[Nick Price]

HI joey,
to save confusion, if i am unsure about the correct sequence settings, i create a new blank sequence(shift+n) and then drag a clip into it. It will ask ask you if you want to change your sequence settings to match the clip and voila, you should get a timeline with correct aspect ratio and codec applied.

You can then change you current sequences to match.

You will also know that you have something wrong if you have a green line above your clip on the timeline. No green line and you have the settings correct. ANy shade of green (or red/orange) and the clip settings dont match the sequence settings and you need to render (unless it plays realtime)

cheers
nick

[Nick Price]

hi there,
i have a Gtech-graid that i bought 6 years ago, use it everyday for online. Still works great. I also have 10 iomega Ultramax drives of various sorts. 2 have died over time, but iomega have replaced them without charge….very good customer service…

cheer
snick

[Nick Price]

most of the good ones i use are free…

-Andys plug ins are useful….guides and mattes (free)
-Lyric Shadow Highlight is the best i have found for bringing up really low exposed footage (free)
-Nattress are excellent for film effects and stylising effect (might as well be free for the low price!)
-Magic bullet Colorista is excellent for grading, including brightening
-Stibs filters, Joes filters, pauls crisps garbage matte…all free…

If you know how to use these you ca do just about anything in FCP, even make tea

chers
nick

[Nick Price]

Hi Dan,
creating a photoshop matte can be a pain, but all the info is there in the file, so you can force FCP to do what you want usually. Put the matte on the timeline above your clips, highlight it then press return. this loads it into the viewer. Keep the matte highlighted though – this will make a green line appear round the matte in the canvas window.

Open the motion tab in the viewer, and go to distort. Change the aspect ratio until the matte is the correct shape, change the motion/scale settings if it is too small.

Or you can use the final cut built in matte, which is probably much easier. Create a matte from the Viewer drop down menu, and then using a mask shape filter you can cut out the middle of it. Much easier….

Best wishes
nick

[Nick Price]

Hi Brad,
or you can use keyframes. Have a look in the manual, but basically they are points you create so you can change values of a filter wherever you like in a clip. Very easy and useful, and there are lots of shortcuts to make them easy to manipulate.
best wishes
nick

[Nick Price]

Well i think its much better to ask questions than to go ahead and make a serious mistake…..plus i view all the leaders on the Cow as gurus anyway….

Frederik, i would open up the EDL in excel, it should separate out the columns for you, you can then delete the ones you dont want.

In terms of understanding all the figures, it depends what version edl you exported, but generally each cut will have a tape number, then a source timecode in and out, ie the bit you’ve selected from the tapes, and then the timeline in and out. Make your timeline start at 10.00.00.00 then you can distinguish the different timecode on the edl more easlily.

cheers
nick

[Nick Price]

Is this mr watts from west london…ex-evanswoolfe….hope you got it sorted.

if not give me a ring…

nick

[Nick Price]

There there,
there is a product from MAgic Bullet called Instant HD which is meant to rescale footage better than the fcp motion tool. There is also a free plugi called Andys Better 3D which works well although i dont know if it will compare with 2k. You can also use compressor or motion which uses lanczos scaling which is much better, but i find the controls difficult to use.

https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/8/1018706

best
nick

[Nick Price]

Hi there
in the past i have used golf swings slowed down various amounts…works pretty well
nick

[Nick Price]

HI christian,
the main thing with audio is making sure it doesnt consistently hit 6 on a PPm and that it never goes into the red (or the red light comes on…depends on your PPM monitor of course). That is the main reason it will fail QC. Otherwise generally make sure it sounds good to your ears. I have done many mixes using final cut and while its not ideal it is perfectly useable.

To stop the mixes going over 6 on a PPM, use the compressor/limiter . Mix down your sequence, add the filter. Turn up the track volume for the mix, and you will hear the compressor kicking in.

If you dont have a PPM use the Vu meter in FCP, everything wants to be generally between 12-18db. Make sure it never goes over 12db and you will be fine.
best wishes
nick