FCP4 new user

[diablo]

Ok i am still having issues with this program. I suspect they are due to my lack of knowledge, so i shall ask and hope that some of you bright sparks in ase land can offer some assistance.
Ok my computer is a ibook G4 933MHz, 348 MB DDR SDRAM, 37Gig HD, Mac OS X 10.3.5 and i am using Final Cut Pro 4. I presently have around 13 Gig free on my drive.
Ok first when i try to cature, for example a 2min clip. No matter how i try, now or batch i find my input monitor that pops up freezes, i get the wonderful color wheel spinning, then eventually it flashes up with what i am capturing, of course now ive missed part of the clip. Sometimes when i am succesful i will find that my videp is out of sinc with my audio. Ok i am capturing via a firewire connection. From my ibook to a panasonic NVGS120 camera.
So that my first and main issue at present. Any ideas?
Will get onto other issues once i can clear this up.
Thankyou all in advance.

(wishing avid was as cheap, but determined to get FCP up an running)

[Jude]

Hey Diablo - I think you would really benefit from visiting <http://www.lafcpug.org> . Go to the forum section where some of the best FCP gurus are - even some from the ASE!

As for your problems there could be many reasons you are having trouble. It could be the disk you are trying to capture to. What *are* you capturing to? An internal disk or a firewire disk? Is the disk RPM fast enough to cope with video?

It could be a RAM issue. Have you got enough RAM for the job? Personally I always max out my RAM - I'm not sure of 348 is enough.

What are your project settings? Are you capturing in 25f PAL? Have you got any synch settings happening?

If the main problem is that you always miss the head of your captures, the workaround would have to be to capture more than you need at the head, to allow for the problem. Sure, this is not ideal, but its free - not like a new hard drive and a couple of sticks of RAM... ;)

[diablo]

Ok will do.
I am capturing to the internal drive, how much ram do you recommened?
i am capturing at 25f PAL and have the box ticked that asks if i want to sic pic to audio.
I have been setting my in point earlier to get around this but its just not consistant.
Thanx jude

[Jude]

I recommend getting as much ram as you can reasonably afford - I don't know anyone who regrets having too much.

From your post it sounds like you are trying to capture to the same drive that you have your system on - that is - you don't have a seperate internal (or external) drive for media. This is always going to be difficult, because the system is having to look at two things on the same disc at the same time. The spinning wheel of death that you are getting is an indication that the system can't keep up with what you want it to do.

Can you get a loaner external drive and see if you can successfully capture to it? If so, it might be that you need to invest in an extra drive. Video takes up heaps of space - normal dv is about 1 gig per 5 minutes of footage - and as soon as you start getting low on swap space on a unix based system (read MACOSX) things get a bit wobbly.

Drives are quite cheap these days, too - go for something that gives you lots of room to move - like at least 120 gig. Also - when buying ram, don't be tempted to skimp and buy cheap stuff. I've heard of lots of problems attributed to dodgy ram. It doesn't have to be Apple ram - but don't buy it from Crazy Ted's, if you know what I mean.

Did you check out the lafcpug forum? Its also got a search for previous posts that might help you with some of your other issues.

Hope this is some help :)

[diablo]

It is lots of help. I am looking into getting both extra ram and a drive, Cause yes i am going to one drive. I thought that may be the problem, one drive really doesnt cut it does it. I am going over to that forum right now, thanks again.
ran

[diablo]

Went to site. Vey informative. Have downloaded some articals on set up etc. Will see if that helps at all. Am on the hunt for that drive and ram right now too, Any ext Firewire brands that are recommended.
ran