Tom Matthies
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COW Coin
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DaVinci Coin
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Hmmm…
I currently have the Avid Merdien codec installed and it seems to behave just fine.
Is it only certain Avid codecs that can cause problems?
tom -
Shine doesn’t work with this version of FCP. Mine is broken as well.
There is another plug called Volumetrix (I believe), that is very similar to Shine. Peter Wiggins wrote it and it workes nicely within FCP. Google it and give it a try.
Tom -
In your canvas turn on “Show Overlays” and then turn on “Show Safe Title” if it isn’t on already.
There are two boxes on the screen generally know as Safe Title and Safe Action. Keep any important graphics or clips inside the smaller box and you should be fine when you show your video on a TV.
tom -
Just a quick little side bar to add to the above. We have a “new guy” here that’s only a year out of college. He learned Final Cut at school and is really pretty good at it. To be more useful here, he has been learning the Avid system for the last year. He absolutely HATES it. It makes no sense to him.
It comes down to what you are the most familiar and comfortable using. It’s that simple.
tom -
When I match frame I always set the auto select indicators to the track I want to match to. I notice on your movie that ALL of the auto select indicators are enabled. Although the only clip at that location in your timeline is the audio track, try turning off the indicators on all of the tracks EXCEPT the ones adjacent to the track you are trying to match to. The Auto Select buttons are those little square buttons just to the right of your track lock buttons on the left side of the timeline. Unless your browser items are somehow connected to the wrong media files, matchframe should work all of the time. I’ve never had an instance where it didn’t work correctly.
Anyhow, give it a try.
As for the Avid/FCP thing. I do feel your pain. I started on Avids WAY back in the early 90’s and cut on them for well over 10 years. Learning FCP was a little frustrating, but I’ve been with FCP now since version 1.2.5. I wouldn’t go back to Avid for any money now. They are two different sets of software with two very different ways of achieving the same results. I believe that the “best” system is usually the one that you are the most familiar with.
I am currently teaching a somewhat reluctant Avid editor in the art of editing with Final Cut. He is frustrated as all hell right now because it’s dfferent. Yes, it is different. That’s one of the things I like best about it. It can be updated fairly easily with only software changes. I have a pair of aging Avid Symphony systems in the other two edit rooms here. They are basically dead end systems. No chance of ever upgrading them. To upgrade them, you basically replace them. They are barely 3 years old now and cost quite a bit of money when new. The editor I’m instructing right now is one of the most dyed-in-the-wool Avid people you will ever meet. However, he see the handwriting on the wall as far as the future here. That future is FCP. No doubt about that. He’s realized that he has to adapt or die professionally. Smart guy. It’s like a business guy that speaks more than one language. Always a plus.As an editor who still ventures back into Avid land from time to time, I have to say that there are definitely features of the Symphonys that blow FCP away. The color correctors for example. However, for every one feature that Avid does “better”, I can name 10 that, in my opinion, FCP is superior at. When I replace the two Avids here in the near future, one will probably be an Adreneline HD system. The other one (or two) will be FCP. No doubt about it.
Give it a chance and FCP will become your friend. Try your best to not attempt to bend FCP into a clone of your Avid. Relax, open your mind, give up a few of the things you like about your Avid and you will be rewarded with MANY things that are easier and more efficient in FCP.
That’s your bit if Editing Zen for the day.
tom -
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tom -
If you’re just going across a hall you should have no problems at all. I have cables going between floors in this building and never had a problem.
Tom -
My usual analogy: What’s the point of owning s Steinway piano if all you know how to play is “chopsticks”?
Good video and so true.
tom -
We had a ground loop problem here a few years ago after some remodeling. All of the outlets in the “technical” area go hack to a common grounding point in the system. That’s the meaning of those orange colored wall plugs. Anywoe, we had tarrible hum-bar problems after the remodeling. We called the electricians in three of four times to attempt to rectify the problem to no avail. I measured the difference in ground potentials for the electricians and pointed to it and said:”See, look at that. It’s almost a two volt difference.” The electrician looked at me with the same look that my dog gives me when I talk to him. Hearing but no comprehension. A couple of volts won’t hurt you was the reply. I did my best to explain that the entire video signal we work with is about a volt. Two volts will completely ruin it. I wasn’t concerned about the two volt difference actually hurting someone. Still, he didn’t understand. Finally I tracked to problem down to the star grounding point that had been re-mounted using PLASTIC spacers. It was supposed to be grounded to a steel I-Beam but was instead basically floating the fround points of ALL of the technical equipment in that section. The hum problem occured when I tied that section into another group of graphics computers located one floor down. Ground loop central!
Anyhow, the plastic spacers were removed and all was well again. Plus we got charged for three visits by the electrical contractor even though they were basically useless and we found the problem ourselves. “Whatever” was the reply we received to that one.
Tom -
I’ve got a Kona3 and an I/O on the same machine and use both every day. No problems with either hence no posts. They just work.
Tom