[David Bogie]

Which god? Pat Roberston’s or mine?

The reference export process is exactly the same and yields the same results in both apps: a tiny reference file that merely points back to the source media. So, we’re left with the conclusion that you’re doing something wrong or something odd is occurring as you hit the blue button. Which it could be is impossible to tell without watching over your shoulder but my first guess is the self-contained switch is somehow getting bounced back to its ON state since what you are ending up with is, in fact, a self-contained movie.

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[David Bogie]

Not really. Apple’s bizarre file ordering hasn’t changed in decades although you can find some tweaks that control it at the Finder or OS level. For instance, 10 is not necessarily going to come before 011.

I have no idea what your comfort level is so please do not misunderstand these suggestions.
Resolving timelapse from a collection of stills into a movie can be handled many different ways and FCP may not be where you want to do it. The topic comes up often here and on other FCP forums so try searching a few of them for timelapse help. No need to reinvent anything.

From within FCP, your best option might be to break your project up into manageable reels of say 100-250 images each. That way mistakes don’t bring down the whole project.

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[David Bogie]

Start by explaining where you want these files to go, how they are to be viewed and how you are justifying the need for color accuracy since you have no control over the setup of the playback monitor, in most cases. Your output issues from FCP sound like user settings problems. There is nothing inherent in FCP that would cause your image to change that much. However, transcoding between color spaces is tricky and requires careful control over the production pipeline from exposure to output.

H.264 is simply a codec; you can use it from within almost any Quicktime exporting tool. Batch exporting using Compressor is remarkably easy to set up and even automate. Using 264 on DV is only a valid choice if you need 264’s unique scalability properties, otherwise it’s a waste of time since you cannot improve on the original.

“Best compression software” is relative, I’m afraid. Pick one from the many reviews that you can find all over the magazine sites and here on the cow and then learn how to use it. It will become the best by default. Aside from plugins or support for esoterics, the only differences between them are their interfaces and costs.

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[David Bogie]

MPEG1 by definition is 320×240. That’s the spec.
You could output a folder full of jpegs and then convert those to GIF in any conventional tool like Image Ready or PS or the ever-popular GraphiConvertor.

These seemingly random questions always illicit a qualifier: What exactly are you trying to do? There’s probably a better route for you to take.

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[David Bogie]

No, there are no unknown problems. The problems are all known.

Which one are you experiencing?

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[David Bogie]

After Effects.

Joke.
But it’s the best system for varying speed that I have ever used. That really means it’s the ONLY system I’ve used.

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[David Bogie]

I’d say No. but others will argue permissions are the most powerful tool at your disposal but the operation may or may not have been related at all to your situation. that is, repairing permissions may have only been coincidental with your system purging a huge and possibly damaged swap file. Were there any longer than normal startups during any of these sessions? That endless gray screen can indicate tremendous disk repair activity.

If you google “repair permissions” you will find hours and hours of fascinatingly incomprehensible discussion including the proposal that it’s completely irresponsible of Apple to make such a powerful and seemingly required management tool so completely opaque and non-user friendly.

bogiesan

[David Bogie]

Video editing and VJ-ing are completely different applications of similar technologies. It’s easy to assemble different partitions on a drive that launch streamlined systems designed to do different things.

I’d be very curious to know what VJs are eliminating but they’re the people to ask. If you find out, please post back.

bogiesan

[David Bogie]

You can try versiontracker or other Macintosh application reference sites to locate font repair and font management tools. FontBook itself is quite capable but limited, open the Mac Help system and search for font.

This could be very expensive in terms of time or purchasing repair tools. Good font management tools, like good fonts, are not free.

bogiesan

[David Bogie]

Suggest you hang out at macwindows.com for a few weeks. tons and tons of fascinating stuff designed specifically for hapless Macintosh loners awash in a seas of Winderz machines.

We’re running a new windows network, too, and Tiger’s new SMB and HTTP handling changed everything. I cannot tell you what our IT people did for us, sorry, it was many months ago and it was all geek to me.

bogiesan