AE to FCP

[David Bogie]

I realize you’re angry. We normally advise our FCP friends not to attempt to upgrade in the middle of a project for just such reasons. Too many unpredictable results are possible.

You can attempt to do what we call a scorched earth reinitialization of your system drive. This requires reinstalling everything and updating everything. Personally, I think CLEAN INSTALLs are a disastrous and wasteful expenditure of time but you probably have no choice now.

You can always try reinstalling FCP6 only and running all of the software updates.

Assume you have already run disk utility and attempted to repair privileges. You can also attempt to run disk utility and repair the drive if you start from your Mac’s installation disks.

good luck, keep us posted, someone will be around to offer more helpful advice but it is a holiday.

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[Steve Covello]

Oh man, you really asked for it by upgrading in the middle of an ongoing project. Hate to be that way, what was posted before was soooo true… Anyway:

some real help:

If you have renders [from FCP] in the Renders folder that were created from when you were at the previous version, delete them all and re-render FCP — everything.

Be sure that if there were any additional QuickTime components in the Library folder that required installation other than from an OS install, reinstall them if they are missing.

Your problem may also have nothing to do with your upgrade and could be a coincidence with other disk drive related issues. The usual checklist:

– disk drives formatted in Mac Os Extended, NOT FAT32. If your drives are FAT32, copy everything off to another volume temporarily, re-format your drive to Mac OS Extended [which wipes it clean] and then copy back your media files. Unless you are working with a RAID such as XServe or CalDigit, etc., set the FW drives Journaling on if it isn’t already [in Disk Utility]
– drives NOT filled to capacity — at least 10% free space or more
– media files constrained to only a couple locations at most, if possible, and NOT spread out in scattered Capture Scratch or Renders folders over a bunch of drives. Render files in FCP are not conscious of duplicate filenames if the Render folders are in different locations. FCP can be very confused when this happens.
– NO media on the computer’s hard drive
– known good cabling, preferably FW800
– no additional drives that are not part of the project daisy chained unnecessarily, or even worse, your project drive at the end of a chain of slower drives.
– try not to mix brands of drives. I have also had LOTS of problems with Lacie drives, especially when linked with [better] G-Tech drives.
– no other applications open if possible, no other processor intensive processes running in the BG while playing down FCP
– use FW drives that have internal RAID as opposed to just a single internal drive when possible, especially with 8-bit UC SD and compressed HD. DV resolution doesn’t all that much matter.

other stuff:

– if your renders from AE are in the same codec as your FCP project, then you should have no problem, i.e. no orange or red line on the FCP timeline. But if you are rendering in Animation, then it will not play cleanly unless it is rendered down to the FCP working resolution. Try not to rely on FCP to do this error-free, so render in the proper resolution of the project if you aren’t already doing this.
– use Tiger Cache Cleaner – medium cleaning, all 3 levels, trash prefs
– more obvious stuff, but be sure the Canvas window is set to Fit To Window.

gooooood luck.

steve covello

[Raymond Tuquero]

Well, guys, I appreciate your input and I have tried all of these things that you have thrown out. Thanks, I now found that the Renders from AE as an SD config works like a charm…BUT the HD renders do not work as a charm at all. I do not know what the heck is going on.
Now what I also found was that if you export of out FCP, the files acting up, and send them out as a Self Contained Movie, they come back in just fine. WHAT A STINKING WORK AROUND! I sent a message to the Apple ProSupport and asked them to address this issue and have an update for all of us. Even Called and told the guy over the phone to put the word in.

Thanks, I will definitely let you guys know if there are any other problems I am running into…well, actually the whole “OPEN” timeline running different qualities (HD, SD, PAL, NTSC) is starting to act up as well…BUT that is a whole other thread battle on its own.

Thanks again – and more input from anyone else would definitely help as well –

Raymond Tuquero
-Houston Editor-