[Nick Meyers]

ah, but there is!

with the clips selected in the browser,
start a batch capture going (Control C)

at the bottom of the Batch Cap window is a total duration

only works for total duration, as it ignores in/out points

nick

[Nick Meyers]

you will always get the “reel’ warning if the media has no reel#.

your ref movies would most likely not have one, unless you added one yourself after the export.

the “reel ” warning is the least worrisome of the reconnect issues,
so you are safe to ignore that warning, and “Continue”

cheers,
nick

[Nick Meyers]

it’s like that on the tape, i’m afraid.

to get the best quality scaing in FCP:
open the sequences settings (Sequence Menu > Settings, or Apple zero)
got to the Video Processing tab,
and set “Motion Filtering Quality” to best

of course if you only had to deliver a 4/3 letterboxed version, not a true 16/9 then you could simply work in a 4/3 sequence.
the 16/9 shots will scale down, and the letterboxed stuff will be at it;s true size.

nick

[Nick Meyers]

you need to scale the image up to 133.33%
so yes, there will be a noticeable quality drop.
cut one into the timeline.
double click it into the viewer.
go to the viewers motion tab,
scale up to 133.33%

NOW hit Control F

you’ve just made a motion favourite.

go to your favourites bin in the Effects tab of the Browser,
you’ll see a small green & black thing with the name of the clip.
re-name it 133% blow-up, or whatever.
now you can drag and drop that onto any clip that need the blow-up.

you can also assign a keystroke to it.
in the Keyboard layout window it’s called “Motion Path”

cheers,
nick

[Nick Meyers]

“when i go to reconnect i dont even see my file name on there … just a empty space. ”

that can happen,
but i’ve never figured out the exact reasons for it

never the less you know the name & location of the file you want to connect to

2 approaches:
select all the files in the timeline
reconnect
in the reconnect window opt to connect only off-line files (3 buttons top right)
Locate your new file

his will work if the new file is the ONLY offline file
or the ONLY offline file with no name in the reconnect window.

otherwise do a find in your timeline (Apple F) for the offline clip
find all
reconnect
Locate your new file.

cheers,
nick

[Nick Meyers]

not what you’ve asked for, but here’s an Apple tip that might make this easier for you:

do you know about App switching with Apple Tab?
hold Apple, hit the Tab key
you get a display of all your open apps
keep hitting Tab till you land on the app you want
release the keys.

ok, so here’s how to make that even better:

with FCP you can easily drag & drop files direct from the finder into it;s browser, (or even timeline if you wanted)

after you copy your file fro the desktop to the new location,
grab it
start to move it away,
Apple Tab FCP into the fg, then drop the new clips into the browser.

cheers,
nick

[Nick Meyers]

are the offline files double spaced in the re-connect window?
if they are, then for some reason you can only connect one file at a time.
Quit & Re-start FCP to fix this.

nick

[Nick Meyers]

a couple of things make me suspect:

“just got a shiny new 500GB for cheap”
“What’s that? The producer’s machine predates USB 2?”

USB 2 is not great for video.
some people have luck with it,
but on the whole it is NOT for video work.

the media may not play back properly, even on your powerbook
(may not be such a problem for simple colour correction)

also your new drive may not be formatted for Mac.
should be Mac OS Extended
otherwise i suspect you could have real problems with an Media Manager operation.

nick

[Nick Meyers]

sory, rick, i dont mean to sound negative…
maybe as i’ve never seen anything like this, i don’t recognise the symptoms.
still, it seems like you need more clarity from this guy.

nm

[Nick Meyers]

FCP connects to files via file name only.
it doesnt search the file’s metadata for reel# & TC like avid can do.
as long as the files’ TC or reel# doesnt change, then they should connect.

“I think the master clips do connect, but he doesn’t have any subclip info.”

sorry, but this also is too vague.
i dont know what you (or he) means
are the subclips offline?
or are there no subclips at all in the project?

“where I’m a bit befuddled is the guy says the clips don’t say anything at all”

again that’s too vague to help.
what does that mean exactly?
no NAMES?

nick