NLE Mac / Final Cut questions from 2002

[Jeff Donald]

Sequence settings can be changed if the sequence is selected in the timeline. Are you trying to change audio/video settings or preferences? You can't change a locked setting either. You have to make a copy of it. If your trying to change a video setting (not sequence setting) and it effects the time base, FCP won't let you. You have to open a new project, set the new audio/video settings before you add media. Thats when you get into exporting and importing.

Just as an experiment trying opening a new project and see if you can change the render RGB option. If you can, you can always get the media moved over. If not, some of your settings/preferences may be off.

Jeff

[David Slingerland]

thanks for your info, no i wil be using cd/r and asume it will then play on any pc if they have quicktime, how do i make one that works with mediaplayer ( fcp can output for mediaplayer??)

[Greg Matty]

Jeff,

Did Canon not solve the sync issue with the XL-1s? I can't believe this but then again they did not solve the black bar issue so who knows.

I will soon buy a new camera and if the XL-1s does not record at a true 48khz, I will scratch it off my list. I think a GL-2 is in order.

Greg Matty

[Jeff Donald]

The audio sync issues have two factors. The first is Mini DV does not have locked audio. Doesn't matter what brand of camera, it is the specs of the format. DVCam, a Sony format, does have locked audio. The second is that Canon miniDV audio is 48.004KHz or similar, I don't remember the exact amount. I set the adjust sync for clips over 5 minutes and i have no problems capturing with FCP3 in OS X or 9.2.2 I view the audio as a non issue because it works fine for me. The only true way to assure complete sync with locked audio is with DVCam or DV Pro, a Panasonic format.

Jeff

[elusive_kudo]

I'm thinking about purchasing brand new iBook 700MHz G3 for some @ home editing along with FCP 3, external 80 GB Firewire drive (for video only) and some sort of used production monitor.

Does anyone of u have any experience on this rig, specifically, of course, how does it perform in handling some relatively light to moderate semi-pro editing?

Any real experience info. is appreciated.

[Ken Tanaka]

These older threads might be of some interest to you.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2356&highlight=ibook

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2281&highlight=ibook

[Alex Ratson]

If i shoot in say 12bit mode, insted of 16bit will it still drift? Or is 12 bit got the same problem?

[Greg Matty]

JT,

Many DV camera's using the MiniDV format do NOT have sync problems. The GL-1 is a good example. In fact, the sync compensator in FCP is only recommended for the XL-1. I have seen this posted numerous times at 2-pop.com.

If you ever find yourself in a situation where you need to mix XL-1 footage with non XL-1 footage, this situation will move from a non-issue to an issue. I am facing that right now.

Greg Matty

[Rob Lohman]

Remember that QuickTime is not installed by default! I even doubt
most people will have QT 5 or 6 installed... If they have it they'll
probably still have 4 or something. If you can output to AVI that
will automatically play with Media Player. Also if you output to
MPEG1 (bare bones mpeg1 format, not QuickTime with mpeg
codec!!!) Media Player (and thus almost any PC out there) will
play that by default without needing anything else. Just make
a video.mpg and put that on a CD-R in cd-rom format (data disk).
Then add a autorun.inf and your done... Your autorun.inf should
look like (which is just a plain text file) either:

[AutoRun]
open=video.mpg

or

[AutoRun]
open=start video.mpg

Test it out with a CD-RW which one you need,.... If you pop it
in a standardly installed PC It should start autoplaying it.

[Jeff Donald]

One of the iBooks has a 14" screen and that helps alot. But I still wouldn't try to do semi pro editing on it. It would be fine for home movies and maybe off line material. But screen size and speed are lacking. Future versions of FCP will require faster and faster processors if they are to keep up with Avid. G3's just won't cut it.

Jeff

[Jeff Donald]

I mix XL1 footage with Betacam SP footage all the time. I capture the XL1 and Betacam footage with the compensation turned on. The compensation only forces FCP to count the samples rather than assume that it is a perfect 48KHz. It will not affect non DV footage if the audio is exactly 48KHz. The easist way to check a camera is to capture with it on and then look in the browser and check the sample rate. If it shows exactly 48KHz the audio is within spec. Most DV cameras will show something other than 48KHz (48.025 for example).

Jeff

Thanks for that link, it answered some of my questions.

Very cool.

As a computer tech person who's been working on many platforms since the mid to late 80s, I'd thought i'd post a thought on the 'I don't want one because it doesn't have DDR' thought.

First off, if you're upgrading from a previous G4 that is, say half the speed, I can see your frustration. If you're looking at buying one without ever owning one, you're doing yourself a slight disservice.

First off, DDR memory ain't all that, if the processor and I/O bus don't need it.

What I mean by that is that unfortunately most of the computer magazine industry has gotten people stuck on MHz, GHz, and other numbers that are starting to get to the point where they mean as much as the GL on two different cars. (IE, Nissan Maxima GL vs. Olsmobile Cutlass GL)

If engineered correctly, you can do the exact same thing with PC100 memory as you do with DDR PC200 RAM. PC200 (or PC1600) DDR memory is not any faster clock cycle wise, they just read on the rise and fall of the clock cycle.

With two PC100s you have the same bandwidth as one PC200. If you read and write to the PC100s at the same time, you have the same speed.

Same goes for PC133/PC266 (PC2100) DDR memory.

I currently work for IBM in their Intel server environment, and I do a lot of performance type comparisons. If a system is designed right, you don't always need the absolute latest stuff to get it to work.

Unfortunately, i've not been in the Mac world since '95. So I'm a bit behind on how the G4 works, and what it's motherboard chipset architecture is like, so I can't completely comment on how much a G4 at say 1.1, 1.2, or 1.5 GHz would benefit from PC200 or PC266 DDR RAM. At the worst, they would have less slots needed and be able to make the case smaller, at best it would open up the memory bandwidth doubling performance. I can't comment on which is true though.

Tom

[Rob Moreno]

Does anyone know if there is a way to change the speed of a clip dynamically over time in Final Cut Pro 3? I thought this would be possible with key frames under Motion, but I can't find any parameters for adjusting clip speed in there.

[Jeff Donald]

What version of FCP 3 are you using? I don't think FCP 2 has the key frame feature for motion effects. In FCP 3 you use the pen tool to set key frames. Key frames can not be set in the timeline. Use the motion tab and add the key frames in the overlay. There are more options with the key frame buttons, but i find the pen quicker.

Jeff