Tom Meegan
Forum Replies Created
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For HDV, the faster the processor the better.
A better graphics card will help, but is not as important as the processor.
With an iMac, you are in a bit of a conundrum for drives.
Although you have lot of space on your internal drive it is not wise to have one drive running the system, the app, and pushing the media. People work this way, but it is not ideal. It is prone to dropped frames and other forms of editing sadness.
USB drives are not recommended, though some do fine. It has to do with the way they deliver data, not their overall speed. Again, you can work this way, but if you have troubles with dropped frames, look here for the cause.
Firewire drives are great for the edit, but during capture they are sharing the bus with the camera. Not ideal.
So, pick your poison.
The camera is supported by Final Cut Pro 5.x. I do not see it on the list for Final Cut Express, but it may work.
https://images.apple.com/finalcutexpress/pdf/finalcutexpress3.5_qualdev.pdf
Best,
Tom
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If you choose the DV NTSC Easy Set-Up when you start your session, you don’t ever have to worry about your sequences being something other than DV NTSC. If this is your situation, don’t worry.
HOW to change sequence presets:
If you want to change the settings of a sequence you already have, select it, and hit Command – Zero. Modify the setting in the window if you need to. Only do this if you have a good reason.
If you want to change the settings of future sequences you create, go:
Final Cut Pro > Audio/Video Settings and then choose the sequence preset tab. Select the appropriate preset, or look in the manual about how to modify a preset.
WHY you might change sequence presets:
If your show is graphics intensive, or If you have to deliver a digital beta or beta master you might choose 8-bit or 10-bit uncompressed.
If you are building certain types of visual effects you might choose to create a sequence with a custom size.
When trying to Chroma Key footage, sometimes editors will place DV (which is short for DV 25) footage in a DV 50 sequence, in hopes of gaining the benefits of a broader color space. Unfortunately, this isn’t very effective, but it is a reason people will change their sequence settings.
There are probably other reasons as well. Those are the ones that jump to mind right now.
Bottom line
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Hey Jeremy,
I just checked out your Bio, and thought Maday Productions sounded familiar.
I stumbled onto your web site some time ago. I’ve have been pointing to it as a great example of simplicity in design ever since.
Congratulations on everything.
Tom M
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I would like to correct one thing I said above:
The in and out points in a sequence determine what will be exported when using File>Export>Quicktime Movie, whether you choose to export with the time line active or from the browser.
Best of luck, and sorry for the misleading statement.
Tom
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My experience with XMLs of FCP projects going back and forth between versions have been less than grand.
Random filters added and subtracted, timing changes, composite modes turned off, media not connecting, etc. It worked, but it was painful for an edit with much complexity.
Your mileage may vary, and probably will vary with each upgrade.
For what it is worth, during upgrade transitions, I duplicate every project I open in the new version and keep a version with the suffix _(old version number).fcp.
I also keep a system back a version until everything is happy. If I didn’t have a second system, I would clone my boot drive, test that boot drive, then put it on the shelf for three or four months.
I probably should do that anyway.
Tom
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1. You can export a sequence by selecting it in the browser, then going to file > export. The sequence does not need to be open as a timeline.
2. If there are ins and out in the time line, FCP exports from the in to the out, ignoring the rest of the sequence. This can be handy, but is a drag when it happens accidentally.
3. If you are shooting DV NTSC, DV NTSC is the video.
When your camera wrote the information it had captured to tape, it wrote it as DV.
DV entails 5:1 compression, and this compression occured just before the image information was written to tape in the camera.
As long as the DV video is treated as DV throughout the process, it doesn’t degrade any further, with the exceptions noted below and in my prior post.
So if,
you shoot with a DV NTSC camera,
you capture as DV NTSC via firewire,
you edit with a DV NTSC sequence,
and you export DV NTSC when you are done,There is no quality lost from your original DV NTSC footage.
As noted in my prior post, graphics and renders that have to take place in the course of your edit do take a small quality hit because they are going through a second round of DV compression.
This hit is not noticed by most, and upconverting everything to uncompressed before you start to edit is resource intensive.
If you are shooting DV for broadcast, or your show is graphics intensive with picky clients, I might recommend a different workflow. Otherwise, I wouldn’t sweat it.
So re-import as much as you want, but be aware of the recompression that happens with rendered portions of the time line.
Tom M
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1. Self-contained QT means the result will be a stand alone mixed, version of the work you have selected to export.
Be careful if you export from a time line. Remove any ins and outs and to deselect everything before you export. Test the self contained file before you need it.
2. If your original work was in DV NTSC, and the sequence settings are DV NTSC, there will be no degradation of quality when you export to DV NTSC.
The only exception to this is with text, graphics and filters you add in the sequence.
Some folks convert DV original footage up to uncompressed 8-bit or 10-bit, and work in an 8-bit or 10 bit sequence in order to get more post render quality from graphics. This works, but the effect is subtle to non-professionals. This technique is also resource intensive and has minimal effect on the unprocessed video in the show.
Probably not worth it for most applications.
Best,
Tom
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Incoming (first) video on track 1
High contrast video on track 2
Outgoing video on track track 3
Add edit on track 3 at the point when the high contrast clip ends.
On track three, on the video that is above the hi con clip – right click and go Composite Mode, Travel Matte – Luma.
How does it look.
Still Troubles?
Add a Color Corrector 3-Way to track 2 and make sure you peg the contrast (push the whires up and the blacks down.)
Experiment.
Tom
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1. Yes.
If you are using DV, you will probably get away with using one drive for everything, but it is akin to driving without a seat belt. If this is a hobby, and you can tolerate some risk when it is weighed against the cost savings