NLE Mac / Final Cut questions from 2003

Heath McKnight · November 4th, 2003, 12:33 AM

I installed Panther, now I'm getting TONS of unexeptected quits in FCP 3.0.4 (I have a G5 1.6 ghz machine).

HELP!

heath

Jeff Donald · November 4th, 2003, 05:49 AM

Most of the problems with Panther are caused by 3rd party software. Some of the bad apps are Default Folder X, Copy and Paste, and any of the Unsanity Haxies. Anything that adds a preference pane to the System Preferences should also be suspect.

Have you repaired permissions and run fsck -y? How did you install Panther? Upgrade or clean install?

Jeff Donald · November 4th, 2003, 06:02 AM

Have you tried a previous project and it doesn't work? Have you repaired permissions since upgrading? Worse case you may need to reinstall FCP 4. There are also some 3rd party software causing troubles, but I haven't heard of this issue before. Could be a camera issue also. Can you try your camera on another FCP 4 system and see if TC works?

David Slingerland · November 4th, 2003, 08:01 AM

hello everybody,
I just installed fcp4 and it works allright. But I do have some questions about its capabilities. I am running the program under 10.2.8 on a single processer 1.25 mac with 1 gig memory power. Its starting up witch takes a lot of time compared to fcp3, it needs to read very long. Exacly the same with closing and saving witch used to be a no time affair in 3, it takes also a really long time..(we are talking at least a minute here...)
To be fair I have tried it only under a project that was recently running in fcp 3 and now imported in to 4 (it asked to update "its file format" so the first time i could understand the time but now....)its realtime capabilities are no problem and in any other way it does not seem slow...
is this normal?

greetings

Jeff Donald · November 4th, 2003, 08:17 AM

I think it may have to do with the modified (FCP 3 to FCP 4) project. Try a project originated in FCP 4 and it should be as fast as FCP 3. You may want to repair permissions if haven't done so since installing FCP.

Heath McKnight · November 4th, 2003, 11:32 AM

Upgrade. How do I do those things?

heath

thanx!

Jeff Donald · November 4th, 2003, 11:47 AM

You should almost always do a clean install of OS rather than an upgrade. Try repairing permissions. Open Disk Utility (should be in Utility folder inside application folder). Select your boot drive and select repair permissions (not verify). Reboot and see if problem persists. If so write back, you'll need to do a clean install. It's not as bad as it sounds.

Do you have any of the questionable software installed?

Rich Sheikh · November 4th, 2003, 11:54 AM

Need advice please. I'm working with IMovie 2.1

When exporting a movie to quicktime, what would be the perfect settings to prepare the quicktime movie for the web? I've been setting it on streaming web movie. I'd like to be able to show a larger quicktime movie but without losing so much sharpness. I'd prefer my quicktime movie to be able to be viewed by people with a 56k modem without waiting forever for it to download. Streaming movies are the best but I want to show larger then those small quicktime movies. Any ideas?

Ken Tanaka · November 4th, 2003, 12:04 PM

Rich,
There is really no completely good answer to your question. Video streaming demands a great deal of data transfer no matter what you do. Dial-up 56k users will always be disadvantaged.

The basic variables you control with any codec are: frame rate, frame size and degree of compression.

Tools such as Cleaner 6 enable you to create fall-back versions of video for slower connections. This, of course, would relocate the compression process to a separate tool (than iMovie) but it's a very worthwhile change if you're serious about creating good, or even watchable, compressions for the Web platform.

For a better understanding of this subject do a little reading. Ben Waggoner's "Compression for Great Digital Video" (ISBN 157820111-X) is a good place to start.

Jeff Chandler · November 4th, 2003, 12:51 PM

This is probably off-topic, and I'm sure it's a dumb question to long-time mac users, but how do you uninstall software on a Mac? I installed a program on my Powerbook that I want to take off, but couldn't seem to find the answer in thje help section.
Thanks!

Ignacio Rodriguez · November 4th, 2003, 12:55 PM

Hi. I am being drafted for a project consisting mainly in the restoration of slide shows. Of course I think it would be wise to do the work in HD so it is not obsolete in two years. Am I correct to assume I can use 1920x1080 scans of the slides and render that as DV for editing and then as 1920x1080 using pixlet or some other codec for HD mastering? Am I missing something here? The idea is not to have to buy expensive HD (or shortlived HDV) equipment, and use a G5 with FCP4. I have read about people doing this kind of thing in Vegas, but I want to keep things Mac. Any ideas would be welcome. My coming up with a good setup will give me work for about 12 months ;-) Thanks.

Jeff Donald · November 4th, 2003, 12:58 PM

In most cases (OS X) just drag the application to the trash and empty the trash. If it install preference panes or icons in the menu bar you may need to dig a little deeper. What program?

Jeff Chandler · November 4th, 2003, 01:05 PM

Thanks Jeff. I knew you would come through.That seems almost too simple. I'm wanting to take off Avid FreeDV. I just put it on to demo it to the kids in my class, and I don't want it on my powerbook anymore anymore.

Jeff Donald · November 4th, 2003, 02:26 PM

You can also load the installer and under custom install there may be an uninstall option. But dragging it to the trash will get the largest part of the application.

Boyd Ostroff · November 4th, 2003, 03:10 PM

Actually this topic interests me as well. I would like to do 3d animation at HD resolution, so no camera is involved. Would HDV/pixlet work for this? When I get a bit of time I plan to muster up the courage to install my copy of Panther and try this for myself :-)

November 4th, 2003, 12:33 AM	#1306
Heath McKnight MPS Digital Studios Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Palm Beach County, Florida Posts: 8,531	HELP! Unexpected quits in FCP 3 with Panther I installed Panther, now I'm getting TONS of unexeptected quits in FCP 3.0.4 (I have a G5 1.6 ghz machine). HELP! heath __________________ My Final Cut Pro X blog

November 4th, 2003, 05:49 AM	#1307
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Most of the problems with Panther are caused by 3rd party software. Some of the bad apps are Default Folder X, Copy and Paste, and any of the Unsanity Haxies. Anything that adds a preference pane to the System Preferences should also be suspect. Have you repaired permissions and run fsck -y? How did you install Panther? Upgrade or clean install? __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

November 4th, 2003, 06:02 AM	#1308
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Have you tried a previous project and it doesn't work? Have you repaired permissions since upgrading? Worse case you may need to reinstall FCP 4. There are also some 3rd party software causing troubles, but I haven't heard of this issue before. Could be a camera issue also. Can you try your camera on another FCP 4 system and see if TC works? __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

November 4th, 2003, 08:01 AM	#1309
David Slingerland Major Player Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Soest ,Holland Posts: 307	fcp4 slow starter??? hello everybody, I just installed fcp4 and it works allright. But I do have some questions about its capabilities. I am running the program under 10.2.8 on a single processer 1.25 mac with 1 gig memory power. Its starting up witch takes a lot of time compared to fcp3, it needs to read very long. Exacly the same with closing and saving witch used to be a no time affair in 3, it takes also a really long time..(we are talking at least a minute here...) To be fair I have tried it only under a project that was recently running in fcp 3 and now imported in to 4 (it asked to update "its file format" so the first time i could understand the time but now....)its realtime capabilities are no problem and in any other way it does not seem slow... is this normal? greetings __________________ D.Slingerland director/cameraman http://www.slingerlandproductions.nl

November 4th, 2003, 08:17 AM	#1310
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	I think it may have to do with the modified (FCP 3 to FCP 4) project. Try a project originated in FCP 4 and it should be as fast as FCP 3. You may want to repair permissions if haven't done so since installing FCP. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

November 4th, 2003, 11:32 AM	#1311
Heath McKnight MPS Digital Studios Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Palm Beach County, Florida Posts: 8,531	Upgrade. How do I do those things? heath thanx! __________________ My Final Cut Pro X blog

November 4th, 2003, 11:47 AM	#1312
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	You should almost always do a clean install of OS rather than an upgrade. Try repairing permissions. Open Disk Utility (should be in Utility folder inside application folder). Select your boot drive and select repair permissions (not verify). Reboot and see if problem persists. If so write back, you'll need to do a clean install. It's not as bad as it sounds. Do you have any of the questionable software installed? __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

November 4th, 2003, 11:54 AM	#1313
Rich Sheikh Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: San Diego Posts: 34	Quicktime settings Need advice please. I'm working with IMovie 2.1 When exporting a movie to quicktime, what would be the perfect settings to prepare the quicktime movie for the web? I've been setting it on streaming web movie. I'd like to be able to show a larger quicktime movie but without losing so much sharpness. I'd prefer my quicktime movie to be able to be viewed by people with a 56k modem without waiting forever for it to download. Streaming movies are the best but I want to show larger then those small quicktime movies. Any ideas?

November 4th, 2003, 12:04 PM	#1314
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	Rich, There is really no completely good answer to your question. Video streaming demands a great deal of data transfer no matter what you do. Dial-up 56k users will always be disadvantaged. The basic variables you control with any codec are: frame rate, frame size and degree of compression. Tools such as Cleaner 6 enable you to create fall-back versions of video for slower connections. This, of course, would relocate the compression process to a separate tool (than iMovie) but it's a very worthwhile change if you're serious about creating good, or even watchable, compressions for the Web platform. For a better understanding of this subject do a little reading. Ben Waggoner's "Compression for Great Digital Video" (ISBN 157820111-X) is a good place to start. __________________ 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

November 4th, 2003, 12:51 PM	#1315
Jeff Chandler Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Mesa, Az. Posts: 167	Uninstalling software This is probably off-topic, and I'm sure it's a dumb question to long-time mac users, but how do you uninstall software on a Mac? I installed a program on my Powerbook that I want to take off, but couldn't seem to find the answer in thje help section. Thanks! __________________ Jeff Chandler

November 4th, 2003, 12:55 PM	#1316
Ignacio Rodriguez Contributor Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Santiago, Chile Posts: 932	Question: HD production without an HD camera? Hi. I am being drafted for a project consisting mainly in the restoration of slide shows. Of course I think it would be wise to do the work in HD so it is not obsolete in two years. Am I correct to assume I can use 1920x1080 scans of the slides and render that as DV for editing and then as 1920x1080 using pixlet or some other codec for HD mastering? Am I missing something here? The idea is not to have to buy expensive HD (or shortlived HDV) equipment, and use a G5 with FCP4. I have read about people doing this kind of thing in Vegas, but I want to keep things Mac. Any ideas would be welcome. My coming up with a good setup will give me work for about 12 months ;-) Thanks. __________________ Ignacio Rodríguez in the third world. @micronauta on Twitter. Main hardware: brain, eyes, hands.

November 4th, 2003, 12:58 PM	#1317
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	In most cases (OS X) just drag the application to the trash and empty the trash. If it install preference panes or icons in the menu bar you may need to dig a little deeper. What program? __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

November 4th, 2003, 01:05 PM	#1318
Jeff Chandler Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Mesa, Az. Posts: 167	Thanks Jeff. I knew you would come through.That seems almost too simple. I'm wanting to take off Avid FreeDV. I just put it on to demo it to the kids in my class, and I don't want it on my powerbook anymore anymore. __________________ Jeff Chandler

November 4th, 2003, 02:26 PM	#1319
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	You can also load the installer and under custom install there may be an uninstall option. But dragging it to the trash will get the largest part of the application. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

November 4th, 2003, 03:10 PM	#1320
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,797	Actually this topic interests me as well. I would like to do 3d animation at HD resolution, so no camera is involved. Would HDV/pixlet work for this? When I get a bit of time I plan to muster up the courage to install my copy of Panther and try this for myself :-)