[Gary Askham]

This is a common problem and is covered a lot on Creative Cow if you search.

As Arnie said you need to export an XML of the sequence from Final Cut Pro 7. There are specific types of xml which work when going to and from different versions of FCP. All searchable on Creative Cow or just Google.

(it just took me 30 seconds to find this –

Use XML version 1 for going back to Final Cut Pro 4.1
Use XML version 2 for going back to Final Cut Pro 5.0
Use XML version 3 for going back to Final Cut Pro 5.1.2
Use XML version 4 for going back to Final Cut Pro 6
Use XML version 5 for moving between Final Cut Pro 7 systems)

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FCP and Avid Technical Support
Air Post Production
Shoreditch – London

[Gary Askham]

Pro Res is 4:2:2. In fact it’s proper name is ProRes 422. Kinda gives it away. The EX1 records to SXS card as 4:2:0.

ProRes 422 is also Intra-Frame as opposed to XDCAM’s long-gop structure.

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FCP and Avid Technical Support
Air Post Production
Shoreditch – London

[Gary Askham]

If the files were shot HD and then converted to WMV is there any way to go back to the original files? What were they originally? What codec/camera?

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FCP and Avid Technical Support
Air Post Production
Shoreditch – London

[Gary Askham]

I’ve looked into this too. If going with a file based workflow I’ve found the sheer codec to be the best too. A better solution we came up with was playing out of one system to another via HD-SDI. And that happens in realtime.

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FCP and Avid Technical Support
Air Post Production
Shoreditch – London

[Gary Askham]

I think you just answered your own question. You have some footage that is 960×720 and some footage that is 720×486. They are different sizes. You need to choose one size and then resize the other footage. Remember that the pixel aspect ratios are different too.

(To simplify things I would just use Compressor to convert your footage so it is all the same size and codec)

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FCP and Avid Technical Support
Air Post Production
Shoreditch – London

[Gary Askham]

You’re entering a whole new world with kit which is about 3-4 years out of date.

To be honest, my advice would be for you to edit your programme on your set-up in a HDV sequence and make it look the best you can. Then take that sequence and the media to a professional post house on a FireWire drive and let them online it for you. It will cost money but this isn’t a cheap industry. Attend the online and ask questions, watch what they are doing and next time you will be better prepared.

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FCP and Avid Technical Support
Air Post Production
Shoreditch – London

[Gary Askham]

I concur. The Kona 3 doesn’t have analogue inputs so to use an analogue mic you would need to buy extra kit to convert the signal.

We use USB mics in all our FCP suites – The SE USB2200A. The Samson C01U is also a good USB mic.

A quick and cheap solution is to use the Line-in mini-jack port on the back of the mac. But you may then run into problems with line/mic levels. The USB mic is the more elegant solution.

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FCP and Avid Technical Support
Air Post Production
Shoreditch – London

[Gary Askham]

For things like cable runs surprisingly Wikipedia is a very good source.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA#External_SATA

(2 metres)

As for connectors – you get what you pay for. I’d say the cheaper connectors will be less durable.

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FCP and Avid Technical Support
Air Post Production
Shoreditch – London

[Gary Askham]

This is how I’d approach your problem.

– Disconnect your USB drive and clear up some space on your laptop (you really should keep at least 10% of your boot drive free for normal system operations).

– Run Software Updater so you have the most recent version of your OS, FCP and any other related apps.

– Use Digital Rebellion Preference Manager to trash any preferences and make FCP stable.

– Open up FCP and use Easy Setup to create a new DV NTSC project.

– Open up your old project (with the USB drive still disconnected) and copy your working sequence into the new project.

– Close your old project (without saving it). Save your new project.

– Restart your laptop, connect your USB drive and open your new project.

You may have to reconnect some files but hopefully this will get you up and running. If you need access to your rushes or any other files (music, graphics etc) I would reimport them to the new project. Don’t go back to the old project unless you really have to.

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FCP and Avid Technical Support
Air Post Production
Shoreditch – London

[Gary Askham]

But what do you mean when you say that you want to edit in HD. Do you mean HDV or AVCHD? Or maybe DVCPro HD, XDCAM or Pro Res? Or actually Uncompressed HD? The latest version of Final Cut Pro can edit all these formats. Your computer however, may not be able to.

If any of these terms confuse you then maybe you should do a little research first.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Cut_Studio

https://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/

https://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcam/

https://www.panasonic.com/business/provideo/app_hd.asp

https://www.avchd-info.org/

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FCP and Avid Technical Support
Air Post Production
Shoreditch – London