--- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, "Jay dedman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > I just bought and tried an Xacti E1. The shooting experience was mixed > > and I plan to do more, but editing has been hideous. I transferred > > the H.264 files onto my Mac PowerBook, but from there on it has been > > render hell and I have had no luck getting material into my version > > (4.5) of FCP. iMovie will bring in material after I render it and > > then it wants to render again on export. > > I MUST be doing something wrong! > > Any advice from those who have been using them? > > you got to use Compressor to batch all your clips to DV. > FCP wont play nice with the Sanyo clips (or really any clips that > arent what FCP wants). > > you arent doing anything wrong. > > Jay > Thanks. I just could not get my version of Compessor to batch the Sanyo H.264 clips to DV for FCP. I finally got VisualHub, the GUI for a lot of open source software and it worked out really well.
My workflow now is to download the Sanyo files onto my Mac and then batch convert to .dv files with VisualHub. I check off the box that makes them FCP compatible. That saves the step of rendering the audio tracks in FCP. The conversion with VisualHub works well and is seamless. I have not noticed any loss of quality. I could not load VisualHub on one of my machines due to registration issues, but the tech support was very helpful... I just could not afford the time thrashing things out. All in all, I have found the E1 very useful. At first, I just could not hold it steady. I turned off the stabilization system and I rigged up a weight to lower the center of gravity. That solved the steadiness problem. The viewfinder seems to attract reflections in sunlight, so I ordered dulling spray to tone down reflections. Waiting for UPS. I found it helped to turn the brightness control of the finder all the way down. Still, it is impossible to zoom during a shot. The controls are too small and close together. I have incorporated some Xacti videos in a new vlog and if people are curious I'll put up some links. I think it is worthwhile to have a camera that I can carry in a pocket and takes really good quality video. There are tade-off, but I am glad I have it. Most important, I find I really use it. Stan Hirson http://hestakaup.com
