[Michael Peele]

Jeez…so you want to know how to use an .mp3 or an .m4a in FCP?
Go to dougscripts.com and get the convert and export script.

https://www.dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=convertandexport

Install script.

Now go to preferences and set your import option to AIFF, 48KHz, 16Bit. Get out of preferences and then go back in and change your import back to what you like – m4a or mp3 or whatever. Get out of preferences.

Choose the file, run the script, choose AIFF in the popup window, hit okay, choose the destination of your file.

Bam – the script uses the iTunes conversion engine, pumps out an AIFF, moves it to your selected destination and deletes the AIFF from your library.

This has worked wonderfully for us. I am not sure if it will work on a an .m4p (DRM protected file). If it does not, follow earlier instructions to burn to CD and then re-import. Then proceed with above instructions.

Mike Peele

[Michael Peele]

If your pixels are buzzing try a small blur – 1 to 2 pixels.

Or try reducing the resolution – I know it sounds strange but, if you only need the picture to fill the screen, you only need 720×480 or thereabouts. If the picture is at some point more than full screen, give yourself a little more resolution to work with.

Is your image broadcast safe – do you have bright reds or full whites? You may want to apply the broadcast safe filter or mess with the colors in photoshop.

Hope one of these solutions works,
Mike Peele

[Michael Peele]

Well,
I don’t know any exact figure, but you will find an increase in rendering/mpeg encoding speed with a DP2.5 vs a DP2.0GHz. Theoretically you have a 25% increase in processor AND bus speed.

It is unlikely you will see a full 25% increase in speed, but things will go faster. We have a DP2.0 and a DP2.7 and their is a noticable difference, especially in RT capabilities and Livetype.

Also, weigh in the fact that you could buy additional RAM, a second display, more storage space, etc. These options might make the DP2.0 a better option. A DP2.0 with a healthy amount of RAM would likely be faster than a 2.5 with just enough RAM.

Hope this helps,
Mike Peele

[Michael Peele]

Try trashing your compressor preferences.
Gotta run,
mike

[Michael Peele]

No problem, and thank you,
Mike 🙂

[Michael Peele]

I just realized that you said you are going to DVD SP, not iDVD. DVD SP needs MPEG2 files, so you will need to export using compressor. This will open the compressor application, in which you should use the DVD compression presets to encode your video.

If the encoding and authoring will be done on a seperate machine, the you will want to create a self-contained QT Export of your timeline.

Go to File->Export->QuickTime Movie.

Settings: Current Settings (this sets the codec to whatever your timeline is set to)
Include: Audio and Video,
Deselect Recompress All Frames
Markers: None (These can be useful, but that’s another topic)

The only choice you have to make is whether or not to create a self-contained movie. A self-contained movie is just that. It is a fully independent piece of media that can be given to anyone on any computer. It is roughly the equivalent of dumping to tape and recapturing a single file. As such, it can be quite a large file, especially if you are editing uncompressed or HD.

A reference file is not self contained. It requires access to your original captured media and your render files. If you took a reference file and emailed it or burned it to a CD, it would be useless. Essentially it is a list of pointers to other media. As it doesn’t really contain any media, it is typically very small.

Essentially:
If you are doing the DVD authoring on the same machine you are editing on, you will need to go to File->Export->Using Compressor. In compressor choose the DVD encoding presets – for a 10min movie, you should choose the highest quality preset. I believe in compressor that there are a few different presets – choose the one for the shortest length DVD (60min?). That preset will have the highest data rate.
If the DVD authoring is to be done on another machine, I would recommend creating a self-contained movie. If you are working in DV, a 10 minute program will be about 2GB and could be burned (as data) on to a DVD to give to someone else. Alternatively, you could put it on a FW drive or transfer over a network. If you are working uncompressed, you will need to put it to FW disk or transfer over a network.

[Michael Peele]

Hmmm…
What kind of RAID array are you running? You said Apple RAID – like Xserve RAID or is a software RAID? How many drives and what level of RAID? Is there plenty of free space on it? If it is set to RAID 3 or 5, try RAID 0. You lose fault-tolerance but gain some speed (although the most basic configuration of 4x250GB drives should support *at least* one stream of video.

Hmmm…
Trash your preferences for both FCP and QT (this is easy, quick, painless and solves a lot of issues).

Ummm…
Some people have complained of issues with Journaled drives – you may want to disable journaling on your media drive.

Ughhh….
Virus protection or Norton or any other cr*p running in the background – disable it.

Errr…
That’s all I can think of now. Time to go kill some brain cells at the bar!

Good luck!
Mike Peele

P.S. – Can’t remember how specific AJA is about the Kona cards going into the “correct” slots, but you may want to make sure everything is where it should be.

[Michael Peele]

Okay,
I should have been more clear – your canvas should have no scroll bars. If set to “fit to window” there should be no scroll bars on the canvas window.
I assume when you say the scroll bar is on the bottom, you mean the bottom of your timeline (that’s normal).

Is this a new setup? Make sure that your software/drivers/firmware is up to date.
Follow this link: https://www.aja.com/support_kona.html for more info on your card, OS, and setup.
There is even something specific about 10.3.9, Kona, and Apple RAID’s.

If everything looks good, try a new project and make sure all your settings are correct before you begin capturing and laying on the timeline.

Mike Peele

[Michael Peele]

Are you going to author the DVD on the machine it was edited on? If yes, just export a reference file (that is a non-self contained movie). Export audio and video (of course) and leave the settings as “Current”. Reference files are very small but require the original/render files to be accessible for playback.

If you will be authoring this DVD on another machine, export a self-contained movie at current settings. If you are working in DV a 10min file will be approximately 2GB (self-contained). 10min of uncompressed 10bit media would result in an 18GB file.

In either case, you do not want to use File->Export->QT Conversion as this will result in a recompression.

Mike Peele

[Michael Peele]

Does your canvas window have scroll bars on the left or bottom? Make sure your canvas window is set to “Fit to window”
Mike Peele