[Craig Alan]

Got it. Thanks. The connection point gives you some counter-control over magnetic or any other behavior. Keep this connection at this point. So, for example, this action stays aligned with this lyric no matter what else is moved around.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks Brett,

Kinda getting a feel for these new workflows (for me) for this montage. When I started in X with a few short form narratives and one documentary, I found the story line/connected clips way of working quite intuitive and didn’t run into any “how come I can’t” moments. So this has been a good exercise.

Not sure i got one part of your post.

[Bret Williams] “You can change the point of connection by cmd+option+click on the spot on the connected clip (or the little frame around the secondary) where you want the point to be. “

If both are connected to the primary story line why would you change where on the connected clip the point of attachment is? Isn’t the point of attachment at the beginning of the connected clip to a point in the primary? Or this is just a way to get the little Q tail attachment lines to be less cluttered and doesn’t really change where it begins in relation to the primary?

Isn’t it less informative to have the connection point not at the beginning of the connected clip? Or does it actually ripple the clip to a new place on the primary?

And is it just me or are these lines not really all that visible? I know I can zoom in just like in 7 but this is the part of editing that I find the most tedious: The visual strain of needing to see both the zoom in and zoom out view of the time line.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks. That was what I was originally asking for. And I’ll try it out. Enjoying the use of secondary timelines and compound clips as an organization tool on the timeline. I like being able to group and ungroup sets of clips in order to work with them in different ways.

One thing that confused me at first was why FC did not let me create a secondary timeline out of all my connected clips. Then I realized I could not highlight a clip on a third track. But that third track clip was a title that I wanted aligned with a clip on the secondary timeline. So I undid the grouping (break apart) and created a compound clip out of the title and the “parent” clip. Then I created the secondary. This worked fine though it seems like an extra step that is unnecessary. No reason that a secondary timeline should not be able to have their own connected clips.

If I decide to then break apart the compounded clip, the clip that was on the third track reconnects with the primary. I guess it’s no big deal since if I adjust its location I can then re-compound it. I did notice that unlike my first attempt, I was able to do so without the secondary being broken up first.

Does this mean I can always add a connected clip to a clip in the secondary by creating a compound of it and the new parent? And could have done this from the get go? I guess it keeps things neater.

Or is there yet another feature that allows direct connections to other than the primary story line?

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Got it. Thank you so much. I’ll give it a shot.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks.
Just to be clear: this means that the music would be a connected clip and/or a secondary story line.

And the visuals are now the primary story line. With the advantage that since the music is attached to a short gap clip, the visuals can be edited without the music getting pushed around.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thank you. These were the exactly the type of things I was considering.

If I turn the connected clips into a secondary story line then it is connected at one point to the primary?

Can I go back and forth with these options?

For example, can I turn my connected clips into a secondary story line giving me the advantage of essentially two tracks, but then turn them back into regular connected clips so I can independently connect clips to the primary at specific points? (without undoing previous edits).

Also if I am happy with say the first 30 seconds of my project, can I turn that 30 seconds into a compound clip and then un-compound it if needed?

If I take your suggestion of using a gap clip as the primary story line, don’t I loose all the editing options that the primary has? For example trim tools and transitions?

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

I had the same thing happen on a FCP 7 computer with media stored on an external drive. A project was a mess. Created a new user account and copied project file and relinked to media and all was solved.

So user accounts can get corrupted or develop permission problems. Good question about what to look for in User folder. I second Disk Warrior being able to sort things out that disk utility cannot.

I always keep the original ram chips that came with my mac and buy third party ram to max out as much as I can afford. This way I can swap them out to original ram chips to quickly determine if ram is the culprit when I get weird behavior – though in my experience bad ram has always involved kernal panics. I have never had bad ram be the cause of one app acting weird.

One more thought: make sure your system drive is not getting too full.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Any good links on making your own XLR connections?

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

I am lending the gear out to hundreds of students every week. This includes 6 production kits with as many as 12 xlr cords, 6 mixers, 12 mikes, interconnects with the cameras, boom poles, etc. I have had a very good track record, far better than most I have seen, but things do get worn out or on occasion mishandled. When we are in the production stage of a project, we are usually cramped for time. One period ends and the next begins. There is a check in and out procedure but I do not have time to put gear through its paces so its more like an eyeball and organization thing. On the cables that have gone bad, it’s a loose connection and usually this is discovered after the fact and often intermittent. I must say that the better quality gear tends to hold up better.
As far as budget, in the past two years we have spent over $200,000 on the program. But school budgeting is not particularly well thought out; there is no budget for on- going expenses. It’s a matter of taking advantage of grants that must be applied for and the money spent within a set period of time. Getting the grants and following through on the orders is a job in itself.
As far as holding students responsible, I address this on a regular basis – both the proper handling of gear and the issue of respect and safety. However, no one has empowered me with the ability to charge parents for any damage that occurs.

In the past year, I had two XLR cords develop an intermittent connection. They had been in service for, I’m guessing, 3 years. I also made the mistake of ordering 15-foot cables a while back. If I were to do it again I’d go to 25 feet.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Sorry I worded it that way. I have a pretty good track record in terms of loss and damage to production gear. However, I am lending out gear to hundreds of students day in and day out during the school year.. Every so often i find an xlr cable that seems to have a loose connection. If I had an inexpensive way to repair the connection I would. But I have never done these type of repairs. I assume I’d have to learn to solder and follow a wiring diagram.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.