IBook G4 and Final Cut Express 4.0

I recently purchased a used 1.33 Ghz iBook G4 to loan to a teen summer camp that I support. They want to produce a video about the camp. I also purchased Final Cut Express 4.0 for them to use. Unfortunately when I loaded the software, only then did I discover FCE prefers 64m VRAM and the video card on the iBook is only 32 and cannot be upgraded. FCE says the lack of VRAM means all "OPEN GL" functions may not be supported. Huh??
Can anyone tell me what this means? Even Apple wasn't real clear. The software will open and seems ready to use - I've not tried it. The kids are going to do a simple video edit using video taken during camp with possibly some limited titles. No 3D rendering, gaming, etc. Is this going to work??

HI Coyote,
This could prove to be a problem. You definitely need 65MB of VRAM to run FCP. And FCP is a fairly sophisticated video editing program and takes time to learn. Unless the iBook has DVD burn capability, which I doubt, even with an older version of iLife, you wouldn't be able to burn to DVD's. But you could use iMovie, which is part of iLife to view video that's been uploaded to the iBook. Another potential problem is, I think this particular iBookG4's factory drive is 60GB. Video editing requires huge amounts of drive space to run without crashing. iLife 05 requires 4.3GB of drive space. iLife 05 requires 256MB of RAM, but runs much more efficiently with 512MB.
So, you have several glitches. Limited drive space, limited memory, insufficient VRAM, and no DVD burn capability. You wouy also need a camcorder that is compatible with the iBookG4.
I wish I had better news... here is a link to Apple's information for minimum requirements for iLife 05: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306338
Carolyn

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Something I have found with Final Cut Pro 4.5 and Final Cut Express 3.0.
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#29: Need AGP Graphics card
Shane's Stock Answer #29 – Error: “Need AGP Graphics card”
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302667
The Final Cut software is looking for a graphics card type that is required for that version of the software. FCP 4 and FCP 4.5 were released when AGP cards were the requirement. Attempting to open this on a Mac with a PCIe graphics card, such as an Intel Mac, will cause this error. FCP 4.5 is not supported on the Intel Macs. If you happen to have a PowerPC Quad processor Mac and get this error, you can try this hack:
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/feedback/finalcut_pro_on_oldmacs.html
You can also press the "esc" key as you launch FCP. This enables FCP to open and run, but know that it might not work optimally.
If that doesn’t work, or if you have an Intel Mac, you are going to have to upgrade to a supported version of FCP…and FCP 6, part of Final Cut Studio 2, is the latest version.
Shane

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upgraded to Mac OS X Snow Leopard and final cut express 4 will not launch but my final cut express HD 3.0 version comes up. I reinstall my final cut express 4 upgrade disc and it still will not launch.
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You installed from the discs, right?
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Best Settings using the new Canon HV30 and Final Cut Express HD v3.5.1?

My wife presents programs at schools and uses digital movies that we make and edit as one of her media materials. We want to present higher quality videos that look more film-like. I am hoping that the combination I described above will enable this improvement. In the past we used a Canon ZR20 and iMovie HD and put these on DVD's that were then played on a MacBook Pro with with QuickTime or iDVD hooked up to an Epson PowerLite projector.
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Does anyone know if this is true and if so can please tell me the settings that I need both on the camera and in FCE to get the best quality movie that can played directly from my MacPro using QuickTime or iDVD or from a DVD in the MacPro using the iDVD player. I won't have the opportunity to always play the videos directly from the camera to an HDTV because of the school setting and the need to use a projector.
I know this is a lot to ask for, but I am sure that it will come up again and again as more people purchase this new camera. Thanks for your time.
Sincerely,
Lou Hosta

Without totally repeating myself with my post to MaccyLeopard, I haven't shot any footage yet. After doing a lot of reading I think I confused myself more than helped myself as far as settings go. So if you remember from my initial post I am asking for advice and guidance primarily on camera settings with the HV30 that will be used in a classroom (artroom) setting and then edited using FCE HD v3.5.1. I wish I was the type of person that could jump right into using a new piece of equipment but I like to get the advice of others beforehand. That way I'm not always questioning myself as to 'whether or not is this the best I can get'. I also am wondering if the 30fps frame mode would be the best to use in the classroom setting? From my reading, this mode should allow more light onto the tape allowing me to shoot in conditions with lower light levels that are typically found inside? Finally, is FCE HD able to edit this new 30 fps frame mode of the HD30? I've heard that FCE HD can't handle the 20 fps frame mode.
Thanks for taking the time to help me out.
Sincerely,
Lou Hosta

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Hi,
I have a client with both of these installed on the same machine (running 10.4.6).
When they try and launch either application, the splash screen comes up, loading various filters, etc. then they get an error message:
"File Error: A file of this name already exists" "OK"
Clicking "OK" closes the app.
Any idea:
1. What the file in question is?
2. Can it be deleted to let the app run?
3. Can Final Cut Pro Studio 5.1.1 and Final Cut Express HD 3.5 be used on the same machine?
I'll post this on the Final Cut Express HD 3.5 thread too (but with the order reversed).

What you did was not enough to delete the preferences properly.
This article tells you how. It is for FCE2 but works the same for FCE3 so I assume it is also OK for FCE 3.5:-
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93690
It's simple to do so try it before reinstalling etc. - You should completely uninstall before reinstalling:-
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301182
Ian.

User Contributed Tips in Final Cut Express and Final Cut Express HD Forum

*The following User Contributed Tips are located in the Pro Applications: Video > Final Cut Express and Final Cut Express HD Forum:*
skalicki` - Working with AVCHD: Log and Transfer FAQs
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2672530
Publish date: December 03, 2010
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I'm relatively new to FCE myself, so I'll answer with what I know. I'm sure the more experienced folks will either add to or correct what I say.
1) For the Inconvenient Truth thing, I believe this would best be done in LiveType, which does allow you to do animations, and to work on individual letters and characters. Whether or not it could exactly reproduce the effects in the clip, I'm not certain, but I'm sure it could come very close.
2) For the Crowd or the Cross effects, there are two things going on at once: effects on the text, and effects on the video. My gut feeling is that both FCE and LiveType can do these, with lots of work and patience, but I'll defer to other people to answer.
3) The page peel is a transition built into FCE.

Panasonic SDR-H80 and Final Cut Express

Does anyone know whether the new Panasonic Camcorder Type SDR-H80 is compatible with an iMac running under the Leopard OS and Final Cut Express version 4.0.1?

Hey ,.. I just purchased the same videocam and I am having the same dilema? Did you figure something out on how to make itr work yet?

G4 and Final Cut Express installation problems

Thank you in advance for any help you can send my way. Any will be greatly appreciated.
I have a PowerMac G4 (gray) tower. Recently, under the advice of a Mac tech, I installed a 200GB harddrive and a Sonnet's Tempo ATA133 PCI card so that I could successfully install and run FinalCut Express. Now not only do I have the previous installed but I also have 1GHz CPU Speed, 1GB of RAM, DVD/Superdrive, Mac OS 10.4.3 and more than enough memory for the installation.
So now for the two strange parts:
1) When trying to install Final Cut it says that I cannot install the software because I lack the hardware.
2) And now I noticed in my System Profiler it says that my Machine Name is "Power Mac G3 (PCI graphics)" which I know it is not!
Do I have the wrong PCI card? Did I install it wrong? Am I missing something?
For your reference, listed below is what is required to run Final Cut Express:
Minimum Hardware Requirements
• A Macintosh computer with a 500 MHz or faster PowerPC G4 or G5 processor (550 MHz for PowerBook G4, 450 MHz for dual-processor Power Mac G4 or G5) and an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) graphics card compatible with Quartz Extreme
• 384 MB of RAM (512 MB required for RT Extreme and Soundtrack)
• For HDV: A Macintosh computer with a 1 GHz or faster PowerPC G4 or G5 processor and 1 GB of RAM
• 1 GB of available disk space for application installation
• 5 GB of available disk space for Soundtrack content
• 9 GB of available disk space for LiveType content
• DVD drive for software installation
Minimum Software Requirements
• Mac OS X 10.3.7 or later
• QuickTime 6.5.2 or later
Thanks again.

HI Coyote,
This could prove to be a problem. You definitely need 65MB of VRAM to run FCP. And FCP is a fairly sophisticated video editing program and takes time to learn. Unless the iBook has DVD burn capability, which I doubt, even with an older version of iLife, you wouldn't be able to burn to DVD's. But you could use iMovie, which is part of iLife to view video that's been uploaded to the iBook. Another potential problem is, I think this particular iBookG4's factory drive is 60GB. Video editing requires huge amounts of drive space to run without crashing. iLife 05 requires 4.3GB of drive space. iLife 05 requires 256MB of RAM, but runs much more efficiently with 512MB.
So, you have several glitches. Limited drive space, limited memory, insufficient VRAM, and no DVD burn capability. You wouy also need a camcorder that is compatible with the iBookG4.
I wish I had better news... here is a link to Apple's information for minimum requirements for iLife 05: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306338
Carolyn

Xacti HD and Final Cut Express -- It used to work great! How do I go back?

I have a Sanyo Xacti HD700. It gives me 1280x720 MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 files, which my Mac just loves. I used to be able to quickly edit the clips together in Final Cut Express, export using complementary QuickTime settings (specifically, those recommended by Vimeo for HD playback), and get beautiful MP4 files, relatively quickly.
Then, one day, a friend needed me to edit a quick video using a DV camcorder. It was confusing as heck getting the footage into FCE, and not particularly elegant getting it out. But, the project was done overnight, I washed my hands of it, and wanted to get back to making beautiful MP4 files again, relatively quickly.
Except I can't! Now, for one, encoding takes hours. Hours! My source videos and export videos are very similar, yet I sit and watch as the estimate for completion actually goes up for an hour before slowly coming back down.
And frankly, that would be fine, except now my exported videos are the wrong size. They include letterboxes, and the video itself is squished, stretched. So I wait four times as long for a ghastly video. The best I could do is use the Quicktime export settings to "crop off" the letterboxing, but there's still some black bars and it's just not the same.
Here's how my videos used to look:
http://vimeo.com/1067235
Here's how an exported video looks now:
http://vimeo.com/1655414?pg=embed&sec=1655414
What happened? Out of the box, everything worked perfectly. Now, tainted with actual tape, Final Cut Express seems like it's running my videos through six extra wringers and giving me clips worse than I'd get just cut-and-paste editing the Xacti files in QuickTime Pro!
I Googled my brains out, and all I've learned is, if I had Final Cut Pro, "Project Settings" would have all the switches I need. Well, I don't have FCP, just FCE.
Somewhere, something was set that I want to unset. Can anyone help? Do I have to delete every trace of FCE and just reinstall?
Mahalo for any advice!

It sounds like you didn't change the settings after you made the DV video. Did you switch it back to 1280x720 and make a new sequence in that format? Check item properties for the sequence you edited. What does it say? Also check item properties for any media you captured since working in DV.

Sony DCR-TRV140 with Macbook Pro and Final Cut Express 4

OK all, I'm a Mac novice here. Just bought my first Mac last month and added Final Cut Express to it in order to have some nice advanced features when it comes time to edit all kinds of home video shot on the Sony DCR-TRV140 Digital8 Handycam...
But I'm having trouble figuring out how to get my MacBook Pro to recognize the camcorder.
I have a 4-pin firewire connector on the camcorder, and a 9 pin firewire connector on the Mac. Is it as easy as buying a 4/9 pin cable?
I thought about trying to hook it up through the USB cable... but haven't had any luck there either.
As you can tell, I'm quite new to this, so please be nice. Ha!
If I can provide any further information, please let me know.
Specifications for the Sony camcorder can be found here:
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=1055 1&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=11027762
or here
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-DCRTRV140-Digital8-Camcorder-Streaming/dp/B0000634T4/ ref=cmcr_pr_producttop
Thanks!!

Is it as easy as buying a 4/9 pin cable?
Pretty much.
Hello and welcome to the forum.
Here's one source of such a cable:
http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat_id=606&sku=50708
I'm not sure what Easy Setup you'll need to use in FCE, but, if you're in the USA, I think it will be DV-NTSC DV Converter or maybe DV-NTSC Firewire Basic.

How do I add a title to a video clip w/ LiveType 2 and Final Cut Express 4

I have Final Cut Express 4 & LiveType 2.1.4, I'm not sure how to add titles or test to a video clip, and the tutorials for Final Cut Express 4 don't say how to get started in LiveType. How do I simply add text? The tutorials say how to add effects to the text they just don't say how to add it to the clip or how to get the clip into LiveType.

Well, you don't actually _add text_ to a video clip, you _create a text clip_ and add that clip to your timeline, either adjacent to an existing clip or on the next higher track if you want to layer the text with an existing video clip.
The very simplest way to add text is to use one of the *text generators* built into FCE. Lower Third, Text, Scrolling Text, etc. allow you to create various text clips and give you basic controls over fonts, positioning, size, color, etc. You can find the text generators in the Effects tab in the FCE Browser.
LiveType is a separate and more sophisticated application that enables you to do all sorts of things with text (much more than can be done with the FCE text generators). The basic process is - create your title in a LiveType project. Save the LiveType project. Then in FCE, import the LiveType project; from there, you can treat it just the same as any other clip.

LiveType and Final Cut Express 4.0

I have used Final Cut Express since the beginning. I updated to 3 then to 4. Now I just recently gotten a new intel iMac. I used the quick and easy method to transfer my old computer onto my new one. When I went to try to use LiveType, it wanted a serial number. I put in my version 3 serial number. It's the only one I have because the first version I got of Final Cut Express was preinstalled on my computer. I don't have any install CD's for the first version. The problem is LiveType will not recognize these numbers. Any suggestions? It doesn't seem possible that they will make me buy a whole new version of Final Cut just to get LiveType to work. HELP!

The bad news is that if you only have Upgrade versions of FCE and do not have an Original Full Retail version there is nothing you can do.
You must have a Full Retail serial number.
If you had it registered, you could contact Apple, but I wouldn't hold out much hope.
Incidentally, there is no +"quick and easy"+ way to transfer FCE. You have to install from the DVD or a .dmg.

Migration Assistant and Final Cut Express

So I just purchased a new MBP today.
I was wondering whether or not Final Cut Express will be deactivated on my old computer, then activated on my new one as the transfer completes. I will be using Migration Assistant
Do I absolutely have to use the disc, or will the software transfer automatically? I suppose in that case, I will just have to deactivate the installation code and then put the code into my new Mac.
Thanks in advance.

The application does not have to be deactivated, but you should NOT use Migration Assistant to install the software on the new computer. You need to install all pro apps from the installer disc.

Photoshop CS3 and Final Cut Express

I am having some issues trying to bring a .psd file into FCE as a sequence. Every book/site/thread that I read says that as a program default FCE will import .psd files as layered sequences; however, when I save the file and try to import it it comes in as a clip with no layer functionality. I have tried .psds with "Maximize Compatability" on and off, layered tiffs, .psd 2.0 and nothing has given me the layers I am looking for. Any thoughts?
Using:
MacBook with Final Cut Express 3.5.1
Dell Precision with Photoshop CS3 Extended

Item number one looks very helpful... annoying but helpful.
I'll have to see what I can do to work around this. And Macs usually play so nicely with others...
Thanks, I'll let you know.

IBook G4 and Final Cut Express 4.0

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