[Bill Bilowit]

Walter is right on, the way to do this is to first make DV copies of the Hi8 with the Sony camera, then capture the DV tapes in a separate session– plus you now have digital versions of the Hi8 as archives.

[Bill Bilowit]

Also, in a pinch, I think you may be able to monitor through the camera: FCP external video set to FW > 1394 > HVX200 component out, if you have analog input HD monitor.

[Bill Bilowit]

So true, logging and capture is the way to go for so many reasons.

But in cases with one enormously long camera take with no stops, I’ve logged anyway- dividing the massive take into smaller clips at spots with a rough camera move that would likely be deleted anyway. If the shot is a clean lock-off, you can still break it up, with 15-second or so overlaps to cover wherever edit points may be.

[Bill Bilowit]

FYI, I have such a cabinet for my G5 and another for the RAID, and although they work quite well I can never completely shut the front or rear cabinet door– because the big issue is heat removal. So make sure your cabinet has a temp gauge, and the edit room needs to be frigid.

[Bill Bilowit]

In FCP 5.1.4 this happens sometimes when previous audio renders are referenced instead of the most current.
If FCP 6 menu is the same in this regard, then: trash your audio renders, select all the clips on your timeline and from the menu bar: Sequence>Render Only> Mixdown. Try exporting a problem area to test if it worked.

[Bill Bilowit]

As others have said here, if you don’t provide the delivery format specs you can’t expect an answer to a question on production format specs.

And if you are familiar with stop motion and using Final Cut, how difficult could it be to shoot simple sequences in iStopMotion?

If by “pixellation” you mean aliasing, shoot progressive by using a still camera or progressive camcorder. If by “pixellation” you mean poor resolution shoot in a higher format than your delivery spec. The word “pixellation” to animators refers to a specific style of stop motion that relates more to frame rate, not image quality.

So until you provide some hard facts on what you’re needing, it will be difficult for people here to help you.

[Bill Bilowit]

Take a look at this link, it’s just one of several software products for stop motion.

https://www.boinx.com/istopmotion/overview/

Capture your shots into one of these program, then export the animated clips as Quicktime into Final Cut for finishing.

Better to capture with a digital still camera or video camcorder capable of progressive recording to avoid nasty interlacing. By using an HD camcorder or a digital still camera you can shoot in a higher “resolution” than NTSC video so your hard work can be viable for distribution in HD, which will soon be the norm anyway.

[Bill Bilowit]

You can get P2 card data into your MBP edit system inexpensively:

–via ExpressCard 34 Duel Adapter
–via Firewire while cards are mounted in the camera (a bit slower)

Or, expensively:
–via Panasonic P2 Store hard drive unit
–buy a Firestore for direct-to-edit and use P2 only for the most portable occasions

Also, post some questions in the Cow’s P2 forum for more info.

[Bill Bilowit]

I acquired a MacBook Pro in July and edited a 90-minute feature in DVCPRO HD 1080 format using two 1TB FW 800 external drives (G-Tech, RAID 0) with an extra FW bus via express card slot. Excellent performance, but even so I suggest eSATA if you can afford it.

Also have done much P2 work in both 720 and 1080; the only issue is of course the MBP cardbus slot is not P2-sized, which is why I keep my G4 PowerBook in working order. But if the shoot used a Firestore, no card issues or importing to worry about.

You may find the 15″ more manageable for travelling, it allows room for an external monitor and other peripherals in tight working spaces where even an inch or two really matters.

Absolutely max out the RAM, from Apple, and get Applecare. Order either the largest or fastest internal drive as per your needs. My approach is, if you’re getting a new system do not pull punches on performance specs, you’ll regret it during late nights on the road if you do.

Search this forum for more detail on what you can and can’t do in the MBP regarding HD formats and advanced post-production; it’s been discussed.

And if you’re not in certain need of this Mac right now, there is always a better one just around the corner. That’s why I wait until my work situation clearly justifies the purchase, then I never look back.

[Bill Bilowit]

Finally some progress with my three DVCPRO HD 1080 23.98 timelines needing to export out and come back into a fresh timeline as single clips, for a feature length final cut.

I used a suggested fix from an earlier thread that had not worked for me, but made an adjustment. I end up recompressing, but I seem to have no choice not to.

1) Exported my timeline with current settings as a ref movie, only took a minute or so.

2) Opened that ref FCP QT in Quicktime; under Properties-Video Track I changed the scaled size width aspect to 1280, unchecked Preserve Aspect Ratio, saved, renamed the file. Made sure it opened again in QT as a 1280 wide clip.

3) Imported this ref movie into FCP, from the browser exported it as FCP QT but instead of current settings I selected the format I’m working in (DVCPRO HD 1080 24). [I did not export with Quicktime Conversion]

4) Imported the resulting FCP QT (about a 50min. render for a 30min timeline) and it plays fine in a fresh sequence.

Another suggested workaround was to simply export the original timeline and choose Recompress; it didn’t work for me, plus that render was 25% longer duration than the total adventure described above.

If anyone ever finds a consistent cause of this issue, or even better a better fix, make a post please!