[Andy Mees]

The Log and Transfer plugin (PDZK-LT1) allows import from XDCAM EX devices from with FCP’s own Log and Transfer interface. It does NOT transcode to another format, it simply transfers the native video essence to your hard disc whilst simultaneously rewrapping that video in an FCP compatible QuickTime Movie wrapper … the same goes for Sony’s XDCAM Transfer application (PDZK-P1) ie rewrap NOT transcode.

If you want to transcode to ProRes 422 or another codec at capture then you will need to capture it directly from baseband using a suitable I/O device. Alternatively you can recompress the transfered files after ingest using Compresor or similar, or using FCP’s Media Manager >> Recompress option.

[Andy Mees]

>Do you think Apple will ever update Final Cut’s layout and UI?

Kind of depends on what you’re talking about Ben, a wholehearted change in the UI design, or minor tweaks in how how stuff is handled in the existing UI? I would rather doubt the former will happen and I should certainly hope not as there’s nothing wrong with the interface they have. The latter? Well, it would be nice to allow a little more customization like being able to define your own window/track/label colors etc, be able to do more within the existing interface, like group clips, name tracks, drag tracks to reorder them, better nest handling including expand collapse nests within an existing sequence, be able to lock focus on the viewer when insert and overwriting etc etc blah blah blah … frankly, my own list is way too long to spout off here and I dare say it wouldn’t touch on a fraction of anyone else’s wish list including your own.

Single window interface? Nope, don’t want that at all and would hate for the devs to waste precious time on it when there is so much else to do! But heck, I might be in the minority on that so if it did happen, well then so be it … but hopefully it would just be an option.

[Andy Mees]

dumb question perhaps, but why vp6 and not vp7 or vp8? enquiring minds and all that.

[Andy Mees]

Hi Sam

Sadly you can’t believe everything you read. Yes, its certainly going to be better than not checking on a good properly calibrated broadcast monitor at all, and much better than checking on a consumer HDTV, but sill it won’t be truly “accurate” for critical evaluation/correction purposes. SD and HD are not differentiated only in frame size, they also adhere to different technical standards and specifications, and whilst the card should properly handle the Rec 709 to Rec 601 conversion, the result is that what you are monitoring and correcting is in a different color space form the real source … so using SD to critically correct an HD source is never going to be perfect. After all, if it were really that simple don’t you think everybody would do it that way?

Best
Andy

[Andy Mees]

Sounds like you’ve maybe disabled the preference to automatically fetch proxies (at the bottom of XDCAM Transfer menu > Preferences window >> Cache tab)

That makes for much quicker import if you’re not logging first … if you want to keep that turned off then you can manually pull in a proxy or proxies by a number of methods:

You can select the source in the left hand pane and choose File > Fetch Proxies for Source, or you can select an individual clip or selection of clips in the right hand pane and choose File > Fetch Proxy for Clip (or Fetch Proxies for Clips).

Hope it helps
Andy

[Andy Mees]

what is the file’s name extension? its often the case that quicktime based apps will simply refuse to open a file thats file format does not match its extension, so:
if the existing extension is .mpeg or .mpg then try changing that file extension to .3gpp
if its already .3gpp then try changing the file extension to .mpeg

post back

[Andy Mees]

When you perform a PTV (or Edit to Tape) then your system has to create and maintain and uninterrupted stream of data between your hard disc and your recording device … dropped frames are usually a result of a slow disc drives that are unable to maintain that sustained data transfer rate. The slowness can be caused by a number of factors including inappropriate drives (like USB) or overfilled drives (drive performance drops off as the drive become fuller) etc. Do either of those possible causes describe your drives?

It can also sometimes be the fragmented distribution of the audio and video files across the disc that can cause dropped frames leaving the single disc’s read head struggling to access so many disparate and scattered data blocks simultaneously. You can overcome that by creating a single media file to represent your entire edit before playout … start by trying an Audio Mixdown (using Sequence menu > Render Only > Mixdown) this is considered a good step to take before any playout and may likely resolve your dropped frame issue, so try the PTT again after you have done this. If it still won’t play out then export the entire movie as a self contained quicktime file (using File menu > Export > QuickTime Movie w/Current Settings) then reimport that movie, drop it into its own sequence, and then try the PTT from that new sequence

More general info on dropped frames here: https://support.apple.com/kb/TS1165

[Andy Mees]

snore

[Andy Mees]

I’d agree with Steve. Chances are good that a 16:9 TV will have a zoom mode for displaying letterboxed images as full screen.
That said, not all of them do, so if you do really want or need to export as 16:9 then you can easily do this in Compressor’s Geometry controls by setting the Source Inset (Cropping) Crop to control to 16×9 1.78:1

[Andy Mees]

It was the wonderful Andreas Kiel’s Render Alert applescript:

————————————-
————————————-

tell application “System Events”
tell application process “Final Cut Pro”
set windowList to get name of every window
end tell
end tell

if windowList contains missing value then
beep 5
end if

quit

————————————-
————————————-

Copy and paste that into the Script Editor app in the /Applications/AppleScript folder and save it as an application

Drop the app in your dock. Once you start a render, click on the render alert in the dock. Nothing will happen until the render finishes, at which stage your system alert sound should sound five times.

You must have Universal access activated for this to work – which is in OS X’s System Preferences > Universal Access > tick the box “Enable access for assistive devices” at the bottom of the window.

For extra credit you can change the “beep 5” bit to do something more flashy like send you an SMS via Skype or Email …

tell application “Skype”
activate
end tell

tell application “System Events”
tell application process “Skype”
set theTarget to “skype:” & internationalPhoneNumber & “?sms”
open location theTarget

keystroke theText
delay 2

keystroke tab using shift
keystroke return

end tell
end tell

or

set the_number to “5555555555@message.alltel.com”
set the_message to “Your Final Cut Pro Render is Complete”
set the_subject to “FCP Notification”

tell application “Mail”
set new_message to (make new outgoing message at end of outgoing messages)
tell new_message
set visible to true
make new to recipient at end of to recipients with properties {address:the_number}
set subject to the_subject
set content to the_message
send
end tell
end tell

none of this code is mine … its all scavenged from various quick searches of the internet for Andreas’ Render Alert helper app

https://www.editorsguild.co.za/documents.html
https://www.screeneditors.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5086&postcount=20
https://community.avid.com/forums/t/45992.aspx
https://www.sms411.net/2006/07/how-to-send-email-to-phone.html