David Heidelberger
Forum Replies Created
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The MPEG Streamclip “Export to DV” setting converts the audio to a strange format (different bitrate or sample rate or something, I forget what, exactly). Don’t know if that’s what’s causing the problems. I created my own DV preset accessed through “Export to Quicktime” to get around that. I can’t check if that makes a difference because I’m still running 5.1.3.
– David
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Thanks guys. That’s more or less what I figured. I guess I’ll be submitting a feature request for FCP 7. It seems like it shouldn’t be that hard to implement since QT does it easily. Maybe I could write an AppleScript or Automator or something in the meantime.
Shane, I’ve never had occasion to capture audio and video to separate files. Where’s the check-box for that?
Thanks,
– David -
Also, what type of footage is it? Is it consistently throughout the project or just on certain clips?
– David
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When I’m synching using audio, I usually lay both clips out in the timeline and align them there, listening and looking at the waveforms. When they’re in synch, I make sure that both clips start at the same time on the timeline and hit the match frame button for each one (f). This will set the in points for you and then you can select your clips and multi-cam them, using in point as your synch mark.
– David
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I’ve sometimes had a similar sounding problem if I’m working with MPEG footage in an FCP timeline. What’s the footage source? If it’s MPEG, consider getting Streamclip, which is free, and converting the footage to the format you’re editing (i.e. DV).
Good luck,
– David -
Was the media imported on a different computer, possibly running an earlier version of Final Cut? If so, this problem is the result of a bug in FCP 5.1.0 and earlier and how it handles 720p24 p2 media. The best solution to the problem is to re-import all the media from the P2s again, but that’s not practical (and may lead to timecode discrepencies on any reconnect). Try applying effects to every single clip that will force Final Cut to render them, without necessarily changing the picture (a blur filter set to 0, for example). Anything is okay, as long as you see a red bar over your entire timeline. If you export that (and it will take a while), the problem will hopefully be corrected.
– David
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I’ve sometimes had trouble if I overwrite a Quicktime file with a new one. Are you giving each of the encodes a unique name or are you overwriting old files? This may make a difference. May not, though.
– David
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The problem actually goes beyond timecode. As near as I can tell, on longer clips, applying effects that need rendering seems to actually shift the framerate of the clip, such that towards the end of the clip, you’re looking at a different frame than you would be had the effect not been applied. This can also create sync issues because it seems that the audio is not affected, which creates a drift. If you’re stuck with pre 5.1.1 versions, as I’ve said, I think that conforming your clips to 23.98 in Cinema Tools is a workaround to the problem, but whatever bogus timecode may be there will be even more bogus after that.
– David
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The crossgrade shouldn’t have an effect on your current media. But all earlier projects will need to be converted to 5.1 (and then 5.2) projects and will no longer be able to open in 5.0.
The only way to get rid of the P2 problem is to import old P2 media in 5.1. I think you may also be able to get rid of it by using Cinema Tools to “Conform to 23.98,” but that will create so many problems with your timecode, it’s probably not worth it. In my experience with the problem, it’s a drift over time, so if you’re only working with short clips, you may never experience it, but longer takes definitely get issues.
– David
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That should work. As long as you keep the P2 directory fully intact, you can import the files from anywhere (in other words, make one folder per card and be sure you’ve copied ALL the files on the card).
If you can manage it, it may be worth importing into Final Cut with a laptop on the set, that way, you can make sure that your backup copy really is good before you wipe the P2 card. You should be able to be backing up one card to the drive and importing the previous card into Final Cut at the same time and be able to keep up with the pace of the camera.
One pitfall: There’s a serious bug in how FCP handles frame rates of P2 media that can cause audio sync issues and issues if you’re applying any effects. This bug was fixed for 5.1. If you haven’t cross-graded to 5.1 yet, you definitely should before you import the media. The media apparently has to be imported into 5.1 in order for it to behave properly.
Good luck,
– David