[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[Don Greening] “if the VariZoom battery comes with a 12v car adapter, why can’t I use a 12v battery and cable? This is a question I’ll be asking the broadcast supplier tomorrow. “

Please, can you read the info on the AC supply and post it here?
I’d be happy to tell you what you need to know based on just a few more bits of info.

And, as a producer/shooter/editor AND small-time inventor and designer of alternative gear for production use, I can say that, as a rule, I don’t take what an order-taker on the end of a phone says to be any kind of serious “fact.”

This is not a SLAM on order-takers, its just that they may have limited experience with the actual GEAR.

Proprietary (read WAY OVER-PRICED) batteries and AC supplies/chargers are a pet peeve for me and, over the years, I’ve found ways to save $$$$ with off-the-shelf generic substitutes.

Example:
A Sony Betacam 12v power supply costs around $300.
A Radio Shack 12v bench supply costs about $42.
https://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=22-507
The Betacam camera does not “care” which you use.
But your wallet MIGHT.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[Don Greening] “Always use your camera’s SP recording mode rather than the LP mode. There are issues with downloading to your computer in the LP mode and SP gives you a better quality picture anyway.

The faster the tape runs the better the picture. That’s why a 60 min. Sony DVCAM tape only lasts 40 min. if you switch to DVCAM recording mode. They must be on to something 😉 “

That sounds like it MIGHT be true, but it actually ISN’T.

All DVCAM, DV SP and DV LP formats use the same video compression rate and are “electronically equal”.
Ah, but it is very true that one should NEVER use DV LP speed on anything important…
but NOT because the picture is “not as good” as DV SP (when working properly, the image and audio are EXACTLY equal.)

The PROBLEM with LP speed is that the heads are spinning exactly the same speed as with SP (and laying down the same amount of DV info) but the tape is going PAST THEM at a slower speed so the space BETWEEN the head-tracks (swipes) is much SMALLER… so tracking the playback becomes VERY critical, so much so that it is rare that an LP tape can even be PLAYED effectively on any DV unit EXCEPT for the exact camera that shot the footage (so the heads are exactly the same).

Now, for this same reason, DVCAM records/plays 30% FASTER than DV SP.
Again, the image is EXACTLY the same quality (that’s right, DVCAM has the exact SAME quality as any DV SP (even properly-operating DV LP) recording.
But the TRACKING is so much easier to maintain between units because of the wide distance between head-swipes.
AND, if there are any minor flaws on the tape (and there always ARE), they will “go by” much faster and the error-correction can take care of them more effectively.
So in THAT regard, you COULD say that DVCAM might have the potential to “look better” than DV SP…
but in reality, when everything is operating properly (and I rarely ever see any visible drop-outs), they are equal.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

Quicktime works on both platforms.

I use it for many A/V edited samples for our clients.

I export my commercial edits right from FCP (using the “Quicktime Conversion” choice) and then email the QT movies to the clients… very few problems with all the PC users out there (ugh!).

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

It will NOT affect anything in regards to the multi-tracks. They will stay separated for further editing.
And… every time you DO make an AUDIO CHANGE (after the mixdown) that section will become “un-mixed” so you might need to do it several times… if the sticking and stopping reoccur.

At any rate it can’t HURT anything and it just might HELP.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

Of course when you DO this, the couple will be standing on the WRONG SIDE of each other.
If it doesn’t matter, then “flop” it.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

Try a “Mixdown” of the Audio for playback before you dub out of FCP, or DURING the edit, if you have audio/video slipping, drop-outs or freezes.

NOTE: Mixdown has even been demonstrated to help with slipping, skipping problems (or “missing” audio clips) for files being EXPORTED as QT (or similar) files out of FCP.

First, SELECT ALL of your audio tracks (highlight them) on the timeline, then:

Sequence Menu > Render Only > Mixdown.

You should see a dialog box telling you its rendering.

It might seem to make little sense that “Mixing down” even simple audio tracks will “fix” complex video “freezes” or random audio dropouts to tape or export, but it CAN.

NOTE: It does not matter of you only have one audio track, if there are random freezes during output, you should try the Mixdown.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

What CAMERA(s) are you shooting on?

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[Don Greening] “And no, apparently no one else makes a battery that will work with this monitor without ruining it with the wrong power. I checked. “

You’re not gonna fall for THAT old one are you? 😉
There’s no such thing as a “special proprietary voltage” that can’t simply be duplicated by another means and generic battery.

The exception is when there is no “standard-size” DC input jack on the unit (like a Sony camcorder with “unique” power connectors).
Even then, if you can buy an extra replacement cable, you can then connect it to any like-voltage battery.

In the case of your monitor:
I see that this unit has an available “Car adapter” as well as an AC adapter, and that both power units have a “coaxial power plug” to fit into the monitor.

This means that all you have to do is buy ANY battery that has the approx. output voltage and connect the same size coaxial power plug to that battery (observe proper polarity) and you’re golden to power your LCD.

You COULD even buy a 12v gel cell (say, 8 Amp/hr) and use the “Car adapter” to drop the voltage down to whatever the little monitor uses (heck, the monitor may even USE 12-13v DC) .
A Gel cell (although a bit HEAVY) could run the monitor for an entire DAY (or more) of shooting on a single charge.

So…
The AC adapter should have its output voltage marked on the top or bottom.
The Car adapter may also.
The actual Monitor and Battery should have it marked (along with the proper +/- polarity) as well.

If you want more info on using a substitute long-life less expensive battery, just post back here with as much info about this monitor and power adapter(s) as you can.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

1. Connect the VA-550’s output to an NTSC monitor (using the same cable) to make sure its OK.
2. Make sure the AJA io is set to the “Composite” video input.
3. Make sure your Log and Capture settings are: Clips Settings > Capture: > “Aud + Vid”.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[Fred Miller] “make sure (if it’s still) that your positions (x & Y) are whole numers”

Fred, that’s ALMOST correct 😉

In the Motion Tab, under the “Center” settings:
the VERTICAL (Right-hand window) values for keyframes need to be:
not just “whole” numbers… but EVEN (not odd) whole numbers.

I’ve never found any problems with using ANY value on the horizonal position.