[Hamdani Milas]

Matt, the correct file structure/path on a Canon C300 CF card should be a Contents folder first which contains the Clips001 folder which contains the captured footage.

Seems this Contents folder has been omitted when the clips were copied from the card to the drive. This is likely to be the reason the Canon XF plugin is not recognising the file structure.

The Contents folder on a Canon CF Cards should always be copied intact to a hard drive or copied as a disk image.

Try creating a Contents Folder on the hard drive then bring the rest of the file structure into that and access the Contents folder using the Canon plugin for file transfer. You can still have it within an identifying enclosing folder but the Contents folder must precede the Clips001 folder as I understand it.

Independent producer, director, cinematographer, writer, editor
Milas Film Productions, Hong Kong
http://www.milasfilm.com
Mac Pro 3,1 16GB RAM, ATI Radeon 5770, 480GB Mercury Extreme Pro 6G SSD system drive, OSX ML and Mavericks, Caldigit VR 4TB e-SATA RAID, FCP 7.0.3, CS6 Production Premium Suite, FCPX 10.1.3

[Hamdani Milas]

I have also come across this problem. Fixed it by calling up Item Properties on the AE render after importing into FCP and checking the field dominance, in my case it said Upper (Odd) even the the render was 422 progressive. Right click on the Field Dominance and change it to None, then try bringing the clip into your edit sequence. Pixelated look should be gone. Don’t ask me why or how! As far as I can see it might be the way FCP is flagging and interpreting the file rather than being an issue with the AE render. Hope this helps!

H Milas

Independent producer, director, cinematographer, writer, editor
Milas Film Productions, Hong Kong
http://www.milasfilm.com
Mac Pro 3,1, NVidia Geforce GTX285, 16GB RAM, 480GB Mercury Extreme Pro 6G SSD system drive, OSX Snow Leopard 10.6.8, Caldigit VR 4TB e-SATA RAID, FCP 7.0.3, CS6 Production Premium Suite

[Hamdani Milas]

Still images in an FCP timeline must be less than 4,000 pixels in any dimension, if they’re larger than that FCP stalls and triggers the out of memory error. Also ensure they’re RGB and not CMYK (for print). Run the stills through Photoshop or other image processing software to resize if they’re too large and also to check file type.

When you say the images are large, 5MB, that’s not usually an issue as the file size relates to the type of image format or the compression setting, it’s the pixel dimensions that are critical in FCP. I usually set still images to 3990 pixels as maximum on the longest dimension (lock the constrain proportions when resizing), and in my experience the PNG file type seems to be the optimum for FCP 7.

Hamdani

Independent producer, director, cinematographer, writer, editor
Milas Film Productions, Hong Kong
http://www.milasfilm.com
Mac Pro 3,1, NVidia Geforce GTX285, 16GB RAM, 480GB Mercury Extreme Pro 6G SSD system drive, OSX Snow Leopard 10.6.8, Caldigit VR 4TB e-SATA RAID, FCP 7.0.3, CS6 Production Premium Suite

[Hamdani Milas]

Is your sequence set to render at 10bit? I have experienced out of memory issues with this setting. Switch to 8bit and the error messages end and rendering resumes.

Hamdani Milas

Independent producer, director, cinematographer, writer, editor
Milas Film Productions, Hong Kong
http://www.milasfilm.com

[Hamdani Milas]

Thanks for the info, I’ve read elsewhere that Premiere Pro runs more smoothly on Mountain Lion. I’ll hold off further hardware upgrades and see what the new Mac Pro offers.

Hamdani Milas

Independent producer, director, cinematographer, writer, editor
Milas Film Productions, Hong Kong
http://www.milasfilm.com

[Hamdani Milas]

Is that a Mac Pro 3,1? What video card are you using?

I have tried without success to install both Lion and Mountain Lion on a spare drive in my machine for evaluation purposes. The reboot process to complete the installation stalled persistently. Apple couldn’t offer an explanation. Suspect it might be the NVidia card, a GeForce GTX 285 as, according to Apple’s specs, the Mac Pro 3,1 is compatible with both OSX 10.7 and 10.8.

H Milas

Independent producer, director, cinematographer, writer, editor
Milas Film Productions, Hong Kong
http://www.milasfilm.com

[Hamdani Milas]

Are you using the latest version of Snapz Pro X 2.3.2?

What video codec did you select within Snapz Pro X when saving the captured video? I think the default is H264. Prores 422 should be available there in the options if you have FCP installed on the computer you are capturing from, or you can transcode the H264 using MPEG Streamclip.

Are you selecting the full screen size when capturing? In order to capture 1080p from a screen you need to be capturing with the selected screen area set to the full screen size or as close as you can get it within the aspect ratio. If the subject matter of interest is small within the display try enlarging the size of the image within a browser display or by usingh OS X Universal Access*.

Also the display you are capturing from should be of a sufficiently large size. What are the maximum display dimensions of your MacBook Pro? For example my own MBP 15″ displays at 1440×900, okay for capturing the entire screen at 720p HD but insufficient for 1080.

I have done many screen captures of clients websites using Snapz Pro X and ScreenFlow, both have their features, I understand ScreenFlow may have the advantage when it comes to a stable frame rate within FCP. And Snapz Pro X may have issues with Universal Access*.

Check this blog for a useful comparison.

https://machouse.mhvt.net/?p=1310

Hope this is useful.

Independent producer, director, cinematographer, writer, editor
Milas Film Productions, Hong Kong
http://www.milasfilm.com

[Hamdani Milas]

That white limbo look in the chair + presenter video reference was probably achieved in a studio with a seamless white cyclorama background and carefully lit and maybe tweaked with colour corrected to create an even white background. I doubt it was green screen as the presenter is wearing a light green shirt! It could have been a blue screen studio though.

If you’re seeing the floor you need chroma key material there too.

In a white studio with either a permanent white cyclorama or large photo cyclorama paper you could hang a large 20 ‘x 20’ silk butterfly over the set with lights above creating on overall diffused look with a key and backlight for the performer. These could be on floor stands. A white studio is obviously easier to manage in post but it’s important to get the lighting balance right between performer and background.

Hope this helps

Independent producer, director, cinematographer, writer, editor
Milas Film Productions, Hong Kong
http://www.milasfilm.com

[Hamdani Milas]

In my view this must be one of the most compelling editing forums on the Cow or indeed anywhere. I visit daily to read the pros and cons on FCPX and, more recently, the interesting first-hand accounts of the real-world paid work that’s being done with it. The discussions here on editing technique, indeed the very philosophy and culture of NLE cutting are wide-ranging and thought-provoking. Even the most vocal and passionate anti-FCPX nay-sayers have provided much entertainment.

I’m still a committed pro FCP7 user as its total flexibility fits my style and I’ve invested 3 years getting somewhere near competent. I am still holding off FCPX (I’m too busy learning After Effects CS5 at present) but will likely start to explore it if and when Apple adds the widely discussed pro features that are still missing – a viewer/source window would be one of my top requirements along with the ability to unlock panels and rearrange then to suit one’s working methods. It would also appear some flexibility/user choice with the magnetic timeline and tracks issues would be welcomed.

What does puzzle me though is Apple’s policy to publicly distance themselves from the debate. If they still want to change the world they should engage with the users of their products. But for all we know perhaps the FCPX team at Apple are also keen followers of this forum…

So, meanwhile, thanks to those dedicated FCPX explorers/testers and everyone please, keep up the debate.

Perhaps it’s more like time to move along from the shock of the new and see what the new can do.

Cheers

Hamdani Milas

Independent producer, director, cinematographer, writer, editor
Milas Film Productions, Hong Kong
http://www.milasfilm.com

[Hamdani Milas]

You’re not alone Jeremy and I think you might be onto something. I’ve commented in this and other forums about the bungled launch of FCPX as an indication that something is amiss with Apple’s management.

The unavoidable truth is that FCPX doesn’t replace its predecessor as a pro editing tool and should never have been marketed as such. Oh, but Apple’s FAQ says the fixes are coming, the plugins will provide what’s missing. No. Even as a first release FCPX should not have had such elementary functions missing. What was the business strategy in releasing it? Was there a strategy at all?

And the expectation that editors who have spent years honing their craft with FCP should re-learn their skills to meet Apple’s new “paradigm” in post-production? Was this arrogance or ignorance? Many editors can’t wait for Apple to complete its new paradigm in editing and they’ve switched to Adobe or AVID. This is a straightforward and obvious business decision. And even if they’re not experienced in either PP CS5 or MC it’s a relatively easy move, certainly a smoother transition than to FCPX.

Apple’s action in the unannounced extinction of FCS3 was brutal. No easy transition for you, says Apple to its 10 year user base. Learn to do it our way. Did Apple do any market research with FCPX? Doesn’t look like it.

(I’m not denying FCPX’s potential, but it’s simply not ready for pro use NOW.)

I too have been a loyal Apple user/fan/supporter since the early 90’s and a staunch promoter of all things Apple. But now I feel I’m all Appled out. Don’t need an iPad. Don’t want Lion, it’s got the letter “i” all over it. Couldn’t care less about iCloud, it’s marketing hype. I want my stuff on my drives, not on Apple’s server. I’m getting the feeling that Apple wants a piece of me, wants me signed up. Wants me as an iConsumer. Has Apple moved on? Or have I?

I’ll be continuing to use Final Cut Pro 7 in the meantime as it more than meets my requirements. I’ve also been playing with my copy of Adobe Premiere Pro CS5, imported one of my FCP projects via an XML export, it’s all there bar some of the plugin filters/effects and I soon grasped the layout and basic functions. So I suggest if you wish to upgrade your webinar productions you might like to consider Premiere Pro CS5 especially with their 50% discount offer to Final Cut users. (does it also apply to FCE users?)

Good luck.

(film-maker of 40 years experience – TV docos, corporates, TV commercials, aerials specialist, fashion, tourism promos etc. One-time 16mm film editor in the 1970’s and now happy NLE user cutting self-produced video productions with FCP7 and Motion)

Independent producer, director, cinematographer, writer, editor
Milas Film Productions, Hong Kong
http://www.milasfilm.com