[Bbalser]

Well, uncompressed does require every ounce of horsepower your system has to playback. Make sure your RT settings are all also set to “Dynamic”. Nothing else I can think of. I’d also run it by your xSAN technician, see what he thinks.

– Apple Certified Trainer
– Tutorials at http://www.bbalser.com
– South Louisiana FCP Users Group
– NOVAC Digital Filmmakers Institute
– Event DV magazine

[Bbalser]

The movie theaters that are switching over to digital projection are begining to get movies via FTP rather than hard drives shipped overnight. They get the films sooner, and cheaper. It’s the wave of the future.

– Apple Certified Trainer
– Tutorials at http://www.bbalser.com
– South Louisiana FCP Users Group
– NOVAC Digital Filmmakers Institute
– Event DV magazine

[Bbalser]

First of all, hit the Focus Enhancements site and upgrade your Firestore to the 3.0 firmware version. It fixes tons of bugs and adds new features you’ll love. Like recording in QuickTime so you don’t have to mess with that nasty P2 Import window. The version of the FS-100 firmware you’re on really isn’t the best. The firmware update is only about $30, I believe. It’s the version I used in the FS-100 video guide listed on my site.

– Apple Certified Trainer
– Tutorials at http://www.bbalser.com
– South Louisiana FCP Users Group
– NOVAC Digital Filmmakers Institute
– Event DV magazine

[Bbalser]

MacBook Pro, with as much RAM as you can cram into it, a Firwire card for the card slot (you can’t capture from tape without it), and an external Firewire 800 drive for your media, you’l be good to go.

The MacBook won’t work. The Intel GMA 950 graphics processor in it won’t support Motion nor the new Color application. I’d stay far away from a MacBook for Final Cut Studio 2.

And I question how well the new Color application will run even on MacBook Pros.

– Apple Certified Trainer
– Tutorials at http://www.bbalser.com
– South Louisiana FCP Users Group
– NOVAC Digital Filmmakers Institute
– Event DV magazine

[Bbalser]

Why are you using a SCSI RAID and not a Firewire or eSATA? Just curious.

Use FCP Rescue 5 to trash your FCP preferences.
Try doing a “Save As” and save the project under a new name.
Try duplicating the Sequence in the Browser and exporting that to Compressor.
Try in Compressor, giving the new files a name other than what the project in FCP is called.

– Apple Certified Trainer
– Tutorials at http://www.bbalser.com
– South Louisiana FCP Users Group
– NOVAC Digital Filmmakers Institute
– Event DV magazine

[Bbalser]

Shameless self plug, but check out my FCP Photomontage tutorial on my web site. It’ll make your job so much easier and faster, and so worth the price (it’s cheap).

As for ideas, I’d recommend checking out wedding video sites. I think WEVA and 4EVER Group both may have videos up on their sites. Wedding videographers do tons of photomontages with fancey tricks. You want to check with that camp to see what they’re doing.

Perhaps call a couple of the higher priced wedding videographers in your area using FCP and ask them to show you photomontages.

– Apple Certified Trainer
– Tutorials at http://www.bbalser.com
– South Louisiana FCP Users Group
– NOVAC Digital Filmmakers Institute
– Event DV magazine

[Bbalser]

As someone who teaches FCP and film making classes at a film school, and who also helps place people into jobs in the film and broadcast industries, I can tell you that PPro has a long way to go before becoming as popular in those industries. Cinema Tools, for one, is the strongest point with FCP, along with other aspects that PPro isn’t up to yet. Color by itself puts FCP far ahead of Adobe’s package right out of the box. The local film/broadcast folks who I consult for feel that Adobe’s “integration” (which is overhyped) is the least of their conserns with an NLE. FCP’s superior compositing is more important to them, it’s extensive XML tools, etc, all that, from what they tell me, matters more.

PPro is a great NLE, and Adobe’s new package is nice. But just cause it’ll be on a Mac doesn’t make it any more appealing to film and broadcast studios.

In the wedding & event videography field, PPro is far more widely used than FCP, it fits that type of work very well. In Film/Broadcast, FCP is so far ahead of Adobe, and with Final Cut Server coming out, it’ll be even further ahead. We get people taking our FCP classes in our film school who are trying to get actual jobs, and are experienced with Avid, PPro, etc, but the jobs they are applying for use FCP. So they’re all rushing to learn it.

I’m not bashing, just stating the facts of the industry. FCP is just to widely used now. Most of the Avid studios here in Hollywood south switched from Avid to FCP after Katrina, and report at this point they wish they’d made the change sooner.

If you want to make a career out of editing, learn FCP and Avid, leave the rest to the wedding videographers (I did weddings for a few years way back when, I know first hand what it takes).

– Apple Certified Trainer
– Tutorials at http://www.bbalser.com
– South Louisiana FCP Users Group
– NOVAC Digital Filmmakers Institute
– Event DV magazine

[Bbalser]

I am assuming you use the “Send To STP Audio File” function, right?

– Apple Certified Trainer
– Tutorials at http://www.bbalser.com
– South Louisiana FCP Users Group
– NOVAC Digital Filmmakers Institute
– Event DV magazine

[Bbalser]

Going from FCP to STP is in fact non-destructive, and you can’t get around that. So you’re safe. You just need to replace the STP created file that is now in your Timeline, with the audio from the Mast Clip.

Re-linking media won’t work, as what happens in the FCP>STP round trip is that a new file gets made, non-destructive, so the original capture file is very different from the audio file STP crated and placed into your Timeline, it won’t relink, it won’t match up. It’s easy enough to find the Master Clip in the Browser and replace the STP audio clip with the original.

BTW, I’m a certified STP trainer, amoung my other titles. Trust me, you haven’t lost anything with the workflow you’re using.

– Apple Certified Trainer
– Tutorials at http://www.bbalser.com
– South Louisiana FCP Users Group
– NOVAC Digital Filmmakers Institute
– Event DV magazine

[Bbalser]

What Mac are you on, how much RAM, what’s your hard drive configuration? These all directly impact playback. Also, what are your RT settings? Try switching to Safe RT.

– Apple Certified Trainer
– Tutorials at http://www.bbalser.com
– South Louisiana FCP Users Group
– NOVAC Digital Filmmakers Institute
– Event DV magazine