[Paul Keyserling]

I’m a bit confused by your statement that “That isn’t a format that exists on tape. Either anamorphic or letterbox.”

I have a BetaSP camera that shoots 16:9 in addition to 4:3 and has a wider chip (ie higher pixel count) than the non-16:9 versions. In 16:9 it plays back full screen on a 16:9 monitor and squeezes the horizontal to fit when viewed on a 4:3 monitor. (Of course it likewise stretches the horizontal in 4:3 mode when played on a 4:3 monitor.)

Is this not 16:9 SD? And if not what is it?

Paul Keyserling
Big Pictures
Beaufort, SC

[Paul Keyserling]

Alex,

I, like you, have recently switched to FCP so I was hoping someone else with more experience would have responded.

That lacking, what I have done is to drag a clip up into the viewer, cut it from the timeline, designate the desired tracks on the timeline and lay it back in the new tracks. If you do the removal and replacement with the appropriate kind of edit (doesn’t disturb placement of adjacent clips) it should fit as before.

There may be a more direct or more efficient way to do this but this has worked for me.

Paul

Paul Keyserling
Big Pictures
Beaufort, SC

[Paul Keyserling]

As a recent purchaser of FCS 3 I don’t understand the crisis. I knew a new version was imminent but I invested in a tool I needed NOW, and which I expect will continue to be useful well into the future. It’s not the shiniest thing on the shelf any more but it still gets the job done as well as it did yesterday.

I was burned by Autodesk years ago when they “end of lined” *Edit. As annoyed as I was, I continued to use that system for years – until its IBM box died.

Why all the dithering? When the time comes that you need something different – whether because of source material changes,changes in your work demands and customer demands, or equipment mortality – you’ll purchase something that suits your purposes.

I own a $30,000 white elephant camera that decreasingly meets the needs of clients. That’s something to whine about. But then, it still makes beautiful pictures so …….

Paul Keyserling
Big Pictures
Beaufort, SC

[Paul Keyserling]

Chris,

Mystery solved.

I had the time code set to VITC in the machine control settings which I know my machine records. Changing the setting to LTS + VITC and letting Final Cut select appears to be the solution. Deck time code now appears in windows of Log and Capture. I had forgotten about the longitudinal timecode track on the tape. Curious though. I don’t know why the vertical interval code wasn’t reading but I suppose it doesn’t matter at this point.

Thank you for persevering in the search for a solution. Looking deeper into the preset settings got me into the neighborhood.

Paul

Paul Keyserling
Big Pictures
Beaufort, SC

[Paul Keyserling]

Chris,

I did. It is set to “AJA Io RS-422 NTSC” and I do have machine control – I can Play, Stop, FF and Rew etc. in the Log and Capture window, I’m just not getting any timecode reading anywhere. The current timecode window doesn’t show the current timecode and setting in and out points doesn’t show the appropriate TC in the respective windows and the “Go to” buttons don’t send it anywhere, not even to the 00:00:00:00 shown in the windows.

This all works in the AJA VTR Xchange software. There is something I have neglected to tell FC to do but I can’t figure out what. The “Device Control Setting” must be set correctly because I have machine control. I have changed various “Capture Presets” but that seems only to set the video inputs. Among others, I have tried both the “AJA Io: YPbPr SMPTE N10 8-bit NTSC…” and the “YPbPr Betacam 8-bit NTSC…” thinking the SMPTE had something to do with the TC. Both show video in viewer but neither show code in windows.

There must be something else but I’m unable to figure out what.

Paul

Paul Keyserling
Big Pictures
Beaufort, SC

[Paul Keyserling]

Thanks all for considering this.

I wasn’t clear about the serial cable. The AJA Io is connected to the RS422 port with the serial cable, then firewire from the Io to the computer. By the way, Io is the model name of the AJA

What I don’t understand is why the VTR Xchange software sees the timecode on the iMac but Final Cut does not on the same machine with the same cabling/hardware configuration. The Io must be working properly or neither software would see the TC.

I initially had machine control trouble with another old AJA box and those folks were great in exchanging it – at no charge! – and that resolved the problem. I suppose I could ask them about the timecode but this seems to be a Final Cut issue.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thsnkyou,
Paul

Paul Keyserling
Big Pictures
Beaufort, SC

[Paul Keyserling]

It’s been a few years since I have edited broadcast work. What happened to the 7.5% black standard?

Paul Keyserling
Big Pictures
Beaufort, SC

[Paul Keyserling]

Thanks Shane.

I tried the render as you described and the same results: The progress window flashes on an off and nothing happens. Surely I’m missing something but after a lot of searching I don’t know what it might be.

Paul

Paul Keyserling
Big Pictures
Beaufort, SC