tcheuk

Q: counter generator: help!

In FCPX, there is a generator called "counter"

You all know that in France, 1,200.5 is written 1 200,5, don't you ?

So my counter writes in french and i have an english speaking video to do.

When i edit this generator in Motion 5, i have the choice of the way numbers are written, and it works good.

But when i save it as a generator for FCP, it loses this attribute and keeps writing numbers the french way...

Any idea anyone in the galaxy? i'm lost!

Posted on Dec 2, 2014 6:22 AM

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Q: counter generator: help!

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  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Dec 2, 2014 7:01 AM in response to tcheuk
    Level 6 (12,218 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 2, 2014 7:01 AM in response to tcheuk

    Are you sure you are using the right version?

    When you control click, you have the option to "open a copy in Motion". This copy must be edited and saved with a different name.

    In order for the changes to be reflected in your timeline you need to drag a new instance of "counting copy" from the generator browser to the timeline - i.e. any copy you already placed in the timeline is NOT automatically updated. This is true for any template you modify in Motion.

  • by tcheuk,

    tcheuk tcheuk Dec 2, 2014 7:19 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 2, 2014 7:19 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    Thanks Luis, but it is exactly what i did... It seems to be a bug: when i first see the "counter copy" in FCP, it looks good but as soon as i change a parameter, it turns back to french writing...

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Dec 2, 2014 7:44 AM in response to tcheuk
    Level 6 (12,218 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 2, 2014 7:44 AM in response to tcheuk

    Did you change the "Region" in Motion?

    I am in Portugal but have my mac set to use English, so the decimal separator by default is the point.

    I made a copy and in that copy changed Region to French->France, and this copy does retain the comma as a digital separator.

    You can have different styles by merely creating variations of this. You could call the Counting - French, Counting - English or whatever you like. Ideally this should be a single generator, but I could not find a way to publish this parameter, so having two generators, one for each language, seems to be the way.

     

    So, just to check: you should see in Motion something like the image below. Notice the setting for Region at the bottom.

     

    Screen Shot 2014-12-02 at 15.36.08.png

  • by tcheuk,

    tcheuk tcheuk Dec 2, 2014 8:17 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 2, 2014 8:17 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    Yes this is what i diid in Motion. It is when i use it in FCP that it switches to french numbers... My FCP is in french, maybe i should change this...

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Dec 2, 2014 8:25 AM in response to tcheuk
    Level 6 (12,218 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 2, 2014 8:25 AM in response to tcheuk

    Did you save the copy? And did you drag another instance of the generator to the timeline AFTER you saved the copy?

     

    I changed the language on my mac to French. Started FCP X, which appropriately appeared in French, and I do not have the same problem. Therefore I do not think that it is a problem with the French version.

  • by tcheuk,

    tcheuk tcheuk Dec 2, 2014 8:39 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 2, 2014 8:39 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    Yes i saved the copy under a new name and used it in FCP. The weird point is when i first see it in FCP it looks alright but then swap...

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Dec 2, 2014 9:16 AM in response to tcheuk
    Level 6 (12,218 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 2, 2014 9:16 AM in response to tcheuk

    Weird, indeed.  No idea why it would change. It is worth a try deleting the application preferences - as these can become corrupted and then all kinds of weird stuff can happen. Start the application holding dow command and option and confirm to delete preferences. This does not your media, libraries or effects, so even if it does not help it cannot hurt.

  • by tcheuk,Helpful

    tcheuk tcheuk Dec 2, 2014 9:34 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 2, 2014 9:34 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    I tried deleting the preferences, didn't work...

    when i roll over the generator, it shows the english numbers, and when i drag it on the timeline, it goes french...

  • by Luis Sequeira1,Helpful

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Dec 2, 2014 1:14 PM in response to tcheuk
    Level 6 (12,218 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 2, 2014 1:14 PM in response to tcheuk

    I am running out of ideas.

    As a last resort you may need to create a project in Motion, export as ProRes 4444 to create a movie with Alpha Channel, and then import that to FCP X.

  • by schmackhaft,Solvedanswer

    schmackhaft schmackhaft Dec 2, 2014 5:18 PM in response to tcheuk
    Level 3 (521 points)
    Dec 2, 2014 5:18 PM in response to tcheuk

    Try changing the Format Language in your system Prefs to English.

     

    I'm on Yosemite so it's:

    System Prefs > Language & Region > Advanced > Format Language: English

     

    I did a quick check and it seemed to work for me. In English, I set the Region setting to French and a space was used instead of a comma in the Counting generator in FCP.

  • by tcheuk,

    tcheuk tcheuk Dec 3, 2014 12:50 AM in response to schmackhaft
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 3, 2014 12:50 AM in response to schmackhaft

    Hi you both!

     

    This last tip works fine: in the advanced prefs, you can choose what kind of separator and decimal mark you want for the numbers !