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A decent-sized timecode display in FCP
Just in case someone out there has some programming skills, and wants to make some easy money:
Why not design a Widget (which my more knowledgeable friends tell me can now be dropped onto your desktop, rather than just showing up on the Widget ‘floating page’) that has a large, resizeable Timecode repeater that my clients can ACTUALLY READ?
Surely it can’t be that hard – and I can’t be the only one who would pay money for it.
Just a thought.
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15 Replies
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Ben,
What a GREAT freakin’ idea!!! A dashboard widgit, yes!
Graeme???
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See – that’s two of us already! That’s worth $20 of anyone’s time.
Seriously, after a very successful 12 hour edit with a client, constantly amazing him at the speed and stability of the system, when I asked him if he prefered it to tape or Avid, all he said was “well, it’s more difficult to read the timecode you’re working on”.
Sometimes I think Apple forget that before we sit down to work, some poor producer has sat in front of a viewing machine logging TCs on paper. Frankly, I prefer not to have someone sitting so close to me (in order to read the screen) that I can see how clean their ears are every time I turn around….
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[Ben Holmes] “Frankly, I prefer not to have someone sitting so close to me (in order to read the screen) that I can see how clean their ears are every time I turn around….”
Give them another computer monitor at the producer’s position.
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Eeeeeeewwwww!
Martin at DH could probably do this if Graeme doesn’t have time. Then it would be 10 bucks!
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I often work in the edit position in an OB truck where space is usually at a premium. However, supposing you have a nice big edit suite, do you really think the best solution is to replicate the ENTIRE desktop on another monitor just so he can read the WORLD’S SMALLEST timecode display?
Don’t get me wrong – I have spent a lot of time persuading my broadcast clients to accept FCP systems on jobs. Usually, they come around to it when the hired-in Avid crashes and I sort out the opening package that has to air in an hour. I love FCP – I just think they missed a trick here…
Ben
Editec Broadcast Editing Ltd
EVS and FCP specialists
Current Mac systems All Dual 2.7Ghz with Kona 2 and Digital Voodoo cards, 6Gb Ram, Sapphire, SCSI320 Medea and Huge Arrays.
FCP projects include Sky TV coverage of the Ryder Cup and US Open Golf – Live OB specialists. -
If we could, we would but it can’t be done, sorry! FCP doesn’t provide any way to get the current Viewer or Canvas timecode out to an external application or widget. I totally agree that there really needs to be the option of a resizable floating TC window.
Martin
Digital Heaven, London UK
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NEW! VideoSpace – free diskspace calculator widget -
That’s to bad…I would buy one in a second. I think it’s the biggest flaw in FCP.
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I don’t think there’s a way to extract the timecode from FCP so there’d be no available input into the widget. What I suggest is pointing a video camera at the timecode display, zooming in and feeding that to a large video projector.
Graeme
– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP
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Well Ben,
There you have it. From both the experts. Guess it’s gonna be looking in client’s ears for a while.
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[Ben Holmes] “Why not design a Widget (which my more knowledgeable friends tell me can now be dropped onto your desktop, rather than just showing up on the Widget ‘floating page’) that has a large, resizeable Timecode repeater that my clients can ACTUALLY READ?”
Actually, I’d like to see Apple take a page from Logic or Pro Tools which have very large, easy to read TC displays. Pro Tools has one that is a “floating window” that can be put anywhere on the screen. Since it’s already in Logic, perhaps the FCP folks can bring that display over to FCP.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.comNow editing “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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