[Editwizard1]

Oh, I think I like the Z key method! That seems to ignore the ‘selected clip.’

I use an old 4-buttom Microsoft Trackball explorer with the mouse driver mapping buttons 3 and 4 as zoom out and zoom in respectively.

Actually I’d love to be able to use the mouse scroll-wheel to zoom in/out. Even if it needed a modifier key like Option that would be cool – Logic works that way both vertically and horizontally for its tracks. Mostly I use that on a MacBookPro and is the closest thing yet to ‘gestures’ navigation.

One day we’ll be sitting in a coffee shop putting the finishing touches on our production on Final Cut Mobile running on our iPhone.

[Editwizard1]

I’ve had great results using Flip4Mac both creating and playing WMV files. There are pricing options for playback only as well as versions that have the encoding features so not all macs would need the full version.

The best part is that it just adds the capability to quicktime and so you can export directly from FCP, and you can watch wmv’s right inside the quicktime player with no goofy microsoft players.

Lastly, I use http://www.yousendit.com to send files to multiple people rather than email. Its basically a free ftp site but very very simple to use. You just put in the email address(es), browse to and upload the file. Oh and its free up to a crazy file-size too.

Emailing clients screeners is really cumbersome. I’ve actually delivered entire full-res show opens and graphic sequences with yousendit.

[Editwizard1]

I’ve heard the same thing with FW vs. USB. Yes FW kicks USB in the throughput dept. But I’ve had great results from an external usb-powered Western Digital 60gig. The transfer rate is not fantastic – about 16MB/s but plenty for editing dv in the field. I’ve just cranked 3 different tv spots using just this setup while sitting comfortably in bed, at the car dealership waiting for an oil change, or at a coffee shop.

No, it doesn’t keep up with a firewire drive but since it’s usb-powered its completely portable. Now I wasn’t working in HD and it wasnt’ long-form but for short stuff without a ton of footage it works great. Multiple layers do need to be rendered but most everything plays back realtime just fine on my 15.4″ MBP Core Duo 2.16 w/2 GB ram.

I have never experienced a dropped-frame on capturing DV onto that drive.

Also, these are the type of projects where I can transfer them to and from our big MacPro system (by keeping all footage in a single folder) and finish editing there. But what a convenience to take some work with me or work on something in the field without carrying a huge heavy FW drive or looking for a power plug.

I’m not recommending this for your mainstay… you do need to keep higher performance drives but some of these usb’s are just so cheap for the occasional small-form use.

Best Buy has a 60gig on sale this Friday for $50.