NLE Mac / Final Cut questions from 2002

[Bill Furner]

Thanks Jeff and Ken for the help!

Ken, you raised something that I am didn't do, that is when I scale my image, I've been using 320 x 240, or 160 x 120. I havn't utilized that "720 x 534" photoshop size.

I know that unless I did the 320 x 480, my photoshop files would come out stretched beyond belief. But it sounds like I should be using maybe a larger file and at different proportions?

Ken, you mention that I should "flatten" my files. But I have been making a lot of layers in photoshop. When I flatten, that brings me down to only that flattened file, I loose all my other layers. Those layers would be improtant for me to bring into Premiere, especially if I want to make an animated logo. Wouldn't that be true?

Jeff,

Thanks for that tutorial tip! I'll check it out.


Bill

[Adrian Douglas]

Bill,

This is on top of what Ken said. To solve your layer problem, choose File>Save As and then from the drop down choose to save the file as a TIFF. Doing this will automatically flatten your layers and save your image with a lossless compression. These work very well in Premiere and is the way I save PS graphics for use in Premiere. Then save your original .PSD file as is without flattening your layers.

[John Locke]

Ken, I haven't received anything in the mailbox yet? Have you?

[Ken Tanaka]

Yes, I received notice the day before I posted the announcement. They're apparently implementing a new registration system so perhaps things have become clogged. You might want to contact them directly.

[Ken Tanaka]

Bill,
As Adrian noted, you basically save a flattened copy of the PS file, saving the original. Like Jeff, I've not worked in Premiere for a while and cannot guide you in using PS layers in Premiere. Check with your manual and just experiment. (When I need to build a graphics animation I nearly always use After Effects or, occasionally, Macromedia's Flash which I then export to AE for finishing.)

[Bill Furner]

To: Adrian

You mention to save in Tiff, then save a photoshop file. Why do I need both? When I import into Premiere, I would jus use one or the other right?

That won't help me constantly having to pick each layer in Premiere. What a hassle! There has got to be an easier way to drop in layers in Premiere 5.1 (mac). I mean I can't see the numbers in the project pallet. But I numbered the layers in Photoshop. But again, I am only allowed to drop in one file at a time. Even if I pick "multiple" or "folder". I keep having to go back into the dialog box in premiere and pick only ONE:( It gets to be a drag dropping only one file at a time, if you know what I mean.
Thanks

[Dick Walton]

I'm presently using a Power Book G3. It has 2 firewire ports and I use them both: 1 for an external hard drive and 1 for firewire out to a deck (Sony DHR 1000) and monitor.

The TiG4 has a single firewireport. Will it create any problems to daisy chain the configuration mentioned above. I've tried the daisy chain with the G3 set-up and it seems to work. I'm a bit concerned that all this data going back and forth along a single daisy chain will ultimately create problems.

[Simon Plissi]

<<<-- Originally posted by Dick Walton : I'm presently using a Power Book G3. It has 2 firewire ports and I use them both: 1 for an external hard drive and 1 for firewire out to a deck (Sony DHR 1000) and monitor.

The TiG4 has a single firewireport. Will it create any problems to daisy chain the configuration mentioned above. I've tried the daisy chain with the G3 set-up and it seems to work. I'm a bit concerned that all this data going back and forth along a single daisy chain will ultimately create problems. -->>>

Well, according to Ken's earlier post this should not be a problem. One thing to bear in mind is that even though you have 2 FW ports on your G3 PowerBook they are not independent, i.e. one FW controller chip is used for both ports. This indecently is the same for the towers as well.

There's enough bandwidth in FW to handle DV and I figure there's more than enough in the TiBooks motherboard for this set up.

I also hope I will retain device control of my XL1 when daisy chained up through a FW hard drive.

[Dick Walton]

Simon:

Thanks for the encouragement! I don't know whether your use of the word "indecently" was a slip. a pun, or what but it was most appropriate!! It's interesting to know that Apple "hides" a single bus behind two ports . . . well just so it works!!

[Simon Plissi]

<<<-- Originally posted by Dick Walton : Simon:

Thanks for the encouragement! I don't know whether your use of the word "indecently" was a slip. a pun, or what but it was most appropriate!! It's interesting to know that Apple "hides" a single bus behind two ports . . . well just so it works!! -->>>

:-) It was a slip. One finger typing whilst eating a bag of crisps at the same time.

[Linc Kesler]

Could anyone comment on the suitability of other Mac platforms? The iMac comes with a superdrive and Firewire, and now an optional 17" flat panel screen, but it is a single processor and less expandable (like the Power Book).

The reason I ask is that I am changing institutions and need to assemble a new editing setup out of a new budget. It seems to me that the G4 options are about double the cost of the equivalent PC hardware (and I am in other respects a long-time PC user), but so far I have been using lab equipment (G4 / FCP / DVD-SP) and may eventually be working with students using Mac labs. But budgets are budgets . . . I've inquired over at the PC forum about options on the PC side, but I'd appreciate any thoughts over here too.

My work is documentary, with lots of 1 hr interviews for archiving, and editing into presentations for academic use. Output is back to DV tape, DVD for archiving and presentation, and eventually some streaming video.

Thanks for any help,
Linc Kesler

[Ken Tanaka]

Linc,
An 800MHz iMac with the 17 inch monitor and even a modestly sized external Firewire drive would host Final Cut Pro 3 just fine for a school environment.

Hi All,

I am frustrated beyond belief and am seeking any help. I am slapping together a five minute film for a friend and am using an older version of Premiere 5.1c, on a G3 iMac, 40 gigs and video captured from my XL1. Also imported a bunch of QT movies that I created in After Effects from picture scans, simple zooms and pans etc. from archive photos. These were rendered in AE without compression, greyscale and saved as Quicktime movies which I imported into Premiere.

I brought the captured video into the timelime, as well as the QT videos exported from AE without compression. Also mastered an audio track in ProTools and brought that into Premiere. The problem I am having is that when I export to tape or print to tape the only video coming acrross is the captured video and the audio. None of the B&W QT clips that I rendered in AE are working.

Is this a data rate problem? Should I go back and re-render all these AE movies with compression so the data rates come down. Or is it something really obvious that I am missing? I have read in a bunch of previous threads that people have had problems exporting from Premiere to their XL1.

When I do get this video off my machine I am burning the Premiere program and running out to buy myself a nice copy of FCP. Alas too little too late for this poroblem.

Much gratitude and thanks for any tips from everyine.

[Dick Walton]

Ken:

Can you compare the 2 Apple programs with regards to quality and quantity of output. Is there any inherent reason why iDVD might not match DVD SP in final quality (resolution of video) of authored media. And is project size limited in any way when using iDVD?

Thanks!!

[Ken Tanaka]

Dick,
You should be able to find quite a bit of info on this subject using the Search function (at top of page). I recently responded to a nearly identical question at
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...&threadid=5190

In a nutshell, DVD Studio Pro is to iDVD as Final Cut Pro is to iMovie. Apple's "i" programs are designed to shield users from complexities that most people don't need to master for home/family projects. The differences between the two is not so much a matter of quality as it is capabilities.

Apple's site should be able to answer most of your questions.

http://www.apple.com/dvdstudiopro/
http://www.apple.com/idvd/

p.s. I split this thread since it's off-topic from its original PowerBook G4 thread.