NLE Mac / Final Cut questions from 2003

[John Locke]

Thanks for the info! I'll see if my niece can get it at the student discount rate.

[Michael Botkin]

Got a quick one here. Can you export from FCE and import into FCP4? I don't think you can do an EDL from FCE can you? I've got a wedding I did in FCE on an iMac before I got my new Dual G5 w/ FCP 4. Anyone tried this before? I don't want to render the vid and then re-import, just like to export my edits/cuts from FCE to FCP4. Let me know if anyone has tried this, thanks!

Mike

[Ignacio Rodriguez]

I need to superimpose a graphic on video. Of course I can do it in FCP but this is a TV project and time is important so rendering the whole show in FCP is not a solution.

I have a Sony PDX10 and there is a PD150 available too... they can superimpose JPEGs in camera mode but unfortunately not in VTR mode, which would be a solution.

I have a Windows XP PC sitting next to a Mac with FCP, so perhaps there is a cheap card for the PC that will let me do this (S-video) in real time?

I feel I should have asked this on the PC linear editing board but... I trust Mac guys more... I mean I want something quick and dirty that will not require me to spend a week configuring the whole thing.

Then again, perhaps somebody knows of a way of hacking Sony cams to do chroma keying in VTR mode, or some software that will do realtime superimposing through the firewire output.

Any ideas?

[Duane Martin]

Here is a crazy idea! Duplicate the FCE project, choose the duplicate and control click on it. Choose "Open With" and "Final Cut Pro 4". You will likely have to reconnect the media (you have moved the media to the new computer, right?).

Let us know how it goes.

[Duane Martin]

You do not need Panther to fix QT 6.4 and FCP 4. Just run your software update. There is a fix for both Jaguar and Panther available.

I wrote a report on some speed tests you can see at emotiondv.com in the lounge, but what impressed me most was how much faster the new Preview is over Acrobat 6. I can now tell students to use the "Help" function in FCP without worrying I have condemned them to the Acrobat spinning beach ball of death.

Most reports I have seen show the G5 demonstrating the least speed gains. This is probably because its Ram and hard drive do not present a bottleneck of any kind.

The User interface is much improved, and once you learn to work with it, you will definitley experience a speed gain.

Good Luck,

[Duane Martin]

In FCP, any sequence you have created is a template. A sequence can be dragged or copied from one project to another. Clips in sequences can be changed simply by copying the new clip and control clicking on the clip you want to replace in the sequence template and choosing "Paste Attributes" and "Content". Filters, motion effects, etc. are thus preserved. You do not need to keep the original media on your hard drive as FCP will remember all the attributes for a clip even without the media existing. First time the "Reconnect" dialogue comes up on starting a project, just tell FCP to "forget about it" on the bottom left of the dialogue box.

Do it once, use it forever, hope the clients don't know each other.

Good Luck,

[J. Clayton Stansberry]

Duane,

Thanks for the advice. I assume you are talking about opening a project, importing over it and using what you have already set up. In this case, the save as command is a life saver.

But, I was wondering about templates that you can change, i.e. an opening wedding picture that you can put the date on with frilly crap around it and their picture or some video can be in the middle of it. Premiere has them built in. Do I just have to create my own in Photoshop? Or, does some third party software company produce something of this nature?

Maybe versiontracker has what I need...i'll go check it out now...thanks Andrew.

Does anyone else know of others?

Clay...

[Jeff Donald]

Go to the Education part of Apple.com and her school should be listed. Education discounts are only available through the web store.

[Duane Martin]

<<<-- I assume you are talking about opening a project, importing over it and using what you have already set up. In this case, the save as command is a life saver.-->>>

Well, no Clay, that is not what I am suggesting at all. Sorry I was not more clear. What you are suggesting would result in your having a bunch of unneccesary clips in the browser that are not related to the project you are currently working on.

Have a look at my original posting. Copy your SEQUENCE only from one project to the next. Just the sequence. Try an experiment by doing what you have suggested and what I have suggested and see the difference.

The Premiere templates must exist as a file somewhere. Have you tried opening them in FCP? Sorry, but I am not familiar with this aspect of Premiere.

[Glenn Chan]

There are known issues with FCP3 projects being imported into FCP4. One of them is that the project takes longer to load because FCP4 has to do a A/V sync check.

I think you can get around this stuff by making a clean FCP4 project, getting all the edits in (maybe through media manager or copy and paste), and recapturing footage.

[J. Clayton Stansberry]

Duane,

I will try them both to see the difference. As I said I am new and just learning and expirementing. I see what you are talking about, though. There is all kinds of new stuff to learn! Can't wait. Thanks.

Clay...

[Al Smith]

I have a video that was cut on Vegas (PC) that I need to transfer over to my Mac (FCP). Is there a way to bring that video into FCP with everything in place (timeline, clips, music, effects, etc...)? What is "CMX 3600 EDL" all about?

Thanks for the input.

[Tim Tonner]

When attempting to perform a transition, whether it be a dissolve, wipe, etc., I am, occasionally, unsuccessful. I get a message "not enough content for edit", or I am locked into a one-frame transition rate, instead of the usual one-second rate. I've been told to try it with snapping off, but to no avail. It seems to me that I indeed have enough duration within the clips in question, so why will it not perform the transition edit? Other times it will...

[Ken Tanaka]

Yes, this can be annoying when starting out with an NLE. Basically you're not leaving enough footage at the head of one clip and the tail of the other for the transition to be applied. A 1 sec cross dissolve, for example, will need at least 15 frames (NTSC) on both sides. If the -out- point of your starting clip and/or the -IN- point of your ending clip are at the clip's boundary the transition will fail.

When shooting a dramatic work always try to overshoot each take by a few seconds at the beginning and end, in part to accommodate such editing requirements.

[Jeff Donald]

I don't think there is a direct export or import application between the two programs. CMX is a type of linear editor. Does Vegas support any EDL formats? FCP supports many of the popular EDL formats.