[John Bertram]

Ben —

I’m in a very similar (and equally frustrating) situation as you, and was wondering if you’ve come across any useful examples or workflows since your last post?

FYI, I’ve just posted to two related threads over at the Apple FCP forum. Rather than double post here, the links to those discussions are:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2238187&tstart=0
“Date gone after pro res 422 log and transfer”
and
https://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2243165&tstart=0
“Clip Sort/Search options for a Doc Project???”

Let me know if you’ve come across anything worthwhile. It sounds like this is a very serious organizational issue which FinalCut really needs to address.

Thanks

jb

– –

John Bertram
minor gem productions
Toronto, Canada

[John Bertram]

Figured I should post the resolution I came to on this issue, in case anyone else has a similar problem and searches out this thread:

The short version is that with just a few days remaining in my 3-year AppleCare warranty, the AppleCare “product specialist” to whom my case got escalated decided to send me a replacement optical drive. I swapped it in (had never installed an optical drive before) and it immediately mounted and read all the burned dual-layer discs which the original drive just spat out.

The Whole Story:

I had discovered that the original Pioneer DVR-107D SuperDrive which came with my 2004 G5 (dual 1.8GHz) was unable to mount or read burned Dual-Layer DVDs, while those same discs could be read perfectly in a colleague

[John Bertram]

UPDATE:

Just to make things even more bizarre (and frustrating)…

I lent three of the double-layer DVDs I’d burned (the ones that play fine in an old G3 laptop but not in my G5 tower) to a colleague who runs her own independent production company. She just informed me that the three DL DVDs (representing two different brands) ALL played perfectly in BOTH her G4 PowerPC AND in her new Mac Pro.

So what is about the optical drive in a 1st gen G5 tower that will read commercial dual-layer DVDs, but won’t read home-burned DLs that all play perfectly fine in G3 laptops, G4 towers, Intel iMacs AND Mac Pros?

Could my particular drive need a repair? Or is it just something peculiar to this particular model (the Pioneeer DVR-107D)?

jb

– –

John Bertram
minor gem productions
http://www.minorgem.com
Toronto, Canada

Check out a special project preview at http://www.BondedPairs.com

Member:
Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
(branches: Director/Editor/Screenwriter);
Writers Guild of Canada;
LIFT (Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto)

[John Bertram]

Gary:

Just a belated thanks for the Level-headed advice, and the link to Graeme’s comprehensive (as always) article.

jb

– –

John Bertram
minor gem productions
http://www.minorgem.com
Toronto, Canada

Check out a special project preview at http://www.BondedPairs.com

Member:
Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
(branches: Director/Editor/Screenwriter);
Writers Guild of Canada;
LIFT (Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto)

[John Bertram]

Sadly, no — other than the suggestion to submit it as a feature request to the Feedback section (along with a host of other “how-come-you-can’ts”, like a proper Undo History, an auto-scrolling Timeline, etc.)

Cheers,

jb

John Bertram
Toronto, Canada

[John Bertram]

Jerry and Bret:

Thanks for both of your suggestions.

For this particular transition, I was able to get the effect I wanted with a version of Brett’s workflow which had already been suggested to me by another FCP veteran. SInce I just wanted the zoom back of the outgoing shot to reveal the already-in-place incoming shot, I only had to use the motion tab to create that zoom back — after first putting the outgoing shot onto V2, and making sure the two clips overlapped by the length of the transition I wanted (and applying the dither dissolve to that outgoing shot on V2).

For other combined transition effects, however, the export/import route is one I’m sure I’ll be exploring.

Thanks again,

John Bertram,
Toronto

John Bertram
Toronto, Canada

[John Bertram]

Gave it a try, and maybe my lack of experience with nesting is the problem, but it didn’t seem to help — could only get one of the video items to Link with the audio clip, whether it was nested or not. Also tried nesting the video clips: was able to Link the audio tracks to that “nest”, but still couldn’t figure out how to turn that combo into a merged clip. Even played with nesting the whole thing (the audio clip and all the separate video items I’d synched to it), which kind of achieved the result I was originally looking for, but then I get worried about possible complications down the road if I start taking bits from nested sequences and inserting them into other sequences which in turn may get nested into larger sequences, etc. (Though an experienced analog editor, I’m still pretty new to the finer points of NLE.)

So I’m now thinking my safest route may be to just razor blade them all into separate takes in the Timeline, properly Link the video and audio in each take, then turn them all into new merged clips in the Browser. But would still appreciate any insights, warnings, or alternate suggestions — especially time-saving ones!

(Of course the obvious time-saving suggestion would be: next time you go to the trouble of sending a line out feed from the DAT machine to the camera’s line in, make sure the camera isn’t clipping the hottest audio from each take — yet it all sounds fine on the DAT cassettes, even though the audio captured from both appears to be peaking at the exact same level. Go figure.)

John Bertram
Toronto, Canada

[John Bertram]

Have been using one for about two weeks now. Am enjoying the smaller size (was using a LogiTech wireless rechargeable MX70, which I liked, but was starting to feel too big somehow — maybe my hands are shrinking). My favorite thing is the scroll ball — very peppy — especially the ease with which I can now scroll horizontally in my Browser window or through a Timeline. The right-clicking technique takes some getting used to, as you have to make sure your index finger isn’t making contact with the mouse’s left side, otherwise you just get another left-click.

General Gripes:
– Slow tracking: had to install the freeware app “MouseZoom” to get the tracking speed up to where I like it; the driver they include needs more speed at the high end for my taste;
– Limited programability: am also hoping they’ll update the software to let you program a real command (like “Cmd-W”) to a particular button; right now the “Other” option only appears to let you choose another app to open;
– wish there was a way to adjust the click tension (I prefer a slightly lighter touch, but it’s probably fine for most users);
– the side squeeze buttons could use some work, and will only perform one function (you squeeze them together, so they’re really only the equivalent of one button);
– repositioning the mouse while clicking and dragging is tricky, since it’s the whole mouse you’re holding down, rather than just a button on the top section; it CAN be done (if you hold on to the sides just right), but they could’ve made it easier.

Despite that seemingly long list of quibbles, I’m still glad I got it, and am enjoying the combination of the mouse in my right hand, the ContourPro Shuttle in my left, and the keyboard in the middle.

John Bertram
Toronto, Canada

[John Bertram]

Got a reply with some suggestions from Scott on the DVXuser.com forum [quoted in square brackets], but it looks like a simple solution is still eluding me…

[I’ve not had a problem in 4.5. Log and then batch capture (avoid Capture now) Select clips in the BIN. Apply the sync offset. Now move the clips into the timeline and edit normally. Sync should remain.]

Have now tried capturing the DVX100 material (our “A cam”) both ways — Capture Now and more recently the full Log and Batch Capture route, but the end result is the same: I apply the Sync Offset to selected clips in the Bin, but the moment I attempt to add (or change) an In point in the Viewer, the Offset disappears.

[If you want the media to be in sync for other projects or as stand alone files you’ll need to export the clips.]

Just tried that as a test. Now have to decide (and would appreciate any input or suggestions) which route is more efficient and/or desirable:

1) Exporting the Sync Offset clips, trashing the original media files and replacing them with the new identically-named exports, then having to reconnect all my Browser clips to those exported QT movie files (which all seemed to work fine in the test I just did);
OR
2) dragging the plain, freshly-captured clips from the Browser right into an empty Timeline, manually resetting the sync and relinking the tracks, then dragging them all back into the Browser (which turns them into new clips), after which I delete the original (out-of-sync) clips, and the new ones magically become Masters, still connected to the original Media files, but able to retain their new sync alignment no matter what In points I enter or change in the Viewer.

Workflow #1 gives me media files where the video and audio are truly and permanently in sync, BUT in my test just now, an 85 MB QT Movie became a 79MB Final Cut Pro Movie File, and a 63 MB QT Movie became a 57 MB Final Cut Pro Movie File. I made sure the Export was to a plain QuickTime Movie, using the same settings, and with no frame recompression (as per the Manual’s recommendations). So what’s with this 8-9% reduction in file size — I thought the Export was supposed to come out as basically the identical QT file.

And if I use these new Exported files as my project’s official Media files, am I risking any possible reduction in picture quality (like when you re-open and re-save a jpg file)? And if not, where did those extra MBs go when I did the Export with no recompression selected?

[If that’s not working make sure you have the latest updates for everything. Try creating a test project with a couple of clips. It’s possible your project is corrupt and it’s not remembering the offset.]

On your suggestion, I tried that as well. Unfortunately the freshly-captured clips in the brand new project behaved exactly the same way.

[Save often.]

Always do. Even tried doing a Save, Quit, and Re-Launch immediately after applying the Offset Audio Sync command (to see if it would somehow hold better), but no luck.

So again, I’m hoping someone can suggest the best way for me to proceed:

– leave the captured Media files alone, and just fix the synch a reel’s worth of clips at a time in the Timeline, creating new Master clips by then dragging everything back into the Browser and deleting the original clips;
OR
– just apply the Offset Audio Sync tool, and Export those sync-corrected clips into new QT media files, which become the permanent replacements for the original media files (and to which the Browser clips get reconnected)

But as I asked above, are those new, slightly smaller QT movie files really the same quality as the originally-captured ones?

(Thanks for reading — my brain hurts!)

John Bertram
Toronto, Canada