NLE Mac / Final Cut questions from 2004

Jeff Donald · October 2nd, 2004, 08:23 PM

What does the camera show on it's LCD screen?

Greg Barton · October 3rd, 2004, 11:13 AM

I just ordered my new dual 1.8 ghz powermac, and I have FCP 3 on a student license. How much does it cost to upgrade to the educational version of FCP 4. Also, can you upgrade to the production suite from FCP 3? If so, how much would it cost for the educational version. I tried looking at Apple's website, but it only told me how much it costs to upgrade to the non student versions of production suite and FCP 4. Thanks.

Jeff Donald · October 3rd, 2004, 11:21 AM

You have to contact Apple Care for the upgrade price. I'm not sure their is an Education upgrade from FCP 3 to FCP HD. A new version of FCP is due soon, so you may want to wait to upgrade unless you have an immediate need to do so.

Jaime Valles · October 3rd, 2004, 03:22 PM

Hello, all. I've been putting subtitles in FCP4 on a feature I'm working on. I'm using the Text effect under Text Generator in FCP, not LiveType. For the first 15 minutes of footage I had no problems just typing in a subtitle and dragging it onto the timeline, and nothing required rendering. But all of a sudden, every time I add another text clip, it has a red bar over it. I have no idea why, since I've been doing this for a couple of hours, and nothing needed rendering before now.

Just as a test, I started a new sequence with no video clips on it, and even there the text needed rendering.

I'm running this on a Dual 2 GHz G5 with 1.5 GB of RAM, so it's not that the machine is slow. And I'm not doing any super-complicated effects or compositing. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Jeff Donald · October 3rd, 2004, 04:00 PM

Did you change size, color, outline or anything about the subtitle?

Dave Perry · October 3rd, 2004, 05:59 PM

The EDU price for the Production Suite (full versions of apps) is $499. That's a steal.

Jeff Donald · October 3rd, 2004, 06:01 PM

I don't think there is an upgrade price from the Education version of FCP 3 to Production Suite (Education version).

Rick Bravo · October 3rd, 2004, 08:06 PM

I don't know about FCP but, on the AVID MC Adrenaline they work fine and they are awesome!

RB

Leon Ortiz-Gil · October 3rd, 2004, 09:01 PM

When you say the screen was blue, do you mean the camera screen or your monitor on the Mac?

Jaime Valles · October 3rd, 2004, 10:00 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Jeff Donald : Did you change size, color, outline or anything about the subtitle? -->>>

I changed nothing. Everything is exactly as it was for the last few hours. In fact, I even copied one of the titles that was fine and pasted it at the end of the same timeline, and it said it needed rendering. I've tried switching from Safe to Unlimited RT, and still everything I type now needs rendering.

Is it possible that there's a limit to how many text clips I can use before the machine can't handle it anymore in real time? They're simple white letters, no drop shadow, no movement, that appear and disappear (without a fade) on top of footage. Subtitles.

On a side note... Would I be better off trying to do subtitles in LiveType? I would think it's more complicated switching between the two, but maybe there's a more streamlined way of doing this. Thoughts?

Greg Barton · October 3rd, 2004, 10:22 PM

Ok thanks guys. I appreciate the answers.

Ryan Wachter · October 4th, 2004, 04:59 AM

I am using FCP 4 and when I go to export to video, and run my sequence it plays on my agdvx100 when in VCR mode but there is no way for me to record it onto the minidv tape.....or am I missing something? How do I get my movie out of fcp4 and on to a minidv tape using an AGDVX100, I only have till 4 to figure it out for the 48 hour film fest...please help.

Ryan Wachter · October 4th, 2004, 05:00 AM

I am using FCP 4 and when I go to export to video, and run my sequence it plays on my agdvx100 when in VCR mode but there is no way for me to record it onto the minidv tape.....or am I missing something? How do I get my movie out of fcp4 and on to a minidv tape using an AGDVX100, I only have till 4 to figure it out for the 48 hour film fest...please help.

Stephen Schleicher · October 4th, 2004, 07:34 AM

I would not use LiveType for subtitles....Title3D would be a better option for what you are trying to do.

What may be a problem is if the clips you are applying the text to has been color corrected, or had any motion effect, or regular effect applied to it (even dissolves). This will cause you to have to rerender your clips.

While you are putting everything into the timeline, you can certainly lower the quality of your video in the Render settings, that may get you back to green and allow you to play your Timeline in the computer. You may also want to turn off External video while you are doing this (unless you have a client).

Before you export to tape you will need to render your entire bit.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Glenn Chan · October 4th, 2004, 09:15 AM

File --> print to video is one.

Or to go to tools --> edit to tape and do an assemble edit by dragging your sequence from the bin area into the window.

Or play from the timeline and hit record on your camera. This should be a last resort thing in case you get dropped frames or sync issues or whatever.

Before exporting to tape:
check that ins and outs are at the right point. at the out point, you may wish to nudge it a frame back because FCP includes an extra frame.

un-write protect the tape. make sure you don't record over useful stuff.

October 2nd, 2004, 08:23 PM	#1366
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	What does the camera show on it's LCD screen? __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

October 3rd, 2004, 11:13 AM	#1367
Greg Barton New Boot Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 23	FCP 4 or Prod. Suite upgrade I just ordered my new dual 1.8 ghz powermac, and I have FCP 3 on a student license. How much does it cost to upgrade to the educational version of FCP 4. Also, can you upgrade to the production suite from FCP 3? If so, how much would it cost for the educational version. I tried looking at Apple's website, but it only told me how much it costs to upgrade to the non student versions of production suite and FCP 4. Thanks.

October 3rd, 2004, 11:21 AM	#1368
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	You have to contact Apple Care for the upgrade price. I'm not sure their is an Education upgrade from FCP 3 to FCP HD. A new version of FCP is due soon, so you may want to wait to upgrade unless you have an immediate need to do so. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

October 3rd, 2004, 03:22 PM	#1369
Jaime Valles Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: New York City, NY Posts: 316	Problem with rendering titles in FCP 4 Hello, all. I've been putting subtitles in FCP4 on a feature I'm working on. I'm using the Text effect under Text Generator in FCP, not LiveType. For the first 15 minutes of footage I had no problems just typing in a subtitle and dragging it onto the timeline, and nothing required rendering. But all of a sudden, every time I add another text clip, it has a red bar over it. I have no idea why, since I've been doing this for a couple of hours, and nothing needed rendering before now. Just as a test, I started a new sequence with no video clips on it, and even there the text needed rendering. I'm running this on a Dual 2 GHz G5 with 1.5 GB of RAM, so it's not that the machine is slow. And I'm not doing any super-complicated effects or compositing. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

October 3rd, 2004, 04:00 PM	#1370
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Did you change size, color, outline or anything about the subtitle? __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

October 3rd, 2004, 05:59 PM	#1371
Dave Perry Major Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Roanoke, VA Posts: 796	The EDU price for the Production Suite (full versions of apps) is $499. That's a steal. __________________ Dave Perry Cinematographer LLC Director of Photography • Editor • Digital Film Production • 540.915.2752 • daveperry.net

October 3rd, 2004, 06:01 PM	#1372
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	I don't think there is an upgrade price from the Education version of FCP 3 to Production Suite (Education version). __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

October 3rd, 2004, 08:06 PM	#1373
Rick Bravo Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 574	I don't know about FCP but, on the AVID MC Adrenaline they work fine and they are awesome! RB __________________ "The future ain't what it used to be." Yogi Berra. www.rbravo.com

October 3rd, 2004, 09:01 PM	#1374
Leon Ortiz-Gil New Boot Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Northridge, CA Posts: 11	When you say the screen was blue, do you mean the camera screen or your monitor on the Mac?

October 3rd, 2004, 10:00 PM	#1375
Jaime Valles Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: New York City, NY Posts: 316	<<<-- Originally posted by Jeff Donald : Did you change size, color, outline or anything about the subtitle? -->>> I changed nothing. Everything is exactly as it was for the last few hours. In fact, I even copied one of the titles that was fine and pasted it at the end of the same timeline, and it said it needed rendering. I've tried switching from Safe to Unlimited RT, and still everything I type now needs rendering. Is it possible that there's a limit to how many text clips I can use before the machine can't handle it anymore in real time? They're simple white letters, no drop shadow, no movement, that appear and disappear (without a fade) on top of footage. Subtitles. On a side note... Would I be better off trying to do subtitles in LiveType? I would think it's more complicated switching between the two, but maybe there's a more streamlined way of doing this. Thoughts?

October 3rd, 2004, 10:22 PM	#1376
Greg Barton New Boot Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 23	Ok thanks guys. I appreciate the answers.

October 4th, 2004, 04:59 AM	#1377
Ryan Wachter Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 164	exporting to a minidv tape????!!!! HELP URGENT I am using FCP 4 and when I go to export to video, and run my sequence it plays on my agdvx100 when in VCR mode but there is no way for me to record it onto the minidv tape.....or am I missing something? How do I get my movie out of fcp4 and on to a minidv tape using an AGDVX100, I only have till 4 to figure it out for the 48 hour film fest...please help.

October 4th, 2004, 05:00 AM	#1378
Ryan Wachter Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 164	EXPORTING TO VIDEO!!! URGENT!!! need help please I am using FCP 4 and when I go to export to video, and run my sequence it plays on my agdvx100 when in VCR mode but there is no way for me to record it onto the minidv tape.....or am I missing something? How do I get my movie out of fcp4 and on to a minidv tape using an AGDVX100, I only have till 4 to figure it out for the 48 hour film fest...please help.

October 4th, 2004, 07:34 AM	#1379
Stephen Schleicher Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: Hays, KS Posts: 188	I would not use LiveType for subtitles....Title3D would be a better option for what you are trying to do. What may be a problem is if the clips you are applying the text to has been color corrected, or had any motion effect, or regular effect applied to it (even dissolves). This will cause you to have to rerender your clips. While you are putting everything into the timeline, you can certainly lower the quality of your video in the Render settings, that may get you back to green and allow you to play your Timeline in the computer. You may also want to turn off External video while you are doing this (unless you have a client). Before you export to tape you will need to render your entire bit. Hope this helps Cheers __________________ Stephen Schleicher www.stephenschleicher.com

October 4th, 2004, 09:15 AM	#1380
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	File --> print to video is one. Or to go to tools --> edit to tape and do an assemble edit by dragging your sequence from the bin area into the window. Or play from the timeline and hit record on your camera. This should be a last resort thing in case you get dropped frames or sync issues or whatever. Before exporting to tape: check that ins and outs are at the right point. at the out point, you may wish to nudge it a frame back because FCP includes an extra frame. un-write protect the tape. make sure you don't record over useful stuff.