[Jeff Carpenter]

All mini-DV is 720×480 at 29.97 frames per second. No exceptions.

Things like 24 fps modes on some cameras are done by inserting extra frames into the video to bring it up to the 29.97 frame rate. The computer discards them later. Things like widescreen are anamorphic…the widescreen image is sqeezed into 720×480.

So the bottome line is that, yes, any mini-DV camera can play back any mini-DV tape. If it’s anamorphic and the camera doesn’t understand that then it might be stretched funny on the TV. And if it’s 24 fps and the camera doesn’t understand that it may play those extra frames and it will look slightly jittery.

So there are some things that can look strange or wrong depending on where you play it, but it will at least PLAY. You’ll be able to see and hear it even if it’s a little bit strange in some way.

[Jeff Carpenter]

I’ve never done it, but I think you only need to see the new machine.

Turn on the old machine with the monitor, make sure it’s working and check the energy settings in the system preferences to make sure it’s not going to shut itself down. Then move the monitor to the new machine and turn it on. I’m pretty sure you can do everything from there at that point.

Set them up side by side so it’s easy to switch the monitor cable between the two without moving anything else. That will also make it easy after the fact when you need to check back and forth to see if anything’s missing from the new machine.

[Jeff Carpenter]

When your new machine comes, plug it into the G5 with a firewrie, THEN turn it on.

During the setup it will ask if you want to migrate your files. Say ‘ok.’

After that’s done, check and see what it’s copied from the old machine. I’m not sure how much stuff it copies, but I’d start with that and see what’s missing at that point. You may still have to move some stuff, but it will be far less stuff at that point.

As for the G5, yeah, I’d use the OS CD it came with to erase the drive. Use the security option button in the Disc Utility to write over the entire drive. It will take awhile but is the safest way to go. Then, instal the OS and ship it off with the OS CD included.

[Jeff Carpenter]

Are you trying to download it as a file from the Apple site or are you using the System Updater in the Apple Menu?

[Jeff Carpenter]

Google this:

OS X Screenshot

You’ll find many different pages with screenshots OF the screenshot process along with instructions on how to do them.

[Jeff Carpenter]

Sounds to me like it’s just the hard drive that died. You should hopefully be able to put in a brand new drive, format it, and instal OS X and everything will be fine.

As for your data, I dunno. If disk warrior couldn’t fix it I’m not sure an Apple store would have much more luck. You can ceratinly take it to them and ask them to try. They might have some tricks up their sleeve.

Failing that, google up “data recovery hard drive failure” and see if you can find a business in your area that recovers damaged hard drives. That can get pricey, so if you have backups and don’t need much off the drive I’d say to just forget it.

But overal, no, I wouldn’t worry about the Mac itself. I really think it’s just the hard drive. If you DO take it to an Apple store you should ask them to check that, though…have them make certain there’s not something else wrong. But that’s just a precaution, the computer itself should be fine.

[Jeff Carpenter]

The reason to do that is that otherwise Final Cut has to be re-sampling it as it plays. This ties up processing power as you edit and it means more rendering at the end.

As Chris said, Quicktime is the easiest way to go about this. iTunes also works just fine, it’s the same quality. The nice thing about iTunes is that you can batch convert any number or files all at once AND keep them organized in playlists, which can be helpful. Just drag them out of the playlist to your scratch disc and then import that copy to Final Cut.

But for just one or two file…yeah, Quicktime is easier to use.

[Jeff Carpenter]

What you need to do is select any of the video setting files and duplicate it.

This will create a copy down in the “Custom” folder underneath the “Apple” folder.

Select the copy and in the upper right box you need to adjust the settings for that file. Name it whatever you like at this point and mess with the settings. I’d suggest making several different kinds and applying them to a 60 second video clip. Compare all the files you get to figure out what setting you want.

As for combining the audio into one file, I think that you’ll find a switch somewhere in the settings that says something about “muxing.” Switch it the opposite way it is now.

At this point I’m out of advice because I’ve never made MPEG files combined with audio. I only do DVDs. But I do know that’s the direction you want to explore. Some trial and error might get you where you need to be.

As for file size, it depends on your setting. If you use a 2-pass VBR set at 3.5 average and 6.5 max you’ll get a pretty small file. (But it will take a long time to compress.) If you set a CBR at 7.0 you’ll get a fast encode but a large file.

This is where the trial-and-error part comes in. If you’re lucky, the people or place you’re sendingt this file to will have some guidlines on what they accept. That can help narrow down your options.

[Jeff Carpenter]

David’s advice should work, but in the future you can avoid it by using FILE>EXPORT>QUICKTIME CONVERSION

Same thing as what David’s saying, just without having to add the .mov yourself.

[Jeff Carpenter]

On a G4 that’s actually a pretty fast time. MPEG II compressions aren’t fast things.

As for how it works, if you export from Final Cut you should see your file in the lower left box. If you open compressor straight from the dock then you need to drag a QT file into the lower left box.

In the lower right box, find a folder that is closest to what you want. Expand the folder and you’ll see 3 files. One is a video compression, one is audio (AIFF) and one is audio (AC3).

Drag the video setting and the AC3 setting onto your file and “submit.”

That’s pretty much it. You’ll need to read the manual to learn how to duplicte those default settings and adjust those duplicates to create all new settings. That’s good to know, but you can start with the defaults now.

Is this for DVD? What I described will create an audio file and a video file that you can put into DVD Studio Pro. If you want them combined into one file you’ll either have to create one from scratch or look and see if there’s a default for that. I don’t know if there is or not.