Last week I purchased the upgrade version of Final Cut Studio 3 for use on a clean installation of OS X 10.6. Before proceeding I was curious to know what limitations would be enforced for the upgrade version.

• Could I perform a clean installation of FCS3?
• What sort of serial numbers would my retail upgrade accept?

The answers alluded me on Google so I plunged ahead. Let’s just say that Apple isn’t stringent on either point.

Clean Install – No Problem

The drive I’m using has the latest version of 10.6 installed – nothing else. I popped in the FCS3 Install DVD, clicked through the prompts and the installation proceeded without issue.

Serial Number Switcheroo

During install I was asked to enter my upgrade serial number and then my original serial number (see image). If this were not a clean install I’m guessing the old serial number would have automatically been found.

I had three serial numbers at my disposal: Retail, Not-for-Resale, and Volume. For the sake of experimentation I used the Volume serial number and the install continued without incident.

It appears Apple doesn’t check the category of serial number to ensure the Original/Upgrade serials are a match. Because the Volume serial worked it makes me wonder if the NFR would as well. This probably violates the EULA but that’s another subject entirely.

Earlier this week I worked with P2 footage from the Panasonic HVX200 camera. This is my first P2 project so I researched the format and workflow with Final Cut Pro version 6. Although we’re distributing for television, the D.P. informed me he was shooting 1080p24.

It was during a test import of footage that I discovered my research didn’t adequately reveal some important details.

Final Cut Pro identified the imported clips as 1080p30 yet there was visible interlacing in the Viewer (no on-set monitor for me). The D.P. gave me a hasty explanation but it didn’t make sense at the time and – being a techie – I needed to understand in greater detail. After further research, feedback from tweeters, some rest, and a follow-up call my questions were answered.

The Problem

Using Log & Transfer I selected “Remove advanced pulldown and duplicate frames” to get the intended 23.98 fps clip. What resulted was 29.97. Various iterations later I could not attain 23.98 without forcing the clip using the pulldown option in the Tools menu.

There was something not quite right so I pushed on.

The Solution

It’s important to understand the difference between shooting 24p and 24pA which – at the time – wasn’t clear to me.

The 24p mode provides a film-look yet is recorded at 29.97. When ingesting to FCP there is nothing further to do. There is no pulldown required because the 29.97 video only simulates 24 frames per second. In this case FCP’s sequence settings will have a time base of 29.97.

The 24pA mode provides a film-look, is recorded at 29.97, and requires pulldown during Log & Transfer (identical to a film-to-tape reverse telecine). Once pulldown is applied the clip’s frame rate (23.98) is extracted from the 29.97 video. The sequence settings will have a time base of 23.98.

The Explanation

Due to our broadcast system running on 60 Hz, the Panasonic camera records everything interlaced (60 fields) at 29.97 fps. Any user-selected modes are recorded inside of this 29.97/interlaced video stream and FCP knows how to extract them as intended.

It is this nuance of P2 which is confusing when compared with clip information inside of Final Cut Pro.

We’ve all had media go offline in our Final Cut Pro 6 projects. This is easily remedied assuming you have the media.

What has always confounded me is when FCP is looking for an empty filename called “”. The Reconnect Files window does not allow you to view other metadata to reveal the file in question.

At a recent Pizza and Post the presenters mentioned a solution for this. They discovered the empty “” value is pulled from the Log Note field of the clip. During the logging process, paste the source media filename into Log Note and the “” issue should never present itself.

My solution to “” is searching the Browser for “Offline Media is Yes” but if your project has degenerated over time you may have Sequence clips that don’t have corresponding Master Clips in the Browser.

This isn’t the most detailed or controlled test but on a whim I used InTech SpeedTools to benchmark two external drives attached to my MacBook Pro via FireWire 400: OWC/NewerTech Guardian Maximus (DIY kit) and the G-Tech G-RAID.

Guardian Maximus (DIY) with 1 TB storage:

• RAID-1
• Two 1 TB Western Digital drives
• 7200 RPM
• 32 MB cache each

G-RAID with 2 TB storage:

• RAID-0
• Two 1 TB drives
• Speed and cache unknown

GMax results using Extended Test (20-100 MB):
Read = 38 MB/sec, Write = 36 MB/sec

G-RAID results using Extended Test (20-100 MB):
Read = 39 MB/sec, Write = 36 MB/sec

I’ll whip up some FireWire 800 tests at a later date.

Taking a break from CalDigit we decided to try the Apple RAID card on Finding Gauguin. Everything was working well until a crash or two (Final Cut Pro and/or faulty system memory) caused a fault with the RAID card.

The Apple RAID Utility indicated the drives were OK (green status dots) but the Volumes and RAID Sets were yellow. The active controller Task was Initialization Suspended with a red dot. Considering the array was already initialized and running the error didn’t make much sense. More confusing was the inability to remove the error and resume initialization.

After some digging at Apple Support (I really should read a product manual from time-to-time) I stumbled upon a hint which ultimately resolved the problem.

The Events log has a colored dot next to each entry: green, yellow or red based on severity. These must be manually cleared to get things moving again. I selected all of the events and clicked “Clear” which changed the initialization task from Suspended to Initializing.

Click for larger image.

We continued editing while the RAID initialized and a few hours later the status reverted to green dots. These are technical specifications of the Apple RAID card for future reference:

• Mac Pro 8-core (2009 model)
• Apple RAID card
• Firmware version E-1.2.2.6
• Hardware revision: 2.00
• Driver version: 70
• Expansion ROM version: 0018