[Jerry Alto]

On large projects I use Toast and spread it over multiple blu-rays. I know that starts to get risky…. but we also know that drives die, too.

MacPro 2.93 Quad
FCP7
Sony Z-1
GV-HD700

[Jerry Alto]

I use a second DVD (blu-ray) burner to archive projects. Less than $1 for 25 gigs of storage.

MacPro 2.93 Quad
FCP7
Sony Z-1
GV-HD700

[Jerry Alto]

Marvin- Great response! Apple’s hijack was a spit in the face to it’s user group and a PR disaster, IMO.

MacPro 2.93 Quad
FCP7
Sony Z-1
GV-HD700

[Jerry Alto]

Chris- I have a Z-1 also and shoot and edit in HDV and render in ProRes. It may not be the issue that you have….. but I’ve learned that the camera does a knock-out job in well lit, bright situations. However, I’ve also learned that I need to be very careful in marginal lighting situations. It just doesn’t have the latitude and depth of image that you might get from a more expensive camera recording in a more robust codec.

This diminished image quality becomes even more dramatic if the video needs to be transcoded from HD to SD. I know on a number of shows where I was stuck with available light situations I needed to do some basic color correction before I went out to mpeg2. I found the best way to deal with it was to complete the show then go back and color correct the scenes that needed help. Once I’d dialed in the corrections then I copied and pasted the settings to other clips that needed to be tweaked. When I went out to mpeg2 I had confidence that I had done the best with what I had.

I not sure if this relates at all with your situation but if it does I hope this helps.

Jerry

MacPro 2.93 Quad
FCP7
Sony Z-1
GV-HD700

[Jerry Alto]

Dustin- Maybe this will help. Duplicate your sequence in FCP> Ad the time code overlay in your new sequence>render>export to .264 as quicktime export or use compressor.

This works for me. HTH.
Jerry

MacPro 2.93 Quad
FCP7
Sony Z-1
GV-HD700

[Jerry Alto]

Steven- Select canvas>go to View menu>select image (not wireframe).

HTH,
Jerry

MacPro 2.93 Quad
FCP7
Sony Z-1
GV-HD700

[Jerry Alto]

Finbar- In compressor drag your preferred DVD settings preset into your project. The Inspector window should show your 16×9 dimensions. If not select the ‘Geometry Pane’ and set your dimensions there. Oh, and if your picture is looking funky on the Macs trashy DVD player and your COMPUTER monitor walk that disk out to your home DVD player thats connected to your 50 in. LCD TV monitor and see how it looks. Remember it is not HD.

MacPro 2.93 Quad
FCP7
Sony Z-1
GV-HD700

[Jerry Alto]

Chris- I believe ALL HDV decks with firewire are compatible with FCP7. You have to be closed out of FCP BEFORE you connect the deck. Your deck settings have to be correct. Before you launch FC verify your Mac is seeing the deck (Apple menu>About this Mac>firewire). If you see your deck launch FCP and select the correct settings for deck control. If that doesn’t work please return and list your symptoms.
Hope this helps.
Jerry

MacPro 2.93 Quad
FCP7
Sony Z-1
GV-HD700

[Jerry Alto]

Noam- The way I do it is to build a basic text object for a project with all the attributes I want then copy and paste into the browser. When I need an additional text object in the timeline I copy from the browser to the timeline and retype the words. It keeps all the attributes including the duration.

HTH,
Jerry

MacPro 2.93 Quad
FCP7
Sony Z-1
GV-HD700

[Jerry Alto]

Sabreena- Select clip in browser>modify>duplicate as new master clip.

Jerry

MacPro 2.93 Quad
FCP7
Sony Z-1
GV-HD700