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H.264 is a delivery format, not an editing format.

You might be better off if you recapture, as I’m not sure converting it will necessarily retain timecode information. Not having timecode information, as you know, will make recapturing at full resolution impossible. You might want to test that first. It may not save you much more time, anyhow.

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[debe] “Hope this helps you decide what you priorities are in choosing a laptop.”

That should be “Hope this helps you decide what your priorities are in choosing a laptop.”

Grrr, argh!

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I went back and forth on the decision myself a year or so ago.

The pros for the 15″ are it’s a lot easier to use on an airplane. It’s lighter, and it’s easier to carry around.

The pro for the 17″ is really screen real estate.

The cons for the 15″, when I purchased mine, are they were having higher incidents of repairs, and the recall on the batteries. There were screen, keyboard, and airport issues with the 15″. I believe that’s all taken care of, and the introduction of the MacBook makes all that moot, anyhow.

The cons for the 17″ are really it’s size. It’s more of a handful to travel with. Size is good and not so good.

However, that being said, the reason I bought my PB was to edit on-site, not to use on an airplane. My work didn’t require me to use the computer on an airplane. I also bought a computer case with wheels, because regardless of the computer’s size, I had a physical ailment at the time that made it very tough for me to carry either one. Wheels were the answer. Then the ease of hauling the 15″ became less of an issue for me.

So I chose the 17″. I’ve edited on a client’s 15″, and after using my 17″, really see the difference those extra 2″ diagonally get you for screen real estate. I bought my computer to edit on. I decided to buy the best computer I could for editing. Ease of transportation was a secondary concern for me. After all, I’d spend a lot more time editing on it than I’d spend hauling it around. After not too long, you get used to it. Now that I am physically able to carry my computer, it’s just a little workout every time I go somewhere that my wheels can’t. Exercise isn’t all bad! My 17″ PB is certainly still lighter than the 15″ PC laptops my husband needs to use for some of his work. The extra weight is relative. Yes, the 15″ is lighter than the 17″, but the 12″ is lighter than the 15″. The 17″ is lighter than most PC laptops on the market of the same size. My husband’s 15″ PCs are tanks, and larger than off the shelf PC laptops.

So, the decision, for me, came down to what would be better for editing on. I chose the 17″ because I wanted as much screen real estate as I could get. For the way I edit, screen real estate is very important for me to be able to edit efficiently and quickly on-site.

I can still use it on an airplane, I am merely very conscious of my neighbors. I choose to leave it in the bag on some flights because quarters are too close. I choose to use it on other flights when perhaps I’m flying with my husband, or the row isn’t full. I have only once used it during a full flight, and that was because they made me check the computer case because the flight was too full. I, of course, was not going to let my computer get tossed into the belly of the plane, so I took that out. Since it was going to spend the flight on my lap anyhow, and that wasn’t my choice, I decided to watch a movie. I felt a little guilty about the fact that my computer overlapped my tray table a wee bit, but it didn’t officially enter into my neighbor’s “air space”, so I let the guilt go.

I also second Tom’s recommendation that you look into a second firewire card bus. You will decrease the chances that you’ll have throughput issues using firewire for media if you have separate busses for input and output data paths. Both the 15″ and the 17″, in fact, all Macs, including the MacBook Pro, ship with one FW bus. Multiple ports, yes, but all those ports share the same internal hardware. The MacBook not having a FW 800 port may only be an issue for you if you work on resolution greater than DV. That’s not been shown yet, as there are currently no MacBooks running FCP yet.

Hope this helps you decide what you priorities are in choosing a laptop.

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Upgrade from:
Final Cut Pro 5 for $99
Final Cut Pro 4 or HD (4.5), Motion 2, SoundTrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro 4 OR Production Suite for $199 (any, not all)
Final Cut Pro 1, 2, or 3 or $699

gets you:
Final Cut Studio (Universal)

If you have a full, paid-for version of any of the above, you qualify.

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Actually, Shane, I checked it before I posted. It’s back up and running!

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For info on trashing prefs, look at this site…

https://www.lafcpug.org/trashing_fcp_prefs.html

The following is a nifty little program that stores and trashes prefs for you. Just be careful backing up the first time. Make sure you’re backing up clean prefs.

https://fcprescue.andersholck.com/

For the record, a search for “trash preferences” would’ve yielded this same answer much much faster for you. Sometimes it’s hard to verbalize what you need, though, making searches tough. Next time, if you’re in a hurry, try a few different searches. You may find your answer much faster.

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Thanks, Dave…

I’ll check into it! It may be exactly what I’m looking for…and a nice little dedution, too!

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Greg-

It depends on which state you’re in. There’s a company called Assurant in Milwaukee that my husband uses. However, he is disgustingly healthy. He pays somewhere around $160 a month, but his deductible is something like $1650. In a regular year, we technically pay out of pocket for everything he needs, medical and dental. The insurance only kicks in if he has a real problem that requires more than $1650 a year. They also offer a tax-deductible medical spending account that can accrue over time, so you don’t have to use it up every year, like most MSAs an employer offers. We put the max in every year we can for the deduction. It comes out tax-free to pay for his yearly check-ups and dental appointments, and the like. It doesn’t feel like out of pocket, because we’ve already set that money aside. We could take it all out and just pay tax on it anytime. It’s a pretty flexible tax shelter, as long as you follow some simple rules. Again, this may not apply to you because your state may have different laws.

I was rejected by Assurant in 2001 because I had a herniated disk in my neck. I was offered a slightly more expensive state plan that I was only eligible for because I had been rejected by a regular insurer. This is my state, though. Other states may not have that fall back insurance. It might be worth a call to you state Health and Human Services, or equivalent department. Pre-existing conditions are getting harder and harder to cover. Now that I’ve had surgery to correct my herniated disk, I may re-apply to Assurant, but my insurance guy says I may still be rejected because I was already rejected. Then I’ll have to wait 7 years to re-apply again. I don’t know if this is a state thing or not, but they can’t reject you if your condition has not been an issue for 7 or more years, so says the insurance guy. Since it’s been corrected, I don’t know why they’d reject me, but insurance is a funny game. Maybe they think I’ll spontaneously herniate another disk. Like I want to go through that again!

I don’t know if any of this is of any help, but at least you know there are two-freelancer families out there with insurance!

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Dave, so how on a device like that does FCP know which FW bus has the deck you want connected? Is it a off/on strategy? Only the deck you want to capture from or output to should be on, the other(s) off?

I have up to 4 FW sources (one camcorder, 2 DVCam/DVCPro decks, and a Beta/Digibeta multiplayer) and up to 6 FW drives that I use for archiving, but not media storage. I was considering a FW patchbay so I could have at least my three decks connected at all times and re-patch when necessary, avoiding unnecessary unplugging and replugging wear on my G5’s FW port.

You are certain that this card is 4 separate busses?

Interesting option. I shall look into it more.

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Including a “Provide Feedback” link from within an app is pretty new. I think it started with FCP4. I could be wrong.

It wasn’t so long ago that most manufacturers recommended that an edit station not be connected to the internet…

As for the feedback page on the Apple site, unless you knew it was there, it would’ve been tough to find. I knew it was there, but I’d never looked for it before. It took awhile for me to find it, too.

So, I’d vote with not so “D’oh!”….reason says it’s not something everyone who’s never needed it before should assume is there!

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