[Craig Alan]

Thanks, Don.

I’m ordering a bunch of Canon HV30s for our video class. I asked the sales rep (a video prod pro place) about the problems I’ve had in the past with Canon’s and he assured me these problems have been corrected.

It was my understanding, previously, that the problems involved head misalignment and therefore sync issues and a slightly different firewire standard. Thus I needed to use the Canon cams as decks rather than the Sony dsr-11 I was using for everything else-sonys, panas, JVCs. My concern is that the computers they have ordered for this lab are Imacs, which have only one firewire bus and no way to add to it. If what you describe, and I am experiencing with the macbook pro is true, then the only work around would be as you described above making hundreds of captures an extra step.

OSX 10.5.3; MAC PRO 2 X 2.8 GHZ (EARLY 2008); FCP Suite; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

The best way to judge aperture and focus is by monitoring with an external monitor. The xl2 it is very dependent on ample lighting. With documentaries you might not always be allowed the luxury. But for short films, invest in lighting gear and a good monitor and use your eyes. If you can’t afford an external monitor and lighting gear, then play back your tapes with the data revealed so you can see how the camera did in different conditions and different settings. You can even experiment by recording a scene and changing the different settings one notch at a time. It really is all about the light. Go to the lighting forum and ask them what books/tutorials would be good.

OSX 10.5.3; MAC PRO 2 X 2.8 GHZ (EARLY 2008); FCP Suite; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

I wouldn’t give up on this idea. Go to Linksys’ site and see what OS is supported for your router model. Even if they say 10.4+ you might want to email their customer support and ask. Then I’d do the same for whatever product you want to use to attach to your G4. For what it’s worth Linksys’ latest product supports win 98. But I think Mac support came later for them.

OSX 10.5.3; MAC PRO 2 X 2.8 GHZ (EARLY 2008); FCP Suite; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

You certainly have plenty of headroom. And unless you are editing with those QTs stored on the system drive that’s not an issue.

Do you have another drive you can boot from to test your current system drive?

OSX 10.5.3; MAC PRO 2 X 2.8 GHZ (EARLY 2008); FCP Suite; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

I don’t think there is a way of telling if a drive is about to fail other than monitoring temperature (smart sensors) or if it starts clicking or grinding or making other funny sounds for sure it’s in trouble.

How full is your system drive? If it is more than 80% full that might account for the slow down. I suppose a lot of fragmentation or corruption might cause this as well.

Are you storing media files on the system drive?

OSX 10.5.3; MAC PRO 2 X 2.8 GHZ (EARLY 2008); FCP Suite; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

https://countryman.com/display.asp?catid=4&pid=71

OSX 10.5.3; MAC PRO 2 X 2.8 GHZ (EARLY 2008); FCP Suite; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

This will be a great service. Please try to include pictures of kits and lights in use.

Additional info: Best places to buy. Price for kits with x number of units? What kind of case at what price? How secure are lamps in case? How heavy? Wheels? How long do bulbs last? Warranty. Customer service.

Are all parts rock solid? Any sharp edges or sticky knobs? Are the cords heavy with solid connections? Would the kit survive a tired crew striking them quickly or do they require kid glove handling?

OSX 10.5.3; MAC PRO 2 X 2.8 GHZ (EARLY 2008); FCP Suite; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

It seems pretty powerful to me. By default it sorts by “last opened” which is often the one I’m looking for. You can re-sort by name or kind. You can fine-tune the search by clicking the + button and adding criteria. You can preview any document without waiting for the app to launch and then having to quit or close that. And there is uniformity between a folder search, the finder search, and spotlight>show all. The only thing that has bothered me is sometimes I want to find the last file I added rather than when it was created. For example, I download a file and store it in a folder. I open the folder and have the choice to sort by name date or type, none of which puts this downloaded file at the top. Same problem if I drag a file into a new folder.

Spotlight will initially break it down by type, which can be customized in system preferences>spotlight preferences.

OSX 10.5.3; MAC PRO 2 X 2.8 GHZ (EARLY 2008); FCP Suite; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

click on kind and it will sort by kind.

OSX 10.5.3; MAC PRO 2 X 2.8 GHZ (EARLY 2008); FCP Suite; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Hi Hans, I’ve been on Macs for many years. I’ve been through kernel panics. Never have I had anyone read the log and been of help. Not saying it can’t be done, but not too commonly. Maybe yours is specific enough, don’t know. Random suggestions: Repair permissions and run a hardware check using the install disc that came with the Mac. If it’s the ram, there are ram check software programs. Do a search. You might try removing all the extra modules and see if the panics go away. If so, re- install them in pairs one pair at a time and test. Monitor the temperature of the drives with smart software make sure nothing is overheating. Try unplugging all usb, firewire devices and seeing if that stops the panics. If so, plug them back in one at a time to determine which is the culprit. You might also try a fresh install of the OS. Make sure all your cards and other devices have latest firmware. Do a search for each card, device to see if others are having same problem.

OSX 10.4.11; Quicksilver Dual 1 gig; G5 dual 2.5 gig; FCP 4.5, 3.0.4; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.