NLE Mac / Final Cut questions from 2003

Matt Stahley · July 5th, 2003, 09:54 PM

I dont know if there are any Corel users here but i am having a problem when I import a .psd with layers made in Corel and open it in the timeline of FCP3 all of the colors basically turn semi transparent or purplish blue in other words its all screwed up on every layer.If i save a .pict of the same file and import it to FCP evrything looks fine.I assume this has something to do with the layers when i'm saving in Corel but I cant figure it out.

Any suggestions?

Ken Tanaka · July 6th, 2003, 10:26 PM

Matt,
I just tried importing a multilayer Painter 8 file, saved as a .psd and had no trouble. All colors on all layers appear true. I saved the Painter file in RGB color format with alpha preserved.

Matt Stahley · July 7th, 2003, 02:38 AM

Ken I still havent figured it out.I saved the exact same way.Is there a FCP setting that i need to change to import layers llike this?Basically my reds will turn blue my blacks will turn blue and it has a photo negative style look to it as well - if this makes any sense.

Ken Tanaka · July 7th, 2003, 02:50 PM

Check your email, Matt.

Linc Kesler · July 7th, 2003, 05:26 PM

What's the process like going the other way, from an analogue video in PAL to digital NTSC? Is this also a job best left to a pro facility, or is it possible on a Mac (with what as a front end?)?

Linc Kesler

Bill Daniel · July 7th, 2003, 09:28 PM

Ok I've never been on a chat board, or edited on fcp, so forgive me if i'm outta line here, but here goes:
I've been making 16mm films for 17 years and now finally got a g4 and fcp3. I need to learn about options to import composite ntsc into fcp. I'm also interested in ways of bringing in still images. I know i can borrow my girlfriend's dv camera and use it as an I/O and come in on the firewire. OK, but what are other options? I'd love to eventually work with a less-compressed signal, but all the options I've seen (like Kona) cost thousands and require more computer than I have. In the meantime, is there a low-cost card (and driver--if necessary) available that will do the same job of (digitizing, compressing, encoding--what ever it is that happening in there) that a consumer dv camcorder will do? Is there one that will also bring in stereo analog audio?
I greatly appreciate any advice that will spare me from trying to "decode" this info from salespeople. Cheers, bill

Ram Nagarajan · July 8th, 2003, 02:06 AM

Hi all:
I'm cutting a project on my FCP 3.0.2 based Mac (G4 1GHZ Dual + 40 GB internal 7400 HDD + 80 GB internal 7400 HDD + 1 Gig RAM). While playing my project off the timeline, I'm noting frames skipping every now and then. Rebooting doesn't make it go away.
Could this require a defrag of the media HDD (that's the 80 GB disk)? Went through a lot of footage in Offline RT format before I deleted the unused media and recaptured my rough cut in HiRes. I assume that means the media files may be fragmented across the HDD... documentation on the Apple site says their file system ensures defargging is rerely needed.
...Any ideas? Need to sort this out fast - I'm nearing the end of my edit, and if I need to recapture everything or something, I'd like to know soon!
Best,
Ram

Jeff Donald · July 8th, 2003, 04:27 PM

How full are the drives? Do you have media on both drives or just one?

Jeff Donald · July 8th, 2003, 04:31 PM

If quality is an issue (and when isn't it?) then use QT. It looks OK going from PAL to NTSC. The other way looks pretty bad to my eyes. Just do and import and export through QT and you have it. some people claim better results using After Effects, but from what I've seen it isn't worth the effort.

Almost all PAL DVD players can play NTSC.

Ricardo Vigil · July 8th, 2003, 05:18 PM

I have a question about how can I speed up editing in FCE. My main concern is with the transitions. I am a self taught user because this is what they use at work, but they don't seem to have manuals anywhere, and I think I've gotten what I can from the apple user site.

In FCE I use the viewer to cut up footage and assemble in the Timeline and then I add transitions, but each transition takes forever it seems.

What I do is pull a dissolve down from the effects tab and drop it in place, and then the same for the audio, then I adjust the duration. then over and over again the same way for each transition.

How can speed this up? Is there a way to save transitions with audio crossfades somewhere for quick access? What methods do you guys use?

any help is greatly appreciated. thanks.

Ram Nagarajan · July 8th, 2003, 10:26 PM

Jeff, thanks:
The media files are all on the larger (80 GB) disk. The 80GB disk has about 45 GB of data on it; the 40 GB disk has about 15 GB of data on it (software etc.)
I'd have thought I'd only see playback detrioration after filling up about 75% of either HD...
I'm running a Norton Utilities defragment on any fragmented media files in the meantime, just to see whether any of the media files are fragmented.
Best,
Ram

Jeff Donald · July 8th, 2003, 11:21 PM

There are several low cost boxes that will convert analog video and audio to DV and back. The Dazzle Hollywood Bridge is one, Canopus makes a fine unit also. You will still end up with DV and the inherent 5:1 compression. If your looking to go uncompressed, then you will need a card like the Kona. They are not cheap, but nothing about uncompressed digital video is cheap. Uncompressed media requires many large hard drives and other support media. In other words it's expensive.

Welcome to the forums and make use of the search function that will allow you to view the over 11,000 threads and over 75,000 responses. It's a pretty amazing archive of information. But if you can't find exactly what your looking for post back and help will be on the way.

Bud Kuenzli · July 9th, 2003, 08:17 AM

you can make a transition a default, then you can right click between two clips in the timeline to automatically place that transition, alternately you can drag from viewer into the canvas and overwrite or insert with transition so it is done on the go.

Bud Kuenzli · July 9th, 2003, 08:34 AM

if you are looking to use FCP then you will be working in DV so it's not going to matter if you bring it in using a DV camera or a deck, except for the fact that you probably have a lot of footage to bring in and a deck will be a much faster, easier process and it won't wear down the heads of your camera. Not all camera's have analog in, you know, but I'm fairly sure all or nearly all decks will have analog in. that's all you need.

Curtis T. Stoeber · July 9th, 2003, 07:19 PM

I have something that is letterboxed on DV at around a 2.30:1 aspect ratio. I would like to make a Quicktime of this for the net, but I don't want the black bars in there. I may answer my own question as I type this, but is there a way to crop out the black bars and just have a wider Quicktime? The only way I could think of would be to take the DV file into FCP and somehow "stretch" it vertically, and then export to the Quicktime codec of my choice at a resolution that fits the aspect ratio. I have no idea, but that might lose a bit of quality being stretched and distorted back and forth like that. Only one way to find out I suppose.

Any other ideas/suggestions?

July 5th, 2003, 09:54 PM	#706
Matt Stahley Major Player Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Waynesboro, PA Posts: 648	Corel Painter 8 and FCP questions I dont know if there are any Corel users here but i am having a problem when I import a .psd with layers made in Corel and open it in the timeline of FCP3 all of the colors basically turn semi transparent or purplish blue in other words its all screwed up on every layer.If i save a .pict of the same file and import it to FCP evrything looks fine.I assume this has something to do with the layers when i'm saving in Corel but I cant figure it out. Any suggestions?

July 6th, 2003, 10:26 PM	#707
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	Matt, I just tried importing a multilayer Painter 8 file, saved as a .psd and had no trouble. All colors on all layers appear true. I saved the Painter file in RGB color format with alpha preserved. __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

July 7th, 2003, 02:50 PM	#709
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	Check your email, Matt. __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

July 7th, 2003, 09:28 PM	#711
Bill Daniel Tourist Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 2	getting composite vid into fcp Ok I've never been on a chat board, or edited on fcp, so forgive me if i'm outta line here, but here goes: I've been making 16mm films for 17 years and now finally got a g4 and fcp3. I need to learn about options to import composite ntsc into fcp. I'm also interested in ways of bringing in still images. I know i can borrow my girlfriend's dv camera and use it as an I/O and come in on the firewire. OK, but what are other options? I'd love to eventually work with a less-compressed signal, but all the options I've seen (like Kona) cost thousands and require more computer than I have. In the meantime, is there a low-cost card (and driver--if necessary) available that will do the same job of (digitizing, compressing, encoding--what ever it is that happening in there) that a consumer dv camcorder will do? Is there one that will also bring in stereo analog audio? I greatly appreciate any advice that will spare me from trying to "decode" this info from salespeople. Cheers, bill

July 8th, 2003, 02:06 AM	#712
Ram Nagarajan Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: New Delhi, India Posts: 107	Frame skips on FCP 3 - help! Hi all: I'm cutting a project on my FCP 3.0.2 based Mac (G4 1GHZ Dual + 40 GB internal 7400 HDD + 80 GB internal 7400 HDD + 1 Gig RAM). While playing my project off the timeline, I'm noting frames skipping every now and then. Rebooting doesn't make it go away. Could this require a defrag of the media HDD (that's the 80 GB disk)? Went through a lot of footage in Offline RT format before I deleted the unused media and recaptured my rough cut in HiRes. I assume that means the media files may be fragmented across the HDD... documentation on the Apple site says their file system ensures defargging is rerely needed. ...Any ideas? Need to sort this out fast - I'm nearing the end of my edit, and if I need to recapture everything or something, I'd like to know soon! Best, Ram

July 7th, 2003, 02:38 AM	#708
Matt Stahley Major Player Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Waynesboro, PA Posts: 648	Ken I still havent figured it out.I saved the exact same way.Is there a FCP setting that i need to change to import layers llike this?Basically my reds will turn blue my blacks will turn blue and it has a photo negative style look to it as well - if this makes any sense.

July 7th, 2003, 05:26 PM	#710
Linc Kesler Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Vancouver BC Posts: 65	What's the process like going the other way, from an analogue video in PAL to digital NTSC? Is this also a job best left to a pro facility, or is it possible on a Mac (with what as a front end?)? Linc Kesler

July 8th, 2003, 04:27 PM	#713
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	How full are the drives? Do you have media on both drives or just one? __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

July 8th, 2003, 04:31 PM	#714
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	If quality is an issue (and when isn't it?) then use QT. It looks OK going from PAL to NTSC. The other way looks pretty bad to my eyes. Just do and import and export through QT and you have it. some people claim better results using After Effects, but from what I've seen it isn't worth the effort. Almost all PAL DVD players can play NTSC. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

July 8th, 2003, 05:18 PM	#715
Ricardo Vigil New Boot Join Date: May 2003 Location: Tempe, AZ Posts: 8	tips on speedy editing and transitions, please. I have a question about how can I speed up editing in FCE. My main concern is with the transitions. I am a self taught user because this is what they use at work, but they don't seem to have manuals anywhere, and I think I've gotten what I can from the apple user site. In FCE I use the viewer to cut up footage and assemble in the Timeline and then I add transitions, but each transition takes forever it seems. What I do is pull a dissolve down from the effects tab and drop it in place, and then the same for the audio, then I adjust the duration. then over and over again the same way for each transition. How can speed this up? Is there a way to save transitions with audio crossfades somewhere for quick access? What methods do you guys use? any help is greatly appreciated. thanks.

July 8th, 2003, 10:26 PM	#716
Ram Nagarajan Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: New Delhi, India Posts: 107	Jeff, thanks: The media files are all on the larger (80 GB) disk. The 80GB disk has about 45 GB of data on it; the 40 GB disk has about 15 GB of data on it (software etc.) I'd have thought I'd only see playback detrioration after filling up about 75% of either HD... I'm running a Norton Utilities defragment on any fragmented media files in the meantime, just to see whether any of the media files are fragmented. Best, Ram

July 8th, 2003, 11:21 PM	#717
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	There are several low cost boxes that will convert analog video and audio to DV and back. The Dazzle Hollywood Bridge is one, Canopus makes a fine unit also. You will still end up with DV and the inherent 5:1 compression. If your looking to go uncompressed, then you will need a card like the Kona. They are not cheap, but nothing about uncompressed digital video is cheap. Uncompressed media requires many large hard drives and other support media. In other words it's expensive. Welcome to the forums and make use of the search function that will allow you to view the over 11,000 threads and over 75,000 responses. It's a pretty amazing archive of information. But if you can't find exactly what your looking for post back and help will be on the way. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

July 9th, 2003, 08:17 AM	#718
Bud Kuenzli Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: North Pole, Alaska Posts: 197	favorites... you can make a transition a default, then you can right click between two clips in the timeline to automatically place that transition, alternately you can drag from viewer into the canvas and overwrite or insert with transition so it is done on the go. __________________ on the Internet, when you get where you're going you still don't know where you are

July 9th, 2003, 08:34 AM	#719
Bud Kuenzli Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: North Pole, Alaska Posts: 197	dv is compressed.... if you are looking to use FCP then you will be working in DV so it's not going to matter if you bring it in using a DV camera or a deck, except for the fact that you probably have a lot of footage to bring in and a deck will be a much faster, easier process and it won't wear down the heads of your camera. Not all camera's have analog in, you know, but I'm fairly sure all or nearly all decks will have analog in. that's all you need. __________________ on the Internet, when you get where you're going you still don't know where you are

July 9th, 2003, 07:19 PM	#720
Curtis T. Stoeber Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Lakewood Colorado USA Posts: 150	Cropping Quicktimes? I have something that is letterboxed on DV at around a 2.30:1 aspect ratio. I would like to make a Quicktime of this for the net, but I don't want the black bars in there. I may answer my own question as I type this, but is there a way to crop out the black bars and just have a wider Quicktime? The only way I could think of would be to take the DV file into FCP and somehow "stretch" it vertically, and then export to the Quicktime codec of my choice at a resolution that fits the aspect ratio. I have no idea, but that might lose a bit of quality being stretched and distorted back and forth like that. Only one way to find out I suppose. Any other ideas/suggestions?