.

Capturing audio only
 

Is it possible to capture just the audio from a clip in Final Cut (Express). I have recorded some dialogue onto my XM-2 - so I don't need the video at all and I'm trying to keep my file sizes down.

Thanks

Does the stopwatch have to be a "photo-realistic" one? If not, you could easily make one using After Effects using a circle on one track and a "second hand" on another track. Use the rotate feature for the track with the anchor point set at the one end of the line (and in the center of the circle).

This will give a nice "stopwatch" effect. Of course, you could use Photoshop to make a better looking watch. Do the entire sequence on a black or white background and mask it (or alpha it) once you bring it into FCP.

Can't help you with any 3D CG stuff. Out of my league. Only thing I can think of is what you guys have already suggested... film a real stopwatch on a greenscreen.

Hope this helps.
Scott

I am not familiar with Express but in FCP2 you choose (Clip Settings- Audio only) in the Log and Capture dialoge box. Hope this helps.

Thanks Gary, but I can't seem to see anything like that in Express... Does anyone know about Express?

Justin

I do'nt want to steer you from the wealth of knowledge on this sight but try this sight- http://finalcutproplanet.com

It is a sight dedicated to FCP. I'm shure someone there Knows the answer to your question.

Good Luck

Gdog

It's entirely possible FCP is mixing up media files, if the original files were left at FCP's defaults instead of having been given unique names.

You might try Tools > Render Manager, delete all render files, and re-render everything. That might help.

If the original media files have similar or identical names and the render file flushing doesn't help, it should hopefully not be too difficult to manually reconnect the correct clips in your timeline just based on timecode.

Transition Problem, FCE
 

I have just started my first project in FCE. When I try to place a cross dissolve between cuts (by various methods), I get an "Insufficient content to complete edit message." Both cuts are long enough (around 30 sec.). Any idea what the problem is?

Also... I have put scratch disks on a Maxtor 200. The program occasionally says it can find these when it wants to auto-save. I go to the preferences and everything looks right. I want to use this outboard drive because I have limited space on my hard drive. Again, any ideas.

Thanks, Grant McClintock

PS- I am able to insert a cross edit at the beginning of the sequence, but then I cannot adjust its duration.

I just spoke with Apple support and the fellow said I need to munually overlap the cuts to insert the transition. Can this be right? There is nothing in the FCE Training Series book about this.

Grant McClintock

Sound Capture
 

I am new to FCP 3 and am confused about audio. All the clips I import are placed at 0db. Is this the best level for the audio. How much should I raise and lower the audio to get what I want. I am worried I will make clips too loud or too soft. I tried to read the manual but it's very confusing. Can someone give me a brief explanation of how audio works. Very basic just to get me started. Thank You.

Well the meters should only be used as a guide (in the lower right corner of the screen). The 0db level on your sound clips means nothing other than they can be raised +12db and lowered to infinity FROM THAT POINT. It has nothing to do with how loud it actually is. Anyway back to the meters in the corner of the screen... I try to get an average of -12 to -6db with the dialog. It bounces all over the place, but if the dialog is *fairly* steady, you can design the other sounds around it, as you should know if you want a particular sound to be more loud or more quiet than the dialog.

I am not familiar with FCE, but I think maybe the Apple guy might be sippin' some of the crazy juice, or he just isn't quite explaining it the best way. When you do a cross dissolve, make sure that you have at least 15 frames on EACH SIDE OF THE CUT for each clip. It sounds like you have no farmes, otherwise you should get at least a one or two frame dissolve.

Thanks for the help. That was exactly the problem. I finally got through to the right person and got the info. Grant

Magic Bullet PAL to NTSC problem
 

Hey all,

I've searched the forums far and wide and have tried almost everything.

Here's the situation: I have some PAL, 50I footage I shot with a Canon XL 1S that I want to de-interlace and convert to NTSC using Magic Bullet.
I captured it via Vegas, and then took it to work with me on a firewire drive so I could edit it with FCP 4.
I brought it into FCP 4 and edited it, then exported it as an uncompressed clip.
I took the clip and brough it into AE and ran MB on it, lower field order, last pulldown method (as recommended in the MB manual).
However, when I watch the finished product, there are these horizontal lines that appear whenever there is any amount of motion (a door opening, someone walking across the room, etc).

Anyone have any ideas on what might be going on?

I posted a pic of the problem here:
http://www.sw26management.com/mbproblems.jpg

Thanks!

FCP4 Quits!
 

My FCP4 quits unexpectedly 3 to 4 times at irregular intervals. I have a G5, single 1.8 ghz, 1 gig ram, 260 gig hd, 120 add-on hd, Jaguar OS, and FCP 4.0.2. Anyone else experience this? Sometimes I'll edit a clip and can't click save fast enough before I lose it. I reload FCP and go back to the clip and do it all over again. Any feedback/suggestions appreciated.

Thanks!

Do you see those lines on a NTSC monitor? Or only on your Mac while editing? Interlacing on the computer looks like that, but when you bring it out to NTSC it should go away.

.aif import problem
 

I have downloaded an .aif file which is on my desk top. When I try to import it into FCE, I get a "General Error" message. It will not drag into the program either.

Thanks in advance, Grant McClintock

That was it
 

Kevin,

That was it. I could have sworn I watched it on a monitor, but I tried it again this morning, and viewed it on my monitor at work and it looks great!

Thanks!

Open it in Quicktime or iTunez. Does it play? Export as a 48000Hz 16-bit AIFF file (mono or stereo depending on what it is). Then import THAT one into FCE and see if it works.