[Brian Thomas]

Many thanks for that Brett. I wasn’t looking for anything free and I’ve just paid for your Power-Guide feature. Works just great, thanks!

I couldn’t actually find what you mentioned, the “view menu” where ” you can turn on the horizon” but that’s not important now that I have your plugin.

Thanks again!

Near Geneva, Switzerland

[Brian Thomas]

Many thanks for the reply Jeff. Yes, I have Compressor and use it very frequently in my normal workflow as I create DVDs for my insatiable clients – amateur dramatic/choral society productions, school shows etc.

My ‘worry’ about Compressor in this area is that with a name like that it will somehow compress things even further from the original compressed MP4 format and make the image quality lower than it is already. Starting with 1980/90s VHS on non-professional cameras isn’t great anyway.

FWIW, I put the input and the output MP4s next to each other on the screen, compared them in a few places and they both look equally bad.

I just wonder why the output file ends up being a bit more than twice the size of the input even after I trimmed off a bit at the start and the end. Oh well…

Near Geneva, Switzerland

[Brian Thomas]

Sorry, I think I might have found something.

Share – Apple Devices 720p – Settings – Format: Computer – Video Codec: Better Quality.

The resulting file will apparently be twice the size of the original but that’s better than a “Master File” which would be about twenty times larger.

All the same, is there an option somewhere which would make the output file size even closer to the original MP4 file?

Near Geneva, Switzerland

[Brian Thomas]

Amazing! Just tried it on the iPhone8+. Bit small but great potential. Looks like I’ll be getting the biggest iPad early next week. Once again, many thanks for telling me about this.

Near Geneva, Switzerland

[Brian Thomas]

MANY thanks for your comprehensive reply John. That looks great – actually exciting. I shall try out both my iPhone8+ and my wife’s iPad. I’ll also contact the authors and see if something can be done with Thunderbolt/HDMI cables but I’m not holding my breath on that idea. It’s probably time to get another iPad in the family anyway…

Near Geneva, Switzerland

[Brian Thomas]

“…Final thoughts on FCP X vs Premiere: I paid $299 for FCP X 4 years ago. Apple has updated it with major new features every year for FREE. I haven’t spent a penny more. Had I started paying for Premiere Pro 4 years ago I would have spent $2,352 for the same time in subscription fees ($49 x 12 x 4). It’s not to hard to identify the price performer. ????”

MANY thanks for taking the time and trouble to spell all that out. I knew years ago I had chosen a powerful product but that final paragraph of yours made my jaw drop.

Near Geneva, Switzerland

[Brian Thomas]

Many thanks both for your speedy replies. I tried the Draw Mask effect, Michael, experienced difficulties making it work but tried the one next door – Shape Mask – and that took care of my needs very quickly. I’ll have to dig into Draw Mask a bit.

Thanks Andy for the advice about using footage instead of a still but with the low light at that point no one will notice the (now) non-action over to the right of the image.

Slap on the forehead for me when I read your “select the crop tool in the viewer” etc. I knew I had done this before and now I remember how. I’ve ‘removed’ stage hands wandering around in the past and of course that was the way. All happy and grateful now.

All the same, one question remains: why is the slider be restricted to halfway across the image? Just wonderin’

FCPX and PPro 6. iMac 24 + MBP 15″. Near Geneva, Switzerland

[Brian Thomas]

Mmmmm… not sure reinstalling will solve it. Because of the different layouts I seem to remember trying a few combinations until I found the one. It was a bit random and less than ideal but it sort of worked in the end.

FCPX and PPro 6. iMac 24 + MBP 15″. Near Geneva, Switzerland

[Brian Thomas]

Are you using a US keyboard or another language? I used to have all sorts of disadvantages in the shortcut area with my Swiss French keyboard. Several of them never worked satisfactorily. Eventually I gave up and used that as just one of my excuses for buying a new Macbook pro with a US keyboard. Never had any problems since!

FCPX and PPro 6. iMac 24 + MBP 15″. Near Geneva, Switzerland

[Brian Thomas]

Oh yes, thanks Bill, I’ll try that.

FCPX and PPro 6. iMac 24 + MBP 15″. Near Geneva, Switzerland