Mark Maness
Forum Replies Created
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Dude….
I can feel for you. I’m from the same era but I cut my teeth in a small rural PBS station… Can you say NO budgets?
[David McClave] “I’m what you’d call a “power user,” and I research things to death… that’s part of what I’m doing now, so I don’t want to hear any responses like “wow, you’re sure stupid for not doing your research before asking for help!”
I’m doing my research. Apple seems not to be a lot of help, the manual doesn’t offer ANY suggestions, and I’m not prepared to spend ANOTHER $2K for yet another RAID card in this new Mac Pro. I’m using a 2.8GHz quad-core Xeon MacPro with 10GB of RAM, an external 1.4TB RAID 0, and another 1 TB of internal drive storeage. I’m waiting for my 2 new fast internal 1 TB drives that I’ll format as a software RAID.
The faster video card I just bought seems to have little effect… so… Anyone know more than me about this issue? WILL the Mac Pro RAID Card make a BIG difference? If the CPU is the issue, getting a Quad Pro should seem significantly faster than my dual G5, no? It doesn’t. What gives?”
I can fee your pain on this also. BUT… I can help you here. There is one thing missed by everyone out here when it comes to the Mac Pro systems and FCP – Memory! You mention that you have 10 gig of RAM. Well, that’s a serious problem for FCP. Apple does have a tech doc on this but I’m not on my edit system so I can’t forward you the address.
If you take out the 2 gig of RAM that you got with your system and place all your memory symmetrically across your memory risers, your FCP performance will be unbelievably faster. Let me explain, place a pair of matching memory bars in riser A and the same size in riser B – keep doing this until you reach you 8 gig. I assume that you have 4 – 2 gig memory bars. Take out all of the memory, place two of the 2 gig bars in the front of riser A, then place the remaining 2 gig bars in the front of riser B. That’s it.
For some unknown reason, FCP likes your memory to be in multiples of 4. It will also work with 2 gig but with an Octocore the optimal memory size if 8 gig.
Give that a try…
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
Very good point, David…
ALWAYS clone your system drive before ANY update. This will save your butt. Drives are cheap and there is no reason not to have an external firewire drive for cloning purposes.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
First things, first…
Backup your Firestore data to a hard drive or to Blu-Ray (if you can).
[Joy Marzec] “I set up my East Set up and i keep getting this message that reads:
Unable to locate the External Devices
DVCPRO HD (720p/60) (1280 x 720)
DVCPRO HD out
Your system configuration may have changed, or your deck/camera may be disconnected or turned off. “This is because the Easy Setup assumes that you have a DVCProHD deck attached. Do you have one?
If not, then ignore the message. But you are probably picking the wrong Easy Setup.You should be using the Easy Setup – DVCProHD 720p/24. UNLESS you have a capture card, then set it to its optimal setup.
After this, you use the Firestore for Log and Transfer only. Its not a deck.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
Maybe a good idea…
But also check to see if you iLink Set is set to DV Sp or DVCAM, if it is, set it to off.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
Bud… I hear you loud and clear.
I have to do exactly what you are having to deal with almost every day, but if you build this into you project timing, it won’t be so bad. And… the clients don’t know of this issue, tell them something to make them believe its a special process for HD conversion or something.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
[Osiri Sioux] “The 4-minute piece took 2 1/2 hours to render each time I needed to output it.”
I have to ask… Why are your rendering every time you output? You should render your sequences fully before outputting.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
[Rob Bruce] “!!Warning this reply contains bitchy comments towards Apple!! “
Wow… You weren’t kidding…
Can I ask what computer you are using? I ask this because I have seen any of these issues on our three Mac computers- two of which are Mac Pros.
[Rob Bruce] “FCP can’t use your multi-core processor. “
The reason for this is the fact that FCP was written long ago for the everyday computer, not just the powerhouses. I will admit there are times when this would be nice. BUt FCP does use some of the multi-cores now, just not all of it or any way to select which to use like in QMaster.
[Rob Bruce] “One workaround would be to use QMaster and setup a virtual cluster but has been broken for 2+ years.”
Again, mine works on all of our systems – a Dual G5, Quad Mac Pro and an Octo-Core Mac Pro.
[Rob Bruce] “This is no apparent way to export a FCP time line using multi-core systems.”
I do this every single day without issue.
[Rob Bruce] “The so called workaround is to first export the time line and then use compressor and send to a virtual cluster. I personally don’t see how that is a workaround and takes just as much time to get the job done. HD footage is a big problem, SD not so much.”
Ok, I’ll give you this one. This does need work, Apple.
As for all these problems you are having, Rob. I’ll admit that setting up QMaster isn’t the easiest thing or the most documented feature but it can be done and it does work.
Are you setting up QMaster to work with other computers in your shop or just your computer? Can you tell me how you set it up?
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
Well, Diego…
You said you shot this DV 24p. That’s progressive no matter what. There is no 24i. Now, I do know that the camera has the two following settings to do this: 480i/24p and 4801/24pA. Can you tell us which one you used? The other thing is… Did you use the shutter and set it properly to 1/48th?
Depending on which mode you used, you should use one of these Easy Setups to match the footage:
DV-NTSC 24p (23.98)
DV-NTSC 24p (23.98) Advanced Pulldown RemovalEither way, Quicktime will probably say that the video is 480i/59.97, is this right?
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
There you go, Mike!
That’s the answer, Adrian. Mike hit it right on the nose. This is something that Apple or your VAR won’t necessarily tell you about but its a fact.
Why this happens is a real mystery but it does… I imagine this has something to do with all of the old programming being ported into the new Intel programming.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
Ah hah….
There’s your answer…
[Adrian Scherger] “I’m using Studio 2 with FCP 6! 6Gb RAM”
When using a Quad Mac Pro or ANY Mac Pro and FCP, you really must stay with the memory requirement of 4 gig, 8 gig, or 16 gig. Anything else will slow down your performance tremendously.
Just try this, take out 2 gig of your RAM and see what happens. Optimally, with a Quad core Mac Pro, you should have a minimum of 8 gig of RAM – one gig per core.
This has been documented by Apple Support BUT no widely distributed.
_______________________________
Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com