[Dave Johnson]

It’s doubtful anyone can offer a blanket answer that will apply to all FCP plugins … version compatibility typically varies from plugin to plugin so the question might be best to direct to the developers of the particular plugins you have in mind (or the associated system requirements documents).

[Dave Johnson]

And, you’re not using re-used tapes are you? Personally, I’ve found all of the DV formats to handle re-used tapes poorly.

Just to add my 2 cents to Mark’s good suggestion, you might consider having the heads cleaned professionally (versus using a head-cleaning tape).

[Dave Johnson]

It was most likely done in AE using a particle generator such as Trapcode Particular or one of AE’s built-in particle generators.

[Dave Johnson]

It doesn’t sound like you’re doing anything wrong … the floor is probably disappearing because its position is out of the camera view and/or it is being overtaken by the other 3D layer (if it is behind it in Z space). You should just need to adjust the floor’s position until it comes back into camera view … if you’re not entirely familiar with using different camera views, you could just turn on the layer handles in the comp viewer options and zoom the comp window out so that you can see where the layer is as you move it. Hope that helps.

[Dave Johnson]

Yep … what Kevin said. ;~)

I’ve done this many times and it can be quite a time-consuming pain when dealing with dozens of titles on several machines … even more so if much time has passed since the original purchases since plugin titles often change hands among developers.

The good news – very many AE plugins show the current registration info by just clicking the “About” or “Help” buttons within the plugin interface. In some cases, you can even use that info to re-install, but at the very least, you can jot it down or screen grab it since that’ll by far be the best info to provide to the developer to get current registration info and/or plugin versions.

The bad news – When the above doesn’t work, POs aren’t always as useful as you might expect since every developer has different procedures … gather all the info you possibly can (i.e., names of & email addresses used by former staff during purchases) and get organized before you start emailing or calling.

Considering how often plugins are updated, sold to other developers, or any one of other scenarios that create similar predicaments; you might pick one email address, one user name, etc. (that are each unlikely to change frequently), stick to them throughout all your software purchases/registrations and keep track of all that info.

If you’re thinking something along the lines of “but I’m an editor, man!”, you might consider whether you’re the person who should be doing all this … or might it be the production manager, studio manager or whatever that person is called in your environment?

[Dave Johnson]

[Dave Forrest] “Ok – so, regardless of what the text looks like, come render time, it’s going to come out looking sweet and smooth and also be the right size and shape?”

Yes … as long as you use the correct comp settings and render settings for what you want the output to be (from your descriptions, it sounds like you want rectangular pixs).

In my opinion, pixel aspect ratios aren’t a nightmare at all and the Adobe page below actually explains the subject quite well … true, it may be something best to learn from a person rather than a document, but you just have to understand the core principles behind the subject.

https://help.adobe.com/en_US/AfterEffects/9.0/WS3878526689cb91655866c1103906c6dea-7f3aa.html

[Dave Johnson]

[Dave LaRonde] “It’s one of those things about AE that you just have to take as an article of faith.”

Yep, unfortunately. Or, you could work the old way like I do … always work in square pixs and do the fit-to-comp thing with a rect pixs comp just before renders … that way, everything always looks right and I can forget that silly PAR correction button exists. ;~)

Now, if I could just find a way to make Photoshop stop forcing that stupid PAR correction thing on every time I open a file, I’d be in PAR heaven.

[Dave Johnson]

Do you have pixel aspect ratio correction on?

And, by “‘wire, draft or best’ option set to ‘best'”, do you mean in the comp viewer window? If so, how about the layer’s draft vs. full switch in the timeline? It sets to full by default, but maybe you switched it accidentally while clicking around in the timeline.

[Dave Johnson]

Use an adjustment layer … make a solid, mask it, click it’s adjustment layer switch in the timeline and apply the effect(s).

[Dave Johnson]

lol!

Michael makes a great point … related to his point, don’t fall for it when clients or anyone else tries to convince you that this kind of post work is just part of regular “editing” that shouldn’t affect costs or turnaround time.

It’s true an ever-increasing number and variety of things can be fixed in post nowadays, but very many people tend to conveniently forget (or refuse to understand/accept in the first place) that “fixing it in post” generally costs 3-5 times as much as fixing it during production … almost regardless of what the “it” is.

By the way, I failed to mention in my first reply … don’t forget to feather your mask(s). Also, using blending modes and/or opacity can help resolve issues like wrinkles, textures, etc.