NLE Mac / Final Cut questions from 2002

Jeff Donald · November 2nd, 2002, 09:36 AM

From FCP choose export>Quicktime. One of the options in Quicktime is Toast format VCD. Burn the file in Toast>Other>Video CD.

Jeff

Linc Kesler · November 2nd, 2002, 12:04 PM

This is a ruthlessly newbie question, and I know I can find the answer by research, but I'm hoping someone will take pity on me. What is the relationship between the DVD encoding and the density of a commercial DVD and that possible on a DVD-R? Which codec available in Quicktime comes the closest to the commercial standard? From the comments above about submitting content to production facilities on DVD-R it sounds as if the compatibility is there, but are there relative length restrictions?

Thanks in advance for any info.

Linc Kesler

Andre De Clercq · November 2nd, 2002, 02:29 PM

What do people mean by "editing performance"? Rendering speed? Capture performance? ... As far as I know HD (>4000rpm)do not affect "editing performance". Processor speed , memory bandwidth and architecture, codec type, caches (L1 and L2) are the determining elements.

Jeff Donald · November 2nd, 2002, 05:36 PM

Editing performance is rendering, capture and more. FCP is scaleable, it will do
DV or uncompressed, even HD. So, depending on what your capturing a low performance (4000rpm) hard dive may, or may not be suitable. However, as we go up the scale the hard drive performance needs to improve. HD is usually done on FCP with SCSI RAID 0 and fiber optic controllers.

FCP has to render all its effects so the speed of the hard drive can have an impact there as well. I expect real time (RT) effects in future versions of FCP so the render times will become a mute point.

Some users report capture problems with the slower drives. It can be the result of many of the factors you list (memory, cache size, processor speed etc.). Many times it is the result of drives that need to be defragmented or are just too full. Faster drives sometimes can help out under those conditions.

Jeff

Andre De Clercq · November 3rd, 2002, 03:54 AM

Agree if higher data rates (HD, video servers,vid on demand....) have to be in/outputted. Lots of the problems people get with "slow drives" in editing systems relate to non optimal tuning and hardware balancing of the system. Here http://www.wwug.com/forums/uleadmediastudio/index.htm is a site where rendering performance is being published. At the time it was created I discussed the HDD speed matter with Terry...turned out HDD speed not being relevant (and thus not included in the test results). Of course the test are not about FCP or MAC but the basics remain the same.

David Slingerland · November 3rd, 2002, 11:41 AM

not in my fcp 3.0 it is. I cant find toast video cd under any of the options you have when exporting quiktime.

Jeff Donald · November 3rd, 2002, 11:46 AM

I take it your not using OS X 10.1.5 ? What version of QuickTime and Toast are you using?

Jeff

David Slingerland · November 3rd, 2002, 01:21 PM

thats right Jeff,
i am using os9 quicktime 6.0.2 and toast 5
if that is the reason then that is a big bummer
have you got any solutions?

Jeff Donald · November 3rd, 2002, 03:13 PM

Go to my .mac iDisk http://homepage.mac.com/jtdonald/FileSharing5.htmland download a file called <<<make VCD on the mac.sit>>> Instructions are included and it will work on OS 9.

Jeff

Jeff Donald · November 3rd, 2002, 03:45 PM

Most commercial discs are very roughly 9 GB and DVD-R are roughly half that size. QuickTime does MPEG 2 multiplexing and is fairly fast but is not considered the best quality. It is a compromise of speed and quality. The very best (speed and quality) multiplexing is done via hardware. I believe Media 100 makes a board and so does Discret (see also Cleaner 6). Apple is rumored to be working on a board as well.

Jeff

November 4th, 2002, 10:19 PM

I'm using Avid Xpress DV. I've been trying to output some footage to play as a Quicktime file. No matter what format for outputting that I choose, I get terrible edge tearing with motion on the output files. I don't see this in the composer window in XDV. Any suggestions?

On close inspection what's happening is that two out of every five frames it looks like the interlaced fields are not lined up with each other. So it goes: 3 good sharp frames, then 2 out of mesh frames, then 3 good sharp frames, the 2 out of mesh frames, etc.

Dave Sweet · November 5th, 2002, 05:38 AM

Folks:

I have a project in FCP that I cannot get to send proper video out. My setup (FCP3.02, dual G4 with Jaguar, Panasonic DV1000 and Toshiba monitor) and all other projects done on it over the past several months work fine...it's just this project that won't fly. The video just jumps around on the monitor from the very first frame whenever I try to watch it just as external video or print to video. Parts of the sequence will sync up and run fine. Other parts will not; and I lose external audio whenever the video goes out of sync.

I have tried every setting related to external video I can find, but that doesn't seem to be it. It seems like the project file itself is corrupted somehow. A file output to FCP movie from this sequence runs fine in QT PLayer, but will not re-load into FCP as a single source (fails with a 'general error' message). I have tried cutting and pasting into a new sequence. I have suspected something wrong with some of the source files, although they all look fine and the sequence plays solid end-to-end within FCP itself. But I recaptured some of the sources anyway, to no avail. I tried moving sources around onto different drives in case it related to some kind of bus congestion problem, to no avail.

So... anyone out there bumped into this before?

David Slingerland · November 5th, 2002, 06:54 AM

thank you jeff. I downloaded the file but vcd jelly does not take any quiktime files it keeps telling me that they are a file of unknown type, anyway it will not process it. So i cant use the japanese program because that will also not accept quicktime files coming from fcp. However i got toast to accept my fcp files(it was simple actually)but my big files i output(550mb) because i want the best quality on cd are reduced by toast to a mere 26 mb. The quality is not exactly what i tought it was going to be.... i have got better vhs tapes then that!!
any suggestions about improving the quality?
thanks,

Jeff Donald · November 5th, 2002, 07:10 AM

Can you please provide complete details about system, OS, drives, software versions etc.

Jeff

Jeff Donald · November 5th, 2002, 07:39 AM

Have you updated to the latest version 3.5.1? It has many bug fixes.

Jeff

November 3rd, 2002, 11:41 AM	#1026
David Slingerland Major Player Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Soest ,Holland Posts: 307	not in my fcp 3.0 it is. I cant find toast video cd under any of the options you have when exporting quiktime. __________________ D.Slingerland director/cameraman http://www.slingerlandproductions.nl

November 3rd, 2002, 01:21 PM	#1028
David Slingerland Major Player Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Soest ,Holland Posts: 307	thats right Jeff, i am using os9 quicktime 6.0.2 and toast 5 if that is the reason then that is a big bummer have you got any solutions? __________________ D.Slingerland director/cameraman http://www.slingerlandproductions.nl

November 4th, 2002, 10:19 PM	#1031
donking! Posts: n/a	Edge Tear I'm using Avid Xpress DV. I've been trying to output some footage to play as a Quicktime file. No matter what format for outputting that I choose, I get terrible edge tearing with motion on the output files. I don't see this in the composer window in XDV. Any suggestions? On close inspection what's happening is that two out of every five frames it looks like the interlaced fields are not lined up with each other. So it goes: 3 good sharp frames, then 2 out of mesh frames, then 3 good sharp frames, the 2 out of mesh frames, etc.

November 5th, 2002, 05:38 AM	#1032
Dave Sweet New Boot Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Hamilton, MA Posts: 14	FCP external video sync problem Folks: I have a project in FCP that I cannot get to send proper video out. My setup (FCP3.02, dual G4 with Jaguar, Panasonic DV1000 and Toshiba monitor) and all other projects done on it over the past several months work fine...it's just this project that won't fly. The video just jumps around on the monitor from the very first frame whenever I try to watch it just as external video or print to video. Parts of the sequence will sync up and run fine. Other parts will not; and I lose external audio whenever the video goes out of sync. I have tried every setting related to external video I can find, but that doesn't seem to be it. It seems like the project file itself is corrupted somehow. A file output to FCP movie from this sequence runs fine in QT PLayer, but will not re-load into FCP as a single source (fails with a 'general error' message). I have tried cutting and pasting into a new sequence. I have suspected something wrong with some of the source files, although they all look fine and the sequence plays solid end-to-end within FCP itself. But I recaptured some of the sources anyway, to no avail. I tried moving sources around onto different drives in case it related to some kind of bus congestion problem, to no avail. So... anyone out there bumped into this before?

November 5th, 2002, 06:54 AM	#1033
David Slingerland Major Player Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Soest ,Holland Posts: 307	thank you jeff. I downloaded the file but vcd jelly does not take any quiktime files it keeps telling me that they are a file of unknown type, anyway it will not process it. So i cant use the japanese program because that will also not accept quicktime files coming from fcp. However i got toast to accept my fcp files(it was simple actually)but my big files i output(550mb) because i want the best quality on cd are reduced by toast to a mere 26 mb. The quality is not exactly what i tought it was going to be.... i have got better vhs tapes then that!! any suggestions about improving the quality? thanks, __________________ D.Slingerland director/cameraman http://www.slingerlandproductions.nl

November 2nd, 2002, 09:36 AM	#1021
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	From FCP choose export>Quicktime. One of the options in Quicktime is Toast format VCD. Burn the file in Toast>Other>Video CD. Jeff

November 2nd, 2002, 12:04 PM	#1022
Linc Kesler Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Vancouver BC Posts: 65	This is a ruthlessly newbie question, and I know I can find the answer by research, but I'm hoping someone will take pity on me. What is the relationship between the DVD encoding and the density of a commercial DVD and that possible on a DVD-R? Which codec available in Quicktime comes the closest to the commercial standard? From the comments above about submitting content to production facilities on DVD-R it sounds as if the compatibility is there, but are there relative length restrictions? Thanks in advance for any info. Linc Kesler

November 2nd, 2002, 02:29 PM	#1023
Andre De Clercq Major Player Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Belgium Posts: 804	What do people mean by "editing performance"? Rendering speed? Capture performance? ... As far as I know HD (>4000rpm)do not affect "editing performance". Processor speed , memory bandwidth and architecture, codec type, caches (L1 and L2) are the determining elements.

November 2nd, 2002, 05:36 PM	#1024
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Editing performance is rendering, capture and more. FCP is scaleable, it will do DV or uncompressed, even HD. So, depending on what your capturing a low performance (4000rpm) hard dive may, or may not be suitable. However, as we go up the scale the hard drive performance needs to improve. HD is usually done on FCP with SCSI RAID 0 and fiber optic controllers. FCP has to render all its effects so the speed of the hard drive can have an impact there as well. I expect real time (RT) effects in future versions of FCP so the render times will become a mute point. Some users report capture problems with the slower drives. It can be the result of many of the factors you list (memory, cache size, processor speed etc.). Many times it is the result of drives that need to be defragmented or are just too full. Faster drives sometimes can help out under those conditions. Jeff

November 3rd, 2002, 03:54 AM	#1025
Andre De Clercq Major Player Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Belgium Posts: 804	Agree if higher data rates (HD, video servers,vid on demand....) have to be in/outputted. Lots of the problems people get with "slow drives" in editing systems relate to non optimal tuning and hardware balancing of the system. Here http://www.wwug.com/forums/uleadmediastudio/index.htm is a site where rendering performance is being published. At the time it was created I discussed the HDD speed matter with Terry...turned out HDD speed not being relevant (and thus not included in the test results). Of course the test are not about FCP or MAC but the basics remain the same.

November 3rd, 2002, 11:46 AM	#1027
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	I take it your not using OS X 10.1.5 ? What version of QuickTime and Toast are you using? Jeff

November 3rd, 2002, 03:13 PM	#1029
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Go to my .mac iDisk http://homepage.mac.com/jtdonald/FileSharing5.htmland download a file called <<<make VCD on the mac.sit>>> Instructions are included and it will work on OS 9. Jeff

November 3rd, 2002, 03:45 PM	#1030
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Most commercial discs are very roughly 9 GB and DVD-R are roughly half that size. QuickTime does MPEG 2 multiplexing and is fairly fast but is not considered the best quality. It is a compromise of speed and quality. The very best (speed and quality) multiplexing is done via hardware. I believe Media 100 makes a board and so does Discret (see also Cleaner 6). Apple is rumored to be working on a board as well. Jeff

November 5th, 2002, 07:10 AM	#1034
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Can you please provide complete details about system, OS, drives, software versions etc. Jeff

November 5th, 2002, 07:39 AM	#1035
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Have you updated to the latest version 3.5.1? It has many bug fixes. Jeff