Steve Covello
Forum Replies Created
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Thx Bob –
Little clarification: I made the first cable, but the second [two cables + barrel] were existing, manufactured cables that I had used with my Avid [now defunct]. In addition, I used a cable tester for all the lines I ran that day and got solid green on all of them, and none of the others have been a problem.
I will have to check the model of BB gen, but it has been the mainstay of our machine room since day one without a problem. Second, we are talking about a K2, with no reference loop out. Even so, we used the same reference gen for the AJA IO [which has a ref loop] without termination on the IO loop out, without a problem.
The thing that is perplexing is that it sometimes worked after I installed it. So I attributed it the instability to the tendency for the system to be switched from SD to 720 with enough frequency to make FCP act sketchy requiring a cache purge. But the more recent reports indicate that the problem had become pervasive, so I told them to switch to Freerun, and set the DBeta to Video In for outputting to tape [which this workstation is not primarily intended to be used for].
BTW, the MaxxPro RAID is working great, even with its Frankenstien-ish PCI-X setup. Flawless. Exactly what I needed it to do. thx for your help.
Steve
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MY post was re: FCP 5.x.
I believe FCP6 has simplified the interface, but the technical aspects of the setup I suggested remain true.
steve covello
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… and change the channel mapping, if necessary, on your deck settings from 2 to 4 channels, then be sure you patch your tracks to their respective channels by control + click near the track button and route in the popup dialog.
Be sure your bars/tone are set correctly – levels and pan. all tracks should play the same.
steve covello
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Admirable, true. but in a world of Good, Fast or Cheap — pick two, it is probably more often than not to give the mixer a head start, despite their talent, unless they specifically ask otherwise. And it’s probably more true on spots than in longform.
However, we had some problems on a 1.5 hour doc where there were 8 tracks channeled to 4, and the amount of mixing, cleaning up and effects were so overwhelming that it would’ve caused us to miss our deadline for festival entries if the mixer started from scratch. And the editor was VERY experienced, so we were inclined to deliver the mix as it was edited.
steve
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How would you have FCP and NOT have DVDSP? what kind of installation is that? Weird.
The preset I mentioned could be adapted for PAL. I only changed the GOP length and a couple other things.
Toast is commercial ware. Worth it. It’s by Roxio.
steve
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Ah, you are correct. Except that the OMF does not include any of the automation, so it is essentially useless if the editor has done anything to the mix.
Thank you for the clarification. I guess what I meant is that it embeds the media but not the mix. which makes it almost useless, along with the 2GB file size limit.
That is why I used Automatic Duck Pro Export for FCP. I still recommend it if this guy isn’t working on FCS2.
steve covello
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FCP 5.1.4 version and below will export an OMF, but not embed the media. I don’t know about FCS2.
You will have to either include the original QT/AIFF source material via media manager to a separate drive and send it to your mixer, or get Automatic Duck Pro Export FCP:
https://www.automaticduck.com/products/options-daw-user.php
This will embed the media into the OMF file. It costs some $500 – yikes! – but if you do this stuff on a regular basis, it’s a must-have. I’ve used it many times and it works like a charm.
also, your ProTools person has to have the Digi Import plugin or whatever it’s called to be able to accept the OMF media as well. 99% of Pro Tools operations have this, but don’t always assume.
steve covello
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Easy Easy!
First, you will not be able to simply open an MPEG2 file in QT unless you have the Mpeg2 component in your Library/Quicktime folder. It is available here:
https://www.apple.com/quicktime/mpeg2/
It’s $20, which is a ripoff since I think it should “come with” when you get QT Pro, but in the end it will be worth it.
Second, iDVD sucks. Run away, run away! I have had nothing but trouble with burn hangs and other Fisher-Price style problems. I’m a snob. sorry.
Do not export out of the FCP timeline to MPEG2 — export a reference movie, then do the reference movie in Compressor. It’s more reliable and allows for you to do multiple compressions simultaneously, such as making an MPEG4 in MPEG Streamclip and a WMV in Sorenson Squeeze or Episode Pro or Cleaner 6.5, etc.
Learn DVDSP basics and your life will be eased. it’s a clunky interface, and the selection latency is a real annoyance, but it works well enough for roughs, etc. For me, I do the authoring, select the Build button to create the Video and Audio_TS folders, then do the actual burning in Toast.
In Toast, select Data, then select DVD-ROM (UDF), click the New Disc button and name the disc, then drag/drop your Video_TS and Audio_TS folders into the window. Insert a blank and burn away. the advantage to this method, IMO, is two-fold. First I believe that Toast is a more reliable burning method than DVDSP’s, meaning you will rarely hang. Second, once you have done your burn, simply save the Toast file in the same folder as your build folders, and you can open the Toast file to make another burn at any time without having to go back into DVDSP.
Some notes about burning in Toast: do not connect or disconnect any USB or FW devices, or do anything that is processor intensive or else you might get a “connection is unstable” error, thus creating another coaster. Stick to maybe internet stuff.
Last, I have created a custom preset for Compressor that can make the highest quality “workable” NTSC MPEG2 compression for DVD which I will be glad to share if you hit me back at weevie833 (at) yahoo.com. It is good for spots or short programs, but not necessarily longform stuff since it creates larger files.
PS – there is a term among my colleagues and myself called “The DVD Sweats”, which is what we all go through when dealing with this God-forsaken format. I hate DVD and hope it whimpers into anonymity like Panasonic MII format.
steve covello
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Here’s an old post I made about a utility called Rooswitch that sets up multiple preference settings for a single app. It is best applied for setting up FCP with various Easy Setups and so forth, though it might hold the Control Panel preferences as well.
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/98/865475
The software company’s website includes a demo that I made for how to use it with FCP, though it only scratches the surface of what it can do. Maybe you can take it a step further and make it work for your situation. Post your results here if you try it.
steve covello
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Is it possible that the captured media is in fact in sync, but that your playback setup is somehow creating an offset effect?
If you play a digitized clip directly off your RAID in Quicktime using Mac audio output [not through the card], does it play in sync or not?
If it plays in sync, then the playback routing or setting of the system or FCP would be to blame. I am not an expert installer by any means, and my setups are all AJA, so take my 2