Mark Raudonis
3
COW Coins
Forum Replies Created
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Yep. This is a problem. Your workaround seems like it would work. Consider trying this: Sort through your browser and reassign the angles for the “successive” clips.
My only other suggestion for your next project is to slave code for all four cameras and NOT use T.O.D. code.
We’re struggling with your same problem.
Mark
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[Chris Baldwin] “When we shot the time codes read proper and syncronized”
How do you know this? What were you basing this on? Did you do any “slate” tests? Did you still frame both tapes to check sync before you digitized? How did you jam syn the code? Did you use a single cable for TC or two cables, one for TC and one for black burst? My guess is that your code is NOT synced on the tapes. FCP does not screw this up. Double check your original tapes.
After years of production people telling me that “jam syncing” works, I’ve come to the conclusion that it doesnt! You can certainly get close, but I’ve never, ever had it work frame accurately. The only way to ensure frame accuracy is by hard wiring the cameras or using something like a “lockit” box.
We’re editing a daily one hour show that has 60% multicam elements in it. We use lockit boxes for four cameras and it is “one button Sync” everytime.
Mark
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Quick answer: Not easily.
Workaround: Take 5.0 project, export as XML, import in 4.5.
Right answer: Pay the money and upgrade!
mark
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Limelite:
While in FCP with the timeline active, hit “M” twice. This brings up the “marker” dialogue box. You’ll see an option for “chapter markers” in that box. Whatever you name that marker will automatically be carried over to iDVD as a chapter heading. Then, when you’ve finished marking your sequence, export the quick time. Be sure to activate “export chapter markers” when doing this.
Note: Do the chapter markers in the FCP timeline as your last step of the process. These markers are only locked to the timecode of the sequence and do NOT update if you shorten the sequence. For example, if you put a chapter marker one minute into your sequence , then go back and trim out the first 15 seconds of your sequence, that chapter marker stays put and is now 15 LATER than where you put it. Other than this, the process works quite well. Dragging a sequence with chapters into iDVD will result in an automatic creation of “buttons” representing the chapters.
Mark
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[Peter Wiggins] “We only tested one shared project on the san and that seemed fine although the overall concensus is that projects started locally then transferred to the san will eventually corrupt.”
We’ve been starting projects locally and storing them on the SAN for over a year now. Haven’t noticed any corruption as a result of that workflow.
We’re currently running nearly 100 clients with 48 terrabytes of storage on two separate X-SAN’s. While there are other SAN solution’s out there, Apple’s X-SAN gives you a level of flexibility and connectivity that I’ve not seen elsewhere. X-SAN is NOT a plug and play operation, but with a bit of knowlege and care in installation, it can certainly deliver the goods.
Peter is absolutely right that X-SAN DOES NOT OPERATE LIKE A UNITY! The biggest issue we have with “new to FCP” editors is trying to explain to them that media does not live in a project… it just lives in a folder accessible to all. If you’re contemplating an X-SAN FCP install, make sure your VAR knows what they’re doing.
Mark
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FCP’s media manager is not perfect, but I wouldn’t call it “a mess”. Misunderstanding is more prevelent than malfuntions. There are some fundamental differences between how FCP and AVID handle media management. As you noticed, FCP simply uses an english file name to designate a clip. If you’ve pulled in 30 clips all called “Reel 101”, then FCP is going to append a “1”, “2”, “3” and so on to the end so that it can tell them apart. Avid does this too but it all happens “under the hood” during digitization and Media manaagement, so you never notice it. When you look at the individual AVID media files, the actual filename is a long, long number that makes no sense to most human beings. There are some advantages to the FCP “plain english” file naming system. For example, in a networked environment, anyone can access the original media. Since they’re just quicktime files, you don’t even need FCP to watch them, a QT player will do just fine. Heck, you can even use a PC!
The downside to the FCP system is that anyone coming over from AVID is used to changing the “name” of the clip to whatever they want to. This can cause problems later when you’re trying to relink managed media. In FCP, the place to “Change the name” is in the notes column. If you leave the original file name intact, you’ll have much more success managing the media.
Reel # and TC are just a part of what the MM has to keep track of. This is an extremely complex part of the software that even AVID has some problems with. With FCP, there are known bugs relating to speed ramps and slow mo. Be very careful with that kind of material.
Mark
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John,
Aha…. this is a different story.
We have one of our editors working in Sante Fe, New Mexixo and we’re in Van Nuys, CA. In Sante Fe, she has a duplicate set of media for her part of the project. When she has a cut done, all she does is send us via email a “transport” project which contains just her latest sequence. Here in Van Nuys we open that project, connect all the media and output for network, executives etc. This works quite well. The key to sucess however is have the exact same media organization on both systems. What you’re proposing is not difficult, it just requires extreme attention to organization. Go for it!
Mark
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John,
You don’t say how many “more” computers you need to collaborate with. If it really is just a couple, Shane’s suggestion is the easiest, simplest and cheapest. If you need more than two systems sharing, then you’re into a SAN environment. We currently are using Apple’s X-SAN with nearly 100 systems all connected, all sharing the same media. Be aware though that sharing work in FCP is NOT the same kind of workflow as AVID. In avid’s world all media must live in a project… that’s why everyone’s so focused on sharing the project. In FCP, the media just exists in the regular mac file system and can be pulled into anyone’s project. This has some very powerful advantages in a networked environment. For example, any computer with quicktime player (MAC or PC) can access the SAN (in a proper set up) and look at the original media or quicktime movies of rough cuts.
This kind of set up is not for amateurs, but it is possible… and compared to a comparable AVID setup, it’s incredibly affordable.
Check out the apple website under Xsan, or the forum here on the cow.
Mark
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We spend a lot of money every year on transcription services. If anyone has any success with an automatic program I’d love to hear about. Unfortunately, my research in this area has turned up nothing that works well. Sure you can train your computer to take dictation, but that’s a far cry from understanding and transcribing random voices not necessarily speaking the king’s english.
Mark
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Rick,
Your instinct is correct. With FCP, unlike AVID, the media can live “outside” any project and be referenced by multiple projects. My suggestion would be to digitize the media into a project called “Media only”, and then anyone who needs it can pull either this project or just the individual clips into their own project. We use this concept on many of the reality shows we do which can have numerous editors all working off of the same media. With some organization in advance, finding all of the media at the Apple finder level is a breeze. In fact, if you just want to browse the footage you don’t even need FCP… just a quicktime player will do.
mark