[Paul Dickin]

Hi
Yes.
As you say, it comes down to what kind of camera…

[Paul Dickin]

Hi
As Rafael suggests, set yourself up with a 6-channel Sequence, assign each track on the timeline to a different channel, make sure that FCP’s Audio Mixer isn’t set to down-mix to stereo, then Export a QuickTime movie.
This should include multi-channel audio.

[Paul Dickin]

Hi
Some of this can be done if you ingest into FCP via Log And Transfer.
The metadata then follows the QuickTime clip, and can be read by any FCP project the clip is brought into.
Or better still, by Final Cut Server, which gives database search facilities for all the metadata.

The older Log And Capture, being ancient carbon code, can’t add the metadata to the QT clips.

But I doubt if Log And Transfer can cope with the sort of timecode-stamped metadata you wish to log – yet…
Maybe FC Server is currently the place to log all that sort of thing?

[Paul Dickin]

Hi
In my experience a General Error most often results from using clips that don’t have a proper FCP-acceptable frame rate, or have frames that intermittently vary in length.

Either use QuickTime Player to Export new movies with a correct fps rate, or use Cinema Tools to Conform your existing clips to their proper frame rate.

[Paul Dickin]

Hi
DiskWarrior is the best option next.

[Paul Dickin]

Hi
Academy Leader
https://www.filmcontrole.com/leaders.htm

[Paul Dickin]

Hi
MPEG Streamclip http://www.squared5.com will give you Field Dominance (under the File menu item Show Stream Info).

[Paul Dickin]

Hi
The FW conversion to DV in the J-30 is as good as it gets, the best I’ve seen.
The J-30 can be set in its Advanced Menu to access either Audio 1 & 2 of the Digibeta tape, or Audio 3 & 4 (or a mix of all 4). So that’s a setting that could be wrong.

[Paul Dickin]

Hi
Factor in some training from an experienced Mac/FCS trainer/user.
Coming from a Windows background can make for heavy weather, not from not reading the fine manuals.
But rather from kind of not understanding them…
From my side of the fence I see the learning curve as easy, but for some people ‘easy’ is the most difficult thing…

In my experience – going on 15 years since my first Mac edit suite – its flawed workflow methodologies that give rise to individual FCP editor’s persistent problems.
Some of that can be corrected by RTFM.
Some can’t be – it will require an analytic expertise to minimise problematic situations.

My experience of FCP’s ability to cope with huge long-form projects with terabytes of assets (NOT huge Project sizes, keeping those to a reasonable size comes down to efficient workflow), is that FCP is as stable as it gets.

Mostly when I get to troubleshoot other people’s problem projects they are doing things in a way I would NEVER do.
But hey to get a Mac with 32MB of RAM and a few 2GB hard drives to spew out online quality video in the nineties took a whole load of cautious expertise… 😉
Nowadays its EASY!

Your computer spec choices are fine, its getting you up to speed that might be the issue.
Remember – its easy!

[Paul Dickin]

Hi
Just like Canoma once Adobe got their hands on it 🙁