NLE Mac / Final Cut questions from 2002

[Jeff Chandler]

Ken,
I was all set to get a new Powerbook, and thena I started reading threads on the Apple web site about lines in the LCD monitors. Do you know anything about that? Is it a widespread problem? The threads wee pretty long, so I can't tell how widespread the problem is, or if it's all the same problem. Getting the POwerbook will really stretch the finances, so before I take the leap I want to make sure that I'm not going to regret my purchase.
Thanks for any help you can offer.

[Ken Tanaka]

Hi Jeff,
The posts I've seen over there seem to be mainly concerning the older 667MHz and 800MHz model TiBooks. The new 1GHz model features a new graphics processor so this may have resolved the problem. All I can say that I've never seen such a problem with either my 500MHz TiBook, which I used for over a year, or my 1GHz, which I've now used for a total of approximately 18 hrs..

It's great that Apple provides those support discussion groups. But spend enough time over there and you're bound to find something that will scare the hell out of you, although this certain appears to be a common problem. This type of thing also happened with some moderate frequency to IBM ThinkPads in my former office. We'd have the LCD panels replaced and they'd be fine. To some degree I believe it's caused by the normal wear and tear that a notebook undergoes if it's used for travel heavily. The matrix connections at the ever-shrinking edges of these screens carry millivolt charges and are nearly microscopic. If one shorts-out you lose a line of the matrix, producing a dark line on the screen. It's amazing to me that these things work at all.

[Jeff Chandler]

Thanks, Ken. I think you've encouraged me to go ahead and take a chance. Having the ability to take it back and forth between shcool and home is something I really want. And really, I wonder sometimes how any of these fantastic electronis work!

[Simon Plissi]

Good to read a report from a video guy. Sounds really sweet.

I ordered one on Saturday and am waiting for this baby to ship. I've been following others talk about the new TiBooks online and it seems like Apple is selling truck loads of them.

Can you try one thing for me please? If you have Toast can you see if says the burner supports buffer under run protection, i.e. burn proof. (I think Toast reports this if detected)

Since DVD burning is 1x, which means a full disk would take about 50mins to write, it would be cool to be able to do other things safe in the knowledge you won't be getting any coasters.

Do you use iDVD or DVD Studio Pro?

[Kevin McCarthy]

I created a matte in photshop (white text on black) and can't get it to work.
I saved it as a pict, imported it, placed it on layer 3 above what I want as background and forground, switched "composite mode" to travel matte-alpha, and got nothing.

I tried my matte on different layers, and tried some of the matte effects in FCP, still nothing. I also went through all the "composite modes".

I've had this answered before, but couldn't find the post.

any help would be great.

I'm running FCP 1.2.5

thanks

Kev

[John Locke]

Kev,

There are ways, I'm sure to get pict or jpeg or whatever to work in FCP...but I'll just tell you how I always do it...that I know works.

Make your image in Photoshop, putting the text and various elements on different layers. Make your background black or white, whichever contrasts best. Save it as a Photoshop document (.psd).

Import that into your project in FCP and place it on the timeline. Double click on it so that it appears in the "viewer." Go to "Effects>Video Filters>Key>Color Key" and select it. Then, go to the "viewer" and select "filters." Click the color square in the "color" section and select whichever layer you want to be transparent. Play with the other settings to get the look you want.

If you want this to be superimposed over other footage, just put it on V2.

Hope this helps.

[Dick Walton]

I am about to upgrade my Mac hardware and software. I want to use FCP and DVD Studio Pro to do basic video editing (no fancy compositing or complex transitions) and author straighforward DVD titles.

My question is a hardware one. What will be the major differences between running this software on a G4 Powerbook (1 GHz @ 133MHz bus) and on a Power Mac G4 (Dual 1 GHz @ 167 MHz)?

I will be using some basic titles, transitions, and filters (color correction) in FCP and burning some 60 min. projects to DVD.

Thank you for your input.

[Ken Tanaka]

Originally posted by Dick Walton: ....My question is a hardware one. What will be the major differences between running this software on a G4 Powerbook (1 GHz @ 133MHz bus) and on a Power Mac G4 (Dual 1 GHz @ 167 MHz)?

Hi Dick,
Answer: none appreciable. I have the same desktop as well as the 1GHz TiBook. I've not used DVD-SP on the TiBook for a full project yet but functionally there's no difference. You will probably see the TiBook a bit slower during multiplexing (to be expected) but otherwise you'll do just fine.

FWIW, if you're not doing anything fancy with your DVD authoring you might as well stick with iDVD. It's more fun and easier to get a final product.

[Ken Tanaka]

Simon,
Indeed, Toast reports that the TiBook's DVD-R does support buffer underrun prevention.

I use both iDVD and DVD Studio Pro, the former more frequently than the latter.

[Kevin McCarthy]

Thanks, but that's not what I'm trying to do.

I want to use the black background of the pict as video layer 1. and use the white text as moving video also. The text part of the pict is a window cut out of the layer 1 image to reveal other video.

Thanks anyway though.

Kev

[Paul Sedillo]

<<<-- Originally posted by Ken Tanaka :
FWIW, if you're not doing anything fancy with your DVD authoring you might as well stick with iDVD. It's more fun and easier to get a final product. -->>>

I agree with Mr. Tanaka. iDVD is great to work with and will handle most projects. DVD Studio Pro is a very expensive application and the users manual is not all that friendly. Unless you have a specific need for DVD Studio Pro, you should really give consideration to iDVD.

[Mike Finnerty]

I spoke with a very pleasant product specialist on the Apple Support line and explained my latest finding with the Maxell branded discs.

He said that the Apple five packs are 4x discs, although their speed is not really labeled anywhere. The Maxell discs that I used were 2x discs.

So, the guy at Apple and I came to the conclusion that my home DVD player doesn't work very well with the 4x discs. It plays back the 2x just fine.

So, I'll stick with 2x discs for now. I'm happy to know what the problem was. Now I can get back to having fun with the computer and not worrying about troubleshooting this problem.

[Jeff Donald]

The real difference can be summed up by expandability vs. portability. If you really need your editing/post production gear to be portable, go with the TiBook. If the portability is really a luxury and your work (productivity) would benefit by the dual processors and availability of more drives, dual monitors, better audio etc. go G4 dual.

Jeff

[Jeff Donald]

I think I understand what your after, but rather than keep guessing, go here http://www.lafcpug.org/tutorials.html and find the tutorials that best fit your needs. You may need to prepare the matte in Photoshop differently or read the composite tutorial.

Jeff

[Ken Tanaka]

John Locke recently pointed me to a set of filters for Final Cut Pro called Joe's Filters. This is a very handy and economical set of filters that's worth a look for any FCP user. The filters have just been updated to version 3.5. For more information see their site at: http://www.joesfilters.com/