Well, I believe the two programs are different in the way you approach certain things. In my view, I would not disregard any of the two, but focus a bit MORE on one. This will give you options to choose in your project. A good way to start is by creating a short sequence using both programs. Download the AE free for 30 days, spend those thirty days developing and learning, and then you can make an informed decision what works for you. Cheers & good luck. Hisham

Hi Lo Though I am not quite sureif I understood you right, but I'll give it a go: Yes you can animate the effect using keyframe and other methods (check chapter 7, as Martin advised). But on a more generic subject, it may be better for you to import your footage to LiveType or even better, if you have motion, you can do wonders there, also using LiveType. I normally use Livetype to produce my animated text, then import it into Motion and add more effects and then export it (or dragging) into FCP or even iMovie. Good Luck.

This may be a very simple thing... Re-check your firewire, if it is correctly connected to your camera AND computer. Sometimes the connector plug is not really in and FCP can't find your camera. When you capture, check at the bottom, the VTR status, if it is not connected, the preview will be disabled. If it says VTR ok, it should work. Good luck. Hisham

If you want to export all from one sequence, you may want to down-convert HDV to DV and include that with your other DV into your MPEG2-DVD later on. As your source material is HDV, you always have a good quality footage that you can 'massage' in any appropriate format you like and mix and match. FCP6 let's you mix formats in one timeline, if you are planning to stretch your budget. Cheers Hisham

Hi there I do use the FLASH video encoder to convert QT to FLV. The Flash encoder comes bundled with FLASH and you should install it when you are installing your SW (of course only if you need it). But you can also download FLV encoder from different sites on the web. Just google FLV encoder and you'll get a list. I can't recommend any specific ones, as I use the Adobe one directly. Hope that helps. Hisham

Hi Yitschaq When upgrading you may need to also check your quicktime version, just to be sure. You shouldn't encounter any problems, always ensure that you have your latest versions of SW (using Software Update from your Apple menu). Media offline is ok, all you need to do when you open your project, go to the browser window, right-click or option-click the offline click and choose 're-connect media'. The browse to the MEDIA file on your scratch disk and connect them. When done save the file and play. Should work, good luck. Hisham

Hi there just to add my 2-cent worth of advice. External HD will be mainly used for your media files, which are the files you capture straight from your tape or receive them otherwise. The external HD is often called SCRATCH disk, which you need to set within your application, so that FC store them there. It is recommended to have a an external scratch disk, so that you can separate your media files from anything else. You can then take the scratch disk and your project files and work on any computer by linking your project file with the media files. This could come very handy. Data transfer is normally faster, especially if you are using FW800, I am not sure if the MacBook does have one, but if you have one, stick to FW. When buying external HD, ensure that FW is included. Cheers Hisham

Hi There Normally anything in your timeline should play in the canvas. I am assuming that you have images with a certain duration in the timeline. Meaning, what we are expecting is to have an image showing for a certain period then the other shows up and so forth ... Well, if you click in the timeline or on the canvas and use the PLAY button or space bar the photo sequence should play. Check that when you place the playhead on an image in the timeline, it shows up on the canvas. If it does, the it should play. If it does, well ensure that you haven't disable the viewing of the video track (left of the timeline, little button with a film stripe). Let me know how you go. RAM and a good video card are important. RAM only may not be sufficient. Good luck. Hisham

Hi there 2 things you should be aware of when capturing. FCP always looks for a time code to capture. It is therefore a good idea to 'time-code' your tape before shooting your footage. This will write (engrave) a time code on your tape. When you are shooting, your footage will then correspond to this time code. Cool, but that's not all. Now as we are capturing footage, FCP needs to know a 'pre-roll' duration, which means when you set an in-point, how far back (of this in-point) should FCP set itself to roll. This is important so that when the tape rolls, your capture is at normal speed and therefore the capture process will be perfect. Now, if you have specified in the setting to have this duration to be 5 sec, for example, FCP will take your in-point position and subtracts 5 secs from it using the time code. It will then start running and capturing when your specified time code appears. But to do so, FCP has to be able to read the time code - 5 secs. If you are at the very beginning of your tape this can cause problems, so you have to either select a 'later' in-point or set the 'pre-roll' duration to a short duration. Mind you, a shorter duration may not be ideal as the camera rolling needs to get into gear first. Anyway, I hope you get the point. Now you see why time-coding your tape initially is good idea (there is other good reasons for it too, but I won't tell all the secrets in one post :-)) and also checking your pre-roll and post roll setting is important too in the capturing process. Sorry for the lengthy reply, but I hope it is helpful. Cheers Hisham

Hmm ... well, I would first export a test sequence out of FCP using the export function to see if this also occurs without using compressor. If it is OK, then I have to look into my compressor settings. In compressor, I would just use the "current" project/sequence setting and that normally works ... See how you go! Hisham