NLE Mac / Final Cut questions from 2003

[Michael Botkin]

I know if you are using firewire to the XL1 then composite out to the monitor, you should have your AV/DV passthrough on in the cam, and make sure in FCP4 the output is set to firewire as well in the pref's. Anything else guys?

Michael

[Jeff Donald]

If I remember, it does work. But the stock mic would not be my first choice for the best audio quality.

[Nicholi Brossia]

Hi Justin,
I know this is way late, but maybe you (or someone else) can use this idea.
FCE doesn't have a function that deletes unused footage so you have to get a little creative.

1) Capture the entire tape or session (watch the audio sync, sometimes it gets off 3 frames or so) as a clip with designated ins and outs. Capture Now tends to be unreliable for me, but you may prefer it.

2) Divide the main clip into subclips after marking in an out points (Modify > Make Subclip). Each of these subclips are dependant on the original clip.

3) After renaming and organizing the subclips accordingly, Control-click each one, and select Export > Movie. Choose the appropriate folder and remember to check Make Movie Self Contained. This then becomes its own, stand-alone FCE clip that can even be recaptured later with capture project.

4) Delete the original clip and subclips from the FCE browser.

5) Delete the appropriate, original capture scratch. You will still have the self-contained subclips that were created earlier.

6) Import the newly created clips into your FCE project and you're all set. Only the used footage will remain on your drive.

On an added note... You can also use DV Start/Stop Detection (under the Mark menu) to automatically find all the points where you paused camcorder recording, and mark those. Then, in the browser, click the triangle to the left of your original clip and you will see a list of the markers (red markers labeled segment 1, 2, 3, ...). Click and drag to highlight these markers and choose Modify > Make Subclips from the menu (Command-U). Then continue to step 3. This makes for a pseudo batch capture process.

[Jeremy Martin]

actually i got it to work the other night. dont know what i did differently than the night before though.

though on ething i have noticed is that in premiere6 the only footage that shows up on screen is premiere captured footage. mov's do not show up. but everything works fine in after effects.

i unfortunately dont have FCP4, yet.

so if anyone knows why movs dont work in premeire id appreciate the input.

thanks for your help michael.

[Wendy Rubin]

Does anyone know where to download the manual for studio pro 2? I am having a wierd rollover problem with the buttons (probably because I don't know what the heck I am doing) and need to do some reading.

[Ryan Wachter]

Ok, well I bought the G4 after talking it over with you guys and thanks again for the help. Next is the DV camcorder...probably the panny but until then I have a JVC camcorder that uses vhs-c tapes. I want to be able to transfer it to my g4 quicksilver for editing. Whats the best way to do this to get the best picture quality. Now I heard Id need a special video card possibly. But right now Im using a video card that allows me to use two monitors and Id like to keep it that way. Will getting this new card affect that? Is there a better way to transfer in the first place?
LMK
Thanks

[Nicholi Brossia]

Congrats on your new NLE.
As far as the special video card goes, they were most likely talking about a capture card. These are total opposites being that video cards export and capture cards import. Also, capture cards are generally qualified on the professional level and get very expensive.
It looks like all you need is a analog-to-digital convertor. Basically you plug your s-video or rca and audio into this little box, then output via firewire to your computer. You'll also, most likely, want to get one that allows you to output from the computer, through the box, and back into your camera for recording. Also, you won't be able to control the vhs-c camera with the computer (one big benefit of firewire), so you'll have to capture the footage while controlling the camera as a vcr.
There are many different convertors to choose from. I'd recommend doing a quick search and read reviews on here to get a better idea of what's available. Then its as simple as deciding which one meets your needs and budget. One particular convertor claims to be built specifically for the mac - StudioDV by Formac http://www.formac.com/p_bin/?cid=sol...rters_studiodv. Figured it'd be worth a look.

[Andrew Hogan]

I have an NTSC VHS tape and a PAL VHS tape and I want to put them on a DVD, preferably the same DVD.

I have FCP 4 and DVDSP2 on my G4, a PAL XL1s and a PAL VHS player. Is this possible or do I need a video production company to convert the NTSC tape to PAL first or can the combo I have do it?

I can borrow an NTSC and/or PAL recording VHS player. My VHS player has NTSC playback on a PAL/NTSC TV. (which apparently only partially converts the signal to PAL) getting confusing now?

Anyone tried this?

[Kevin Beswick]

I am new to all of this, please forgive me. I bought FCE several months ago and am just starting to learn it. I have some iMovie experience. I am a comercial still photographer specializing in architectural/ interior/ construction. I have been introducing clients to dig vid with some success, offering a kind of multi media package of dig stills/ film stills/ Powerpoint shows, slide shows, and now video. After considerable research I ended up buying the Panasonic DVX100 camera. Thats probably overkill, but its been a good year, and I thought it would be a great camera to grow with. The problem: Is there any way to edit 24p footage in FCE, or do I need to upgrade to FCP? I know that I can edit 60i from the camera in FCE, but not using 24p, or at least having it as a tool, is obviously a big waste of the camera. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Jeff Donald]

FCE really does not do 24p without a lot of trouble. It would require additional software and total expenditure would only be a little less than FCP 4. FCP 4 would offer a better work flow and require much less time than any FCE work around.

[Jeff Donald]

There is not a manual available for download. It came with your software.

[Andrew Hogan]

Do the DVDSP2 tutorials, its not that hard after that.

[Juan P. Pertierra]

I just got a mac Powerbook, and FCP. So far i've been using after effects. I am trying to adapt 25p PAL material to 24fps NTSC for DVD production.

Usually, in after effects i would just interpret the footage as 24fps(slowing it down 4%), and then just drop it in my composition and perform a scale transformation, allowing it to modify pixel ratio as well. This worked perfectly.

How do i do this equivalently in FCP4? It 'seems' to do it automatically..that is, it seems to fit the PAL image into the NTSC sequence, but i am not sure how it is adapting the 25fps footage to the 24fps timeline. I just want it to slow it down, NOT calculate new frames, etc.

Thanks,
Juan

[Jeff Donald]

I updated to 10.3.1 several days ago and all FireWire operations seem to be much faster. Full CF cards download via FireWire 20% faster. Many operations involving FireWire drives seem faster also. I don't have any systems still on 10.3 so I can't accurately test my impressions.

[Don Berube]

Well, you could also use the Cinema Tools Conform Feature to change your 25P clip's timebase to 24fps, thus "correcting" the speed. That conformed footage can then be edited with Final Cut Pro as long as your sequences using it have a 24 fps timebase.

I guess you copuld say that there are probably 2-3 different ways that you could handle this. You already mentioned one technique that works for you. I would try using Cinema Tools and not having to change the speed of your sound and images.

- don