Final Cut 5 codec missing

[kippard]

I'm new to Final Cut (Premiere editor). I've created a 1080i50 HDV project in final cut, but my captured footage plays back audio only with a black video frame. If I click Sequence 1 in will announce that a codec is missing, followed by a message saying not enough memory (which is hard to believe, it's a robust Mac). Please advise. Thanks!

[terryj]

Please post your Mac Specs in the forum please.
You current specs are listed for your windows machine.

Please also list what version of Final Cut you are using,
as though a few are using FCS2 ( Final Cut 6), the majority of
us are using FCS1 ( Final Cut 5.04/5.1) or even earlier.

and welcome to our corner of the universe.

[kippard]

Please post your Mac Specs in the forum please.
You current specs are listed for your windows machine.

Please also list what version of Final Cut you are using,
as though a few are using FCS2 ( Final Cut 6), the majority of
us are using FCS1 ( Final Cut 5.04/5.1) or even earlier.

and welcome to our corner of the universe.

Thanks for your reply, terryj. I'm working on a Mac mini, OSX Version 10.4.11, 1.66 GHz Intel Core Duo, 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, with Final Cut 5.0.4 Thanks again,

[terryj]

your welcome my friend!
Apple Intermediate Codec is what should have been used to capture
the footage, it may actually be missing from your install.

this is what you should have installed in Library /Quicktime
as part of a factory full install of FCP/FCS:

AppleHDVCodec.component
AppleIntermediateCodec.component
AppleMPEG2Codec.component
AppleProRes422.component
DVCPROHDCodec.component
DesktopVideoOut.component
DVCPROHDMuxer.component
DVCPROHDVideoDigitizer.component
DVCPROHDVideoOutput.component
DVCPROHDVideoOutputClock.component
DVCPROHDVideoOutputCodec.component
FCP Uncompressed 422.component

Go grab your factory disc and re-install the codecs
(which may entail a re-install of FCP)

Then try to play the footage in the timeline again.
If it still doesn't play, you may need to re-render the footage
(Select all video in Sequence, and then Render-->Video)
to get it to be seen, as the codec, not present at time of capture,
may have screwed up the footage.

post back with results.

[kippard]

I'll post again after I look at the Library, terryj. I did see and realize that the captured files are showing as audio-only files. But let me ask you a couple other things, please: with the robustness on my Mac, can I edit in HDV and not in Apple Intermediate? I concerned about going over to that format. Also, I have only been successful in capturing (the audio only, of course) to the Mac mini and not directly to the slave 500 GB HD drive I have. Should I not be able to capture directly to the 500 GB external? Best and thanks again,

[terryj]

working in reverse:

1. Yes, if your settings are properly done, you can make the
external FireWire drive your capture/scratch disc,in the Preferences
settings for Capture Disc.

2. Not without a dedicated HDV capable mac, such as a Mac Pro
would that be possible. Your mini specs are great for SD, and Apple
Intermediate is pushing it, but for total round trip editing in HDV,
you need a dedicated high end Video Card for starters,
with at least 128MB of VRAM on board to decode the HDV on the fly.


Apple's specs for this call for:

the minimum system requirements for HDV playback
(1 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM, and 167 MHz bus speed),

But for dedicated HDV decoding ( necessary for playback to edit)
you need a PCI dedicated video card .

3. As for Apple's Intermediate codec, this is perfect for use on the mini, and
with your current video card and processor, it will enable
you to preview and edit the video without hassle.
otherwise, you'd have to have a beefier videocard
to handle decoding of HDV....

[kippard]

OK. Thanks. So, how good (bad) is AIC?

[terryj]

since I only shoot in SD and haven't made the jump to HDV yet,
I can't comment. But here is a review that will hopefully help....
it was written using FCP 4.5 HD, and it was recommended to wait
for FCP 5.1 and a later interration of the AIC codec ( possible 1.2,
he tested this with FCP 1.0).