Kevin Monahan
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Abandon the idea of FireWire drives. What if you need to do 10 Bit? You only get one stream of playback with a G-RAID. You need a real RAID array if you are doing hardcore day to day editing in uncompressed land and are serious about it. I’m not a fan if the Io as FireWire latency is not cool in my book. I prefer a Kona card. If you are concerned about cost, it’s better to either wait until you do have the cash to do it right OR finance it and hope the increased business will help you pay it off.
Kevin Monahan
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I’ve got a BA in RTVF. Has it helped me? Yes. I learned how to write screenplays and papers that were actually thought provoking. I learned how to watch films from around the world critically. I learned how to debate. I became more interested in the world. I learned how to harness my creativity. And, I learned how to be part of a team. If you’re young enough, I highly recommend going to college. You have the time to fill up your brain with all sorts of interesting things. Your “well” will have plenty to draw from while you’re trying to make a living as a creative professional.
I spent 5 months in a vocational school becoming a hardcore Avid editor after college. Did that help me? Most definitely. One thing that I learned in college is that your technical skills need to be updated every 5 years or so. This was a wise investment because after this training, I got some hardcore chops on Avid, which has given me good FCP chops as well.
If you are “self-taught” and learn all the button pushing things you need to know, you still aren’t getting the full story. You really need to be trained by someone who knows the ropes. My instructors were passionate, but they were also tough. A nice by-product of that is that if toughens you up too. You learn to settle for nothing less but a great edit at the very highest quality. I learned not only how to be creative with the tool, but I also learned not to fear computers. I like the idea of not only being an artist, but also becoming a proficient technician. These two traits go well together in the job market.
Is education needed for job opportunities? No. You can dupe anyone with a decent reel. Education is something you should do for yourself. I recommend both college and tech school, if your real desire is to become a well-rounded story teller.
Kevin Monahan
Take My FCP Master’s Workshop!
fcpworld.com
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When you cut with the card, were the speakers connected to the card or the Mac? If they were connected to the Mac and you were monitoring to NTSC, you see that problem. Speakers should be connected to the card.
Kevin Monahan
Take My FCP Master’s Workshop!
fcpworld.com
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You can’t have smooth playback at Full Quality in the DVCPro 50 Codec w/o the drives to play them back at full quality. FireWire drives will screw ya in this regard. Use a FW800 drive at a minimum.
Kevin Monahan
Take My FCP Master’s Workshop!
fcpworld.com
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You’re better off with short clips. That way, you can organize them, make log notes, circle takes, etc. You know, editor-ish kinda stuff. 🙂
Kevin Monahan
Take My FCP Master’s Workshop!
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But unfortunately, the Playback Offset will make your keyboard to be not quite as snappy. This is why a capture card is superior to any Io box. If you are cutting DV or with an Io box, it’s best to monitor only what you see on the NTSC monitor and with audio speakers connected to the Io, NOT the Mac. If you connect via FireWire, you need to live with the delay. Playback Offset doesn’t work for me as I can’t stand a spongy keyboard.
Kevin Monahan
Take My FCP Master’s Workshop!
fcpworld.com
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8 bit uncompressed? What kind of drives are you using? The clip is quite short, so I bet slow drives is your problem.
Kevin Monahan
Take My FCP Master’s Workshop!
fcpworld.com
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[Artticus] “Hi, I learned FCP 3 on my own and now it’s doing some weird stuff.
Im using Very Good Pictures and HD video off of one of the best cameras on the maket but when i go to edit video and Compile a movie It seems that the pictures are losing quality and they start to look fuzzy (this is after i render it).
I have my render setting on HI Quality with No Compression and it still is giving me poor quality. But before i render it it looks Great. I have done many movies before and have not had this problem but i just can’t seem to figure this out.
Im on a Mac is that matters.”
Josh,
Of course you’re on a Mac if you’re on FCP. The pictures look fuzzy because you need to monitor your footage through a video monitor NOT the computer monitor. The computer monitor does not show you the true quality of your video.And if you’re playing around with HD, you’ll need a video capture card to do that. You should not compress with the None Compressor, as that is merely for intermediate renders and never for playback and editing.
FCP 3 is a bit different in the way it displays video on the Canvas and it’s caused massive confusion for self-taught newbies like yourself. Keep pluggin’ away and save up for an Apple Certified Class. You’d be amazed with you don’t know. 😉
Kevin Monahan
Take My FCP Master’s Workshop!
fcpworld.com
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The Animation Codec should not be used for editing, my friend. It’s an intermediary codec like None and Microcosm and should only be used for preserving quality on renders. The Animation codec hogs up so much bandwidth, that I’m surprised your drives would play it back w/o dropping frames, if at all.
What is the eventual output for this piece? That is the question of the day.
My feeling is that you are not monitoring your images properly in an external video monitor, not the Canvas. If you don’t want to use an external monitor or don’t have one, then the only way you can approximate the quality of your output is to stretch out the Canvas to precisely 100% and uncheck “Show as Sq. Pixels” in the Zoom pop up menu. My suggestion is that if you don’t have a video monitor, hook up a TV set so that you can at least see what you are getting.
Kevin Monahan
Take My FCP Master’s Workshop!
fcpworld.com
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Have you tried compressor? When I don’t use compressor, I use Sorenson Squeeze. It’s pretty cool.
Kevin Monahan
Take My FCP Master’s Workshop!
fcpworld.com
Pres. SF Cutters