Mark Maness
Forum Replies Created
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[Shane Ross] “Since the software normally cost around $95,000. Or was it $125,000? I forget…up there. WAY up there.”
Oh yeah… I agree wit you completely, Shane. I’m not knocking the Avid in any way but it looks like they are trying to compete with FCS 3 and a $9000 difference is still hard to swallow for lots of folks.
[Shane Ross] “SOFTWARE ONLY…I question that decision. Part of what makes it so powerful is the hardware.”
This is very true. What made Avid so much better was the hardware. But you did know that AJA makes alot of the hardware for Avid. I’m not saying all of it, but the capture part is made by AJA (or was).
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
Yet, another reason Apple and FCP should have options to show use our bit rates in the desired method that we prefer. Sure would be a nice option.
Also… There should be a requirement for ALL video production personnel to learn the differences in posted bit rates. When you look at camera specs, depending on the manufacturer, they show it in one of the two forms, further confusing people.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
OK, Folks….
This has turned into a flame war of sorts. Look… Here’s what it is. There are many many choices on the market to do video editing. We all have our individual workflows and not all software is going to fill ALL of those needs. FCS works fine for my company. Does it need updating? Sure, but it works, IF, you know how to use it. Are there other pieces of software out there that are better? Again… Yes, there are but they come at a higher price than we are willing to invest.
Neil… It sounds to me that you really need to look at your workflow and decide if something else would be better suited for your needs. But blowing off on Apple because their software was designed specifically for your is ludicrous.
Do your research? Find one person out there that can use one software suite ONLY to complete all of their workflow needs. I bet you won’t. Show me a major motion picture that was completed using one one software suite. You can’t. In order to do your job to the best of your ability, it may require that you use several software packages to complete your project. That’s fine. But stop trashing FCS because it doesn’t fulfill YOUR needs.
This thread needs to end… There will be no winners and no reason to argue over something you have no control over. If you have legitimate complaints for Apple, use the Feedback menu to voice your concerns.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
Folks…. These programs are just tools. We all have very different needs and different workflows. What works for one doesn’t mean that works for another, but the suggestion may help.
I will agree with Neil and the rest of the guys. All software needs some sort of improvement. If it were perfect, software manufacturers would eventually be out of a job…
I make lots of DVDs, too. Along with tons of web video. Sure using Compressor and DVDSP in conjunction gives a get product, but no one has mentioned anything about the fact that you can make your DVDs inside of Compressor, too, if you’d like.
Personally, I don’t want to take the time involved in that process so we use Roxio’s Toast for all of our programs – simple DVD and BluRays. Its perfect for that client review or just a program viewing copy without menus. Its much better that iDVD besides… Toast is perfect for making those project backups to DVD or BluRay.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
Exactly! You’ve got it. But… When you add graphics and backgrounds, you really need to work with a bitrate of 50 mbit and higher to get maximum quality for output. Your video that has already been shot will not look any better but you graphics won’t look highly compressed either.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
Your codec choice should entirely based on you final delivery. But keep this in mind, ProRes422 runs around 110 mbits whereas ProRes422 LT runs around 50 mbits. Of course the higher the bitrate, the better the final quality. So, if this is going to DVD, standard ProRes422 would be overkill and waste space. Think about it?
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
Shawn, you’re not listening to us. Encode your timeline to Quicktime’s H.264 codec at 1280×720. Most all new computers can play this file perfectly as long as Quicktime is installed. This codec is so robust that the BluRays that you see or own are mostly compressed using H.264 compression.
If your client still has problems with this, your client may be asking more than he can possibly get.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
Yes, this is the proper way to play back your QT files made by FCP.
I do have one more question. Did you say, Shawn, that one of your timelines is 24p and your are wanting to convert it to 29.97 or 59.94?
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
Still, its more than like going to catch up with you some day at the worst time. You’ll loose RT and your render files will mysteriously disappear.
Just ask others… FCP works much better in consistent sizes like 4,8,12,16,32 gigs. Anything else may look like it works but filters will have odd behaviours and RT will most likely work barely. Some days everything will be fine. It can cause these odd errors that pop-up from time to time.
My best suggestion is to replace the Apple RAM with someone whose properly spec’d for your particular Mac. It can be from Crucial, Kensington, any konwn brand name. AND the must be of the same sizing. This really has an effect when working with XDCAM HD and ProRes422.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
Now, I never said anything about buying all of you memory from Apple. But mixing 512 with 1 or 2 gig bars from different manufacturers will cause render issues, sluggishness, the dreaded “Gerneral Error” message that is seen sometimes and overall weirdness within FCP only.
This fact. Do a search on Apple support site for optimal RAM specs for FCP. Apple would not realase a tech bulletin for fun.
By the way, when I’m talking buying RAM, ONLY buy from buy from certified Mac dealers such as Macmall so you get the correctly spec’d RAM for your system.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com