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FCP7 & 3 monitor setup for Timeline+Browser+Canvas&Viewer. Scopes&Metering. Preview.
Hello, I know that this question has come up a few times but I’m doing something different. I do know the answer to this question is to simply get a capture card and the world will be set to right, unfortunately I don’t have the finances to buy myself one so I am stuck with what I have for the time being.
Okay so I have a Mac Pro with two graphics cards, I do know the issue regarding two cards and FCP with some FX plugs but hear me out.
My config at the moment is 2 ACDs and a 1080p HD monitor.
I have one ACD and my HD monitor linked up to my most powerful GFX card (ATI Radeon 5770) via one mini display port and DVI-D, my second ACD is linked to a rather rotten NVIDIA 7300GT (this is for scopes only).
What i want to do is PREVIEW my timeline out though my HD monitor and use ACD 1 for timeline, viewer, canvas and browser and ACD 2 for scopes and metering. Thats the idea anyway.
Now for some reason FCP will favour ACDs over my HD monitor for preview playback, that is to say that I can run my scopes on the HD monitor and my PREVIEW on my second ACD but i cannot flip it the other way so that PREVIEW is on the HD monitor and the scopes on the second ACD through going View >Video Playback>Digital Cinema Desktop Preview – Full Screen with All Frames selected in View>External Video.
If i disconnect my second ACD i get my scopes and preview on my HD monitor, when reconnected, preview reverts to the second ACD, and i cant find a way to choose for the preview to stay on the HD monitor.
To me it seems that FCP distinguishes between ACDs and non ACDs and forces the preview to be run though ACDs if they are present.
Is there any other way other that I can get my video through my HD monitor with my timeline & scopes etc on the two ACDs without having to get a capture card?
Kindest Regards.
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4 Replies
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You need a video i/o or just “o” device to use your external video monitor. AJA, Matrox, Blackmagic all make them for FCP.
Jerry
Apple Certified Trainer, Producer, Writer, Director Editor, Gun for Hire and other things. I ski. My Blog: https://blogs.creativecow.net/Jerry-Hofmann
Current DVD:
https://store.creativecow.net/p/81/jerry_hofmanns_final_cut_system_setup8-Core 3.0 Intel Mac Pro, Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D, AJA Io HD, 17″ MBP, Matrox MXO2 with MAX – Cinema Displays I have a 22″ that I paid 4k for still working. G4 with Kona SD card, and SCSI card.
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“…unfortunately I don’t have the finances to buy myself one so I am stuck with what I have for the time being.”
Really!??… This just does not hold water in these days of “inexpensive” i/o cards. There is no substitute for proper calibrated monitoring when the least expensive i/o card from Black Magic is $199.00!! Get yourself and Intensity Pro and do it right. You can pay for this card in about an hour or two worth of billable time. Also don’t forget to have your monitor calibrated by a professional. It is absolutely necessary.
I paid for my Kona LHi and 50″ Panasonic Plasma (including the $300.00 it cost to get it Probe calibrated) in my first 2 grading jobs with this equipment. Is it “perfect”?… no, but it is very close. And now I can afford the FSI LM-2460W… and at $4995.00, I wont blink when I pull the trigger this year because I know it is top of the line and worth every penny. And it will pay for its self in just a few jobs.
If I were you, I would spend the $200.00 on a BM Intensity Pro and don’t look back. You won’t regret it.
Good Luck!
Richard Cooper
FrostLine Productions, LLC
Anchorage, Alaska
http://www.frostlineproductions.com -
Thank you both of you for your input.
Richard, I know that it may sound totally obscure, but I’m in a situation where I am totally unemployed and have no form of income. I’m a self-trained editor, sound designer & DVD author and that’s certainly not paying for itself. Editing and the above listed skills, are what I’m naturally good at. And while I’m not professional in any sense, post is my desired career path. I’m only 23 and studied 4 years in Film and Television Production.
I have a reasonable editing setup but its not fantastic hence minus the capture cards, which I know I desperately need to resolve some of the problems I have. Technically and in practice I’m a proficient editor, but my equipment lets me down. I was a Premiere editor although I can work with any OS, and most professional editing systems I used to be PC based and invested in building a system to do it right. But that was before being forced down the Apple route, because I was given footage that contained proprietary codecs only readable by FCP, and format conversion is out of the question because of quality reduction. So i sold pretty much everything I could to afford to buy an Apple set up. I have most things i need except capture i/o card, which will be my next purchase.
If I was working and drawing in an income I would happily purchase the equipment that I need, I have no problem with that, but back to my original question I was looking for another way to get video out of my mac to a HD display. I know that there are inexpensive solutions out there to do what I need to do, but right now there is no way for me to get the gear that I need.
From a professional stand point, someone such as yourself who’s likely had many years of experience in this industry and worked on countless jobs, I am someone who’s only starting out and who is a basic freelancer at best. I will admit that I’m likely going about things the wrong way, but I have no guidance to go by. Obviously the internet is a wealth of information, and sites like Lynda.com and TotalTraining.com offer instructional training videos where one can learn ‘advanced’ post methods, but that’s just one side to it.
I highly value your comments though, because I know that you’re perfectly right about things and I do need nudging in the right direction if I am to be successful at all in what it is I want to do. If i could get work in, and I mean small work so i have something to start on, that would be no problem. But right now I am working on my own projects to develop my skills, understanding and expertise, because I fear I am not good enough to actually work on anyone else’s projects, and neither is my kit. In a professional sense it’s junk because it IS uncal’d.
But anyway, thanks for the input, it’s really appreciated.
Kindest Regards
Daniel Griggs.
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“I know that it may sound totally obscure, but I’m in a situation where I am totally unemployed and have no form of income.”
Hehe… I know the feeling, every time I finish a project I am unemployed!
😉“back to my original question I was looking for another way to get video out of my mac to a HD display.”
There is no other way… To feed a monitor an HD signal you need an HD i/o card. BUT…If you want a 3rd “computer monitor” you may have to go with a second graphics card. I don’t think you can run 3 monitors off of a standard graphics card. But then your still going to have to spend a couple hundred dollars so now we are back to answer #1.
“I will admit that I’m likely going about things the wrong way, but I have no guidance to go by.”
Actually you have an infinite source of “guidance” and and free advice here on the Cow from many, many people, much more knowledgeable than myself. I can say without hesitating that without the COW my business would NOT be here today…. well that, and 12 years of blood, sweat, and tears. The important thing is that we take the info given here and put it to work. A LOT of very successful folks here give of their time and knowledge freely in the interest of helping people. Its all here… Ron and the herd has built an infinite and priceless database of knowledge all free for the taking… Me? I’m just trying to give a little back… but it will never amount to what I have learned here.
“But right now I am working on my own projects to develop my skills, understanding and expertise, because I fear I am not good enough to actually work on anyone else’s projects…”
Just keep plugging and learning. Whether you’ve been in the business 2 or 25 years, you never stop learning. That’s why we are all here.
There are two articles that EVERYONE should read here. Many more actually, but these two come to mind.
1) https://magazine.creativecow.net/article/participating-in-your-own-rescue2) https://magazine.creativecow.net/article/small-steps-to-big-success
Just hang in there and you will do fine.
Richard Cooper
FrostLine Productions, LLC
Anchorage, Alaska
http://www.frostlineproductions.com
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