[Alan Langdon]

Thanks again. I did not ignore the Disk Warrior suggestion, I got your drift.
About the prefs, I can do that, where do I find them? Application support? What is the file name exactly, if its not asking too much?
I recently installed clean the OS and FCP 6, though, so it really shouldn’t be too fragmented, right?

[Alan Langdon]

Thanks for the speedy response.
The strangest thing is, after seeing (hearing, really) this issue over and over while subtitling the film just yesterday, today I am unable to find such audio gaps in the imported “master”, although I am not watching the whole movie at once. I will do this, but is it possible that the drive temporarily lost connection to parts of the audio?
Would you recomend in the future backing up / mastering to several smaller FCP movies?
Thanks!
PS: I will run a disk utility, although I did this recently.

[Alan Langdon]

Hm, that’s the catch: They are not all the same length…!

[Alan Langdon]

Thank you Andreas, Matt, Mark and Andy, for all the helpful input.

I understand what you mean by honoring the programmer (our Andreas, in this case) who made such a usefull effort to solve a common need. I also appologise if I sound unwilling to aknowledge this by purchasing the plugin/software.I will probably purchase it as soon as my budget allows, I have no problem with making such a contribution, it’s just a momentary constrain I am in. For now, I will copy and paste, and not include the clip name, which will work fine for now since the timecode is unique for each clip (the cameraman set it this way, incremental TC so that no two clips have the same TC).
Thanks again to all!

[Alan Langdon]

Vince-

I am interested in more details on your preference for AE downconverting HD footage. Could you describe the workflow? I am an extensive user of AE, and would tend to agree with you.

Currently I have a master HD file that is Apple Intermediate Codec 1920×1280 and would like to put in on a SD DVD. Do I stretch in the AE Render/Output Settings, or place the HD clip in a SD anamorphic comp? Should I introduce any fields or is this just adding noise/degradation?
My first intention is to have a SD master. Then, put it on a SD anamorphic DVD. I will use Toast, COmpressor and/or MPEG Streamclip for the encoding.

I was analysing a VOB from a anamorphic SD DVD somebody made, they originaly shot in 2K, but I dont know how they downconverted. But it looks pretty good on DVD and when I open the VOB in MPEG Streamclip, it claims the file is Upper Field dominant, although the image is definitelly not interlaced, but progressive 30p. Any ideas about this?

Sorry to through so many questions, I hope you can help with any of them. Thanks!

[Alan Langdon]

Noa-

What a complete drag. Unbelievable… I wish I had better news for you. I was able to uninstall using FCS Remover (I know it’s sloppy and possibly leaves crumbs behind) and now I am updating my Pro Applications drivers and such to just go back to FCP 6.05… I hadn’t gone too far in my current edit so I haven’t lost too much work, just time and headaches… Are you still having the dropped frame issue, which is what I have? The audio problem I do not have, but I have been disappointed before with the audio rendering and such, and I always end up thinking I need to learn Soundtrack Pro to do my audio. Do you know this program? Have you tried it?
Which system did you buy spanking new which doesn’t go below snow leopard?
The audio renders I think you need to locate and find out why they are not giong where you want them to. I know its a stupid question, but what quality are you choosing in the USer Preferences for playback? When you export a FCP movie, current compression, doe sit go with the audio problems the same? Are you “mixing down” your audios? Apple + Option + R
Sorry to offer lame suggestions, I am not a complete expert. Hopefully you can solve this, and I’ll let you know if I get any helpful info.

Best of luck!

[Alan Langdon]

Hi, Noa.

Have you solved your issue yet? I am having the same problem, I upgraded from 6.05 to 7.01 and I get dropped frames on a common-plcae SD DV NTSC sequence, big time frame dropping. I am just going to go back to 6.05, which I have never had to do before: recede to an older version. Apple has dropped the ball, I think, upgrading and letting this huge bug happen. Please let me know what you discover and I will do the same.
Best luck to us all!

Alan

OSX 10.5.8
MacBook Pro 2.2 GHZ 4Gb RAM 160GB HD Lacie External FW 800 drive

[Alan Langdon]

Are you running this OS on a G4 laptop as well?
I ended up reversing back to Tiger and am still testing to see if the problem re-appears… Sometimes it wasn’t there, sometimes it was, under Leopard…

[Alan Langdon]

Arnie-

Thanks for helping. One question: why switch form 30 fps to 29.97 fps? I know this is an issue for TV, for assuring the “real” length of a film, but this one will not go to VT, it will probably live on DV NTSC miniDV, SD DVDs, YouTube, Vimeo and someday a high definition DVD… So I am unsure of the need for Drop-Frame conversion. Can’t I just edit in a 30 fps sequence the converted 30 fps footage?

I am first converting to Apple Intermediate Codec, since there is a lot of footage. ONce I am down to a final cut, I will upres by reconverting and relinking to Pro Res footage.

[Alan Langdon]

Chris, I am using a LAcie 1 TB external drive with 7200 RPM and FW 800 as the connection. My footage is on the external drive and the soudns are on the internal drive. I just noticed that if I cut in L, I get much less hickup, although the image playback is choppy almost always. Should I place my audio also on the external?

Thanks everyone for the info, this is helping, I will convert the footage. But wouldn’t scaling down to at least 1280×720 make it smoother to work with?

I also tried the OFFLINE RT HD mode and it is smooth but lacks image quality for the client to watch the first cut.