[Craig Alan]

[Bret Williams] “Well Premiere may call it a monitor, but I call my monitor a monitor and that’s confusing enough because I could be referring to my computer monitor or my broadcast monitor. The latter is pretty much where I look.”

Didn’t know Adobe named it a monitor. But it makes sense to me. Calling a container for a digital collection of files a folder makes perfect sense. I don’t confuse it with the things hanging in my physical world cabinet. But I’m fine with viewer even though on my camera it is often an eyepiece.

[Bret Williams] “When you edit a clip in its timeline I don’t think you can change in and out. But you can slip and slide pretty intuitively.”

When you open a clip in its own timeline I’m not sure how you would slip and slide since you cannot see the clips before and after. It would cool if you could open in their own timeline three selected clips.

[Bret Williams] “I don’t use filmstrips in the event. I use list or full thumbnail. I scrub or press jkl to navigate the clip. I don’t think I’ve ever pressed a play button in the viewer or a frame advance button, etc. I’d be perfectly happy if I could hide these. Wouldn’t mind hiding all interface buttons for that matter. “

I agree with you there. However, it is helpful to me to see the overlays and in and out points in the viewer as long as you have the option to toggle them on and off. And i would prefer to scrub on the window I am viewing. But maybe when i get my updated eyeglasses I’ll be a happier with filmstrips or icons (mini-viewers).

[Bret Williams] “Nobody changed the names of anything. They’re exactly the same as they were before iMovie was upgraded to FCP X. No change.
“

I’m still on Imovie HD (version 6 I think) on the rare occasion I use it. The newer Imovie never appealed to me. I’ve been looking for a beginner program for my students and when the new Imovie came out I thought it didn’t help teach basic editing concepts or interface. Now that we have FCP X, I guess it does. But the new names make sense for Imovie. Home movies are usually composed of events – a vacation, a birthday, a ballgame. A montage might be a collection of different events put together as a project. But for most short form or long form films this has less meaning. More importantly there should be standards and a professional vocabulary so that everyone is on the same page.

This is better left for the debate forum, and I’m here because I really need to learn this X thing. Then again, dialog like this helps me remember and come to grips with it.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

[Bret Williams] “the effects are still applied, but not adjustable, nor even mentioned”

Not following…the effect is there when you move back to the project timeline but cannot be further modified?

FWIW, i tried to apply a new out point after opening a clip in its own timeline. When I switched back to the project timeline it was not changed. Obviously I’m skipping a step and will review the manual. Not very intuitive though.

And back to my original question: no matter what window I am using in FCP X, the clips will be seen in the viewer but controlled from these narrow film strips. The controls in the viewer are very basic – play, pause, single frame advance or back. I don’t mind scrubbing from the strips in the project or event windows but would like to see all overlays in the viewer. To me the logic of a single viewer was that your eyes cannot be in more than one place at a time anyway. FCP X trains you that where your scrubber goes so goes your active window and therefore your viewer image. Yet I find myself watching the larger viewer for the visual impact/impression and moving back to the strips for everything else.

Since the Apple team was changing the names of everything, I would have suggested calling the VIEWER a MONITOR and like all broadcast monitor/camera/deck setups given you the choice of displaying all the metadata and overlays or not .

I’m too new at X to know if I am making a feature request or just showing my inexperience.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thank you. I do know about these options. However when I double click an edit point I am seeing only one edit point’s handle not the entire master clip. When I match frame, I am back in the event browser. I can however see the elected portion and watch in the viewer. So would I then edit from the event window rather than the timeline? I’m used to double clicking a clip in FCP 7’s timeline and making changes in the viewer. It’s ok to work different but just want to make sure I’m not missing a built in feature.

I guess the thing that is throwing me is the entire clip will play in the viewer as I scroll over the little film strips in either the event browser or the timeline’s precision editor. But in both cases I can’t keep my eyes on the larger viewer. Is there no way to have the edit points appear in the viewer? I find it helpful for example that the L and filmstrip (end of media) overlays do appear.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Jerry,

Just wondering how FCP X uses all that ram. How does increasing the amount of media (long form) or is it the complexity of the media (the number of “tracks” or rendering say color correction) have to do with ram usage? I’m not questioning the reality – just want to understand the flow. Yesterday, it seemed like ram had a law of diminishing returns — money was better spent on larger/faster raids.

If Apple designed their new flagship app to utilize as much ram as possible then the development of the next mac pro being on the back burner seems out of sync.

What exactly gets faster with more ram? And does this apply to all incremental upgrades? For example if an Imac station has 16 gigs of ram will moving up to 24 make a difference? I do not have a particular upgrade in mind just want to understand the cost/speed ratio.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

I would try two things.

Repair permissions.

Check if disc utility sees the drive (formatted as os extended). If it does, click the mount button. I find some times disc utility sees a drive I want to mount that finder does not. Works for un-mounting too.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

I’ve had very good experience with OWC as a vendor (ram, drives, enclosures, accessories). Very good customer service. Prices are competitive. No failures on mercury line of drives (all drives will fail but I’ve had good luck). The fit and finish on some units is not as good as higher end (more expensive) enclosures but the performance is right up there. Get a box of plastic hard drive cases so you can swap out the drives and store them safely. Start thinking in terms of a system for archives and a system for editing. Shane knows his stuff. My only other thought is if you are staying on Macs your next computer will most likely have thunderbolt and maybe usb 3.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

All true and I hear reports of no harm no foul. I guess if you clone your system, try the migration approach and all goes well then you saved some time. However, what it takes to be prepared for a clean install has a lot in common with what it takes to recover from hardware failure or system wide corruption or theft or a new Mac. Or even a fouled up pro app. Make disc images of all your installs. Make a spreadsheet of all your serial numbers and passwords, and version #s etc — if you park the files in a sparse image you can password protect them. Clone previous set up. Store all this on an inexpensive external drive. Keep it up to date. The install disc images can be stored on the root level of the backup or on a separate partition. Wait for reports on your stuff working well on new OS (print drivers, graphic cards, Mac model, plug-ins etc). All this good practice anyway. Why not start clean and have a well oiled machine? I have never heard of an update where someone didn’t post that it went without a hitch. All’s well. I have never heard of an update where someone did not post about some essential going to hell. The other thing I like about clean installs aside from the spring cleaning that it forces me to practice is that I can load sections of my stuff onto the new system a little at a time. It forces me to learn where everything is supposed to go and I always find stuff I might as well trash. For example, if i have an app that I will no longer use, why have it on the new set-up? And what might have gotten installed or been added over time by running this app? What I have found is that consumer level stuff is easier to up date using migration tools. Like where did my contacts and old email go? That library suitcase type files sometimes are a pain to get back the way they were. But google usually does the trick and again it’s not a bad thing to know. The pro apps on the other hand always seem better off clean. But times are changing and it seems Apple is using more of these shrink wrapped suitcased organization systems. Either way clone it first and you can always go home again.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

If he has his FCP 7 registration number he can borrow anyone’s install discs and reinstall FCP. Uninstall first. Not as good as a full clean install but most likely will do the trick. If he registered FCP , Apple might be able to send him registration number.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Money talks. Any chance some of your work could be sold to benefit the zoo, say split the profits between the general zoo funds and to help build the video “department”. Or perhaps the videos posted on-line could be linked to ticket sales. Or have an admission to a video tour given at the zoo.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Lynnete,

Not sure what your small budget is but I would get a card based HD camera. I would get the needed accessories for it like a lens filter, a good tripod, a bag, a card reader, an extra media card. I would stay with FCP 7 as I learned FCP X. X does not meet everyone’s needs, but I don’t see these needs for a one-person producer. I am just learning X now and hated it initially but am coming around to what is cool about it. I would start shooting HD and I would set up a website for the zoo where all their videos are posted. Though DVDSP can still be used with any NLE, the best workflow being via compressor, I would start training your people to check out the video on-line or if they insist ask them for a thumb drive that you can copy the file to — just tell them that unless they have a blueray player there is no way they can get the real quality on a SD-DVD. Not to mention that it is really time consuming.

Once you start using HD card based workflows you will not want to go home again. Once they view a file based HD content on-line or copied to their computer or thumb drive they will not want to use their slow to load SD-DVD drive again.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.