[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

Close, but not quite. (If you meant to say the “OUTPUT”.)

You should not send the OUTPUT from the DECK, BACK into itself.
That would invite some spectacular “rolling sync” effects as the deck attempted to “chase itself”.

The better way is to simply send the INCOMING video first to the SYNC in, then loop THAT into the VIDEO INPUT (turn OFF the 75 ohm termination on the SYNC loop, but turn it ON at the VIDEO INPUT.)

This way, when you are playing a source, the deck will sync to it.

Another very simple and reliable SYNC source is to just turn on ANY camcorder with no tape in it (even a home video unit will work) and send its output to the SYNC input on the deck. The video from the “sitting” camcorder will be very stable (just like a black burst generator.)

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

Many audio professionals devote their day-to-day lives to learning to improve their craft.
There are hundreds of techniques and practices that can only be learned after much practical experience and study with other professionals.

You can’t possibly think that a couple of quick SUGESSTIONS made on a bulletin board will CORRECT your complex audio problems under location conditions with just the simplest kind of gear.

If you can’t even get the headphones to work, I really think you should find a local audio pro to come and help you with your shoot.

You may need to pay this pro, but it WILL make ALL THE DIFFERENCE in your production’s quality.

Here are 3 tips.

1. Keep the mic CLOSE-IN to the actor(s).
2. Make sure your location is absolutely QUIET and has very little reverb bouncing back from the walls and floor.
3. Find out how your camera works (video and audio) BEFORE you shoot.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[Jase] “would it work if the timecode is continuous?”

Nope.

As you say, it looks at the time differences.

As I recall, iMovie has SCENE-CHANGE detection.

If you can get that to work (easy enough to TRY it), you could capture with iMovie and import the clips into FCP.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

There is a function in FCP that is often overlooked… and it can help with many audio and video “skipping”, “sticking” and “missing” problems.

You should “Mixdown” the Audio for playback before you dub out of FCP, or during the edit, if you have audio/video stuttering, drop-outs, sync-slippage, 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]

First thing to try is to Trash the AUDIO RENDER FILES (do a search for this folder) for this project and re-render.

Then, There is a function in FCP that is often overlooked… and it can help with many audio and video “skipping”, “sticking” and “missing” problems.

You should “Mixdown” the Audio for playback before you dub out of FCP, or during the edit, if you have audio/video stuttering, drop-outs, sync-slippage, 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.

AND/OR:

Trash the FCP Preferences.
Here’s a link to a free Apple Script download that will do it correctly:

https://fcprescue.andersholck.com/

It has helped in countless problems.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

Upper left-hand corner.
Three “dots” (buttons).
Click the third (right) one.
The Browser should jump to the correct (and scrollable) size.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

You can’t adjust it inside FCP.

You should use a mixer between the cassette deck and the Mac’s input.
A mixer can be adjusted (the receiver’s input > tape output cannot).

BTW, there is no need for the receiver to be used in this setup (except to allow you to hear the playback of the cassette, something that can be done using headphones connected to the cassette deck or by using some other method.

Also, make SURE you are not connected to a MIC-LEVEL input on the Mac (you might be). This will cause severe distortion and noise to be recorded (even if you CAN turn down the input level).
See if the Mac input can be set to LINE-LEVEL.

If not, you need a Mic-level to Line-level attenuator placed before the Mac’s input.

Or you can use a device like the inexpensive Griffin iMic that will feed the audio in from a source to a USB port.

OR… just record the audio cassette to a DV tape and capture the tape

OR… use a camcorder (capable of such things) to “transcode” the audio directly in FCP via FW.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[winnipegboy] “My film-out place in Vancouver seems to think that any rendering of this material will seriously compromise the integrity of the video.”

Please post the name of this “film-out place” so we will all be able to steer clear of them.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

Have you tried turning ON or OFF the track select buttons on the left edge of the timeline?

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[tonybadea] “This bad experience cost me $2,300.00 and NO XL2. If paying by Money Order put a stop payment if a tracking number isn’t provided.”

Better still.
If the seller does not use Paypal and wants a money order for anything over $100… ask for an ESCROW.COM deal.

You send escrow.com the full amount, escrow.com tells the seller they have the money, the seller ships you the item.
Only after YOUR OK does escrow.com send the seller the money.
If not OK, you send item back, escrow.com returns your money to you.
(Escrow.com service costs a small percentage of the selling price.)
Further, DO NOT accept a deal with an UNKNOWN escrow service suggested by the seller.

Arrange for the escrow.com deal with the seller BEFORE you bid… If seller won’t do an escrow.com deal (or Paypal) on a high-dollar item, then expect trouble.

Never send a money order to a blind address and just HOPE for a good outcome.