Alex Elkins
Forum Replies Created
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[Omar Estrada] “However, what would be the problem with the texts done in FCP itself?”
Not sure, other than as I said, changing your compressor from HDV to ProRes. The reason for this is that editing and rendering projects as HDV is a good way of losing quality, and you’ll really notice it with text. Working with ProRes will mean that your sequence isn’t going through a phase of quality loss each time you render.
You could also try using the Boris text generator rather than the standard FCP one, particularly if any of your text is scrolling. I used to have endless problems with jerky scrolling text until I turned my brain on and started using the Boris plug in.
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Thanks a lot Shane, you’ve saved me a bit of cash there, and more importantly the potential for losing lots of data. Given the usage I’d have for the internal storage I’ll happily settle for just the OS drive and then a further 1TB SATA then.
Any recommendations on the actual drives to choose – I can’t go wrong with Hitachi, right?Many thanks,
Alex -
Hi Russ, thanks for your feedback. That’s reassured me. Do you have any opinions or feedback regarding my proposal for internal storage?
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What are your sequence settings? Make sure your compressor is set at ProRes not HDV. This might have an effect.
With the graphics you created in Photoshop, was your pixel apect ratio correct in that? (i.e. the same as in you FCP sequence) If you’re using square pixels in Photoshop then I’ve found there can be problems with quality when bringing into FCP.
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[Michael Sacci] “simply cut out 29 frames, close gap, frame ahead one, remove 29 frames, close gap and so on.”
Isn’t that essentially what FCP is doing when you speed up a clip anyway? Is there a difference between the two methods, apart from having more control over which precise frames you’re keeping?
Thanks,
Alex -
[Chris Poisson] “There also are quite a few Hard Drive docks, which are really cheap and easy to use, you just plug and empty drive into them. fill it up and move to the next.”
Such as this? https://www.allcam.biz/catalog/product_info.php?ref=7&products_id=693
It says it only works with Windows though. I suspect that may not be the case, as I’ve used a number of external drives that don’t specifically mention compatibility with Macs but do actually work fine. If I were to buy a hard drive dock, should I only go for something that specifies Mac compatibility?While on the subject, could someone give me an idea as to what commonly used video codecs, other than DV, an e-SATA drive could handle? Is ProRes out of the question?
Thanks.
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Thanks Andy, that’s working great. Really useful little tool.
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You mentioned in your first post that you’re taking it to a lab to be transferred to Mini DV, so you just need to put your video file onto an external harddrive or even a DVD if it’s not too long, then give that to the lab. They’ll be able to sort the rest out.
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Hi Andy,
I’ve just been on your website and downloaded the title-safe plugin as it looked a bit more hi-tech than the ‘title-safe tape’ we use on the monitor where I am. I’ve not installed a plugin before. What do I need to do to actually use it? I’ve copied it across to my FCP Plugins folder. Is that right? Then what??
Many Thanks,
Alex -
[yuliya lanina] “with checked preserve aspect ratio and the film came out squished with not so good resolution.”
To stop it from squishing you need to NOT preserve the aspect ratio. However, this means that you will end up with the edges of your film cropped, which probably isn’t what you want.
Personally I would open a new sequence in FCP, but change your settings to DV – use the Easy Setup option to do this if you’re unsure. Then just copy and paste your original sequence into it and you should be left with a 4×3 film with black bars at the top and bottom, keeping it widescreen but as a 4×3 video. Then go to File>Export>Quicktime Movie and wack it onto your firewire drive.