[Khashyar Darvich]

Any feedback would be appreciated.

I have the option of have the telecine captured using an uncompressed 10-bit format, or a dv codec.

I haven’t converted a 10bit Quicktime file to a DV Quicktime file, so I would like to make sure that FCP can easily convert 10bit before I give the go-ahead for the uncompressed telecine.

Thanks for your feedback,

Khashyar

[Khashyar Darvich]

Hi Everyone,

Just in case anyone was experiencing the same issue:

I installed the new Kona 3.2 software upgrade, and the stuttering issue on that one part of the clip is gone.

So, it seems that there was either something corrupted in the Kon 3.1 drivers that I had, or there was some issue that was fixed with the 3.2 release.

It was a strange problem, but I’m glad that it appears to be resolved now.

Khashyar

[Khashyar Darvich]

Well, I redigitized the same clip again, and the same jittery playback issue occurs during that one 13 second section of the clip, even though that 13 sec. portion plays fine on the canvas and on the DSR-25 mini playback monitor.

I know that the audio on the tape was recorded at 12bit 4 channel audio, and my project default is 16 bit audio… that shouldn’t cause the video to only play jittery during that one 13 second section, should it?

Khashyar

[Khashyar Darvich]

By the way, when I stop the timeline on the jittery section of the clip, the freeze frame is jittery, almost as if the video signal is being interfered with. When when I stop the timeline at a place on the same clip that playsback smoothly through the Kona, the freeze frame is still (with no jittering).

Thanks again for your feedback,

Khashyar

[Khashyar Darvich]

thank you very much for your feedback, Rafael.

I also think that somehow, the updated version of Quicktime (version 7.13), is playing the film in drop frame, even though I exported the film in non drop frame.

I have exported sucessfully this way several times and it has worked every time except for the past 2 days.

To solve the issue, I exported a Quicktime file, then used Compressor to export an MPEG-2 video file and a Dolby 2.0 audio file. I then imported those into DVD Studio Pro, and the video and audio were finally in sync.

I am curious whether others have experienced the same issue with Quicktime 7.13?

Anyway, I imagine that Compressor produces a higher quality MPEG-2 than DVD Studio Pro (at least I will have more control over the quality of the MPEG-2 conversion).

Thanks again for your thoughts,

Khashyar

[Khashyar Darvich]

I am going to try to export the QT movie with compressor and see if the sync issue goes away.

Please feel post any thoughts that you may have as to why the exported QT movie is longer than the original FCp sequence.

Thanks,

Khashyar

[Khashyar Darvich]

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to update you on the dropped frames issue, so that others might benefit if they are having the same issue.

I tried a mix down of the audio, and I was still experiencing occasional dropped frames.

I called Apple, and they told me something interesting- that they do not support or recommend external drives with Final Cut Pro, and that I need to call the drive manufacturer.

I was curious about how the drive was performing (since I assumded that a new G-Raid 800 firewire drive should be fast enough to handle a DV project.

I downloaded the Kona AJA system test, and to my surprise, the drive was intermittantly showing subpar performance (reading and writing, at times, as low as 3 mb/sec. That definitely is not normal.

I called G-Tech, explaoined the problem to a tech specialist there, and he asked me whether the drive was making a clicking noise and whether the power light ever went off when it was in use– (it had). After checking my drive’s serial number, he said that the G-Raid drive was one in a batch with a defective power switch, and that I should not use the drive at all untl I brought it in (to their Santa Monica, CA plant) and had the switch repaired.

I live in Los Angeles, so I brought it in, and 2 hours later, I had my drive back.

I fired it up, and it seems to peform MUCH better , smoother and faster than ever before– I can now scroll through my FCP timeline quickly, and all of the video on the timeline is accessed seemingly instantly. Before, at times, video on the timeline was accessed with slight sluggishness, when I quickly scrolled through the timeline.

So, it seems that it was a defective power switch on the drive…

If that prognosis changes, I will let you know.

And, by the way, I have ordered another G-Raid 1TB drive through B&H, so that I can back all of my media from the primary drive… I’m glad and feel fortunate that I didn’t lose any media from my project.

Thanks again for everyone’s feedback,

Khashyar

[Khashyar Darvich]

I played the 2 hour timeline all the way through while I was sleeping las night, and there were no dropped frames after I mixed down all the audio.

Thank you everyone for your feedback and help.

Yes, Thax, the step that I was missing in the audio mixdown was to select the tracks first (I clicked on the sequence, and the went to “edit” and then “select all.”) Before I understood that I needed to select the tracks, I would choose “mixdown,” znd the process would take about 5 seconds or less, so I thought that something was taking place.

Is there any way to just select all of the the audio tracks without including the video tracks (when you choose “select all,” or is it not important since the mix down will only impact the audio? The imporatnt thing is that it seems to have worked.

But, my question is: why can’t the G-Raid drive handle 12 audio tracks? is it becuase it peaks its capabilities by trying to process (a maximum of) 12 different audio files at the same time?

Actually, I believe that my timeline began to drop frames not after I created the 12 audio tracks, but after I was changing audio levels on the first rough sound mix. Perhaps the different levels information for each audio track was maxing out FCP or the G-Raid.

Thanks again for all of your help,

Khashyar

[Khashyar Darvich]

Very good advice, Jeremy…

I just figured out that when I “mixed down” the audio tracks before, the reason why it only took a few seconds on a two hour movie is because I didn’t know that I was supposed to select the audio tracks first.

So, I clicked on “select all,” and it selected all of the tracks, and then I mixed down the audio tracks (which took about 10 minutes or so)…

I’m playing the film through now, and I’m at 17 minutes so far…

I’m almost certain that I set all the capture settings to the G-Raid…

The dropped frames happen at different places, so I don’t think that there is a corrupted render file, but… at some point, I will delete all of the render files, and do one long render.

If the proper “Mix down” of the audio does not work, then I will try to unplug the DV deck from the firewire port.

22 minute so far, and no dropped frames yet…

Khashyar

[Khashyar Darvich]

Hi guys,

I selected “render only” and then “mixdown,” and the process took about 5 seconds (on the 2 hour timeline with 12 tracks), and the “mixdown” color bar is half red and half grey…

but then, after 12:50 in the timeline, and at a place where there was only 2 video tracks and 4 corresponding video tracks, frames were dropped again.

This seems very strange and like it should not happen.

All of my audio tracks are shwoing the waveforms… I read in the “FCP Pro 4” bible that every time that you change the audio bands, that FCP takes a little bit of effort to create a new cache of the audio level bands… Should I turn these bands off when I want to play the film on the timeline?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Khashyar