ripple tool and a strange noise

I am following a tutorial to learn Final Cut Pro HD on a PowerMac with a 2.0 Ghz dual processor with 2.5G of RAM.

I was instructed to select the ripple tool to trim the head and tail of a clip. The first problem is that I am not able to select the beginning, for instance, of both the video and the audio, as the tutorial indicated would happen automatically. I am able to select the head of the video clip, or the audio clip, but not both, not even with a shift click.

The result is:

1) When I try to drag the beginning of the clip of video, I get a "collision with..." message relating to the clip of audio.

2) As long as I click and hold down the mouse button, a rather disconcerting whirring sort of sound eminates from inside the computer itself(and not from the internal audio speakers). Interestingly, the pitch changes slightly from when I initially click to when I attempt to drag.

The computer is two months old, and I am running on Tiger OS. This is my second pass through the book, and I don't recall having this trouble with the ripple tool the first time, so I am thinking that either (1) some defect has manifested in the hardware and I ought to get it dealt with before the 90-day warrant expires, or (2) I errantly made some setting change in either Final Cut Pro or OSX that is causing this. Hopefully, #2 is the deal, or maybe even something simpler that I'm overlooking or oblivious to, but I don't know. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

scotty

scott,

either the clips are not linked, (clip name is underlined when linked)
or you have timeline linking turned off (that't the tiny "link" icon top right of timeline. Shift L toggles it, so maybe you turned it off by accident)

to override linking, or lack of linking, dont hold the Shfit key, hold the OPTION key.

OR if there is NO linkage at all between your picture and sound clips, select one, then hold APPLE while you select the other.

dont know what;s going on with the noise.

cheers,
nick

Scott, I wouldn't worry too much about the Ripple tool. Pretty rarely used anyway. It's rare that you know how far to drag the ripple without looking at the shot, and sometimes you spend more time worrying about whether your sound is linked, whether you have music on top, and other things which disable the Ripple tool, that it's probably faster just to trim the clip by dragging its edge, then closing the gap.

As for the mouse/whirring problem, try changing your Mouse preferences under System Preferences and see if you notice a change. Chances are it's a hardware problem (USB bus, maybe?), but go ahead and try anyway. Also, does the mouse react the same way in all other applications including the Finder?

hang on there!

why do two or three actions when you can do one?

the ripple tools is just as valid a tool as any other.
for complex trimming, it's the best.

once scott gets then linking thing sorted, it'll be fine.


nick

I get your point, Nick. I just think that sometimes -- and for some people -- it's faster to do things the boneheaded way rather than figure out the "right" tool.

The reason I don't use the Ripple tool often is that, in order to shave down a clip in the timeline, using Ripple means either going to the Tool Palette, click-holding on the tool box, selecting it (or pressing R-R), then executing the edit. With the default mouse pointer, there's no tool-changing necessary, though it's one more operation. But for example, if you have music or a widescreen matte over the shot already, Ripple won't be appropriate, and it's so much easier to just move things around, deselect etc. using the Arrow.

I probably use the Trim window more than the Ripple tool, myself. Still, no harm in knowing more methods, of course.

I like Roll much better because it's not paralyzed by overlapping clips, etc, though in that case we have the question of how often we'd want to take away exactly the same number of frames from one clip to add to the other. I guess a lot of people like using it for match-action cuts...but that's not something I do too obsessively, and if I change one side of a match-action cut, I tend to change the other, and not necessarily by the same amount.

Ah, gentlemen, you haven't lived until you do Ripple from the keyboard. Use the mouse and Command-click only to extend your edit sleection to other track-- often necessary in complex longform timelines.

V selects the edit point nearest the playhead, depending on AutoSelect.

U cycles from center roll to left or right ripple. It's exactly the same effect.

Keypad plus or minus to trim in or out, depending which side of the cut.

But you know what? I understand Derek's POV. I confess to setting AutoSelerct for all tracks (Command-0, Option-0 for video and audio toggles) marking an In, and Out, Shift-Delete, and there it is, trimming through all tracks. Then I patch up audio issues with the E key.

A guilty boneheaded pleasure. But in a complex timeline on slower machines like my Dual 800, keypad trim turns out to be the only workable solution to avoid the SBBOD.

I still find the big Trim Edit window to disruptive for me, I want to stay in the Timeline.

Do you think a feature request should include the ability to select edits on multiple tracks using AutoSelect rather than topmost audio or bottommost video? Then edit points could be selected on all tracks from the keyboard.

- Loren
Today's FCP 4.5 keytip:
Set your custom layouts by pressing
Option>Windows>Arrange>Set Custom Layout.
Access your custom layouts 1 & 2 with Shift & Option-U!

The FCP HD KeyGuide?: your power placemat.
Now available at KeyGuide Central
www.neotrondesign.com

i didnt really start using the trim window till last year, on "three dollars"
that was about 3-4 years after i'd started using FCP!

on my fiorst project i did a lot of picking up the whole film from a certain shot onwards with the track tool and just making shots to be extended.
most editors i know do that at first with FCP

i seem to go in-depth with some new part of FCP with each new project.
i thought trim window was going to be the one on that film, and it was.

most of the time i do trim in the timeline, but the window was just the right environment for some things. cant remember why now!
maybe i just wanted to try it?

there is no way in the world i could have used an automated edit selection, im affraid.
some clips were extending one way, some extending the other.
and sometimes its a cut down the line, far way from the primary cut, that gets selected.

(if they're close enough together, then there is always the "Group" tool
i hate the way that opens the trim window though. i wish that could be turned off. i reckon more people would use it if it could be.)

i didnt have too many "overlaping clip" hold-ups.
my sequnces weren never over 20minutes maybe that helped.
if i am cutting with a mask layer, though, i always blade that at the cut if want to do a ripple edit, so as to avoid that issue.

Rippling is good for me as i might not get it right the first time, and its easy to trim on the fly.
8 frames? close, but not quite
9? nope
7? just right!

i like it when it's just right :-)

nick

> if i am cutting with a mask layer, though, i always blade that at the cut if
> want to do a ripple edit, so as to avoid that issue.

Yeah, that's what I do. But on this film I've been working on, we have back-to-back music (16 out of the 18-minute running time take place in a nightclub), and on the temp music at least, I had specific parts synced up to specific scenes where the lyrics actually comment on what's happening onscreen. Hadn't even intended it at the very first, but you guys know how music just syncs itself to images...and most of the time, I have a mid-scoop applied to music to make room for dialogue. So I use the All Tracks Forward (TTTT, ie. double arrow pointing right) tool a lot, coupled with switching to the Arrow to de-select multiple items so I can leave music and transitions alone when I close gaps. Honestly, I don't think it slows me down that much because I'm now so used to it.

When I already know how many frames, I actually just fly to the hit, hit the arrow keys that number of times, then drag to snap. Sounds laborious, but allows me to leave all other clips alone without having to worry about Auto-Select, linking, etc.

Anyway, I think one of the great things about applications like these is the number of ways you can execute the same command. I don't think it's a problem as long as we can execute things comfortably. You ripple, I drag, and somebody else probably uses in/out points.

I think it's important to master ALL ways of trimming. You get 'em all down, you can rock that much harder. It's hard to break old habits, but you'll find yourself in certain situations picking a certain technique. I use Nick's, Loren's, and Derek's technique, based upon the construction of the timeline. I'm not stuck with any one technique, I've got them all under my belt and suggest you adopt this line of thinking to ROCK even harder. Nick's got the right idea by going hardcore with new techniques he wasn't familiar with before in using the TE Window.

Nick, I'm with you. If you option lasso with the Edit Select (NOT Group!) tool, it should prevent the TE window from launching.

BTW, Nick, the TE window is most useful for looping and trimming dialogue. Getting just the right "beat" is mainly found through looping and rippling either one side of the cut or the other. I'm sure that's why you found it useful. I'd say that the TE is the least understood mode in FCP 'cause not many people like popping out of the timeline. It confuses those that weren't trained in its use. My Avid training rather emphasized trim edit mode, so I use it for certain kinds of trims.

Derek, because you never use the ripple tool, I would never say that no one else does. The ripple and roll tools are the bread and butter of NLE IMHO. Much faster to not have to close gaps. Count the steps, if you have any doubt. Fewer steps means faster cutting. Faster cutting means MO' MONEY.....

To each his own, though.....;-)

Kevin Monahan

Loren wrote:
"Do you think a feature request should include the ability to select edits on multiple tracks using AutoSelect rather than topmost audio or bottommost video? Then edit points could be selected on all tracks from the keyboard."

and i was a nay-sayer..

thinking more, i agree, it WOULD be a good feature.
if it could be just as easy to switch the asymetric edits around, and select other points is needed.

that's what the edit selection tool is for..
but automated could be a good feature

nick

[if it could be just as easy to switch the asymetric edits around, and select other points is needed.]

THAT would be the ultimate control over keyboard edit selections, and with practice could be very fast.

i was at a Power Tools conference for Professional Photoshop at MacWorld Boston today. These are not sessions for slouches. Michael Ninness is a great trainer. To demonstrate to value of the keyboard to him, he slipped the elastic wristglove over his mouse hand. I was impressed.

- Loren
Today's FCP 4.5 keytip:
Set your custom layouts by pressing
Option>Windows>Arrange>Set Custom Layout.
Access your custom layouts 1 & 2 with Shift & Option-U!

The FCP HD KeyGuide?: your power placemat.
Now available at KeyGuide Central
www.neotrondesign.com