Final Cut Pro

1. Final Cut Pro Industry workflow: • Scripting: Movie is conceived or written • Production: Where you create your footage, capturing performances using video or film cameras, as well as audio recorders. • Post-Production: This is where you organize and assemble your production footage, putting scenes in proper order, selection the best takes and eliminating unnecessary elements. This is where we will work mostly in this class. • Distribution: This is when you release or finish a project or movie for viewing.  

2. Final Cut Pro Post-Production Workflow • Planning • Setting Up • Logging and Capturing • Editing • Mixing Audio • Adding Effects • Outputting

3. Final Cut Pro Planning: • Choose Format • Acquiring footage, music, graphics • Deciding on logging and capturing method • Choosing an editing strategy • Planning your use of effects • All of this will determine the time and support you will need to complete your project

4. Final Cut Pro Setting Up • Connect your Camcorder • Housekeeping • Choose correct Preset in Final Cut • Save and name your file • Set “Scratch Disks”

5. Final Cut Pro Logging and Capturing • Logging is identifying shot on tape you want to capture for use in your editing • You can add scene and shot descriptions, logging notes and markers • This is how you become familiar with the footage before you begin editing

6. Final Cut Pro Logging and Capturing • Capturing means transferring source media for your video source to the computers hard drive • You should capture all of your footage for your project before you start editing. • You can log all of your clips and do a “Batch Capture” • You can log then capture each clip individually • You can log clips after capturing your footage

7. Final Cut Pro Editing • Taking your recorded assets, video and audio and arranging them in an edited sequence • Usually you start with “rough cuts” a quick arrangement, then fine-tune these cuts once you are satisfied with the order • Basic audio editing and synchronizing are part of this process in addition to your transitions such as fades and dissolves • Depending on the type of project the editing process may vary

8. Final Cut Pro Mixing Audio • Once the video is set, you can start working on the audio • This may involve • Cleaning up dialogue (applying effects processing) • Adding sound effects, music and voiceovers • Mixing the levels of all the different clips to get a balanced sound mix

9. Final Cut Pro Adding Effects • Enhancements to you footage • Color Correction • Special transitions • Animation , still or motion graphics • Titles, etc.

10. Final Cut Pro Outputting • Once your editing is finished, effects are added and audio is mixed, you can output your movie to tape, Quicktime, the Web or for use in a DVD authoring program like DVD studio pro

11. Final Cut Pro Nonlinear and Nondestructive Editing • Nonlinear vs Linear • Linear editing “Tape to Tape” • Nonlinear editing “Footage stored on Hard Drive” • This allows you to access footage instantaneously • You can combine shots in different order and change their durations, etc.

12. Final Cut Pro Nonlinear and Nondestructive Editing • Nondestructive editing allows you to add video and audio effects, do scaling, position, rotation and speed changes to your playback in real time and it doesn’t affect your original footage

13. Final Cut Pro Video Formats • DV Editing: • Native support for DVCAM, DVCPRO, DVCPRO 50, AND DVCPRO HD • Broadcast and high definition (HD) format • With appropriate equipment you can capture uncompressed SD and HD formats. Beta cam, D-5 HD and HDCAM • Project interchange: • EDL (Edit Decision List), OMF(Open Media Framework), XML (Extensible Markup Language) • Quicktime-compatible files: • Because Final Cut uses Quicktime technology, any QuickTime-compatible file can be imported

14. Final Cut Pro Audio Formats • Final Cut is compatible with audio files with sample rates as high as 96kHz and a bit depth of 24 bits • You can work with most audio devices like CD player, multi-track digital recorders and DAT machines.

15. Final Cut Pro Video Formats • Most are described by the following characteristics: • Standard • NTSC (National Television Systems Committee) • PAL (Phase Alternating Line) • SECAM (Based on PAL) Used in France, Poland, Haiti and Vietnam. *Not supported by Final Cut • Image dimensions and aspect ratio (720X480) etc.

16. Final Cut Pro Video Formats continued • Frame rate • 24 fps (Film, certain HD, certain SD) • 25 fps (SD PAL) • 29.97 fps SD NTSC • 59.94 fps (720p HD) also can be 60fps • Scanning method • Progressive ( every line from top to bottom) • Interlaced (every other line from top to bottom) • SD uses Interlaced while HD uses either.

17. Final Cut Pro Timecode • This is a signal recorded with the video that uniquely identifies each frame on the tape. • Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers

18. Final Cut Pro Understanding Projects, Clips and Sequences • Building blocks • Media Files, Clips, and Sequences • Media Files • Raw materials • Video, Audio, Graphics

19. Final Cut Pro Understanding Projects, Clips and Sequences • Clips • This is the most fundamental object in Final Cut Pro • A clip points to or connects to a video, audio or graphics media file

20. Final Cut Pro Understanding Projects, Clips and Sequences • Sequences • A container for editing clips together in a chronological order

21. Final Cut Pro Understanding Projects, Clips and Sequences • Projects • This contains all the Clips and Sequences • There is no limit to the number of items you can store in the project

22. Final Cut Pro Understanding Projects, Clips and Sequences • Bins • This is a folder within a Project that contains clips, sequences as well as other items

23. Final Cut Pro Relationship between source tapes, media files, and clips • Source tape • Original videotape • Media file • QuickTime movie file captured by you • Clip • Object in final Cut that represents a media file on a scratch disk • When you edit or delete a clip it does not affect the original media file on the disk.

24. Final Cut Pro File naming Considerations • Try to avoid special characters • Watch file separators • Punctuation marks, parentheses , quotations • White space characters • Space, tabs, new lines and carriage returns

25. Final Cut Pro Editing should be fun and challenging. You conceive and idea in you head and Final Cut will help you bring your idea to life.