[Neil Patience]

Sounds like you have got the HD footage in then. Totally not the case it has to be 4:3 or SD in order to import.
For ref you can use the log and transfer tool to import the clips. It does not need to be 4:3 or standard def.
Shane Ross did a tutorial which covers avchd footage here https://library.creativecow.net/ross_shane/tapeless-workflow_fcp-7/1

Also here is a picture tutorial I found on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBgBm-OvxXA

Once you have it all in I would edit it all in 16:6 HD so yo have a decent master.
To use FCP to create a 4:3 mater
Set up a 4:3 SD sequence.
Copy and paste your HD material into the new sequence. You should then have the correct ratio which will be 16:9 letterbox i.e. black bar top and bottom

You can leave it like that if you wish or you can zoom the picture to fill the frame. This will mean you lose the left and right sides (centre cut out)
But in FCP you can move individual shots should something vital be out of frame.

Hope that helps

Oh and just a general point from your other post. I am UK based which obviously is PAL and we have not used 4:3 for probably 10 years now as a format. Although archive exists of course.

best wishes
Neil
http://www.patience.tv

8 Core MacPro, Kona 3, Tangent Wave, Mackie Universal Symphony 6.5 FCP7
i7 2.7 Gig MBP (non retina) 16Gigs Ram Blackmagic Monitor Mini Symphony 6.5 FCP7

[Neil Patience]

Hi Anne

OK I think the issue is that you have 2 aspect ratios and I guess 2 frame sizes (HD & SD) in the same sequence. Obviously the HD is going to be 16:9 and you have some 4:3 as well.

Assuming the majority of the footage is 16:9 it makes sense to have a 16:9 sequence, which it sounds like you have done. This will however affect how the 4:3 looks, which I assume is not HD but SD ?

Right click on one of the 4:3 shots in the sequence and select remove attributes. I sounds like FCP has applied distort and basic motion.
If you uncheck distort you should get the right shape but the picture will likely be too small. You have to zoom it in to fill the frame but you will lose some of the top and or bottom of the frame. The alternative is to leave the shot with the black bars left and right. Its up to you.
You will need to do this for each 4:3 shot. However you can right click the one that is good and select copy and select another shot and select paste attributes and that will duplicate the settings.

Then you should be able to export it and everything should be distortion free.

best wishes
Neil
http://www.patience.tv

8 Core MacPro, Kona 3, Tangent Wave, Mackie Universal Symphony 6.5 FCP7
i7 2.7 Gig MBP (non retina) 16Gigs Ram Blackmagic Monitor Mini Symphony 6.5 FCP7

[Neil Patience]

Hi Anne

Apologies but I am not totally sure what your issue is. Is it that you dont know how to set square pixels ?
If so if you look in the inspector window for your given setting and under the geometry tab – which is the 5th icon from the left you will see “pixel aspect”

You can set square pixels or not there. Hope that helps – if not could you give a few more details of what you are trying to do – thanks

best wishes
Neil
http://www.patience.tv

8 Core MacPro, Kona 3, Tangent Wave, Mackie Universal Symphony 6.5 FCP7
i7 2.7 Gig MBP (non retina) 16Gigs Ram Blackmagic Monitor Mini Symphony 6.5 FCP7

[Neil Patience]

Hi Bill

Is the distortion you describe essentially making everything tall and thin ? If so this is normal. PAL widescreen can either be 720×576 Anamorphic. (FHA) which is probably what you are seeing. OR it can be 1024×576 which will look like a normal widescreen image.

If you take one of your distorted shots into FCP and in the browser move the columns to the right and you should see an anamorphic column. Just tick this and FCP should automatically display the footage in the correct format.

Hopefully that should work aslong as the distortion is not in some other direction

best wishes
Neil
http://www.patience.tv

8 Core MacPro, Kona 3, Tangent Wave, Mackie Universal Symphony 6.5 FCP7
i7 2.7 Gig MBP (non retina) 16Gigs Ram Blackmagic Monitor Mini Symphony 6.5 FCP7

[Neil Patience]

Hi Michael

for FCPX related questions best to post here :-

https://forums.creativecow.net/fcpxtechnique

Someone here, (FCP Legacy) might know but you will likely get more answers there.

best wishes
Neil
http://www.patience.tv

8 Core MacPro, Kona 3, Tangent Wave, Mackie Universal Symphony 6.5 FCP7
i7 2.7 Gig MBP (non retina) 16Gigs Ram Blackmagic Monitor Mini Symphony 6.5 FCP7

[Neil Patience]

Hi Bill

You may get more help if you post in the FCPX forum, someone here may know but this is FCP Legacy forum and you are likely to get more answers here :-

https://forums.creativecow.net/fcpxtechnique

best wishes
Neil
http://www.patience.tv

8 Core MacPro, Kona 3, Tangent Wave, Mackie Universal Symphony 6.5 FCP7
i7 2.7 Gig MBP (non retina) 16Gigs Ram Blackmagic Monitor Mini Symphony 6.5 FCP7

[Neil Patience]

This is quite a common error that pops up pretty regularly. Often it is associated with having stills in a sequence that are larger than 4K or the application or stills cache memory is set too low. Clearly this is not the case here.

I would suggest that you trash your preferences and see if that helps as a first port of call. You may find that solves the issue.

It is not usually a RAM issue. Your MBP is way over the spec needed for FCP, it should breeze though.

Use Digital Rebellions tool https://www.digitalrebellion.com/prefman/

If not come back and will think again or others will chip in I am sure.

best wishes
Neil
http://www.patience.tv

8 Core MacPro, Kona 3, Tangent Wave, Mackie Universal Symphony 6.5 FCP7
i7 2.7 Gig MBP (non retina) 16Gigs Ram Blackmagic Monitor Mini Symphony 6.5 FCP7

[Neil Patience]

Hi Edwin

Whilst you can indeed input 4K dimensions in the sequence settings I think you would end up in a whole world of trouble trying to edit a full film.
Usually you would edit in 2K and reconform to 4K in Color or Resolve. You can monitor things properly and the workflow is established.

Apart from anything else, (on any system you choose,) you are going to need some serious storage to do it without using some kind or proxy. Both in terms of capacity and speed.
Especially if you tried to edit in 4444. An hour of 4K 4444 media at 24P with a couple of audio tracks is around 570 Gigs an hour. Even at HQ it is still about 380 Gigs an hour. Getting that to playback smoothly in a single stream is going to take some impressive bandwidth. You would need some kind of very fast raid system. Some kind of large SAS raid or fibre would be needed. Something like a 32 TB SAS raid is going to set you back something like $7000usd (£4000)
Probably another $750 for the raid card.

Another thing that springs to mind. Have you ever tried editing simple stills that are larger that 4000 pixels in any dimension ? You can have just a few in the timeline and you get the famous “out of memory” error. Indeed that has happened to me with just a single image in a sequence.
I have never tried editing 4K video in FCP 7 but assume you would be prone to the same error.

Apart from the cost, I think trying to do a serious project on something that does not offer any 4K support is really a non starter.

best wishes
Neil
http://www.patience.tv

8 Core MacPro, Kona 3, Tangent Wave, Mackie Universal Symphony 6.5 FCP7
i7 2.7 Gig MBP (non retina) 16Gigs Ram Blackmagic Monitor Mini Symphony 6.5 FCP7

[Neil Patience]

Like Shane I use a Kona 3 with Avid Symphony 6.5 on my own suite. As others have mentioned you don’t get universal mastering and a couple of other features also mentioned. Closed captioning etc. As a freelancer I use many suites with Nitris DX, so I am also used to the performance of those systems.
The Kona works just as well as the Nitris as long as you are happy with the feature limitations and accept that. The first time I tried the Kona I was actually very impressed with the speed and reliability.
No doubt Nitris opens up all the features of the MC and overall is the “proper” option but the Kona runs a very close 2nd for considerably less cash and from what you have said the few limitations don’t sound like they will be an issue for you at all.

best wishes
Neil
http://www.patience.tv

8 Core MacPro, Kona 3, Tangent Wave, Mackie Universal Symphony 6.5 FCP7
i7 2.7 Gig MBP (non retina) 16Gigs Ram Blackmagic Monitor Mini Symphony 6.5 FCP7

[Neil Patience]

I have FCP7 running on a MBP with OS 10.7.5 – which is Lion. Totally OK no issues at all and Pluraleyes 3.1.1 will run happily too as it needs 10.7.5 or 10.8.x (Mountain Lion) to work. However Lion should see you working happily.

best wishes
Neil
http://www.patience.tv

8 Core MacPro, Kona 3, Tangent Wave, Mackie Universal Symphony 6.5 FCP7
i7 2.7 Gig MBP (non retina) 16Gigs Ram Blackmagic Monitor Mini Symphony 6.5 FCP7