Kevin Monahan
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You will want to optimize your images in Photoshop before importing them into FCP. Make them twice the size of your DV frame: 1440 x 960 at 72 DPI. 72 is the target resolution of raster graphics. Anything above 72 DPI will just make the frame bigger, which can make FCP choke.
Kevin Monahan
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It’ll “work”, but it’s better to have a tower so you can have a beefier video card, which is good “future-proofing” for Pro Apps. A tower also allows you to add additional FireWire 400 and 800 ports. In an iMac you are forced to daisy chain, overloading ports which can lead to dropped frames. An iMac has only one dual core proc, the new towers will likely have multiple dual procs. With that info, “Up to you…”
Kevin Monahan
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Click on the Canvas and Type W once. I think you may be in Wireframe mode.
Kevin Monahan
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Not a fan of those cheap JVC decks. Have you tried another deck or a simple DV Camcorder?
Kevin Monahan
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Are you in Safe RT or Unlimited RT? Have you trashed prefs?
Kevin Monahan
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How many years of experience do you have? It also depends on the market. Where do you live?
In general, a full time job as an editor would pay about half the rate of a freelancer. If I were you, I’d steer clear of any job that pays $20-$25, even as a rookie and even if it was full-time. I would say it’s insultingly low.
Frame of Reference: Back in ’97, I got $75 Hr. as an Avid rookie (although I had online experience). Things have changed since then that have driven down the rates you can get as an experienced editor. Some of the items which have increased competition and lowered our rates include the following:
1) There are now WAY more editors chasing fewer (high paying) jobs
2) Software and hardware are cheaper/more powerful than ever
3) The formerly closely guarded secrets of NLE editing (particularly Avid) have been “outed” on the internet whereas you once had to spend thousands to learn in a class
4) Expensive tech support is literally free with the advent of FCP knowledge sites like this
5) Horrible quality and poor story-telling (a la Reality TV – YouTube) is increasingly acceptable to commercial entities that just wanna make a buck
6) You no longer have to work in a Studio, you can work from home on a freakin’ laptop. So overhead for bricks and mortar is nil.
7) Much less differentitation to what you can do on high end Avid systems vs. low cost FCP systems
8) FCP editors with lower overhead likely outnumber Avid editors with higher overhead
9) Low Balling and “Work For Free” exchanges are on the rise
10) Entry level jobs are increasingly becoming outsourced
11) “Interns” and volunteers are increasingly being exploited to do jobs a paid Asst. Editor was formerly responsible forShall I go on? I could. 😉
Bottom line? Pressure from the above reasons will continue to drive rates down.
Keep on thing in mind: It’s not helpful to the editing community to NOT take on low-ball jobs, especially if you’ve got talent. Learn that saying “no” to crappy jobs often helps your rate go up in the long run. Stick with those $45-$75 jobs for now, then work up from there. 😉
As you go forward, it might be wise to gain skills that other editors do NOT have. My 2 cents anyway.
Kevin Monahan
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[frowningmonkey] “Just to clarify: if I get an HD i/o card, I can still use my current monitor, right?”
Yes, but it will be a SD downconvert of the HD file.Kevin Monahan
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A bit of motion blur sells the effect. I’d do this in Motion.
Kevin Monahan
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I don’t think it’s possible, or else many of us would already be doing this. I suggest you continue using your broadcast monitor until a proven monitor and technique comes out. Your computer monitor can’t display YUV or interlaced video, so this is the biggest problem for me. Why do folks want to do this anyway? Cut corners on cost, saving space on your edit bench or what?
Keep bangin’…
Kevin Monahan
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Steve,
I suggest you use Boris Text Scrambler for more control instead of the legacy generator. It was introduced in FCP 5, I believe. A LOT more control.Kevin Monahan
Take My FCP Master’s Workshop!
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