Don Greening
Forum Replies Created
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Richard,
FYI, OS10.3.4 seems to be the most stable version for us G4 types. Keep this in mind once you’ve got FCPHD installed successfully but start to have any difficulties with FW drives or general FCP stability issues in the future.
When I installed FCP 4.1 I immediately did the upgrade to FCPHD amd found no problems doing so. A suggestion would be to try uninstalling the 4.1 version and then reinstalling everything right up to v.4.5. Just a thought.
– Don
“Parts left out cost nothing and cause very few service problems”
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The first reason I export a self-contained .mov from FCP is to keep an archived uncompressed copy of the timeline which allows me to delete projects when completed. The second reason is to use Compressor as a stand alone app which frees up FCP for continued editing on other projects while Compressor works in the background. Not that I’ve noticed, but I’ve also been told that exporting to Compressor within FCP is not nearly as stable as using Compressor by itself.
The other reason for using A.Pack all the time is not only to save space on the DVD but also to keep the audio bit rate down so DVD players down’t choke on the much higher .aif bit rates.
– Don
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I can’t advise you on what the transfer settings on your HDV Sony should be ’cause I don’t own one. What I can tell you though, is that you need to have the camera send the SD downconvert video to your Mac instead of the HD. Consult your owners manual for the right way to do that.
Open the log and capture window in FCP and make sure the ‘anamorphic’ box is checked, then your 16:9 footage will be captured properly. Then in sequence settings make sure the timeline is also set to anamorphic DV NTSC 48.
In Compressor choose the DV NTSC anamorphic preset for you MPEG2 encode.
In DVDSP highlight the track and select ‘anamorphic’ in the properties tab.
That’s about it for my quick and dirty workflow description.
– Don
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Revision on # 2: 32.98 should’ve been 23.98. Typo.
– Don
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Ivan,
Your workpath is as follows:
1) go to the link below and jump to the bottom of the article under the heading: “I shot in the wrong mode! Help!”
https://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/24p_in_FCP_nattress.html
2) ask your boss if you can buy Grame’s standards conversion filter for FCP which will convert your 29.97 footage into 32.98 to match the stuff from the XL2. Then you’ll be able to edit eveeryting in a single timeline/sequence.
3) and I ain’t buyin’ it that it’s all because of an equipment error (grin). Nice try, though.
– Don
“Parts left out cost nothing and cause very few service problems”
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If your project’s destination is DVD then export a quicktime movie from within FCP using the DV NTSC 48 codec. Export your .mov without the audio. Once that’s done you can then export the audio only as a self contained stereo file. The reason for this is because you want to use A.Pack to compress your audio down to a 192 bit rate (for stereo L & R) that will take up far less space on your DVD than the original .aif file. This will leave you more room on the disc for video encoded at a higher bit rate than would be possible if the audio was still part of the QT movie.
Import your audio file into A.Pack, choose the stereo L & R preset then drag your file to each of the speaker icons. Set encoding bit rate to 192, dialogue normalization to -31 dBFS (so the volume doesn’t change). Click on the preprocessing tab and set compression preset to none. Change nothing else then click on encode.
Import your .mov file into Compressor and use one of the presets for encoding into MPEG2 for the DVD, or you can create a custom preset if you wish. Notice that there is no step in the process that includes the Sorensen codec that you mentioned.
Once your .mov is compressed into MPEG2 then import both the resulting .m2v and the .ac3 files into DVDSP. Drag both files at the same time into a new track and they will line up just fine.
The above workflow is rather a quick and dirty explanation. if you need more info don’t hesitate to ask.
– Don
“Parts left out cost nothing and cause very few service problems”
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To add a footnote to Arnie’s recommendations: partitioning any drive will also use up valuable hard drive space.
– Don
“Parts left out cost nothing and cause very few service problems”
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Zac,
I just downloaded the XL1 manual from the Canon website to have a look at the VCR recording buttons. It’s set up exactly like any other Canon. In order to record from a video source you have to have the camera in VCR (playback) mode. Then flip open the door on the top of the handle and hit the record button. That’s why it’s there: so you can record from another source. Whoever told you that this feature is disabled on the XL1 has some sort of hidden agenda going on.
– Don
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The link below will explain the differences in capturing 24p and 24pA and what your capturing presets within FCP should be for the different situations. You need to use Cinema Tools to remove the pulldown with normal 24p and then edit in a 23.98 timeline. Sounds like you’re on the right track.
https://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/24p_in_FCP_nattress.html
– Don
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Glad I was able to help. Good Shooting.
– Don