[The202]

Yes, SoundTrack Pro has several dynamic “effect” filters which should work well for what you want. Among those are an expander, a compressor and a “multipressor” as it’s called in STP. Filters can be applied “live” and adjusted during playback. STP utilizes a “non-destructive” action stack so you can toggle your filters on and off in almost any combination. I’ve used the multipressor a few times with good results.

[The202]

Arniepix,

Thanks for taking a look at that image the gamma shift is a product of the png format. I just now discovered that was the the default frame output, not the ONLY frame output choice. The DV set up is a FCP configuration I chose from the many presets available. I agree the quality is not correct and after running the same video scenarios with AVID Free DV and FC Xpress 2.0 I no longer have that problem.

[The202]

Dave,

No I haven’t tried the trashing prefs yet although I just read a little about that over at Apples Discussion thread. When I set this computer up two weeks back, it came with 10.3x preloaded and a new Tiger disk. I installed Tiger first thing, then my CS suite, Peak and few others…it was a clean install. FCP5 is the first version of Final Cut I have used, it arrived last Thursday with FC Studio. I captured and cut some DV with it but did not utilize any graphics until now. I have since found and loaded a FC Xpress disk, and all the problems I was experiencing are GONE.

[The202]

Scott,

Yes, everything else is seems to be working great. I found a copy of FCXpress, 2.0 and just installed it. Near as I can tell my problem is now GONE. I haven’t adjusted any setting, it is in a default DV configuration and working fine with static images. I havn’t tried any motion tabs just yet but I’ll let you know.

[The202]

OK I can now replicate the “The application Final Cut Pro quit unexpectedly” scenario. In the midst of a project If I click System Settings>Effect Handling and select NONE for DV/DVCPRO-NTSC and return to my project, render the timeline and then return to System Settings for any other reason even to make no change or simply click Cancel, FCP5 quits…immediately.

[The202]

Arniepix,

Thanks for the response, I was busy typing a reply to a few others when you weighed in. I think I was able to answer most of the questions you have in a few previous responses. I sincerely hope when you move to FCP5 you have better luck than me. And since your computer only crashes 12 times a year, you are odds are definitely better than mine.

[The202]

Also before every one weighs in to tell me that image is correct and it simply needs to be de-interlaced in PS just to verify, I know. In fact if you try it your self you get a fairly decent image although not as sharp as the original. Unfortunately as I mentioned before the video output is much worse. The image shakes well beyond standard video and DV25 jitters…it practically jumps. Rendered, RealTime RT, playing or parked at the playhead, the result is always the same.

I loaded Avid Free DV, running on the same hardware, same DV deck and Monitor, loaded the same image and it’s rock solid.

[The202]

Michael,

Here is an example of a static image that I formatted for this project. https://www.diymac.com/002a.jpg. It is a 720 x 480 image with a .9 pixel aspect ratio. This next image is an uncompressed, fully rendered frame from my time line. https://www.diymac.com/002a.png. My project setting is derived from easy set-up..DV-NTSC. My source images are all TIFFs, I saved 002a as a .jpg for uploading this example only.

For my animated images the graphics are much larger allowing for pans, zooms etc. with out moving beyond the 100% pixel threshold.

I just started with motion but only for an short intro to this project.

[The202]

Hey Gunner, John and Shane.

I started out to respond to you all individually but your replies came in so quickly I’ll combine them.

Gunner,

Oddly the canvas is where my images appear the best and yes I have a broadcast monitor connected through a DV deck. I would normally agree it is most certainly an over-looked setting but I have yet to replicate a motion or static image scenario with a good or bad result consistently. Also it would seem I am not alone after reading two threads started by Chris Poisson and Dave Simon.

John,

With flexibility comes responsibility! Who is pushing the buttons?…I have no idea what that means.

A little background. I have worked in editing, compositing and post for years. First on an A B linear configuration, then a hardware based Media100, and now I routinely use a NewTek video toaster and a PC-only Premiere system that works pretty well…all at work. My job is medical post production and I have held every position from surgical photog. to a broadcast engineer…being the Jack of All Trades is a necessity in my field. This is my first FC system, I installed it at my house in a very nicely equipped home studio.

Shane,

I routinely use a simple yet very effective, motion keyframe feature within Premiere Pro, in fact with the release of PP 1.5 I was finally able to drop after effects for this function, the quality was just as good and although a batch rendering system does not exist it is still fairly quick.

I guess I must have really sounded like I was dumping on FCP and the people who use it, let me assure that is not the case. I spent a great deal of time deciding on my next NLE, I looked at, tested and compared AVID, NewTek, Vegas, Premiere and of course FCP. My final decision came down to DVD Studio, SoundTrack Pro and Motion. FCP5 was simply part of that entire solution.

So I’ll keep on this problem, by no less than $4K, I am committed to make this work. In the mean time I put my PC back to work rendering AE animations and I installed AVID free DV where I have all the animation place holders loaded…and all the static images are already in place…looking GREAT!

[The202]

Thanks Matt and Arniepix. I used the methods you both described and it worked perfectly.