Final Cut Pro – Notes from class

Before we can begin editing video, we must first get it off of the camera. You can use the camera if it has a firewire adapter. If it doesn't, you can use the DV deck instead.

Preparing the Project

1. If you are using a camera, plug in the camera via the firewire adapter and turn the camera on (with the tape in it). If you are not using the camera, turn on the DV deck (with the tape in it).
2. Launch Final Cut Pro.
3. Close all open projects in Final Cut Pro. (Your Canvas and Timeline will close automatically)
4. Choose Final Cut Pro > Easy Setup and choose 'DV-NTSC' from the 'Setup For' pop-up menu. Click 'Setup'.
5. Choose File > New Project to create a new project.
6. Save your project by choosing File > Save Project As. Type in a name for your project and choose where it should be saved. Ideally, this should be saved on an external drive. Click 'Save'.

Choosing Clip Settings

1. You must now decide how we want to capture our clip. Do you want to capture just the video, just the audio, or both? To capture the logged clip's audio and video, make sure that there are checkmarks in the Video and Audio boxes.
2. To listen to the audio of our sources as you are capturing, click the preview box.

Choosing Capture Settings

1. Before you begin capturing your clips, you have to choose how you will control the playback device, what Easy Preset option you will use to capture the footage, and where you will place it on your hard drive. In the Log and Capture window, click the Capture Setting tab.
2. From the Device Control pop-up menu, choose FireWire NTSC.
3. Click the Capture/Input pop-up menu. This is where you select the way your footage will be stored. Choose DV NTSC 48 kHz.
4. To select the destination for our captured media, click the Scratch Disks button.
5. Click on the first 'Set…' button and browse to your external hard drive and click 'Choose'. Click Ok.

Previewing and Marking Your Source

1. Choose File > Log And Capture.
2. Click the 'Rewind' button on the Log and Capture interface (not on the camera or deck).
3. Click on the 'Play' button on the Log and Capture interface and let the movie play until you get to the section that you would like to capture. It's always good to leave at least five seconds of padding before and after the actual animation that you would like to use.
4. Use the 'Mark In' and 'Mark Out' buttons to frame the piece of animation that you would like to capture. It's a good idea to preview what you are intending to capture – you can do this by clicking on the 'Play In To Out' button.
5. Now that you have marked a source clip, we are ready to log information about that clip. To do this, click on the 'Logging' tab in the Log and Capture window.
6. Certain logging information is required, such as reel number and clip name. The clip name is derived from any or all of the entry fields: Description, Scene, Shot/Take, and Angle. The Name field is read only (you can not type into it). Type in a description for your clip. See how the name field changes?
7. After you do this, you should see you clip in the browser window with a red line through it. That's because we haven't yet captured the clip. We've only logged them. We'll be capturing all of them a little bit later.
8. Feel free to mark and log all of your clips by repeating steps 3 - 6

Capturing Options

1. If you have set up your Mark In and Mark Out points, The Batch button will capture all of your marked source material. Click the 'Batch' button.
2. The computer will begin capturing your clips now. Be patient.

Playing Clips in the Viewer:

The Viewer window is where you play and mark your source clips in preparation for editing.

• Open a video clip by double clicking on it in the Browser (or drag it into the viewer from the Browser ).
• Play the video (use Play button, shuffle control, jog control)

Viewer has four tabs (most of the time):

1. Video
2. Stereo
3. Filters
4. Motion

Keyboard shortcuts:

1. L to play (or spacebar)
2. L again to double the speed.
3. K to stop (or spacebar)
4. Arrow keys to play one frame at a time.
5. End key to go to the end
6. Home key to go to the beginning

Marking Clips:

Now that we've screened our clip, we are ready to identify the portion that we would like to place in the Sequence . Once you determine what portion of a clip to use, you mark the starting and stopping points.

One way to mark edit points in a clip is to use the Viewer marking controls ( Mark In button) & ( Mark Out button).

• In the viewer, click on the Mark In button to set an In point at the part where you want your clip to start.
• In the viewer, click on the Mark Out button to set an Out point at the part where you want your clip to end.
• In the viewer, click on the Play In To Out button to see just the marked portion of your clip.

Keyboard shortcuts:

1. I to mark in
2. O to mark out

Note: If you would like to include the full length of the clip, you do not need to specify a Mark in and a Mark out point.

Working with Audio:

• Click on the Stereo (or Mono) tab in the Viewer
• Drag the Zoom slider on the lower left hand corner of the screen to zoom in and out
• Click the Play button and look at the audio meter on the lower right corner of the screen.
• Manipulate the Level slider to change the volume.
• Click on the Keyframe button and create two separate keyframes. Drag one keyframe down change the level of the sound.

Preparing to Edit:

Before we can begin editing, we must make sure that we have at least one Sequence created. Sequences hold a number of edited clips in the timeline. Think of it as a bucket for a collection of edited clips. You may either use the default one created (renaming it would be a good idea though). Or, we can create a new one.

Before we begin editing, lets make sure that our Mark In and Mark Out points are where we would like them.

• Open the clip that you would like to place in the timeline by double clicking on it in the Browser .
• Play the clip using the Play In to Out button to make sure that our marked edits are still in place.
• Make sure that the Playhead on the Timeline is at the beginning (or at the point in time where you would like the clip to begin)

On the far left of the Timeline is the Track Control Area. Each track you use in a sequence is assigned one Video track and/or one or two Audio tracks. These are labled: V1 for the video track, and A1, A2, A3, and A4 for the audio tracks. These are referred to as destination tracks.

When you open a clip in the Viewer , source controls appear in the timeline. These represent the video and audio track of the clip. Although the order of the destination tracks is fixed, you can move and connect source control to any destination. You can also disconnect the audio or video.

Making Insert and Overwrite Edits:

You can make different types of edits in Final Cut Pro. Each type places a clip in a sequence a little differently. The most common types of edits include: Overwrite and Insert .

An Overwrite edit simply overwrites what is already there.

An Insert edit positions a clip between other clips currently on a track. If there are other clips to the right of the clip you are inserting, it will push their position further up in the timeline.

To make an Overwrite edit:

• Make sure that the clip is open in the Viewer .
• Drag the movie from the Viewer over the Canvas (but don't release the mouse)
• The Edit Overlay menu appears in the Canvas window with a palette of seven sections or options.
• Release the mouse button over the Overwrite box (red box with a border around it).
• The marked clip should now be placed in the Timeline at the Playhead position.

Note: You can also drag the clip directly to the timeline.

To make an Insert edit:

• Make sure that the clip is open in the Viewer .
• Make sure the Playhead is in the area that you like your clip to appear in the Timeline .
• Drag the movie from the Viewer over the Canvas (but don't release the mouse)
• The Edit Overlay menu appears in the Canvas window with a palette of seven sections.
• Release the mouse button over the Insert box.
• The marked clip is placed in the Timeline at the Playhead position. It will squeeze itself between two clips (unlike the overwrite edit).

Adjusting Mark In and Mark Out Points on the Timeline:

In addition to using the Mark In and Mark Out buttons in the Viewer . We can also edit the Mark In and Mark Out points (and the duration) directly in the timeline. If you put your mouse near the end of one of your clips, you are able to drag its bar further out into the timeline, thus making its duration longer (or vise versa).

Drag and Drop Editing:

You can move, select, change clip durations, simply by dragging and dropping.

Editing a Clip After It Has Been Placed In The Sequence:

• Double-click on your clip in the Timeline . You'll notice that you are editing the clip from the sequence because the title in the viewer will read something like “Viewer: Yourclipname from Yoursequencename ”.

Using the Razor Blade Tool:

You can break up a single clip into two smaller clips by using the Razor Blade Tool . You can then manipulate each of the two clips independently of one another. You can access the razor blade tool by clicking on it in the Toolbar to the right hand side of the screen.

Applying Transitions:

Transitions add variety to your video by changing how you get from one clip to the next. Instead of cutting from one clip to the next and making an immediate change, a transition effect creates a gradual change over time from the outgoing clip to the incoming clip. With that said, they are mostly overused. Use them sparingly.

One type of transition used frequently is a cross dissolve . A cross dissolve is a video transition that gradually blends the outgoing clip to the incoming clip. As one clip fades out, the other clip fades in.

To view your transition options:

• Select the Effects tab in the Browser .
• Click on the triangle next to the Video Transitions bin to view a list of all the video transitions.
• Double-click on one of the transitions.
• You can change its duration among other properties in the viewer window.
• Drag the transition between the two clips that you'd like this transition to appear by dragging the small transition hand graphic located in the upper right hand corner of the Viewer .
• You can view its effect in the canvas window.

Important: Some transitions require additional rendering. If your transition isn't working, click on ‘Sequence' -> ‘Render' -> ‘Both' in the menu bar.

Changing Motion Properties:

Changing the motion properties of a clip allows you to change the speed of a clip among other things. You can resize, reposition, crop, stack rotate, disport and animate all motion properties so that the changes happen over time.

To change motion properties:

• Open your clip in the Viewer .
• Click on the Motion tab in the Viewer .
• Change any of the properties listed.

Note: Sometimes you will need to turn on ‘View ->Image and Wireframe' in order to perform certain motion actions.

Applying Filters:

Filters can be used for eye candy or can be used to correct something that is wrong with an image, such as its color or contrast. Filters can also be applied to audio clips.

You apply a video filter in one of two ways, similar to the way you applied transitions. You can drag a filter from the Video Filters bin the Effects tab directly to a clip in the Timeline . Or you can select the clip in the Timeline and choose a filter from the Effects menu. But unlike transitions, which are applied to an edit point, filters are applied to the body of the clip. Filters can be applied to a clip in the Viewer or in the Timeline.

Note: Sometimes you may need to ‘Render' your clips if you see a red line appear above them in the timeline after you apply a filter.

Every filter has a set of parameters you can modify to fine-tune the effect you want. These parameters appear in the Filters tab in the Viewer . To view this:

• Double-click on the clip in the Timeline to open it in the Viewer .
• Click on the Filters tab.
• From here you can modify the filters applied to the clip.

To add an additional filter to this clip:

• In the menu bar, click on Effects -> Video Filters -> theeffectyouwant
• Since this clip is already open in the Viewer, the filter appears as soon as you choose it.