[John Hopkins]

I kept my old FCP 7.0.3 because I had many projects on that platform. Sometimes if it is a 1080p ProRes HQ project I use it because it’s still useful even in 2020! Anyhow ran into the same problem after FCS Maintenance Pack, it’s System Streamlining feature. Got the same Atom HD crash at start-up. I removed the Motion Templates and bingo, the program booted again, and I was able to remount the project I was working on. I would not use FCS Remover as that would be a disaster in this case, as it looks it would be removing linkages and forcing a complete re-install from the original FCP disks. And your project file might need to re-link everything once you got FCP back up and running, and your plugins one etc. Anyhow, many many thanks for this thread. Saved my project!

[John Hopkins]

Ok, I’ve asked for specifics on how the proxies were made. What I understood was that they made a master footage RAID and logged it and locked down that structure. The Assistant then went to every folder and made proxies of the camera originals and offload those to four Glyph drives with the same names as the four main folder in the master footage on their RAID drive.

Is there any other additional info which might be required?

If I can’t match back (link back is what I assume you mean) then I am going to have export and XML if I edit a sequences project, instead of re-linking?

Sounds like a logistical mess… guess there is no choice if I can’t edit and the thing is crashing all the time.

[John Hopkins]

Ok, thanks for the clarification on AVID, I have not edited with it yet, although I bought Media Composer 6 for $900 after scanning the FCP barcode on the box and sending that into a dealer to get this discount. This is the last project on FCP for me. I will have to learn AVID. Was thinking Premier Pro but AVID seems to be the way to go although the price for upgrades/hardware additions is worrisome.

“One way to make smaller project sizes is to have separate projects for your assets. One project for the sequences, one for the footage, another for the audio assets (music, SFX). The issue is that you cannot match back to the bins the footage comes from when you have separate projects.”

So what you are saying is to create three new projects from the one I am working on now. First I will need to duplicate three times and then rename them as:

1) Sequences.

2) Footage.

3) Audio.

and then a (4) Master Sequence Project where all the sequences are joined together to create a ninety minute or three hours assembly to cut down?

Or do I cut the timeline of the Sequences Project with all the parts of the Sequences within that project?

I assume I would open all there projects at the same time, and copy and paste in building the main sequence?

“The issue is that you cannot match back to the bins the footage comes from when you have separate projects.”

I am confused by this a bit. Are you saying if I split the project into three: sequences, footage, audio then I can match back to the bins of the footage in the proxy or master project.

I will get more RAM.

I assume that the Assistant Editor used Media Manager to make the proxy copies. There are Pro Res Lt versions of everything we shot except the XDCAM-EX footage we shot. This is compressed footage already as it came from the SXS slots which is supposed to be for offline, but our DP at the time wanted to lighten the rig to shoot from boats at sea and took the KiPro off and shot everything to the SXS cards. So that’s why it’s like this.

I really do appreciate the help. I’ve have not run into these issues with FCP with project file size and want to iron out the kinks so it does not crash as often and I can actually work on the thing in a creative fashion. I was warned by another editor FCP is famous for this issue.

[John Hopkins]

Thanks Shane for your questions and help,

Conform how? In FCP or another edit system/online system?

Documentary production. Will be conforming to FCP.

What footage are you working with now? Proxy…what kind of proxy?

Footage is XDCAM-EX which is being edited with ProRes Light footage. The ProRes Lt footage was rendered from RED, Sony F3 ProRes (HQ), and Canon 5D footage camera originals.

ProRes Proxy or the proxies XDCAM makes?
We are editing with both these compressed formats together with Final Cut 7 (Studio 3).

How did you make those proxies?
They were rendered from the camera originals.

You mention relinking to the masters…but mention both XDCAM and ProRes HQ…which are they?
Both, and Canon 5D footage as well.

How exactly did you bring in the footage, and start with the proxies when editing?
The footage was organized and logged on a RAID in folders. Once the log was completed the footage was then rendered as proxies for everything but the XDCAM-EX footage. XDCAM-EX footage is already compressed and about the same bandwidth as ProRes Lt. Perhaps it would have made sense to render the XDCAM-EX footage as ProRes Lt also. The Post Coordinator deemed it unnecessary and was looking to save money on the assistant editor’s time.

If you are conforming in FCP, there’s no need for XML. You might simply be able to relink, but this all depends on how you brought in the footage and made the files are you working with now.

Good thought, I assumed it would be an XML if the online was going to migrate to AVID. But that’s likely not going to happen at this point. Re-linking is likely the plan now. It depends on who does the online and what they are working with. It should re-link because the four external Firewire Glyph drives (which crashed the project constantly with bandwidth issues) I have here mirror the footage and file folders and exact logging structure on the camera original RAID (about 9 Tetrabytes of footage and it is located 250 miles from my editing suite). The proxy clones Glyphs I have here have everything down to 5.5 Terabytes composed of Pro Res Lt compressed versions of the same footage, along with XDCAM-EX which is the camera original footage for some of the shoots. We started shooting with XDCAM-EX and then later started shooting with ProRes 422 HQ and recording to a Mini KiPro and PIX240 on location. So re-linking to the masters should work if the file structures, folder names, and drive names stay the same, as the footage for each shot themselves are named identically as the camera logged them while shooting.

If you have 5.7TB of proxy footage…how much storage are the masters taking? where are those stored?

The Masters are stored on a RAID at another studio several hundred miles away. I should be able to send them the FCP Project file to conform later as you suggest. Masters are taking about 9+ Terabytes as per above.

What do you think?

The issue I am having now is that footage is crashing on the RAID I have here now, after I relinked the footage to a copy of the proxy footage on the RAIDS. It re-linked without too many issues.

To reduce conflicts and memory being sucked up by other applications or the Graphics card having to deal with tons of other files, I am installing a fresh copy of Snow Leopard 10.6.8 on a new formatted drive partition with a fresh factory copy of Final Cut Pro Studio 3 and will re-link all the files again. It worked fine once, should work again re-linking. Then I will see how that does as far as the frequency of crashes. I will also install 8 GB more RAM. I have 10 GB at the moment. The Project file is 82mb which I understand is problematic in FCP for projects this size. So my thought is to break it all down as 4 project files at about 20mb each and edit sequences on each with just the bins needed for those sequences. And then I was going to construct the final 90 minute assembly on a 5th master project file, using edited sequences from the other project files supporting the construction of this final assembly.

At least that is how I see doing this. But this is all somewhat unchartered territory for me. I know I have to stop the crashes to work and then conform to the masters from the offline. Any thoughts would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks for trying to assist.

My other thought is for the head production organization to send me the RAID over with all the masters on it and just transfer those to my RAIDS here and forget linking later. Does that make more sense at this point given all? I will have to boost the XDCAM-EX/Canon footage to Pro Res HQ (I believe that is already done)

[John Hopkins]

I have to get the footage off the Glyph drives. The project is crashing too often, no choice. No problem linking the footage, it’s just time consuming, done. That works. It works better than the Glyph daisy chained 800 drives (which was a bad idea not of my design). However it is still crashing FCP with a project this big though not near as often. Still its unworkable. It takes 15 minutes to open the project and this zaps the creative workflow.

I’ve set up a new drive in my box which has a fresh copy of FCP Studio 3 and factory install of Snow Leopard, which is what is running the FCP now on my main system HD. I have tons of other programs and files on there which might conflict or suck up memory. I need to just edit without any variables from this to keep things clean and less crashable.

And yes, I need to keep the original drives (proxy versions) exactly like they were delivered to me on the Glyphs (though some shoots are spread across three drives!) Or I am not going to be able to conform the offline edit picture lock through XML to the online masters. Just have to organize that through FCP itself which is harmless. Anyhow, things have re-linked as per the project FCP file exactly, a few glitches, but fixable. The key is to be sure that the files on the RAIDS are named the same as each of the Glyphs. The project should conform to the masters with XML since the masters with the Pro Res 422 (HQ) perfectly match the badly organized Glyphs which were delivered with 5.7 terabytes of proxy footage in XDCAM-e and ProRes Light Format.

Any additional tips that might help would be welcomed!

[John Hopkins]

Thanks Jon,

Hi Jon,

I’ve moved away now from buying Zylites having seen and heard them for myself. It’s difficult buying things online and even more difficult when living far away from seeing them at places like NAB or other demos. I went through all the reviews carefully on these lights, and forums, and youtube, but no one mentioned these issues, and the high pitch sound issue is definitely the deal breaker for me as well. I could hear it across the room, with no other sound masking it.

I am going to order the 256 Coollights panel, which is robust if it is anything like the 2 600 panels I just received. By far and away Coolights are the best value out there and built with military grade construction. Richard Andrewski, the designer, has done a masterful job. In replacing the the Zylites I wanted, I am also ordering the Dedo Ledzilla which is a focusable and good for a back and rim light in tighter lighting situations such as on the fly docs. Both lights will use my old Z1 Sony 970 batteries with the sled and they’ll go for hours. The Dedo light uses their lens system and highly focusable and even across the beam. I will use colour gel if I need an effect. Hopefully, they are quiet. Don’t know yet. Have to try it to find out but they are on the way at half the price.
The accessories for this light however are way over-priced.

Cheers,

John

[John Hopkins]

Hi Jon,

Could you let me know more about what occurred with your lights, having the same problems with my Zylite I just bought.

John

[John Hopkins]

I just bought a Zylite and returning with exactly the same issues as 2 and 3. Never tried the accessory adapter but not going to now.

The pitch off this one light alone was very noticeable, and one might be able to remove shooting with a three channel mixer, I don’t know. For sure, it’s a problem for the sound track if using it as a backlight on a stand, and worse still tucked right up against the shot-gun as a camera light.

It’s a lovely light in many ways but this renders the light unusable in my opinion, if they all exhibit this trait. Perhaps, I received one of a bad batch, I don’t know. Dimming the light way down seemed to help bit, though there was a specific spot or two where the pitch actually audibly increased, so I am not exactly sure of what is going on there. From what I understand dimmers are prone to these kinds of problems and resolving them requires a costly dimmer component. These lights are expensive, and likely the best available have already been installed in them. If not there might be some other issues that must be resolved to remove this problem, or the light is going to be very limited in its applications and used mostly for MOS shoots. I was pretty disappointed. However, it’s one sweet piece of technology otherwise. But I just don’t think it’s completely there yet.

The mulitcolour shadows make it impossible for me to light faces in any manner. Diffusion would soften this but I do not necessarily want to lose light to compensate for what is another strong issue, which I don’t think might not be that easily resolved either because the basic LED design, and the colour spectrum that this design allows.

I like this light a great deal. But I think I will wait for a generation or two for it to evolve before I think about buying it again.

That said, I might have just been unlucky and a received a bad one. But with others reporting the same issues as above, perhaps this might be indicative of a need to re-engineer important aspects of this light causing these issues. I would buy this light again if these problems were addressed in future revisions.

[John Hopkins]

I think I’ve resolved this. Seems the settings were at odds with each other from what I was outputting via Quicktime Conversion and the sequence settings. Now when I pull the QT back within a duplicated test Sequence as per the original it is no longer asking me if I want to match the sequence settings. As a result of duplicating all settings to mirror each other, presto the audio levels are where they should be on the QT ready to go to the broadcaster server. Hope this post might help someone else who had this difficulty.