NLE Mac / Final Cut questions from 2003

Boyd Ostroff · July 11th, 2003, 06:12 AM

I've done this by creating an 854x480 photoshop file. In FCP make sure your sequence is set to 16:9 anamorphic. It's actually been awhile since I tried, so I can't remember whether it automatically adjust to the right size in FCP or if I needed to stretch it. You might need to use the distort property on the motion tab if it doesn't look right.

Philip Flower · July 11th, 2003, 01:31 PM

Thanks. I had no idea that there was a plugin folder there. Trying your suggestion did work but if anyone else is interested see below.

Well, moving from OS9 to OSX was more of a headache than I had anticipated. I still have virtually no idea where anything is or should be and suddenly feel like I purchased a windows machine. Its all alien!

In fact the answer to my question is buried in the late breaking news about FCP4 available either through the web site or on the online help. I missed it. But in fact what it says is that this should be installed in the Library/Application Support/Final Cut Pro System Support/Plugins folder. It is then available from the Tools menu under offset audio. It works very nicely.

Mark Reidy · July 11th, 2003, 03:29 PM

Hi,

OK, got a Sonnet Tempo ATA133 card and a couple of WD 80gig drives. I put one on each channel (1 drive per Ultra ATA Cable). When I go into drive utility it shows one as master, one as slave???? I tried cable select, single, and master (no slave) jumper positions and it makes no difference. I striped them together and see no apparent speed increase (just copying a 10 gig file). Am I doing something wrong (went back to single jumper position)??? Also both cables are hooked up the same, blue to sysem, black to drive. These are the only drives in the stripe set.

Imran Zaidi · July 11th, 2003, 04:20 PM

If you want a really fast and inexpensive way to add storage, do this:

1. Go to http://www.newegg.com

2. Add these two items to your cart:
a) WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 80GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD800JB (currently $90)
b) External 3.5"/5.25" (USB2.0 & IEEE1394) Enclosure - ( Supports 250GB Hard Drive. With a COOLING FAN. ) (currently $68)

3. Get Fed Ex 2 day, which will probably be under $15

4. Assemble it when it comes (really easy; just screw it in with care)

5. Format it and voila - 80GB of really fast firewire storage for around $160.

Can't beat that with a stick, and the drive I mentioned is faster and has more cache (8.9ms seek time and 8MB cache) than any packaged external drive you'll find for almost a $100 more.

BTW, I don't work for or make any money by endorsing NewEgg.com. They are simply a very reliable vendor I've used for some time, and I recommend them to everyone.

Here is a link to their hard drives page, and each drive has a link to their external cases page:

http://www.newegg.com/app/manufactor...alog=14&DEPA=1

The reason I recommended 80GB is because, having worked as a tech, I just don't trust any hard drive with all my data. Don't put all your Gigs in one basket. Get yourself an external case such as the one I mentioned, and you can stack them on top of each other. Unless you really need it, I would never recommend getting one of those 250 or 500Gb drives unless you just like to say you have one, or unless you have it set up with RAID and know that you will not lose data in the event of a failure.

Keith Loh · July 11th, 2003, 04:36 PM

I bought two different enclosures for around 50-70 buckos each this year and put in 7200rpm drives. Each came to about $400 Cdn. I consider that a decent way to expand your space. I try not to dump straight to those external drives though as I don't trust Firewire over capture speeds. Just my feeling.

Alfred Tomaszewski · July 13th, 2003, 01:15 AM

i had my firewire drive (which i made myself) turned off for a few days, and when i tired to turn it on the computer would not recognize it again. i tried doing what i did to initilize it and erase it but then it went to this thing that said "unmounting old volume" after about a few minutes my computer seemed to be stuck so i turned the harddrive off (probably not the best idea) and then restarted and i have no clue what to do. after it restarted i tired letting it go through that remounting thing all night and it still wont work? any ideas? please i need help fast! should i take the harddrive out of the mount and reinstall it into the hardrive enclosure again? any ideas please?

Ken Tanaka · July 13th, 2003, 01:23 AM

Alfred,
It sounds like you've already walked through the Mac OS disk utility trying to reinitialize it.

When you say you "made" your Firewire drive what do you mean? Did you buy an empty enclosure and a separate drive? If so, what brand of enclosure and drive are you using, just for the record here.

Two ideas. First, try changing Firewire cables. I know it may sound like a long shot, but we've had a few similar experiences that have been traced to a faulty cable.

Failing that, try to connect the drive to your Mac's internal ATA cable to see if the drive is actually dead. If you can't initialize and mount the drive internally then it's probably a goner. If you can, then the enclosure may have a problem.

Good luck.

Alfred Tomaszewski · July 13th, 2003, 02:11 AM

Well i was going to take your advice and install in into my mac, but when i opened the box the harddrive was hot and i looked at the connection and the flat ribbon cable was a little loose so i connected it tight and it works again. i was so happy i could have almost cried!

Charlie Wu · July 13th, 2003, 05:35 AM

can the 17" apple studio display work with a pc thru adc to dvi converter??
i know there are products for converting adc display to dvi and i've also seen it worked with the 20" cinema display on a pc; but i am not sure if the 17 will work or not. since, the apple stores or retailers do not have a friendly return policy, i am affraid to buy it and try it out.

currently i am saving up money for a low end G5 (or possibly a price dropping G4 .) i am also in the need of a good lcd display. i am thinking that while i am saving money i could get a apple display first, then when the mac arrives i would have the display ready. so there came the problem with competability . i am really in love with the apple display; however i don't know if it will work with my pc . so if the adc to dvi connector works, i'll be able to shoot two birds with one stone .

any body have experience on this?

i am using a p4 2.4 with Gforce Fx5200 VS
canon optura pi

thanks

Jeff Donald · July 13th, 2003, 11:15 AM

The Apple LCD displays will work with a PC. You will need the adapter. I think they are in the $150 dollar range.

Ken Tanaka · July 13th, 2003, 11:45 AM

Bravo Alfred! What a relief, eh?

Charlie Wu · July 13th, 2003, 02:22 PM

thanks jeff.

there are several after market adapters seem to serve the same purpose and cheaper (even the apple one cost 99 bucks now). i don't know if those connectors/ converters affect the image quality thou. (because some of the company claim that their connector is better and no pixle lost)
hope that apple store or resellers have a better return policy, so that i don't have to take that risk.

Matthew Flesher · July 13th, 2003, 09:45 PM

Hey Ken,

Nice to see another FCP user here. I have a question that veers a little from Ambarish's original post, but maybe you can help. I have had my GL2 for about a month now and also just upgraded to FCP 4. I have captured several hours of footage shot in frame mode on the GL2 (using ZR40 as my deck). Everything looks great, but on all my captures (using firwire basic preset), the audio is consistantly 2 frames out of sync. I have heard that Canons sometimes have sync issues with FCP, but I thought this was cleared up with the GL2. The only workaround I have found so far is to drop my entire clip into a sequence, slide the audio two frames, set the sequence timecode to match the original clip, then export the sequence and reimport into the exported clip into the FCP project. Not a deal breaker, but definitley a hassle. Just wondering if you have any info or ideas why this is happening or how to solve it?

Thanks,
Chief

Ken Tanaka · July 13th, 2003, 10:25 PM

Matthew,
This is something of a Canon DV issue, rather than specifically a GL2 or an FCP issue. Audio and video can drift apart during long captures.

In your User Preferences, be sure that you select "Synch audio capture to video source if present" under the General tab. This should help keep your a/v tracks lined up.

Matthew Flesher · July 14th, 2003, 11:03 AM

Ken,

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, FCP 4 has gotten rid of the autosync preference. Apprently it is supposed to be automatically incorporated into the software now. I did try a capture last nite in FCP 3.0.4 with the "sync audio capture" option selected, but still no luck.

I guess I will just have to keep syncing the clips manually and exporting and reimport. Luckily, the sync is not drifting, it is just consistantly 2 frames off.

Chief

July 11th, 2003, 04:36 PM	#740
Keith Loh Air China Pilot Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Posts: 2,389	I bought two different enclosures for around 50-70 buckos each this year and put in 7200rpm drives. Each came to about $400 Cdn. I consider that a decent way to expand your space. I try not to dump straight to those external drives though as I don't trust Firewire over capture speeds. Just my feeling. __________________ -- Visit http://www.KeithLoh.com \| stuff about living in Vancouver \| My Flickr photo gallery

July 13th, 2003, 01:15 AM	#741
Alfred Tomaszewski Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Shelby Twp., MI Posts: 112	my firewire drive stopped working. please help quick! i had my firewire drive (which i made myself) turned off for a few days, and when i tired to turn it on the computer would not recognize it again. i tried doing what i did to initilize it and erase it but then it went to this thing that said "unmounting old volume" after about a few minutes my computer seemed to be stuck so i turned the harddrive off (probably not the best idea) and then restarted and i have no clue what to do. after it restarted i tired letting it go through that remounting thing all night and it still wont work? any ideas? please i need help fast! should i take the harddrive out of the mount and reinstall it into the hardrive enclosure again? any ideas please?

July 13th, 2003, 01:23 AM	#742
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	Alfred, It sounds like you've already walked through the Mac OS disk utility trying to reinitialize it. When you say you "made" your Firewire drive what do you mean? Did you buy an empty enclosure and a separate drive? If so, what brand of enclosure and drive are you using, just for the record here. Two ideas. First, try changing Firewire cables. I know it may sound like a long shot, but we've had a few similar experiences that have been traced to a faulty cable. Failing that, try to connect the drive to your Mac's internal ATA cable to see if the drive is actually dead. If you can't initialize and mount the drive internally then it's probably a goner. If you can, then the enclosure may have a problem. Good luck. __________________ 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 13th, 2003, 05:35 AM	#744
Charlie Wu Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Long Beach, CA USA Posts: 64	apple studio display works with pc? can the 17" apple studio display work with a pc thru adc to dvi converter?? i know there are products for converting adc display to dvi and i've also seen it worked with the 20" cinema display on a pc; but i am not sure if the 17 will work or not. since, the apple stores or retailers do not have a friendly return policy, i am affraid to buy it and try it out. currently i am saving up money for a low end G5 (or possibly a price dropping G4 .) i am also in the need of a good lcd display. i am thinking that while i am saving money i could get a apple display first, then when the mac arrives i would have the display ready. so there came the problem with competability . i am really in love with the apple display; however i don't know if it will work with my pc . so if the adc to dvi connector works, i'll be able to shoot two birds with one stone . any body have experience on this? i am using a p4 2.4 with Gforce Fx5200 VS canon optura pi thanks __________________ Charlie Wu

July 13th, 2003, 11:15 AM	#745
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	The Apple LCD displays will work with a PC. You will need the adapter. I think they are in the $150 dollar range. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

July 11th, 2003, 06:12 AM	#736
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	I've done this by creating an 854x480 photoshop file. In FCP make sure your sequence is set to 16:9 anamorphic. It's actually been awhile since I tried, so I can't remember whether it automatically adjust to the right size in FCP or if I needed to stretch it. You might need to use the distort property on the motion tab if it doesn't look right.

July 11th, 2003, 01:31 PM	#737
Philip Flower New Boot Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: London, England Posts: 8	Thanks. I had no idea that there was a plugin folder there. Trying your suggestion did work but if anyone else is interested see below. Well, moving from OS9 to OSX was more of a headache than I had anticipated. I still have virtually no idea where anything is or should be and suddenly feel like I purchased a windows machine. Its all alien! In fact the answer to my question is buried in the late breaking news about FCP4 available either through the web site or on the online help. I missed it. But in fact what it says is that this should be installed in the Library/Application Support/Final Cut Pro System Support/Plugins folder. It is then available from the Tools menu under offset audio. It works very nicely.

July 11th, 2003, 03:29 PM	#738
Mark Reidy New Boot Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Colo Spgs, CO Posts: 12	Hi, OK, got a Sonnet Tempo ATA133 card and a couple of WD 80gig drives. I put one on each channel (1 drive per Ultra ATA Cable). When I go into drive utility it shows one as master, one as slave???? I tried cable select, single, and master (no slave) jumper positions and it makes no difference. I striped them together and see no apparent speed increase (just copying a 10 gig file). Am I doing something wrong (went back to single jumper position)??? Also both cables are hooked up the same, blue to sysem, black to drive. These are the only drives in the stripe set.

July 11th, 2003, 04:20 PM	#739
Imran Zaidi Trustee Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 1,315	If you want a really fast and inexpensive way to add storage, do this: 1. Go to http://www.newegg.com 2. Add these two items to your cart: a) WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 80GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD800JB (currently $90) b) External 3.5"/5.25" (USB2.0 & IEEE1394) Enclosure - ( Supports 250GB Hard Drive. With a COOLING FAN. ) (currently $68) 3. Get Fed Ex 2 day, which will probably be under $15 4. Assemble it when it comes (really easy; just screw it in with care) 5. Format it and voila - 80GB of really fast firewire storage for around $160. Can't beat that with a stick, and the drive I mentioned is faster and has more cache (8.9ms seek time and 8MB cache) than any packaged external drive you'll find for almost a $100 more. BTW, I don't work for or make any money by endorsing NewEgg.com. They are simply a very reliable vendor I've used for some time, and I recommend them to everyone. Here is a link to their hard drives page, and each drive has a link to their external cases page: http://www.newegg.com/app/manufactor...alog=14&DEPA=1 The reason I recommended 80GB is because, having worked as a tech, I just don't trust any hard drive with all my data. Don't put all your Gigs in one basket. Get yourself an external case such as the one I mentioned, and you can stack them on top of each other. Unless you really need it, I would never recommend getting one of those 250 or 500Gb drives unless you just like to say you have one, or unless you have it set up with RAID and know that you will not lose data in the event of a failure.

July 13th, 2003, 02:11 AM	#743
Alfred Tomaszewski Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Shelby Twp., MI Posts: 112	Well i was going to take your advice and install in into my mac, but when i opened the box the harddrive was hot and i looked at the connection and the flat ribbon cable was a little loose so i connected it tight and it works again. i was so happy i could have almost cried!

July 13th, 2003, 11:45 AM	#746
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	Bravo Alfred! What a relief, eh? __________________ 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 13th, 2003, 02:22 PM	#747
Charlie Wu Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Long Beach, CA USA Posts: 64	thanks jeff. there are several after market adapters seem to serve the same purpose and cheaper (even the apple one cost 99 bucks now). i don't know if those connectors/ converters affect the image quality thou. (because some of the company claim that their connector is better and no pixle lost) hope that apple store or resellers have a better return policy, so that i don't have to take that risk. __________________ Charlie Wu

July 13th, 2003, 09:45 PM	#748
Matthew Flesher New Boot Join Date: May 2003 Location: Upstate New York Posts: 11	FCP/GL2 sync? Hey Ken, Nice to see another FCP user here. I have a question that veers a little from Ambarish's original post, but maybe you can help. I have had my GL2 for about a month now and also just upgraded to FCP 4. I have captured several hours of footage shot in frame mode on the GL2 (using ZR40 as my deck). Everything looks great, but on all my captures (using firwire basic preset), the audio is consistantly 2 frames out of sync. I have heard that Canons sometimes have sync issues with FCP, but I thought this was cleared up with the GL2. The only workaround I have found so far is to drop my entire clip into a sequence, slide the audio two frames, set the sequence timecode to match the original clip, then export the sequence and reimport into the exported clip into the FCP project. Not a deal breaker, but definitley a hassle. Just wondering if you have any info or ideas why this is happening or how to solve it? Thanks, Chief __________________ Chief

July 13th, 2003, 10:25 PM	#749
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	Matthew, This is something of a Canon DV issue, rather than specifically a GL2 or an FCP issue. Audio and video can drift apart during long captures. In your User Preferences, be sure that you select "Synch audio capture to video source if present" under the General tab. This should help keep your a/v tracks lined up. __________________ 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 14th, 2003, 11:03 AM	#750
Matthew Flesher New Boot Join Date: May 2003 Location: Upstate New York Posts: 11	Ken, Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, FCP 4 has gotten rid of the autosync preference. Apprently it is supposed to be automatically incorporated into the software now. I did try a capture last nite in FCP 3.0.4 with the "sync audio capture" option selected, but still no luck. I guess I will just have to keep syncing the clips manually and exporting and reimport. Luckily, the sync is not drifting, it is just consistantly 2 frames off. Chief __________________ Chief