[Craig Alan]

I trashed all again. Loaded the media and project files for the certification book and so far am a happy camper. Much more detail. More open ended. And I can see all the files in the attic. So I guess nothing is broken except maybe the files from the previous project. Thanks for your help. Would love to have gotten the attic populated again with a back-up of the previous project but have to cut the cord. I think something got corrupted.

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: 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]

Glen,

I’ll feel fine once I get past this. But I’m going around in circles nowhere fast.

“When Avid saves your bin, the previous version is saved in the attic.”

I get this. But none of the bins are in there unless I make a change to a clip. Then only that clip is there, not the one I started with.

Now I know I deleted the attic folder for this project. But I deleted everything I could of this project. Opened MC – project not listed. Quit MC. Went back to my original zip file from AVID. Copied the projects folder to my documents folder. Copied the media to the media drive. ETC. Opened the project – all folders are there with attached media, but the attic only has an empty folder with the project name. Originally the entire folder contents would be there.

Either something was left behind that remembers that I deleted the stuff from the attic or the attic settings are wrong or corrupted.

I’ve also noticed that some of this tutorial is dated. If gives advice that the help document in 5.5 does not and the entire thing is shot on a windows platform. I think I’m gonna try to switch to the book now and see if I have any of these problems with those files.

I also tried the help document for how to “delete a project” and it told me to launch media composer, highlight the project on the list, and press delete. I got a directory error message that would not let this complete, so something’s wrong.

If need be I’ll uninstall and reinstall.

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: 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]

Thanks Glen. I follow you and glad I didn’t do anything stupid. But no matter what I try the attic now does not have copies of the bins files folders of any project. If I make changes to a clip it starts showing up in the attic. But the original clips, bins, folders, etc are not in there. I even tried deleting all cases of msmFMID.pmr and msmMMOB.mdb and when I relaunched MC it did one of those rebuilds (I think that’s the right term) which replaced the msmFMID.pmr and msmMMOB.mdb files on my drives but the attic was still empty except for an empty folder of each project and new changes.

Now that said the clips folders and bins are still in my project window in MC. So my question is how do I get the attic to repopulate? I was really hoping to be done with the on-line tutorials and hit the certification book I bought to review this in a lot more detail. Though i guess getting the basic organization structure and what can go wrong is worth the pain.

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: 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]

Thanks Andrew. Is it worth installing over the nvidia geforce GT120 that is already in the mac pro? The quadro I found in my new school lab and thought it may or may not be worth a try.

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: 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]

Thanks. I figured DVI is for a computer image. I think there’s a version of the quadro fx 4800 that has sdi out. Would that do the trick?

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: 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]

[Lee Olivas] “some of my machines have shown signs of hard drive crashing according to my PC I.T. people”

not sure what this means. If these are the original hard drives then they are very long in the tooth and have outlived their expectant life. If they are still working but crashing then it is most likely either ram going bad or system corruption. I would make a clean copy on one machine by wiping the drive clean and reinstalling the OS and all your apps. Do the needed updates and see if is running well. You might also run the original hardware check disc that came with those macs. There are free utilities you can download on-line to check your ram.

That said a new mac mini will run circles around these old macs. Do a search for each piece of software to see if they are compatible. Determine the cost of connecting your monitors to them. Start here: https://support.apple.com/kb/ht3382 then look up adapter prices.

If it really is the HDs they can easily be replaced with larger cheaper faster drives but check with Apple as to compatibility.

Apple only officially supports FCP 7 and FCP X on Lion. Not saying it won’t work — google it. FCP 5 does work on intel Macs but Lion is new.

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: 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. With a broadcast monitor in tow and zebras in cam I should be able work it out.

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: 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]

Thanks.

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: 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]

Thanks Bill and Mark,

I get base light now.

I did understand the basic premise having read the other thread. I got the point of the white wall, but can’t picture where I would put this giant reflector without blocking the students’ view of the instructor or having the instructor, as he moves toward and away from white board, casting a shadow onto the board.

Perhaps angled off the white board on either side? Angle Softbank’s from overhead, back the lights up until the diffusion is broad enough and at the right intensity. Easy enough to see unwanted reflections on the white board.

Controlled key on the instructor.
I’d block the teacher so he stands stage right of the white board, assuming he writes with his right hand. When he is actually writing, the emphasis is usually on what is being written so lighting his face well in those moments I think is less important. I’d go CU on words and hand. I would put the key light to the right of the camera aimed stage right angled enough or flagged enough to not hit the white board.

If we were shooting without students present, I would probably not use a white board but rather do a computer screen capture with v.o. intercut with talking head shots. Another possiblility is to use a projector. Since it generates its own light, it records well and then you just need to light the talent.

I’m just thinking out loud and still would like to see a sketch of what John had in mind. Is the wall as Mark says really behind the camera with Fresnels aimed at it, reflecting light on the whole set?

I’ve used reflectors and white cards but just as fills.

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: 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]

Got it. M Audio BX5a are powered so just wanted to be crystal.

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.