Hard drives, keyboards and cameras, Oh My!

The MDML has acquired several new types of equipment for loan and already they are proving to be popular additions.

For students who need to transfer files that are too large to email, we’ve purchasd two portable external hard drives. There are two 500GB hard drives available for short term loan. These drives are intended to facilitate transfers only, so please be sure to bring your own personal storage solutions for backups and more permanent storage.

Students can also make use of our four new portable keyboards. There are two M-AUDIO KeyRig 49 and two KORG microKEY-37 USB powered MIDI keyboards available to borrow. As the names suggest, the KeyRig 49 has 49 separate velocity-sensitive keys while the microKey 37 has 37 velocity-sensitive keys.

To keep up with the ever-growing demand, the Music Library has also obtained four new handheld HD camcorders. The ZOOM Q2 HD video recorders are extremely portable, user-friendly and can shoot in 720p and 1080p for high definition recordings. The camcorders take SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards.

Music students, faculty and staff can reserve in advance any of the equipment highlighted in this post at the service desk on the 4th floor. If reservations are not booked, the hard drives, keyboards and cameras are loaned on a first-come, first served basis.

 

 

 

Music laptops have Final Cut Pro X update!

The specialized music software MAC laptops have recently been updated with drivers for the Canon XF 100 and XF 305 HD video cameras. Importing video from the cameras directly into Final Cut Pro X is now possible. Please note that the MAC desktops in the Music Student Computer Room still run Final Cut Pro 7, so the import process is different on those machines.

To import your video clips into Final Cut Pro X, follow these steps:

1. Open Final Cut Pro X.

2. Connect the CompactFlash card to the laptop. (Either use the USB card-reader, or the USB cable to connect the camera directly)

3. Click “Import from Camera” from the file menu or upper left browser window.

4. Select which clips you want to import.

  • To import all clips: Without selecting any clip, click the Import All button.
  • To import multiple clips: Select desired clips and click the Import Selected button.
  • To import only part of a clip: Click and drag the thumbnail to highlight the portion of the clip to import and click the Import Selected button.

5. In the window that appears, select the event to which the imported clips will be added.

  • Change the transcoding, video and audio settings as necessary.

6. Click the Import button.

7. Close the Camera Import window.

8. Safely eject the CompactFlash card from the laptop by either dragging the CompactFlash card’s icon to the trash, or clicking the eject symbol next to its icon.

 

Questions about importing videos to Final Cut?  Please consult a full-time Music Library staff member: http://www.mcgill.ca/library/library-using/branches/music-library/staff/

Unfortunately, due to staffing limitation, we can only respond to questions about these procedures from members of the McGill community.