NLE Mac / Final Cut questions from 2002
 

Final Cut Pro 2 and Timecode

Sometimes when I am capturing with Final Cut Pro 2, it will refuse to capture the footage because it doesn't have time code. It doesn't matter if I can plainly see the video playing in the little capture box, it won't let me capture unless it sees timecode. This usually occurs when playing an edited tape from the camera/deck.

Can I turn this highly useless "feature" off? It is really annoying. It forces me to boot up with a different extension set and use MotoDV to capture, which has no problem with the absence of timecode. I don't care about timecode. If there is any kind of video coming through the firewire, I want to be able to capture it.

Joe,

I had that happen a few times but was able to work around it by capturing with iMovie, then importing into FCP 2.0.

Haven't had any trouble capturing yet with FCP 3.0.

Anyway...I'll be interested if someone knows a way to turn it off, too.

Hi Joe,

FCP is very persnickity about its time code. If it sees a break it will balk. There's no way that I know of to induce it to ignore tc breaks.

Rather than monkey with extensions and restarts, here's how I cheat when I encounter such situations. I turn to iMovie to capture the tape. iMovie assumes we're yutzes that will have gap-toothed tapes and just skps past the gaps. Once the clips are captured you can import them directly into your FCP project since they're in DV format.

I tried importing via iMovie and I didn't like it. iMovie seemed to make a new clip of every different scene. And then you have to save it to the hard drive which takes longer than rebooting with a new extension set. Maybe I am missing something. Maybe iMovie is just too difficult to use for me, I dunno. Final Cut Pro is so much easier to use than iMovie.

I don't know if this will work with no timecode at all, but it will solve the problem with timecode breaks.

In the General tab under FCP Preferences theres a box on the right side labeled "Abort capture on timecode breaks".

Uncheck that box and Final Cut will capture through loss of TC.

You will however get a message box at the end of the capture informing you of a break in timecode.

Mike Avery

Mike,
You pointed out a feature in the new FCP3 that I had not yet discovered. I tried it with a "broken" tape today (of course, it took me a long time to find one <grin>, yuh, right) and it works pretty well!

Thanks for the tip.

I didn't realize that feature didnt exist in v2. I guess it wont help Joe's problem then.

Sorry, didn't mean to mislead anyone.

For folks using v3 it can be a big help though.

Mike Avery

Yep...I switched it off the minute I read your post.

Thanks, Mike.

Ignore TC breaks
 

Im an Avid Guy, but I have used FCP 2, and 3.0. If i recall there is definately an "Ignore Timecode Breaks", somewhere in the preferences, or in the audio/video settings, i believe.

Anyone Using the New Mac Dual 1GHz?
 

With Final Cut Pro 3? After Effects? Commotion Pro 4? Any problems? Does it render and process as quickly as it's specs suggest?

Ken--

I have one of the new MACS, and I'm awaiting FCP to arrive any day now. I've been using EditDV on the new MAC, and the speed increase over my G3-300 B&W is astounding, especially for titles.

After reading all the various opinions over at 2-pop, though, I'm tempted to load FCP into OS-9.2 and let OS-10 age a little.

I should have the new software this week.

Thanks Vic!

I've been using FCP3 on OS 9.x on my desktop and OS 10.1 on my TiBook. FWIW, the TiBook has been rock-solid under OS 10 but there's no functional advantage in FCP per se. Am waiting for the OS 10 drivers for my RTMac board before switching my desktop to 10 completely. My finger's a-twitchin' on the Buy button for the dual 1Gig. I've been using the dual 500 for just over a year. It's ok but, honestly, its far behind the performance of even my dual P4-550 Dell system (regardless of what Steve Jobs says).

Hey, enjoy your new system and FCP3. EditDV is a good product but I really think you'll find new love when FCP3 arrives.

I'm looking forward to it. I've been using EDV since back when it was still Radius, and it has done well by me. I'm little concerned about future support now, and I attended one of the Apple seminars on FCP and decided it was in my future. Will FCP take advantage of the dual processors under 9.2? I'd like to try OS-10, but if there is no advantage, I might wait for it to mature a little.

<<-- Will FCP take advantage of the dual processors under 9.2? -->>

Apple has always been purposefully vague on just how much value the dual-processor systems really add. Certainly they crow about how the G4's Altivec "engine" adds muscle to Photoshop. But when it came to FCP there was more than a bit of evasion when I particpated in a drilling last year. There has been a special multiprocessor extension under OS 9 for some time. But, anecdotally, my G4-500DP desktop system is really not appreciably faster than my single-processor G4-500 TiBook (under OS 10) when it comes to comparable FCP3 renders. I'm looking at a minute or so to render 6 seconds of titling on either.

Of course this becomes moot with the introduction of FCP3 on the OS 10 platform since the OS (Unix under a BSD kernal) handles the processor scheduling. In theory FCP would not be responsible for processor counts or handling load assignments at all. So it -should- prove to be a real boost. But I haven't really worked much with FCP3 under OS 10 on my desktop G4-DP yet to say one way or the other.

Ken,

It's faster...believe me! I just got my new computer today...dual 1 GHz processors, 1 Gb RAM, and 107 Gb memory. Using FCP3, I tested out the speed on a project I'm editing together now. Seems to me that the render times have been cut in at least half, if not more.

Also, surfing the web is blazing fast. Pages pop up instantly.

Run...do not walk... to the nearest Apple store. ;)

John & Vic,

Couldn't you have at least had the courtesy to tell me "..aww, it's not such a great box. I guess it's ok if you gotta have a Mac. No problems." But nooo, you've gotta pour gasoline on the fire. You guys are really sadistic.

Gonna do it.

Thanks <grimmace>

Well, it's still the same damn color, so maybe it's not so great after all......It has, however, learned to make coffee in the morning and warm up the car!

After pondering it for awhile, I've decided that when FCP arrives on my doorstep, I'm gonna take the plunge and load it into OS-10. What the heck, I can always drop back, but this will force me to learn the new system. OS-9 is way too comfortable.

I popped a big Seagate Barracuda scratch disk into the puppy, and discovered that the main 80GB drive is also a Barracuda. After working with PCs a lot, I'm always amazed at the easy access to the newer MACS. Took about 5 minutes.

Go for it, Ken. It'll drive you nuts until you do!

Cheers

Vic,
Re: FCP3, note that you can install it under both OS 10 and OS 9 (they are separate installations). You can alternate boot-up OS's pretty easily and, as you do so, FCP3 will be available on either OS. The FCP3 installation threw me for an hour or so; I couldn't understand why I needed to install it twice.

Re: easy device access on the Macs, I agree. I've been a PC-only person since 1983/84 until just over a year ago. The Mac device model gob-smacked me at first. How much simpler it is to assign drives -names- instead of serial -lettersl. Why not just flip the side panel of the tower unit down (as on a Mac) instead of trying to shove your head and hands into the PC's case? (Yes, some of Compaq's systems recently began featuring a similar design but most PC's still do not.) And on, and on.

I've not become a flaming-hair Mac fanatic. But I can certainly be called an enthusiastic user for video and graphic applications.

Ken,

You use an XL-1, right? Did you have to add the two extra files...I think one is called "DV Codec" and the other is "CMP something" or similar?

They're included on the FCP 3.0 disc but aren't automatically installed (or so I've heard).

I've only used FCP3.0 so far to work on existing projects that were started in FCP 2. But I've been reading in other forums that some people are having trouble capturing without these two files.

I'll be capturing some new footage this weekend, so wanted to know if I should install those two files. This was mentioned in an earlier forum here, I believe, and I mentioned using iMovie as an alternative. I mentioned "capturing" but actually was using the wrong term since the footage was already on my hard disc but just had to be "imported" into FCP.

John,
I do use an XL1 and XL1s but I capture from my Panasonic deck (with no trouble). I think the files you're thinking of are in the "Extras/DV Camera Tuner Scripts" folder of the FCP3 CD. There are files: "CMP Override", "DV Tuner 1" and "DV Tuner 2" in that folder. These are plug-ins that some cameras and devices require for proper capture functionality.

I don't think that the XL1 requires a special plug-in for proper capture since it qualifies under "Firewire Basic" specs. Peruse the page:

http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/qualification.html

I recall that version 1.2.5 was fussy about plug-ins for proper GL1 operation but that was the last I really heard of it. (Apparently it still needs the "DV Tuner 2" plug-in for proper operation.)

Thanks, Ken. I'll check it out this weekend.

The link you gave says something interesting

<< When the Canon XL1 is editing to tape, it will come in up to 6 frames early, then duplicate that first frame up to 15 frames. >>

I never had that problem before with FCP 2.0. Hope that doesn't start now with FCP 3.0.

I also do my capturing and mastering with a Panasonic deck (DV2000) so it sounds like that part should go smoothly. Ken, did FCP actually require an install in both systems, or did you just elect to do so?

Vic,

I initially installed FCP3 while running OS 9 (from the OS 9 installation folder), thinking that I could just boot into 10 and run the same executable. But it balked under 10. So I also installed under 10 (using the OS 10 installation folder on the CD) and now both versions coexist in their parallel universes. Each version does install differently. The OS 10 FCP3 places just the naked app file in an "Applications" folder. All other files (ex: plugins, custom settings) go into "System Folder / Application Suport" folder. The OS 9 installed everything (except Preferences) in the "Final Cut Pro" folder under the root.

The documentation is not very explicit regarding dual-boot installation so I might have mis-stepped. But all seems to operate fine under both OS's.

Apple's iDVD & XL1s...
 

Hello everyone,

just curious as to wether some of you are using or have tried Apple's iDVD software for creating dvd's.....how do you like the software's mpeg2 treatment of your XL video? Any comments?

I've tried it myself and while generally pleased i find the video just shy of perfect- I can see some "interlacing" of moving images which seems to go away when slow moving objects are onscreen...the minute fast action appears i'm getting a sort of "interlacing" (hope i am using the correct term- looks like small dashes in high-motion areas)..was wondering if anyone else has experienced this...and i'm wondering if it's an XL video thing or iDVD software thing (I don't see it when watching the video on a tv screen directly from the mini-DV tape).....in all fairness I have yet to see the DVD on a tv screen- only on a computer monitor (maybe that's the interlacing problem i've noticed??).......

....anyway was just hoping some of you have used iDVD and what did you guys think of the software's treatment of your XL video.

Have fun- you only live once!!

Steve,
I'm working with iDVD right now and have had pretty good luck on the encoding front (but am having a difficult time with another matter). The DVD's I've burned to-date have been pretty faithful, although their content has been far from professionally produced.

Off-hand I can only think of 2 situations that might leave your MPEG2 a bit ragged. (a) If you try to put more than an hour of material on the DVD iDVD will compress the footage more deeply. (b) If your footage was brought in smaller than 720x480 iDVD will scale it up to fit.

Take a look at the DVD on a television to see if you can detect the same motion/interlacing jaggies as you see on your computer monitor.

Ken,

Mac's are amazing aren't they?

Prior to burning the DVD (during compilation) iDVD did prompt me and say that there was more than 60 min of content and that the video content would decline in quality slightly...but in actuality there was only about 19 min of actual DV footage- the rest were slideshow images that i'm assuming get encoded into an mpeg2 at whatever screen rate DVD's use.......this is the likely reason iDVD prompted me with such a message.....

...my 60" TV is on the outs so I can't view it there- but will try soon on another set.......

Ken which Mac did you get with the superdrive?

I picked up the 933 mhz model w/SuperDrive at B&H in Manhattan- so far the system works like a charm.
Mac's rule!

<<-- Steve: Ken which Mac did you get with the superdrive? -->

Actually I cheated. I bought my first Mac (G4 Dual 500MHz) in Oct 2000 before the Superdrives were shipping. Mine came with a relatively useless DVD-RAM drive. Last year I bought a Pioneer A03 and retrofitted my Mac with it. Worked fine. This week I'll be receiving a dual 1GHz G4 with 1Gb RAM and am anxious to see the performance difference.

My relationship with the Mac has been one of love/hate but, on the love side are the FCP3, iDVD, DVD Studio Pro, Commotion Pro and After Effects. This suite makes putting up with the Apple platform well worthwhile for me. I would be hard pressed to ever try to use my Win systems for these funtions.

Ken:

I just got the dual 1 ghz setup, and since I'm new to DVD burning, how critical is it that I get DVD Studio Pro (especially with iDVD2)? Obviously there are more possibilities available with Studio Pro, but for general purpose useage, how much am I missing. Also, I'm looking to archive a bunch of old VHS tapes that are 2 hours long--will I be able to make 2 hour DVD's at VHS quality with Studio Pro?

The reason that I would get DVD Studio Pro is because it allows you to mix sound in 5.1 channel Dolby Digital. To me that is just awesome. Even though I haven't burned a single DVD in my life, I imagine that the differences between DVD Studio Pro and iDVD would be like the differences between Final Cut Pro and iMovie. iMovie tends to lead towards making family videos with nothing too fancy. I'm sure that for archiving VHS tapes iDVD will be fine. DOn't know about the two hour quality, though. Usually MPEG2 hiccups at gradual transitions (dissolves, fades, etc). The video will look fine with higher compression until one of these transitions comes along, and then you will notice a difference.

DVD Studio Pro is really designed to handle more elaborate menus, sound and behaviors (ex; chaptering, etc.) than iDVD which just provides a way to make basic menus and encode your content to the disc. Joe's analogy of FCP -vs- iMovie is a pretty apt one.

Apple has a very good FAQ page on the subject at:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60799

Re: Putting 2hrs of material on one DVD I don't know. I've never gone beyond approx 80 mins. To some degree it will depend on how much space your supplementary material occupies (menus, etc.). DVD-R General discs are, by design, more limited in capacity than the "authoring" discs. The ever-paranoid Hollywood folks made sure of that.

Digitizing from XL1 to Final Cut Pro
 

I've had some problems digitizing footage from my XL1 to Final Cut Pro. Actually, what I did was digitize to the FCP, then save QuickTime clips that I tried to import into a Media 100 system. Footage just didn't look very good. Finally abandoned that footage and digitized directly to the Media 100 through an analog connection and the footage looked much better.

Any suggestions as to why this occurred? I would have thought that the footage that had been digitally digitized would look better than the analog stuff.

Hello Martin,
It's hard to say what went wrong from your brief description. Offhand my guess would be that either your FCP export settings need adjustment for Media 100 import or vice-versa. Did you look at the footage while it was in FCP? Out of curiosity why didn't you capture directly into the Media 100 system?

iDVD Excellent!!!!
 

Ken,

turns out the dvd that i made with iDVD did come out great when viewed on a TV set- just about undiscernable (quality wise) from the source DV footage from the XL1S..I'm very pleased (their mpeg2 encoding is excellent)

I also have a Mac G4/400 in my son's room with a DVD-Ram drive- believe it or not- the iDVD DVD's don't play in them- go figure...

I'll have DVD Studio Pro soon to build more elaborate menu's and to set the rate of encoding manually (it has VBR)...

I'm guessing the "interlacing" I saw on my computer monitor was because of the very high-res I run on my monitor at all times- if i view it onscreen at a smaller screen size- it looks great.....
(as soon as I buy my wife her new car- I have to get the Apple Cinema Display!!)

Apple fan for life.......Mac's rule!
Long live FCP/Commotion/DVD Studio Pro and the Canon XL1S.

(I smell a Mac G5 coming soon)

Make your wife buy her own car and get that Studio Display NOW! :) For that good advice I just gave you, you owe me free copies of DVD Studio Pro, Commotion, and whatever else you have :)

The G5 should be introduced pretty soon. I'm sure they're working out all the bugs now instead of just rushing it to market (hopefully). That's when the dual G4 prices will go down and that's when I'll buy one. I hope the G5 runs OS 9 and is not limited to OS X. I would absolutely hate that. OS X is just not ready to be used prime time yet. Not enough apps!

digitizing from xl1 to final cut pro
 

Ken:

I was trying to save time. I was editing the project with a crackerjack editor who was using a Media 100, but the rate on the suite was in the neighborhood of $200/hour and I was trying to get ahead of the game by digitizing all my footage on a portable hard drive that I thought we could simply plug into his system as and work off it, dragging clips into the timeline as we needed them.

Since posting the question, I've done some further searching on the web and perhaps what I was experiencing was simply a settings failure in the software. There's a pretty good discussion of this at: http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailT
oID=1842694670

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Just thought others might have experience the same thing.

martin

hahahahahahah......

...I think OS 9 will be around for at least another year and a half, just too many small apps that run perfectly on it....

The more I use OS X- the more I like it.....dual OS's are a great thing to have...

If Formac comes out with a 22" flatscreen- i'd buy it- their 17" screen beat Apple's 17" which is a small miracle (ever see how good an Apple 17" is??)...

for now I have to live with my Viewsonic 19"- great .23dp and excellent color- great price point as well....

-1 quick question for all the experts out there- would there be an increase in quality if watching video made with XL1S on a HDTV as opposed to a regular TV?

I don't know much about HDTV, but my guess would be either "no" or "not much". If you shot in frame mode, maybe you could enable progressive scan on the HDTV and that would make it look better. But otherwise I think it's just "NTSC in, NTSC out" as far as regular video is concerned.

At $200/hr I'd try to get ahead of the game, too. <g> Glad to hear you worked this issue out. I'm sure the article link will come in handy for others some time.

Say, what do you think of the Media 100 system? Was it the new 844/X reviewed in the current issue of Videography magazine?

Martin I tried that link and only got an add, could you recheck your link. I would be interested in knowing as I use media 100, but was planning on getting a mac laptop and editing from a portable firewire drive in final cut pro 3 just as you described then taking it to my media 100 system for final post

When i entered all 3 parts of the link it sent me to this simpler link:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58637

which seems appropriate.