[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[Andy Mees] “so just ignore the smug ‘how can you have done this’ comments.”

That was very hurtful of you.
Why do you think it was intended as a SMUG comment?

The POINT is, it is so unusual for a chain of events like this to HAPPEN…
that its a red flag that maybe that’s NOT what happened!
(Does no one else SEE this as a possibility?)

My questions are about FURTHER EXPLORING exactly what took place (or what was THOUGHT to have taken place) to make sure that any of these drastic measures really need to be implemented.

Most of us are HERE on the COW because we want to HELP!

So, if this in FACT, is a real situation, what are the DETAILS of exactly what happened?

What KIND of files where erased, how MANY, what kind of DRIVE, etc.
Exactly how did these files get MOVED to the Trash
(-OR- “are you SURE they were IN the Trash?)

So, you’re darn RIGHT I want to know “how this could happen”
or is this detail stuff of no interest or importance to anyone trying to HELP?

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

You know, all of these replies are usually posted following a DIFFERENT (and more common) problem:
A crashed hard disk.

I know this is a (somewhat) similar issue, but still, how did a lot (apparently) of important files get moved to the Trash?

And, following THAT, why/how was the Trash summarily emptied?

This is so strange that I’m thinking there may be a misunderstanding somewhere in this situation.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

And at least with FCP, you CAN lower the level in the Viewer immediately.

In Avid you must first edit to the timeline.

The CD imports can be EAR-SPLITTINGLY HOT with no relief until the clip(s) get edited-in and (finally) adjusted.

(First-time “scrubbing” can blow your ear-drums!!)

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[Matt Murray] ” 8-11 minutes each for DVD’s to burn.”

How long is the original program material for an 8-11 copy?

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[Gunner Jones] “I don’t consider Log and Batch Capturing a “workaround”. In fact, that’s exactly how you should capture your clips.”

Well, I agree with you for reasons of principal, but FCP SHOULD be capable of long full-tape captures.
Avid does them very well, even around broken TC.

Its the fastest way to allow an “editing assistant” batch digitize material (usually the night before) prior to an edit session… with clients (and the principal editor) viewing all the material for the first time.

When I am the shooter, producer and editor (all-in-one), I prefer to search my footage on-tape and then, only capture my GOOD material.

But, when I’m hired at a production house as ONLY the editor… all of the raw footage has been pre-captured for me and I have no choice but to view it for the first time at the session… I need it ALL to be on the drives to satisfy the client’s questions.
And, the most efficient way to do this is to capture the entire tape at once.

Sorry, but this IS the way many (most) high-end edit sessions are conducted and I wish FCP was better at it.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[Laura H] “I use a Canon xl1s”

Audio sync issues with a Canon camcorder, there’s a big surprise… NOT!
(Sorry, but that’s just been the case over the years.)

Do you have the XL1 set to 48 kHz or 32 kHz sample-rate?
Its best if you’ll set it to 48 kHz while using a 48 kHz timeline setting.

Regardless, “Sync-slippage” can happen during some longer captures from any camcorder (but mostly famously, from Canon).

To avoid it, break your captures into sections no longer than about 10 minutes each (maybe even shorter).

You can then “reconstruct” the full tape’s recording (or any longer takes) quickly if you need to.
Mark (and log) your first clip to End (Out-point) about 10 minutes or less from its In-point.
Continue to mark (and log) your clips this way throughout the rest of the tape.
Just make sure the In-points of the subsequent clips are EXACTLY ONE FRAME LATER than the Out-points of the previous clips.

You can do all this while actually scanning the tape(s) or just by inputting arbitrary TC numbers, logging them… then use Batch Capture to bring in all of your clips.

Its very easy to then “reconstruct” the shorter clips back to any “continuous” length you want on the timeline by just “clicking” them on in order.
EVEN FASTER… select ALL successive clips at once in the browser (with the browser column-order set to “Media Start” highlight all clips) and drop them, all at once, on the timeline… they’ll all pop up in continuous order.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[Alex] “Even with 2 terrabit drives we don’t online all our media for broadcast programming – when you’ve got a hundred rushes and 35 programmes to cut there isn’t really room.”

Interesting…

DV takes up about 13GB per hour.

So 2 terabytes = 2,048 gigabyte (or 150+ hours of DV footage).

If your projects are larger than that (most users’ projects aren’t), “off-line” is a good alternative.

Another would be to buy more terabyte drives which could actually speed up the edit process due to being able to view and make better image decisions at the higher full-screen quality.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[jamie] “is there any benefit of copy and pasting the good channel in to the other, or is it just as good to delete it and centre pan it.”

I’m of the school that says to “Pan-Center”.
It can create fewer problems as a project gets larger and harder to “keep straight”.
It is also the traditional “pro-audio” way to maintain tracks (many times a track is neither “FULL LEFT, FULL RIGHT, or FULL CENTER, but panned to a DEGREE one way or the other).

Since the basics say, “2-channel “Stereo” tracks require two edit channels, and full-mono tracks only use a single channel”… it can be much easier to build and maintain a full mix if one keeps these kinds of things consistent.

Remember, a single track panned to center will need to have it’s LEVEL increased (by about 6 dB) to equal full mono output compared to “stereo” track levels.

The other end of this argument states that you can actually increase the LEVEL of a mono track if you “double-up” on two tracks, so if its a simple edit and you REMEMBER what you DID…
you can chose either method.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[Alex] “it’s just a quick way of cutting. What I can’t get my head round is that FCP seems only to allow you to do offline using it’s Photo Jpeg,”

This whole FCP “offline” deal is so you can put up to a FULL feature film’s raw footage onto a laptop’s internal HD and cut whenever and wherever you are.
Its a convenience when you NEED it.

If you’re not on a plane or in a foreign country, and drive space is not at a premium (these days, it should not be a big issue) just capture at full DV size, make your cuts, and (if you want) use media manager to “throw away” all of the unneeded excess.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

First, throw every copy of PowerPoint into the pit of eternal damnation (I’m kidding… ALMOST).

IMHO, PowerPoint has been so “abused” by uninformed users that it may be the cause of more LACK of education (due to confusing and ill-prepared images) than its intended purpose of IMPROVING communication.

a) Video has a MUCH lower resolution than computer screens.

b) A typical PowerPoint (PPt) frame (as it is used by non-pros) is usually FILLED to the edges with copious amounts of ant-sized text which is left on-screen for nanoseconds.

This combo will render most PPt presentations unreadable/unusable in Video (not to mention they probably weren’t all that “whippy” in the original PPt to begin-with.)

If you want readable text in video, it must be relatively LARGE in size, the proper color, (edged, if necessary) and uncomplicated at the information level so that it can be quickly absorbed by the viewer (who is not, after-all, reading a text book.)

This article will be helpful concerning text-generation:
Great Titles with the DV Codec
By Philip Hodgetts
https://www.creativecow.net/articles/hodgetts_philip/titles/index.html

Most edit software has built-in text and/or title generators.
So you could, first, SIMPLIFY the text information and then “Cut and Paste” what you NEED to use from the original document into the edit software’s titler.