[Jon Zanone]

Have you checked your import options in the import dialog box?

Jon

“So you want to throw out the old you – but the old you is old enough to know it won’t make it better”
Del Amitri – “Make it Better”

[Jon Zanone]

First off, what are your system specs (OS, Avid version, graphics card, RAM, etc.)? What type of footage are you trying to edit? These are pretty basic questions, but it helps to diagnose your problem.

Jon

“So you want to throw out the old you – but the old you is old enough to know it won’t make it better”
Del Amitri – “Make it Better”

[Jon Zanone]

What are your system specs? How complex is your project? When you play the sequence, do you notice a red line at the bottom of the timeline?

And you said you defragged your drive – did you do that to your system drive or your media drive?

Jon

“So you want to throw out the old you – but the old you is old enough to know it won’t make it better”
Del Amitri – “Make it Better”

[Jon Zanone]

Are you seeing the artifacts on a computer monitor, or an interlaced (NTSC) monitor?

What’s the final format for your quicktime?

Jon

“So you want to throw out the old you – but the old you is old enough to know it won’t make it better”
Del Amitri – “Make it Better”

[Jon Zanone]

You do mean SP2, right? I’m pretty sure there isn’t a SP3 for XP, and if there is, it’s not for use with Avid. Is this a qualified machine? You said it has worked in the past – what has changed? Is your Mojo connected to the primary FW bus, with nothing else attached?

FWIW, My Mojo’s (2 analog and 1 SDI) have worked flawlessly since I’ve had them.

As for alternatives, you could get an Adrenaline… Seriously, there is a rumour that Avid is letting a third party build compatible hardware, but its just a rumour at this point.

Jon

“So you want to throw out the old you – but the old you is old enough to know it won’t make it better”
Del Amitri – “Make it Better”

[Jon Zanone]

If you sign in on the mac, rather than it going straight to the desktop, then you would find your settings in the shared folder. Take the whole folder, not just the files. And back it up several times! Get a couple of cheap thumb drives, and use them only for your settings. I know how attached I am to my settings!

Jon

“So you want to throw out the old you – but the old you is old enough to know it won’t make it better”
Del Amitri – “Make it Better”

[Jon Zanone]

Assuming all your software is on one machine…

Export a QT reference, squeeze it in Sorenson Squeeze with a bit rate of no more than 7000 and create the DVD in DVDit.

Jon

“So you want to throw out the old you – but the old you is old enough to know it won’t make it better”
Del Amitri – “Make it Better”

[Jon Zanone]

They should be in applications / Avid / Media Composer / user settings, no?

Jon

“So you want to throw out the old you – but the old you is old enough to know it won’t make it better”
Del Amitri – “Make it Better”

[Jon Zanone]

Well, I’d bet it would run, but it really depends on what you are doing. The ‘official’ specs are HERE It might run better with a Mojo. If you aren’t taxing the system much (lots of muliticam, layers, etc.) it might be worth it. If nothing else, you’ve got a good graphics / FCP station…

Jon

“So you want to throw out the old you – but the old you is old enough to know it won’t make it better”
Del Amitri – “Make it Better”

[Jon Zanone]

I think you’ll spend more time backing up than editing.

If you have stable storage from a reputable company, I wouldn’t worry too much about your media. You could possibly consolidate once a week to an external drive used ONLY for this project.

I would DEFINITELY save project files daily to a seperate drive (either a thumb or smaller USB hard drive). Put it in a folder, and develop a naming convention that makes sense to you. Keep ALL your daily project files in seperate folders.

You would do well to do a CD/DVD backup from your project archive file.

The bottom line is if you have access to your original media, you should be able to recover from whatever failure you run into.

Jon

“So you want to throw out the old you – but the old you is old enough to know it won’t make it better”
Del Amitri – “Make it Better”