As usual Stump the Gurus started off the evening with Guru regulars, Ken Stone and FCP instructor at Moviola, Andrew Balis. Special Guest Guru Steve Martin joined the team to insure that no one got any raffle tickets. And no one did. So next month it goes up to 10 raffle tickets.

Q). When I transfer VHS to DV via my Sony deck and then use capture NOW there is a lag time in the speed of my audio to video.
A). Let the tape get up to speed and THEN hit the Capture Now button.
Q). I also have troubles with sync when I transfer analog to DV and then bring it into FCP.
A). Make sure your audio sample rate is the same as your audio capture rate and your sequence pre set.
Q). What's this stop start detection thing?
A). Like iMovie you can Capture your whole tape to FCP and FCP will note where you stopped taping and started again and will put markers in those places and you can turn those places into subclips or double click the marker to open the clip for easy editing.
Q). I'm using VST Raid card in a 733 Mac
A). It doesn't work and there is no need to stripe your drives with DV.
Q). When I log my clip with an IN and OUT, I'd like to be able to see that timecode again for reference. How?
A). Drag the logged clip from the browser back into the log and capture window and viola.
Q). I am getting color shifts in some of my transitions after I render.
A). Render in YUV space and NOT RGB.
Q).The audio tone that shares the color bars in Print to Video are to hot according to a Post house I bring my tapes too.
A). Use negative 12 decibel level or check to make sure that it is set to -12.
Q). Should I partition or use extension sets.
A). Two schools of thought and both are valid. Your call on this one. No clear answer and valid reasons to do one or the other..

Next up was DV Creators.net Steve Martin with the months Tip/Trick and this month was the very intimidating and scary FX Builder and how to open it and modify it and make it do your bidding.
First off, understand that all the transitions and filters in FCP are built using the language of the FX Builder. So if you understand the language of the FX Builder you too can build your own transition or filters or at the very least MODIFY the transitions or filters to fit your needs. Trouble is, there is very little documentation on learning the FX Builder other than what is in the FCP manual. So- the only way to learn is to open the FX Builder and start fooling around with it and see what happens. And the nice thing is, that you can get instant feed back with the windows in the FX Builder so you an judge if what you are doing is correct or not. Thank goodness for that.
So Steve opened up the "BLIND" wipe in the FX Builder and showed us how to modify it for inclusion into a title. Click HERE to find out exactly how Steve did it and then go into the FX Builder and start fooling with it.

First "show and tell" of the night was a "Star Wars" fan film titled DUALITY. What is remarkable about this film is not so much the extraordinary special effects and 3D world Dave Macomber and Mark Thomas created on a desktop computer, but that the makers had no filmmaking background. They just went out and did it. And the results are jaw dropping and every bit as good as you would see come out of ILM.
Shot entirely in front of a Blue Screen with a Canon XL1, (yes, you heard me) the 3D world was created in Electric Image, Commotion, After Effects, Photoshop, Final Cut, and compositing was helped along with Composite Wizard and Primatte. And to this viewer I could detect NO artifacts or bleeding around the edges. The characters blended seemlessly into the 3D rendered world. Who says you can't shoot against Blue Screen with DV cameras?
Click HERE to See Duality and how it was created.

Next up was DV Companion author Phil ("can't pronounce his name correctly") Hodgetts with a demo on "how to Capture DV at Low Res via Firewire on the Fly". Say that three times real fast.
Many documentary film makers wish to digitize ALL of their footage but haven't the HD space to do it. So what to do. Well, capture it at low res (P-jpeg) and get about 75 minutes per Gigabyte of storage. (if my math is right)
So Phil took us on a demonstration of how to do it and by golly he did it. Using our Dual 533 Mac, Phil showed us how to set up for this type of capture and then to prove that it can work, captured some media and played it back. The image is quite satisfactory and if you have a fast enough Mac you too can do this with little trouble. Providing you set up correctly. This method of capture is NOT sanctioned by Apple and you might have problems but for this night however, everything went as smooth as glass. This method really requires a G4 or Dual G4 to have any success without dropping frames. But then again, this method IS for offline editing so if you DO drop frames, who cares. You will still get accurate timecode.
Click HERE for a step by step HOW2.

Since it was our one year anniversary we thought it appropriate to bring up original FCP team member Tim Serda, now of Digital Film Tree for a brief history of Final Cut. And a fascinating history it is.
Tim began with a five minute expose on the beginnings of FCP at Macromedia.
In 1995 Randy Ubillos and others from Adobe, (Randy was creator of Premiere through version 4.1) got together to create a NLE prototype code named "Key Grip" at Macromedia. In 1996 Macromedia previewed Final Cut at NAB, but of course it was not ready. Macromedia pre launched FCP 4 times without shipping. By NAB in 1998 Macromedia decided the future was in Web Tools and not Desktop Video and gave FCP a zero budget to demo at NAB suggesting to the team that Macromedia cared little for FCP and the team would either be dissolved or sold to someone. Tim also shared the story behind the "Yak" which was birthed after a frustrated engineer slammed his fist onto the table and exclaimed If we can't ship this puppy in a year then we might as well all go herd Yaks." The Yak witticisms were created by the engineers over coffee breaks BTW.
FCP DID demo at NAB despite the zero budget given to the team and only because of the hard work of team members who were determined to demo at any cost. It was shortly after that demo that Apple bought Final Cut and its 30 engineer team and finally shipped the product at NAB-99.
Tim then showed us rare footage of he and team member Walt Shires getting ready for the demo at NAB-98 and their trip to Las Vegas in a U-haul truck carrying the FCP demo. He also showed us the interior of Apple headquarters and FCP co creator Michael Wohl getting ready for a pitch session in front of Steve Jobs. But it was the trip to NAB 98 and the tiny room in the bowels of the Sands Hotel right next to the food court where FCP was demoed that was most fascinating. Talk about humble beginnings.
It was great fun watching this story unfold and would make a compelling documentary in this writers humble opinion. Without the belief of Apple, a little luck, and the determination of the team of folks working on this project, we would still be wondering how on earth will we ever be able to tell our stories. This was definitely "Must See TV."

Up next was our special guest and most probably who everyone came to see, Final Cut Pro creator Randy Ubillos. And Randy certainly did not disappoint. Not only can this guy code, but he gives good demo too. What are those odds?
After my introduction which included the firing of another confetti cannon, Randy launched into a series of Tips and tricks.
First off was a nifty trick using the keyboard command Control-plus or minus to adjust the audio level while PLAYING the timeline. While not real time, it's the closest thing to it. YOU can also set key frames within the audio track and using the range tool, select the area from key frame to key frame and adjust audio level again using the Control -plus or minus keys. Cool.
He showed us "Cutting Station Mode" (in the preferences) which if you haven't played with it, eliminates many of the features of Final Cut keeping the interface very simple.
Another trick is the ability to recapture a selected clip in the timeline by just holding down the control key and selecting capture from the pop up menu. This eliminates searching for the clip in the browser.
Randy then took us into the much maligned FCP titler and opened up scrolling text. By putting an asterisk between the words while the text is centered, a column will appear in place of the asterisk and you can adjust that column using the gap width slider in the scrolling text window.
Randy then showed us a cool feature of 2.0 where by if you capture a long clip and bring it into the Viewer you can add several markers while IN the Viewer and those markers will appear in the browser, similar to that of the start stop detector. By double-clicking on a particular marker you will bring up that piece of the clip to view in the Viewer thus making you a nifty subclip which of course you can re-name anything you want.

It was information overload and time for a break, so we did.

Ramy Katrib of Digital FilmTree and Mike Stroven, VP Systems Engineering at Aurora Video Systems were on hand to demo the very versatile Ignitor card and put to rest some of the confusion on just what a capture card is used for.
Ramy spent some time talking about what users are actually doing with the Ignitor in a professional environment especially the film originated environment. Ramy explained that there are two options for the editor who cuts film. One is to capture telecined media via firewire and the other, using a capture card such as the Ignitor. Many film editors don't need or use Capture cards and cut at 29.97. With a Capture card you can continue to work with Beta SP or other analog decks and/or cut 24fps like an Avid Film Composer WITHOUT rendering which you would have to do if capturing via firewire and using Film Logic. These are two different animals (Firewire and standard Definition capture) and two different learning curves. Right now in terms of time code accuracy, the capture card is the way to go.
Mike Stroven took over and showed us the Ignitor Studio Card with Film option which is similar to the Avid Film Composer. You can bring in a telecined tape and it will do a reverse pulldown and bring it directly into a 24fps timeline without the use of Film Logic. Use FL if you wish to create a negative cut list in this case.
Mike showed us a clip captured at 29.97 and 24 fps.
You can get so much more info on the Ignitor card at Auroras web site and I urge you to visit. Thanks Mike for coming all the way from Michigan to join us.

Back after being assaulted by the FCP faithful in the lobby, Randy Ubillos was gracious enough to spend a half hour answering questions and listening to feed back. A sample of what we heard:

Q). Many people are getting dropped frames warnings on capture with 2.0. We are telling everyone to turn off DF warning and add one second handles etc.
Randy). We are aware of the problem and looking into it.
Q). Where do you see FCP two years from now.
Randy). I can't talk about specifics but the team is working hard on new features, Apple is behind FCP in a BIG way including marketing, and expect new features more often then before.
Q). When is FCP for OSX coming out
Randy). We want to make sure that the performance issues of OSX are worked out and we have LOTS of testing to do before we believe FCP and OSX can co exist We want to make sure we get it right before we send it out to the customers. FCP taxes the Mac harder than any other app so there is much testing to do before we are ready to release a OSX version We are working really hard on it.
Q). How come when I have multiple tracks of rendered video and if you just turn off the green visibility light on one of the tracks, I have to render again.
Randy). We are aware of that. A work around might be to turn off green light when needed and then hit UNDO to get the render files back.
Q) In terms of new features that might ship with FCP, where does Audio stand in the mix? Is it a priority?
Randy). There are a number of things we want to do with Audio. There are several people on the team dedicated to Audio only and we are working very hard on it. One of the nice things about OSX is that it can handle MORE than stereo.
Q). Are you working with other companies other than Matrox on the RT solution. It seems Apples communication with 3rd party developers might not be as good as it can be.
Randy). We are working with lots of 3rd parties on the RT solution. We have had 3rd party kitchens on this topic. We had to pick somebody to start with and Matrox was it. We are working with lots of people now. The way real time works is a very open mechanism. It's just using QuickTime/Realtime architecture. Anyone can do a board that supports that. It's up to a third party to build the boards and drivers.
Q). In 1.2.5 you used to be able to mix audio sample rates in the same timeline. Now you get distortion problems sometimes.
Randy) We are aware of that problem and we are working on it.
Q). Is Final Cut capable of background rendering?
Randy). No.
Q). Can FCP be set up in a multiple computer network set up for rendering?
Randy). The problem here is that it takes so long to send video files to the next computer that by the time it gets there it defeats the purpose of the network.
Q). Are there more detailed resources concerning the FX Builder?
Randy). There might be a couple of books coming out, but I am not sure.
Q) Is there a short cut to cycle through composite modes by selecting the clip?
Randy). Not currently but thats a good idea.
Q). Will there ever be a FCP for Windows?
Randy). One of the reasons for FCP to be at Apple is to sell more Macs and make the Macintosh platform the best on the planet for digital video. So no, there won't be a windows version.
Q). In the trim window we need the ability to hear out going audio in one window and incoming in another for precise dialogue edits.
Randy). We are working on more features in the trim window and are aware of its importance to editors.
Q)/ Feature request: More details when using the Media Manger. Want to know WHAT clips have insufficient length being deleted, etc. Just need more details.
Randy) Good suggestion.
Q). The Matrox card only handles 3 layers. Any word on a card that can handle more?
Randy). Can't comment but it's up to the hardware card as the architecture can handle up to as many layers as the card can handle.
Q). How come in iMovie we can get real time preview of fast forward and slow mo effects and in FCP we can't?
Randy). iMovie just shows one frame repeating over and over giving you a VERY rough look at the effect, where FCP gives you frame blending which is a much cleaner look.

We could of gone on for several more hours but time dictates all things so we had to move on. Thanks Randy Ubillos for your generosity and thanks for taking the time to visit with us.

Last "show and tell" was Matthew Ross with his movie "Curtis and Clover" which has been discussed over the last several months on 2-pop.com in the multi part series "The making of a DV Film." Although Matthew was only able to show clips of the piece and it was difficult to form a synopsis of the story, you can read all about it just by going to 2-pop. It's a real good read.
The story of 2 friends Curtis and Clover was shot on Super 16mm film, transferred to DigiBeta, captured with a Aurora Card and cut on FCP and made on a show string budget with a dedicated group of friends, "Curtis and Clover" is finally done and looking for a home.
Not sure if Matt has put up clips of Curtis and Clove on the internet yet, but he ought too. It looks real good.

World famous raffle was up next and the following prizes were given away by several generous folks.

SteadyTracker - Promax
DV Companion and Cleaner Companion - Intelligent Assistance
DVD Studio Pro pack Templates - Intelligent Media
Hollywood FX- Promax
Learning Photoshop 6 CD - lynda.com
2 -packages of CDR labels - Meritline
Secrets of Final Cut Pro - DV Creators
T-Shirt- Creative Cow
Final Cut Pro 2.0 - Apple

Unfortunately I screwed up and forgot to give out one on site visit from Runway AND a copy of Final Draft and Final Draft AV so we will keep those prizes till next meeting. My apoligies. And to Loren Miller of Neotron Design for not standing guard over his FCP keyboard charts. Someone apparently took them from the raffle table.

Special thanks to Terry McCarthy, Chris Coe, Joseph O'Connor, Ken Stone, Doug Lindeman and of course, Ned Soltz for helping out at the meeting. And thanks to Promax for footing the bill

See you all next month when we try to get it right one more time.

Michael Horton