[Kevin O’brien]

Hi Andy,
I had a similar problem.
Make sure you are not mirroring and try restarting with the external monitor hooked up.
This may give you the digital cinema option you want.
As you see above, I had problems after a crash and ended up doing a clean re-install of FCP and this solved my problem. Hopefully yours won’t require such drastic action.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Kevin O’brien]

I ended up doing a complete clean install of FCP and this solved the problem.
I’m sure there is a simpler and more direct solution, but this worked.
Thanks for suggestions.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Kevin O’brien]

Hi John,
Thanks for that suggestion. I am testing the trial version of BTV Pro.
It successfully captured from HDSDI. Just trying to be sure it’s bringing everything in with the right format, aspect ratio etc. Looks like it will work.

Thanks,
Kevo

[Kevin O’brien]

Well Gary,
I still don’t agree.
First I have to question your basic math.
You said “setting FCP to do a 10x speed change does not discard frames it takes the 10 frame burst and makes it 100 frames.” That would be a 1/10 speed change or 10%.
Setting FCP Modify>Speed (percent) to 1000, which is a 10x speed change from 100 percent, gives you 10 frames from 100. Perhaps this is just a semantic confusion.

Can’t speak to Autodesk or Quantel as I have no experience with them. Have not used an Auricon lately either.

If you think FCP speed change (with frame blending off)and a 1000 setting is doing something other than tossing the frames that are unused, maybe you can get some FCP guru to explain to me what that would be. I’d be interested to hear it.

Then you go on say”your method may work for your initial burst on tape” which seems to contradict everything you’ve said up to this point.

Then you ask, “what happens when the interval is changed to a longer time period and it has run for 12 hours or more? ” Well, nothing. The interval is independent of the burst rate and only the burst rate would affect what factor you would use to eliminate extra frames.
As for the 12 hours, I assume you mean time code. Code is of limited use and with time lapse I don’t keep it, so it is of no consequence for me.

I’ve asked Steve Mahrer of Panasonic to shed some light on the hardware FRC vs. my Final Cut method, as I don’t have much experience with the hardware FRC.

You said, “Note that the H and F model cameras can also respond differently, depending on whether you have turned on certain functions in the service menus, shutter angles and number of frames being captured. ”
I can see how shutter angle would affect the look of the shot.
Number of frames being captured would be burst rate, we talked about that.
if there are other items in the service menus that would affect time lapse in a non-obvious way I’d love to learn about them.
Please be as specific as you can.
With 257 menu items in the Varicam, it seems there is always something left to learn about, at least for me.

Thanks,
Kevo

[Kevin O’brien]

Well, I must beg to differ again.
When the 10x speed change is applied to Final Cut without frame blending, the result is the same as a p2 time lapse: each frame unique and the interval remains the same. You’ve ditched 9 of 10 frames in each burst. The remaining one preserves the original interval intent. The motion is the same as a p2 time lapse with the same interval.

Yes, P2 is the future, and as I look back at the Varicam that cost nearly $100,000 just for body and lens 2 years ago, it is with some chagrin to see the 900 with firewire out and 500 with p2 at disturbingly lower prices.
Still for me P2 is not viable until I can do a days worth of shooting on a set of cards.
Even then, my clients frequently want to catch a plane, train or automobile out of town with the footage at the end of the day. There is no time in the shedule to transfer hours of footage. Tacked on Hard drive systems are not the answer. For now, tape is not yet dead.

Thanks,
Kevo

[Kevin O’brien]

Hi Gary,
I beg to differ somewhat.
I have sometimes captured time lapse that Final Cut did not recognise as such.
Applying a 1000% speed change without frame blending successfully takes 1 frame of each 10 frame burst and creates a smooth time lapse.
What I am looking for is a plug-in that would allow Final Cut to capture single frames, the way premiere once did.
Then I bypass the tape process and go straight into the computer.

[Kevin O’brien]

Yes, Thanks for this suggestion.
I already use a Canon 20D to do time lapse this way.
Do you shoot RAW or Jpeg for your time lapse?
I have done jpeg but seemed to get banding in the sky.
RAW uses up the card very fast.
Was hoping to use the Varicam as a second source without the mechanism wear of tape time lapse.
Could get another still body, but have been doing time lapses of 6 hours and more, and still camera can’t hold enough frames. Maybe a large CF card would get it.
Thanks.

[Kevin O’brien]

No other monitors are hooked up.
I tried connecting my 24″ Cinema Display, but still no Digital Cinema Desktop preview option.

Thanks,
Kevo

[Kevin O’brien]

Indeed trashing preferences did not help.
A/V devices tab shows only “none” as options.
Digital Cinema Desktop Preview appears nowhere as a choice… not in A/V devices, not in View menu, not in setup window…nowhere.
I’m suspecting it’s something to do with the crash, but I re-installed fresh system and FCP.
Thanks for all the suggestions so far… still searching.

Thanks,
Kevo

[Kevin O’brien]

It cannot be toggled, just stays at off in external video and video playback options are only “none”. Digital Cinema Preview does not appear as an option.
I know it worked on this machine before, I used it.
Now… nothing even listed.

Thanks,
Kevo