[Tim Vaughan]

I gotta tell you I have been nothing short of absolutely amazed with the performance of the Quad and AE. Heck, all programs for that matter. I have been using AE to render out quite a few projects since I’ve received it, and I can’t recall any problem whatsoever. Just very, very impressed with the speed! I wish I could help you on this, but….

Tim

Tim

[Tim Vaughan]

I probably shouldn’t answer as I am not 100% for sure (though 98% sure, and it is usually that 2% that keeps popping up), but any camera with a functional firewire output and either NTSC or PAL and is listed on the box as Mac compatible should work just fine in FCP. If it does not have a functional firewire port, you will have to figure out how to get the footage on line, but as long as it does not record SeCam, you will be allright. (FCP does not support native secam footage. That is not to say one cannot convert it to a compatible file before or after import, just another step in the process)

Hope this helps
Tim

Tim

[Tim Vaughan]

What we usually do is in FCP, go to file–>export–>using Quicktime conversion. Set your Format to Quicktime Movie, and “Use” to either 300k, 1400k, LAN, etc depending on your file limitations. Or, open Quicktime Pro, import your finished movie, Click on Export, and set it to Quicktime Movie, using again the internet settings that drive you wild!
Hope this helps.

Tim

Tim

[Tim Vaughan]

Can you transfer the file over to a Window$ machine with AE on it and render it out the way you would like?
I have worked in Compressor and found it to be best suited for most everything I need, so I haven’t ventured out and explored any other programs. I honestly do not know what to tell you. iDVD maybe?

Tim

[Tim Vaughan]

I posted a quicktime file with a picture that was feathered at 25, and the same picture not feathered. Both have the same exact motion applied. Notice feathering also reduced the flicker around the top of the girls head when moving.
https://www.trizonfilms.com/feathered.mov

Hope this helps.

Tim

Tim

[Tim Vaughan]

I know you don’t want to purchase the WMV converter from Flip4mac, but I’ve got to tell you, since we made the purchase, we have not regretted it. It is well worth it in the long run, and has saved us a TON of headaches. I really wish Quicktime would keep Window$ up to par with the Mac’s, but….

Tim

Tim

[Tim Vaughan]

I have found much success in working in After Effects to combat this problem. If you do not have AE (or if you do), here is my solution: (This works about 85% of the time, but not all the time)
In AE, apply a mask about 2-5 pixels in from the edge on the picture. From there, I will feather the edges, approx 3-10 pixels based on personal prefs. In FCP, under crop in the viewer, just apply feather edges and set that to about 15-25–again, adjust to your prefs)
Keep an eye out for pics that have hard lines/stripes in them as well. They will usually produce a flicker in them when moving across the screen. In AE, you can add a camera and move the camera in on them, and this will reduce that flicker to a minimum. In FCP, you may be able to apply the flicker filter, but you will have to set that (low, medium, high) to your discretion, and it does not always work. Sometimes it just blurs the image too much and does not correct the initial problem.
Hope this helps.

Tim

Tim

[Tim Vaughan]

I’ll be honest, I’ve never used that program, so I can’t exactly tell you what to do with it. I take it you do not have Apple’s Compressor program?

Tim

[Tim Vaughan]

There is a Control+Alt+Delete, it is Command+Option+Escape. As far as crashing, what are you rendering? I have had this problem on an older mac when I modified some of Zaxwerks rendering to open GL and raised the render settings to a much higher setting. (The mac did not have the open GL card, and I was testing some functionality) The Mac endeed up crashing. I have also seen it crash when there is too much computations going on (Alot of pre-comps with a lot of scripts written within) and the computer can’t keep up with all that is happening.
My personal solution was to render out a few of the pre-comps I had made, then reimport them in as finished quicktime movies. This allowed the machine to perform the computations one section at a time, and complete the master project without any trouble. (Except it took a little while longer)
…but without knowing what you are doing or accomplishing, I don’t exactly know how to answer. I do hope this helps, though.

Tim

Tim

[Tim Vaughan]

I prefer lossless, though everything depends on your prefs and needs. Make it lossless with alpha if you need an alpha channel, and/or add audio to suit your needs. There is no set answer for this question, though for all my personal preferences, I just love me some lossless. 🙂 (It’s a sickness, I know. I am looking for some help)

Tim

Tim