[Steve Mac kenzie]

Lance,
In my experience FCP is pretty solid and I have even used the first version of Final Cut Express on a second rate mac with 1 USB hard drive and I have never had the issues that I have had with Pro with crashes and hang ups. I have made it a point not to say too much about it because Cutting software is like politics and everyone has a take. However even the most hard line apologists have to admit the serious limitations that come with project sizes. I say it is a glaring issue especially if you do not plan ahead for it. Adobe is a pig with resources and frankly that is definitely a deal killer depending on if you have a paying client sitting right over your shoulder that has a hodge podge of footage and elements. All that being said I do like the software now and the direction it could go and I have learned to lean out my projects as they progress if there are any usused sequences and elements. This can be tough if the client is wishy washy though. The issues can come up anyway if there is a certain degree of complexity and that can be the most difficult part of things. I have lived on a number of boards and researched and there is no clear fix on this. My hope is that Adobe does not put off releasing a new version because of their foray into Mac. If they make it more efficient and burn the bridge and just merge AE and Pro then watch out, if they sit on their hands or take to much time taking on FCP on the Mac side of things then they might just become a footnote. Time will tell.
Steve

[Steve Mac kenzie]

I cut a weekly show and I have found that project size grows based on the elements and number of clips more than the length of the project. When I run into problems with project size save a duplicate project and then I pare down the unused media clip by clip in my bins and that helps me make it through the final innings. Since the main work is done I then do what is needed to get it on tape. Success in Premiere at least for me revolves around keeping the workflow clean and lean. hope this helps….
Steve

[Steve Mac kenzie]

I have cut many school productions, got to do the pro bono work you know… Any way what worked great for me was to cut the angles and then lay all of the main audio beneath, then I would go through and use the best audio depending on where the performers were and the acoustics. It became pretty simple after the first few minutes to realize if they are performing stage left that the house left camera had the best clarity etc… Then within those tracks I would razor them as needed to add gain to quiet performers or take down the loud ones. I would razor the other tracks off and keep the dominant one. As for the applause/audience reaction audio I would pull the most robust parts and use them like canned laughter, make the audience more lively then it was. If there was any audience participation sections I would match frame and put them in as needed. hope this helps… My main advice is if production laid and egg on the audio then just get in and get out, polish it and fix it but don’t be overly critical because you may never get out the chair.
Steve

Thank You for your input!

[Steve Mac kenzie]

I appreciate the help, I am in the same boat as the media 100 user was that posted a few days ago. I know the skills, I just got to translate them from Premiere Pro to Modern Avid. I would read the manual if there was one, I was able to get one from Avid in PDF but it was the basic manual so it did not elaborate on the multicam. The help files gave me a direction but did not put it all together. I really truly appreciate you taking the time to assist me. I have deadlines from my Adobe based main gig so I have not been able to have enough chair time to kick it out. I will use your post to hash it out. Thanks again for taking the time, I greatly appreciate it.
Steve

[Steve Mac kenzie]

Thanks for the help Jon, I have the keys assigned now but the next step alludes me I still can not get it to work. Do you know of any quick reference guide that I could use to get a step by step tuorial?

Thanks
Steve

[Steve Mac kenzie]

Thanks Vince..

[Steve Mac kenzie]

I appreciate the replies, I notice that the other 30,000 clip thread is continuing here and it is a good discourse because A) it is always good to see someone the limits of the software and B) it makes my problems seem alot more manageable. 30,000 clips… almost as bad as a wedding video 🙂 Other than Mr. Fronc is there a concensus that over a certain size the projects start having issues?
Thanks Again
Steve

[Steve Mac kenzie]

Yes, I have found that I have not cut on this machine at all. I just wish that that the 2.0 titles were more portable. Thanks for the help!
Steve

[Steve Mac kenzie]

Thanks for the time and the tip…
Steve

[Steve Mac kenzie]

Thanks for the information, do you have any idea if the videocard could be causing the issues. Could it be the card or the motherboard? Someone just came out to replace the motherboard, it is under warranty… but it did not solve anything. I am stuck with this hardware for the time being and I just need to make it work for at least a little bit. This set up is like a vintage Jaguar when it runs good it flies, but you need to be a good mechanic because of all of the issues. Intel is the only way as far as I am concerned when I redo things.

I tend to get projects that crash suddenly without autosaving.
Also I have gotten these errors and more:
Adobe premiere pro is running very low on system memory. Please save your project and procede with caution.
[\dev\stingray\backend\src\video\videosegment.cpp-55

When I try to change display options to accelerated GPU the display goes back to another setting and shows an error.

I have some Seagate esata drives that have an included promise card and they won’t install…

I am just hoping that I could get more reliability out of this computer if I could change out the offending parts.

The stats relisted…..
Genuine Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
– AMD Athlon(TM) 64 X2 5000+ dual-core – 2.6GHz
– 4GB DDR2-667MHz dual channel SDRAM (4×1024)
– 500GB (2×250) 7200 rpm SATA Hard Drive
– 400 GB 7200 rpm HP Personal Media Drive
– 600 GB WD External drive
– Motherboard manufacturer’s name: ASUS A8M2N-LA

Again any help would be great as I need some input out side the customer service blame game and a new perspective.

Steve