New 15.4 inch aluminum Power Books are due in 2 to 4 weeks once existing supplies of TiBooks are reduced. The features should be similar to new Power Books introduced at MacWorld in January (BlueTooth, AirPort Extreme, FireWire 800, and nVidia graphics cards).

As Ken suggests, you are best off with 7200rpm with the 8mb Princeton 911 buffer.

I use the LaCie D2 200GB drives. Super fast and problem free.

Jim Wiebetech is a great guy and his drives are also very excellent.

- don

Please post your results with this fix...
just to get a handle on it's use.

Thanks.. :-)

Last night I had lots of renders to do so I figured I would do them today since I guessd it needs a good day to render all the effects.
So, 1) I saved my project 2) I did a "print to video" so I can take a copy with me home and look at it. 3) I turned off the computer and quit FCP. When I came in today I discovered that I did not have to render anything. All the renders were fixed!!!! I have to mention that on the VHS I took home with me, I was able to view the effects that I couldn't see before due to lack of rendering. Could Print To Video have rendered everything and THIS FAST? It took only 20 min to print to video!

Yes, that's basically what happened. Exporting or "printing to video" forces FCP to tidy-up its render tasks before shipping the sequence out.

Thanks Ken. It's amazing how fast it renders. If I had asked it to render it would've taken at least a day to do all of them.

Might also have something to do with your render quality settings. Could be rendering at lower resolution. But I've also noticed inconsistencies. For example, if I choose export as a self-contained FCP file (Quicktime) that seems to take a lot less time than rendering, but obviously it renders everything fully. However in this case it doesn't generate any render files.

My equipment is G4-TiPB-1GHz / OS 10.2.2 / 1024 MB RAM / FCP 3.0.4

Having read Ken Stone’s review of iDVD 3 (http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/review_idvd_3.html) I was a bit leery of how my first project might turn out. Never daunted, I created a 10 minute project in FCP 3 including 6 chapter marks and I burned a DVD. The burn process went smoothly (contrary to the indications in the review) but when I tried to select menu scenes based on the chapter marks (the text buttons were created in the ‘free position’ mode) more than one scene was selected . . . making it impossible to know which scene would be played. I’d be interested in other users experience with iDVD 3 and if any work arounds are known.

Thanks!

Responding to the many complaints Apple has received about the noisy fans in its newest (released August 2002) Power Mac G4 desktops, Apple is offerring a free power supply exchange for quieter units. This program ends June 30, 2003.

To find out more visit the Apple site's page (https://depot.info.apple.com/generic/index.html).

Dick I'm with you . I havent purchased iDVD3 yet but would like to just for the chapter feature but ive read numerous problem posts on apple forums.Anyone here used this yet?

I have searched the Apple website but find no leads on the replacement you cite. If you have more information, please let us know.

I'm not sure what your missing. Did you click on the link in Ken's post? If so, the details and links are all there. Here is the link (https://depot.info.apple.com/generic/index.html#orderform)to the order form to begin the process.

Duh! Thanks. I hadn't noticed that the text was hot.

I use a G4 at home and at work to edit with FCP 3. The problem seems to be the firewire drives and their memory. They both have 7200RPM external firewire drives attached. LaCie and Maxtor are the brands which I know to be good. Inevitably, and especially when I am importing graphics, even the smallest PSD's, FCP will say "out of memory".

My Apple at home only has 256 MB of Ram but my Apple at work has at least 512, if not 768. But they both do the same thing.

The reason I think it is in the firewire drives is because I can copy the project to my local drive and it works fine. However the project on the firewire drive will no longer respond at all.

My first workaround I just stated, my second is to not use any PSD's, but use Targas. Even big Targa's with alpha channels will import and run just fine. But it would be nice to be able to use the layers from a PSD and besides I don't want/need to find a workaround.

At home my Maxtor drive has a memory allocation area (I think) but I was always afraid to change the value and just left it on the "auto" feature. The LaCie I'm not so sure about.

Sorry this is dragging on, but I wanted to give all of the facts before posting.

Thanks

Hello Dan,
To my knowledge, the only memory involved with drives is the onboard cache memory. There is no memory allocation associated with hard disks on the Mac.

Contrary to your associative analysis, I'm confident that the difficulty you're having on your home Mac is strictly that of its very low base memory. With only 256Mb I'm surprised you aren't observing other anomalies with FCP3. Boost your RAM and I can virtually guarantee you that this problem will vanish.

What OS are you using OS 9.x.x or OS 10.x.x? Make sure that neither dimension is over 4000 pixels. Blank layers will give that error message also. Since you working with layers that is probably what is causing the error message. As Ken states hard drives have no bearing on system memory.

Hi there,

I know the Ibook 800 will not be able to do the RT for FCP, but is it similar to Premiere where you can render a work area? I don't know anything about FCP, but am on a tight budget and want to see what all my options are.

I'm new to digital video and own no equipment, other than my Sony TRV25. My plan is to acquire the equipment in steps, computer first. Mainly, I'll be shooting my own screenplays (shorts and features).

Though I haven't made the purchase yet, I've pretty much decided to get a G4. The question is which one. On the Apple website, I priced a dual 1.25GHz and a dual 1.42GHz. Initially, there's a $700 difference ($1,999/$2,699). When I configure them both with a warranty, a super drive, 1 gig of RAM, a 120 gig harddrive, and a 17' studio display, the price difference drops to $300 ($3,597/$3,897).

Is the 1.42 worth the extra money?

Should I put the money toward a larger display instead?

Other than Final Cut Pro, I don't plan on purchasing additional software right away. After I become somewhat comfortable on FCP, then I'll see what else I want. Is that a good idea, or is there software out there that I'll want to own immediately?

Thanks for your answers and any other advice you'd care to offer above and beyond what I've asked.

Lots of ways to go here... and I am sure you'll get lots of opinions. Since you've made up your mind on the software and cpu, my recomendation is more storage... You can't have too much.

After that, since you own a camera, then I suggest a good mike or two. A shotgun and a pair of lavs maybe. Not sure about the trv25 though, it might be a waste of money.

Lights are always good. A simple light kit will go a long way in helping to get the shots you want.

Lights, Camera, Action(editing).

Your'e ready to roll.


(Or just send me the money... I'll spend it)

Bill

The Dual 1.4 is definately worth the extra money because of the cache differences, unless you buy the OLDER OS 9 version of the 1.25 then it is the same. Other than that I would scrap the warranty (I have never had much luck with AppleCare) and get more storage (at least at some point) and a 20" Cinema Display instead of the 17". As for extra app's try out the Adobe digital Video Collection which will include Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects and a copy of Premier for the shelf (it is cheaper to buy the set and trash Premier than to buy them seperately).
If you are using strictly DV and just starting out you might even look into FCExpress, it will save you a bundle up front and you will most likely not miss the differences for a while.

Should make a nice setup though.

Hello Felix,
This thread (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6353&highlight=ibook) will be of interest to you.

Hello all.

I'm having a problem with continuing a dissolve over several edits. FCP doesn't allow me to go past the first edit. I guess the definition of a dissolve is a transition from one clip to the next. However, What I'm trying to do is to fade in a series of cuts over a period of 10 seconds...guess you might call it a ramped superimposition.

The beats in the music are about 2 seconds apart, however there is a high strings sound that lasts for about 10 seconds. I want my dissolve to last until the high string sound fades out (and the sequence of 2 second edits slowly fades in).

I thought of trying to save the 5 or so edits as a separate sequence, but I can't seem to do that. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

And one other issue: since I'm dealing with hundreds of little 5 second takes, it would be nice if FCP could somehow make a mark by the takes I've used and those I have not, or, some sort of warning that I've used that edit elsewhere.

Thanks! I am having an absolute BALL on FCP!!

Regards,
Patrick in Houston

PS: FCP 3; G4 w/superdrive; 4x36 array; CineWave; Studio and Cinema displays; Photoshop and AfterEffects; component in from BetaSP deck. Camera: BVP-550 w/BVV5 deck

You'll need to nest your clips. At the end of this thread (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7039&highlight=nest) I list the steps to nest clips. Then apply your dissolve.

Thanks Jeff, I'll give it a try. I appreciate the quick reply.

Patrick

I want to replace the hard drive in a iMac DV500 SE. What files/folders can i copy to an external drive to restore my system back to the way it is now? i am currently running 10.2.4 on this mac without OS 9 installed. Is this even possible to do? i assume i can boot from the Jaguar disc once the new drive is installed? any help or links is greatly appreciated.

Matt

Matt,
just copy the system folder to your external drive. It holds your OS and also all your preferences, so by keeping that you can keep all your original settings.

If you restarted using the Jaguar disk, you would have to re-install the OS and you would lose settings you had. Be sure to copy the programs as well so you don't have to reinstall them. How big is your current hard drive and how much space on your external drive do you have. If you have the space on your external drive, you can also just drag your iMac hard drive icon onto your external hard drive and copy your whole system, then drop that copy back onto your newly installed drive and you will have your original setup.

How did you get only Jaguar on your computer, I didn't know it was possible to run a Mac with OS X without having OS 9 Classic on there.

here's a link to a discussion on the mac site on changing an iMac's hard drive:
http://discussions.info.apple.com/WebX?14@131.iibaacNBiVp.2@.f02e325/0

going to the Apple site under the support section, you can look for info on your iMac.

here's a link to the iMac service manual they were talking about on the link from above:

http://home.wanadoo.nl/manual.man/manuals.html

hope this helps.

Or you can copy your whole drive with Carbon Copy Cloner. It's a $5 shareware program that you can get at Version Tracker (http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=13260&db=mac).

Here's an update on this issue:

I recently imported about an hours worth of clips from a FW drive that I'd used with the Firestore -- on the longer clips, I saw the fractional audio times (e.g., 48.002 KHz) in the FCP Browser window. It appears that SAM was working.

Today, I captured 50 minutes of clips by playing the DV tapes in my AG-DV2000. All clips, even the longer ones, were exactly 48.0 KHz.

In both cases, the clips were recorded with my XL-1.

Figure this one out!

I think what you need to do is to either nest the sequence or to put the slow ramp clip on the layer above, this way, you can have the clip come in slowly while the clips below dissolve one after the other...

Adrian

Adrian: Nesting the segment of clips did the trick. I placed them in the track above the long out going clip. After I initiated a dissolve on the nest, I drug the duration of the dissolve way over to where I wanted it to end. Worked like a charm!

Obviously, I have yet to play around with nesting to any extent. What was way cool was that any changes I made in the nested sequence were automatically made on that nested sequence in the time line.

Thanks for the reply!

Patrick

I would agree with Jeff and use Carbon Copy Cloner. Clone an exact BOOTABLE copy of your drive onto a firewire drive (make sure it is a bootable firewire drive) and then replace you harddrive and clone it back.
It is completely possible to install Jaguar without OS 9, (and I even prefer it). Just copying the "System Folder" does not work for OSX. There are about 45,000 (literally) hidden files that OSX needs and they do not get copied with the system folder. Carbon Copy Cloner is the ONLY way I know to copy the entire contents of your disk and still have a working volume when you are done.
Or you could just install the Jaguar disk and boot from it and start over fresh.

Thanks for the help ! i will probably go the carbon copy cloner route once i install the drive.

i have a imac g3, ofcourse i have to render everything, do you know if its possible for me to get a realtime card so i dont have to render so much...Is it worth the money?
thanks for the info...

iMac G3's generally aren't worth the cost of upgrading. Performance gains are just marginal, at best. I would look at new equipment. A G4 will really speed up your work and rendering times are greatly improved by the altivec processor.

I would like to know the general consensus between Discreet Cleaner and Sorenson Squeeze. Seems I need to go to a "pro" compression software to do what I want....that is, put a 7 minute A/V sequence onto a CD-ROM. I've tried all of the quicktime (and FCP Movie) export options and settings and the resulting "movie" is just too big for a CD-ROM. I've been to both websites and have read about their products. I need this CD to work on both PC's and Macs, and, I want the picture to look halfway decent, not full of compression artifacts. It would also be nice if I don't have to reduce it down to postage stamp size.

Both Sorenson and Discreet cost about the same (about $450), but which has more bang for the buck? I could probably edit down to 5 or 6 minutes if I have to. Is this doable with either of these products?

Thoughts?
Thanks!

(FCP 3, QT Pro, G4 w/superdrive, 4x36 RAID, CineWave)

All the realtime cards I know of are PCI, as well, and none of the G3 iMacs I know of have PCI slots.

Cleaner will do many more formats and has better controls for compression. I have tried both and for the Mac, Cleaner 6 is the way to go.

Do a quick search and you will find this topic discussed in more depth around here.

FYI - There are some beautiful original Mac fonts available for free download at this site. (http://www.hdia.com/download.html)

(from the same guy who designed the packaging for some of the Star Wars merchandise)

John,
thanks for the link, downloaded some fonts, now if I could only find a site that has some cool calligraphy style Japanese kanji fonts.

Cleaner for CD, DVD etc. Squeeze for web work, in my opinion.

I was referring to processor upgrades. Jeff K. is correct in that no PCI solutions exist for the G3 iMac.

I was in the same situation you are in. I did the research, talked to folks, looked at various samples, etc.. I settled on Sorenson Squeeze 3 Compression Suite--very powerful, very flexible, many formats! Works for both web AND disc media It does a beautiful job at a price $150 less than Discreet Cleaner. Too, it's available in either Mac or PC versions. Just my two cents.

Using Squeeze 3, I compressed a 14 minute video into a file that was just under 160MB--480x360, stereo (mp-3), frame rate of 1:1 and it's flawless. I shouldn't think you'd have any problems with only 7 minutes of video.

Thanks; I appreciate the input from all of you. I think I'll try Cleaner 6 first; then Sorenson later.

Patrick

Hi there,

I finally got my mac and now i need to figure which editing suite to get.

I only use my Panasonic MX5000 and Canon MiniDV cameras and never plan on going to film. Will I be ok just using FCP Express? What will I miss out if I go that route?

Thanks in advance.

Hello Felix,
A very frequent question here. So frequent that Jeff Donald has prepared a standing thread (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5929) on this topic at the top of this part of the forum. It should answer most of your questions.

I am having problems capturing footage from my xl-1. It plays Ok in the capture window but as soon as I begin to capture I get a pop up explaining that there is a break in the timecode, there is no break in the timecode and the footage that was capturted prior to the error message had a lot of static and the audio was out of synch. Any suggestions.

I have switched off the abort button in the prefs, and am no longer interupted, but the captured video is horrible. I lowered the pref for realtime audio. Was wondering if I could lower the compression data rate. The footage was shot in SP mode. Is this a common Canon problem.???

Read some of the posts about Sync Adjust Movies (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7444) (SAM) and you'll get tips for dealing with it. What are you using, and iMac, Tower, Powerbook? What type of drive are you capturing to? Are you hooked up to the internet or network while trying to capture? Please give more details about your system. You may not have enough processing power to have do HQ audio. FCX does not offer lower compression rates. FCP does, but that would not help your issues. This is not a Canon issues, definitely FCX.

I got Cinema Tools just now, and I have a DVX100. But I don't know how to do that with CT? I have try more times, but I'm not found some tutorial on internet.

So anybody can tell me how to do...

THX!

Thanks for the reply. I have a Power Mac Dual 1 Ghz, with 1.25 Gb of Ram. I am capturing to an external ata 7200firewire drive with a 911 oxford chip set. I am not connected to a network and have a cable modem so I am connected to the internet whiole trying to capture. I am going to try with a different 1)firewire cable and then when it is returned to me a different camera.
Thanks again

I made my titles with FCP title generator. They are simple white on black background. the white font is set at 80% and black opacity at 90% and then I applied Gaussian blur at 0.3 as stated on Ken Stone's page. Now I have a problem of a greenish hue when I pplay them. It only happens at the beginning when there's a Cross dissolve between the slug and the titles. It doesn't happen if there's a Cross dissolve between the titles themselves but only at the begining whith a slug proceeding it.
Meaning: slug-cross dissolve-tille: green hue for gfew seconds until the titles are fully shown on the screen then they are normal white.
title-cross dissovle-title: normal transaction.
I have a feeling it is the Gaussian Blur. Do I really need it? Any one knows how to fix that problem without recommending redoing them in Photoshop :)