I did consider doing that but won't that mean I'll run into tc problems and sync problems when I want to re-capture the footage later?

Also, I'm just curious why this happens only in DV-cam mode (because of faster tape speed...?) and not in mini-dv mode

I am a year in on my DSR-45.
I am very pleased.
no trouble at all.
I do heed the warning in 3 languages to insert the tapes by pushing on the middle of the tape.

i love the useless but very cool tiny little monitor.

Just a caution regarding Shane's posting. The Waveform Monitor in Final Cut Pro is not an analog IRE waveform, but rather a digital percentage monitor. That is why it looks different than most hardware waveform monitors. To quote the Final Cut Pro on-line manual,

"The way brightness (also referred to as luminance) is measured in analog video differs from the way it is measured digitally by Final Cut Pro’s Waveform Monitor, as defined by the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) standard for digital video."

For additional information check page 320 of the FCP 4 on-line manual (found under the Help menu in FCP) or look for the article "How Brightness is Measured". Brian, for you this information is mostly irrelevent, but if you get some time you should read it. But it is an issue that has confused many others.

Hey, Gary, that "useless and tiny monitor" did save my butt one time. When assisting the edit for a feature our telelecine tapes came to us in DVCam format, and we were using a DSR-45 deck (great, reliable deck, I have to agree). One day I noticed the video was being squeezed on import, and that the Anamorphic setting was turned on with these clips. The video looked the same from tape in the external monitor we were using, and I could not find what was "different". Well, sure enough, that little monitor revealed the video image was squeezed, and being unsqueezed in the analog outputs. Putting in an older tape which had not been the source of any problems we could see the difference immediatley through the little monitor. Called the transfer house, told them they had a problem, and resolved the issue.

For my regular DVCam work I use a DSR-11, but with no external displays except through the monitor and no RS-422 input, it is definitely for DV work only. Still, has always done a great job for me.

Mason,

My understanding is this:

When something is CREATED as 24P, then a field must be repeated every other frame. Standard (not HD) TV is ALWAYS interlaced to TV set - that's all they know. IF the MPG encoder knows it started as 24P, it simply tells the decoder to repeat one field every other frame. REPEATING THAT FIELD MEANS THAT IT WILL NOT BE ENCODED AGAIN, THUS IMPROVING ENCODING EFFICIENCY. If the encoder does NOT know that it started out as 24P, then it will send each field separately, since there COULD be some new motion information.

Sequence length
 

I am trying to use FCP to play back content over our CCTV system. I need to find some way around the 4 hour limit on FCP timeline. Any ideas?

Changing Voice Pitch? (Final Cut Pro)
 

Hello,

I've been wondering if there is a way to change the pitch of voices on video with FCP? I'm not new to the application although I've never had to change voice pitch before, so has anyone discovered a way to do this?


Thanks,

Corey C.

compressor problem
 

I cannot export to compressor from FCP4.
It gives the option but wont open.
I can open and drag a QT file to the Batch moinitor and submit to compressor, which renders the file.
However, when i then import that file into DVD Pro 2 it sees the file but it displays the 'unusable' red dot and wont drag to the timeline.
I have updated to 1.1 right before these troubles.
I dont use compressor often, but dont recall this problem before update.
thoughts?

caption problem_fix
 

On July 21st I started a thread about, FCP capture problem. Sorry, it has taken this long to respond to all for your help. What needed to be done to fix this problem was, my 300gig external drive was formated for MAC and IBM. When I reformated just for MAC my problem went away and has never came back!
Thanks, Ron

Re: compressor problem
 

<<<-- Originally posted by Gary Chavez : I cannot export to compressor from FCP4.
It gives the option but wont open.
I can open and drag a QT file to the Batch moinitor and submit to compressor, which renders the file.
However, when i then import that file into DVD Pro 2 it sees the file but it displays the 'unusable' red dot and wont drag to the timeline.
I have updated to 1.1 right before these troubles.
I dont use compressor often, but dont recall this problem before update.
thoughts? -->>>Try using Quicktime Coversion.

Apple battery recall
 

I just got an e-mail from Apple indicating a recall on some of their newer batteries. The model number matches the battery on my PowerBook, although my serial number indicates that mine should be OK.

My heart sank this morning as I read this announcement. I had a brand new 17" Powerbook arriving today and I had visions of battery hell in my mind briefly until I realized that my new unit was not affected.

Yeah, thats the way around it, but it would be nice to have a working program that frees up my FPC.

How to create chapters on a DVD with Final Cut Pro 4.5 and DVD Studio Pro 1.5?
 

The title says it all. I'm stumped and any explanation would be greatly appreciated.

I assume you put chapter makers in your FCP project and chose to include those markers when you exported the movie from FCP (the lower popup in the Export dialog). There's nothing more you can do, so if that's not enough then you will have to create the chapters within DVD SP.

I never used DVD SP 1.5 since I didn't get into it DVD production until version 2 came out. You should really upgrade to SP 3 if you can afford it.

Search the archives or post your question on the Apple DVDSP forums. If I remember correctly there was a round about way to get chapters to work in 1.5

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Mac
 

On a G5 dual 2 are there any positive or negative issues using the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Special Edition 256MB Video Card? Heat issues?

I haven't heard of any complaints or problems with it. It's one of the top graphics cards for a Mac right now and should be a top performer. It is also fast enough to run Apple's latest software addition, Motion.

Note that both the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Special Edition 256MB video card as well as the newly announced NVIDIA GeForce FX 6800 Ultra DDL actually block one of the PCI slots on the G5 (neither card is compatible with any model of G4). It is the size of the cooling system on the card that causes the blockage. So anyone considering either of these cards should make sure they can afford to lose one PCI card slot.

The NVIDIA GeForce FX 6800 Ultra DDL is required for Apple's new 30" Cinema HD Displays.

Peak 4.x can do it. Kinda pricey, however. I'm sure there are others. I had to do this 2 years ago and I used a piece of freeware, whose name I now can not remember. Check download.com.

What about Soundtrack? I haven't tried it, or even looked (It's on a different Mac at the moment) but there's good stuff in there...

Michael

This was just recently discussed: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=29742

The search button is your friend.... :-)

A MUCH better source for Mac programs then download.com is Versiontracker:

www.versiontracker.com


OH, and thanks for the tip about Peak, like so many others I never installed it even though I got it free with buying FCP.

(( Boyd: do you ever get to the Philly FCPUG meetings? You can email me a response if you want ))

Sorry, I never even knew there was an FCP group in Philadelphia! But since I'm hopelessly behind the times and still using FCP 3 I'm not sure how much I could contribute to the party...

Audio Sync/ Ext HD?
 

I've run into a problem of audio out of sync, and it's an issue that I've been struggling with for the past month and half. I've put my project on hold and am possibly thinking about ending it. I'm not sure where to turn, so hopefully someone can help. I'll tell you about the issue and the steps I've done to correct it, unsuccessfully.

Using FCP HD on a dual 1.25 G4 w/ 1.5 gig RAM, I captured my footage on an external firewire 800 drive. The project worked fine for a week or so (back in July) and then the audio seemed to go out of sync in the entire project. Since that point I have been on the phone numerous times w/ applecare and provideo. I read the FCP support info on apple.com relating to dropped frames and audio sync (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58640). When I couldn't remedy the problem I took it into the Apple Store last week. After a complete diagnosis it was deemed fine - there's nothing wrong w/ the G4.

So I'm beginning to think the issue is with the external HD, even though it exceeds Apple's recommendations for an appropriate HD. I plugged the external HD into a 17" G4 powerbook w/ 1 gig RAM today (an attempt to avoid the G4). I opened the project from the external HD, made my clips offline and then recaptured all of the clips using a batch capture. The audio still was out of sync, this time more exaggerated than before.

What should my next step be? I'm using a Canon ZR70 to capture. I plugged it into the regular Firewire port on the powerbook, and the external is plugged into the firewire 800. I've read that this can be an issue with more than one firewire device plugged into the computer. If so, how am I supposed to capture my footage? Should it be plugged into the external HD? This is the ext drive I'm using http://www.wiebetech.com/products/Baydock800.php

I just recaptured the footage directly to the powerbook, and the audio is equally out of sync. While it was capturing I watched the footage on the cam's LCD and it is perfectly in sync. Could this be as simple as the firewire cable I'm using to import? Or my student version of FCP HD?

Should I scratch my project that's 50% done and start all over?

I'm in San Antonio
 

I know this might be a little late but if you still need help let me know.

Matt, your posting implies there are a couple things going on here, but I have reason to believe there is but one problem (you can cut to the point by reading the last paragraph). You state that your project seemed to be fine until the audio went out of sync after a few weeks. There are numerous ways you can make audio go out of sync while working in Final Cut Pro, particularly if you like locking audio tracks. However, you have not provided enough information to diagnose whether this is the case. As a good workflow practice it is a good idea to archive a copy of your project daily, so that you can go back and see if things were out of sync earlier or whether the problem has been created.

You do not mention whether you have opened any of your suspect Media Clips in QuickTime to play them there. Do this with the original material on the G4. Do you have sync problems?

I suspect there have been sync issues from the beginning which you missed because you were concentrating on other elements. I also suspect the culprit is your Canon ZR70 camera as I have read numerous similar complaints from other users of this camera, particularly when footage was shot with a different camera. Try borrowing another camera, or better yet, renting a proper deck, and check your results. Please post any other details you might note as you trouble shoot your way out of this problem. Remember, thousands of people successfully use FCP every day. You can too. Good Luck!

Duane thanks for your advice. I watched the clips in quicktime on the G4 and they appear to be the slightest out of sync, by maybe a second or less.

That's news to me about the ZR70. It makes sense though because I did shoot w/ my GL2. I used the ZR70 to capture because I didn't want to stress my GL2 w/ FFW, RW, etc.

Unfortunately I don't have access to my GL2 right now (I'm in Portland for a few weeks and the GL2 is in California). I'll look into renting a deck, or I may just wait until I'm back home next week to use my GL2.

Do you suggest starting over w/ the GL2 to capture? I'm willing to start from scratch and lose my edits but I don't want to run into the same issue.

Capture set up
 

While I've heard a variety of ways to set up a capture device, an external HD, and a computer, I've never seen all of the suggestions in one place. Hopefullty this can clear it up for me.

Here is what I've been told:
1) Plug the cam into an ext HD, then the ext HD into the computer.
2) I've also been told this is not a good strategy because it's one more device that the footage had to go through.
3) I've been told to plug the cam directly to the computer and capture footage to the internal HD, then transfer it to the ext HD.

Does this last step result in linking issues w/ the media? If you set the scratch disk to the internal HD to capture the footage and then move it over to the external wouldn't FCP have problems finding the media once it's been transfered to the external HD?

I'm using an Canon ZR70 to capture and was informed in another of my posts that it may be the source of audio being out of sync. I want to make sure I have set it up correctly to capture in order to determine if is the problem.

I've seen all of those various methods work and I've also heard of all of those methods having capture issues. There are too many variables in software versions, OS versions, hardware versions, FireWire driver versions, etc. for there to be just one absolute method.

What method do you use?

Update
 

I used a deck to capture a few seconds and the footage came in sync. Looks like it was my inexpensive cam giving me trouble the whole time.

I have the oppertunity to rent the deck for $125/day, is that a resonabloe price? It's an older sony, not sure the exact model number.

Hunting around for advice: I can't get FCP 3 to reconnect image masks.

I exported a project to a disk using Media Manager and all of the media came through... but none of the stills that I use as masks are reconnecting. I can't seem to convince FC that it's missing these files. If I ask it to reconnect the sequence it only offers me online and not offline files.

Any hints?

Is the image you want to use in the mask part of the alpha channel in the photoshop file? I have success using an RGB image and selecting luminance as the key.

On my PB I usually capture to the internal drive and then use the media manager to move it to an external FW drive. On my G4 Power Mac I plug the camera into one FW port and capture to an external FW drive. At the school I teach at the students use all different methods, such as you describe. The footage going through various peripherals will not damage the data. But slower computers, with older FW busses may drop frames. PB 's can drop frames capturing to an external drive. It seems to depend on processor speed etc.

Thanks. I rented a DV deck for the weekend and it is such a difference compared to using a cheap dv cam to capture. It FFWs and RWs faster and finds specific points in the tape much faster. My ZR70 would take 10 seconds once it reached the time code that I wanted to find the exact point.

I rented the Sony DSR 40 and it works perfectly. One thing that I noticed is when I use the deck for audio play back it is in sync but when I use the computer's built-in audio it is out of sync. This could have been my problem the entire time but I'd hate to admit that - oh wait I just did. Back to editing!

problems with FCP and Western Digital external drive
 

Hi,

I have a powerbook G4 and I just got a western digital 120gb external drive (USB 2.0) to capture footage. Whenever I try to capture footage through the drive it stalls on Allocating Disk Space for about 7 minutes everytime. Is this a bad drive to use for this, or have I not set something up properly?

Thank you,
-Dan

USB 2 is usually a PC drive. How did you format it? Is it formated HFS+? Personally I would take it back and get a FireWire drive. They are much better suited for video capture.

Motion Compatability
 

Has anyone tried to run Motion using a video card besides the ones below?

ATI Radeon 9800 XT
• ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
• ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
• ATI Radeon 9600 XT
• ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
• ATI Mobility Radeon 9700
• ATI Mobility Radeon 9600
• NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra
• NVIDIA GeForceFX Go 5200
• NVIDIA GeForceFX 5200 Ultra

If not, is this just Apples recommendation or will Motion not even run w/o one of these cards?

thank you
--adam