canvas window is black while playing sequence

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canvas window is black while playing sequence

I pulled a clip down to the sequence area in the timeline, but when I go to play it in the canvas, the screen goes black and it says "unrendered". I can hear it, but I can't see what I want to edit. I thought rendering was something you did when you were done with the project. Help?

imac, Mac OS X (10.5)

Posted on Feb 13, 2008 2:52 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 13, 2008 3:04 PM in response to lyncim

You will need to change your sequence settings to match the settings of your clip. If there is any mismatch, you will have to render.

You could also enable Unlimited RT playback by clicking the RT drop down menu on the top left corner of the timeline. But the most important thing here is to make sure that your sequence matches your clips.

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Answer 2

lyncim Author

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Feb 13, 2008 3:13 PM in response to Michael Trauffer

Thank you so much! Another question to followup. How do I match the settings? I clicked on Unlimited RT, which made the canvas play visibly, but it stopped almost immediately with a warning window that said, "one or more frames were dropped during playback."

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Answer 3

Feb 13, 2008 3:21 PM in response to lyncim

Can you post some specifics about your Mac and what version of Final Cut Pro you're using, and the specifics of the source videos?

Select your sequence, the press Command 0 (zero). Make a note of every setting in the first tab. Then select one of your clips that needs rendering and press Command 9. Make a note of its format settings. Then go back to the Sequence settings and make the necessary changes to match your clip.

Or you could read up on choosing an Easy Setup, then create a new sequence, then copy the clips from your mismatched sequence and paste them into the new sequence.

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Answer 4

lyncim Author

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Feb 13, 2008 4:18 PM in response to Michael Trauffer

OK. I reset all the settings on the sequence, and I'm back to a black screen that says, "Unrendered" with no option to do the Unlimited RT anymore. I'm using a new imac with the 2.8 GHz processor and 2GB of memory with Mac OS X v10.5. and Final Cut Pro 5.1.The source video was taken with a Canon HDV 1080i, which I could not for the life of me figure out how to import directly into Final Cut, so I put in iMovie and tried exporting it as a FinalCut XML file, which didn't seem to work. So I exported it as a QuickTime file and got that to load into Final Cut Pro. It's just a little rock video for my daughters' band that we want to put together with clips from about 6 takes of the song and then lay a clean soundtrack underneath. Thanks for your help....

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Answer 5

lyncim Author

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Feb 13, 2008 4:20 PM in response to Michael Trauffer

Also, I tried the Easy Setup window, but I have no idea what any of that stuff means. Which one do I pick? And how do I get my camera to work with this program? I feel like this program should have a warning on it -- "Don't try this at home...."

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Answer 6

Feb 13, 2008 4:29 PM in response to lyncim

The format that iMovie uses to capture to is not a native format for FCP.

From what I'm understanding here, you would really do well to read through the first few chapters of the FCP manual. Especially the sections about setting up a project.

If the manuals are too hard to understand, there are plenty of other resources out on the market to help beginners understand the basics of this program. Many of those resources have been written by the very users of this forum.

Also, do some searching in this forum for Canon related firewire issues. I've never used a Canon camera, so I'm no help there.

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Answer 7

lyncim Author

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Feb 13, 2008 6:52 PM in response to Michael Trauffer

I had already read the first half of the manual like ten times. I'm just used to brainless programs like imovie, where you just plug in the camera and it shows up right away and it's one step to import it. I realized from your post that I was just going to have to figure out how to go direct into FCP, and I knew that the camera was compatible, because I checked that out on the Apple site before I bought it. Anyhow, I figured that out, so I'm reimporting it the right way right now. Hopefully I won't have all those weird issues this time. Thanks for helping me find the answer.

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Answer 8

Feb 13, 2008 11:17 PM in response to lyncim

Another good resource is this:
http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/fcp_homepageindex.html

It has SO many tutorials that you could never read them all in a million years, all ranging from beginner to expert.

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