Weekly Tip

Fly! (Trim on the Fly)

10-17Fly

It’s possible to trim on the fly. This way you can listen for an audio edit or look for a particular visual cue. Just make sure the Dynamic trimmimg checkbox is marked.

  1. Enter Trim Edit mode, and press the space bar to cycle your trim. The sequence will play around your edit point and loop. The pre-roll and post-roll are set in the Editing tab of User Preferences.
  2. When you reach the desired edit point, press the I key to move your In point.
  3. Press the up or down arrow to move through the Timeline to your next edit point.


    fcpbook

    Like this tip? It comes from the book
    Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.





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      The Dividing Line—Part 2

      10-05aDivLine2-1

      Several different options are available when dragging within the Timeline.

      When dragging in the Timeline, use these tips:

      • Dragging in the Timeline horizontally results in an overwrite edit by default.
      • Dragging in the Timeline horizontally results in an insert or swap edit when you hold down the Option key.
      • Dragging in the Timeline vertically results in an overwrite edit by default.
      • Dragging in the Timeline vertically results in an insert edit when you press the Option key after you start to drag.
      • Pressing the Option key and then dragging in the Timeline vertically results in a cloned copy added to the Timeline via an insert edit.
      • Pressing the Option and Shift keys and then dragging in the Timeline vertically results in a cloned copy added to the Timeline directly above the clip.



      fcpbook

      Like this tip? It comes from the book
      Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.





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        The Dividing Line—Part 1

        10-04Divideline1

        When dragging tracks in the Timeline, where you drag is as important as what you drag. Careless dragging may result in an unintended overwrite edit when you intended
        an insert edit.

        If you look closely at the Timeline, you’ll notice that it’s divided by a thin gray line. When dragging, look to see which region you enter to determine the edit type.

        When dragging from the Viewer or a bin, use these tips:

        • Dragging to the upper-third of the track results in an insert edit.
          • Dragging to the lower two-thirds of the track results in an overwrite edit.




        fcpbook

        Like this tip? It comes from the book
        Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.






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          Quiet Down! Reducing Noise in Your Clip

          Ch09_Reduce Noise
          Background noise? Air conditioning rumble? Soundtrack Pro makes it easy to fix. By combining the Set Noise Print and Reduce Noise commands you can dramatically improve a clip.

          1. Select a clip in your Final Cut Pro Timeline.
            2 Right-click and choose Send To > Soundtrack Pro Audio Project File. The audio moves from your Timeline into Soundtrack Pro.
          2. Zoom into a part of your audio file that contains just the background noise that you’d like to remove. Select the audio in the Soundtrack Pro Timeline.
            4 Choose Process > Noise Reduction > Set Noise Print. The noise print identifies the frequencies that you’d like to remove from the file.
          3. Select the audio in the Timeline that you’d like to repair (this will usually be the entire Timeline).
            6 Choose Process > Noise Reduction > Reduce Noise. The Reduce Noise dialog appears.
          4. Click the Preview button (play icon) to hear the noise reduction previewed.
            8 Drag the Noise Threshold slider left to lower the threshold, or drag it right to raise the threshold.
          5. Drag the Reduction slider to the right to increase the amount of noise reduction.
            10 Use the Tone Control slider left to preserve more of the bass or treble content.
          6. To toggle a before and after state, click the Bypass button.
            12 When satisfied, click the Apply button.




          fcpbook

          Like this tip? It comes from the book
          Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.





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            CDs Get Converted

            itunes
            Our favorite way to rip and up-convert music from stock music CDs is to use iTunes.
            We all know music CDs are recorded at a sampling rate of 44.1kHz. Final Cut Pro and digital video love to work at a sampling rate of 48kHz. Yes, we know Final Cut Pro can up-sample on the fly, but why waste CPU power that could be going to your real-time video playback?

            Here’s all you need to do:

            1. Open iTunes.
              2 Open Preferences under the Edit menu.
            2. Click the Advanced icon in the toolbar then choose Importing.
            3. Under Import Using, select AIFF Encoder.
              5 Under Setting, select Custom.
            4. Another dialog box opens. Here, select a sample rate of 48.000 kHz. Click OK and then OK again.
              7 Now click the General button.
            5. Under iTunes Music Folder Location, change it to target your desktop. (This will make it real easy to find and move your newly ripped tracks.)
              9 Pop in your CD. If you’re connected to the Internet, iTunes will go to the CDDB and grab the album name and track names. (Yes, it seem as if most of our library music is listed in the CDDB.) This is great because most of the work is done. Create a playlist of all the tracks you want to rip.
            6. Click Import, and you’re done!

            Once you’ve set up your preferences, just “rip and roll” every time you need to grab a music cut. Fast, easy, elegant…and of course…cool.




            fcpbook

            Like this tip? It comes from the book
            Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.





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              A Little Louder Please…

              08-23littlelouder

              Need to tweak the mix a little? You can quickly change the volume of a highlighted track from the keyboard. Use the following keyboard combinations to perfect the mix:

              • Gain –3db Control [
              • Gain –1db Control –
              • Gain +1db Control +
              • Gain +3db Control ]




              fcpbook

              Like this tip? It comes from the book
              Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.





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                Carve It (A Better Bevel)

                04-08.CarveIt
                Looking to create a beveled edge? The built-in bevel filter doesn’t work on text. Instead, you’ll need to use the channels to create the edge.

                1. 1 Choose Effect>Video Filters>Channel>Channel Offset.
                  2 Switch the Channel to move only the Alpha Channel.
                2. Offset the channel to taste, usually a value of three to ten pixels for the X and Y axis will work, but you may need to vary this based on the size of your graphic.
                  4 Experiment with the Edges settings to refine your look.




                fcpbook

                Like this tip? It comes from the book
                Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.





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                  Lose That Umlaut (Symbolically Speaking, Of Course)

                  04-02.umlaut

                  Need special characters but can’t remember where they live on the keyboard? OS X has a great feature for this—the Character Palette.

                  1 Go to System Preferences > International > Input Menu, and enable the Character Palette.

                  2 Notice the new icon in your menu bar (likely a flag that matches the language). When needed, simply click it and choose Show or Hide Character Palette.

                  3 The palette automatically floats above your active application.

                  4 Be sure to check that you’re using the same font in the text generator or other application.

                  5 Double-click or drag to use the special character.




                  fcpbook

                  Like this tip? It comes from the book
                  Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.





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                    Retro is Not Always Cool

                    05-10.RetroNot
                    Most transitions have hard edges; that looks bad enough. Avoid the temptation to add a colored border, or you’ll really be traveling back to the days of clunky tapes that were heavier than a MacBook. Instead, try feathering the edges and adjusting the width of the border. In our experience, the client will find the effect far more pleasing.

                    Want some retro wipes, then try out these:
                    • Wrap Wipe
                    • Zig Zag Wipe
                    • Venetian Blind Wipe





                    fcpbook

                    Like this tip? It comes from the book
                    Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.





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                      Gradient Wipe

                      05-00.5.GW
                      The Gradient Wipe is the most useful transition inside Final Cut Pro (after a Dissolve of course). Don’t be turned off by how the effect looks on its own; without an image dropped in the well, it’s useless. The effect creates a transition between two clips by using a luminance map. The transition will occur between the darkest and lightest areas in the map. Why is this so cool? You can create as many transitions as you like using graphic files. Make your own or download away.



                      fcpbook

                      Like this tip? It comes from the book
                      Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.





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                        Pull It Down

                        Are you a 24p addict just like us? Don’t worry, there is nothing to be ashamed of! Some cameras, like Panasonic’s Varicam can record 24p (really 23.98) within a 720p60 signal. It does this by duplicating frames. To get back to 24p you can remove what is known as Advanced Pulldown to get the footage back to 24fps. You can do this on capture from a FireWire source (like Panasonic’s AJ HD1400).

                        5_pullitdown_1

                        1. Open your capture presets (Final Cut Pro > Audio Video Settings and choose the Capture Presets tab) and select a DVCPRO HD preset to edit.
                        2. Make sure the Remove Advanced Pulldown and/or Duplicate Frames from Firewire sources is checked.
                        3. If you forgot to do this you can always remove the duplicate frames after the fact. Select your clip in the Timeline and choose Tools > Remove Advanced Pulldown.

                        Ahhh, 24p! Love it!


                        fcpbook

                        Like this tip? It comes from the book
                        Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.





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                          HD Progressive or Interlaced—Pick Your Poison

                          hdprogressiveinterlaced

                          One question we get asked a lot is, when working in HD, is progressive or interlaced better? The question is not as simple as it might seem. Here is some food for thought:

                          Consider progressive if:
                          • you might possibly be going back to film.
                            • you might have to create additional versions of the show. It’s easier to create interlaced versions from a progressive master than the other way around.
                            • you have a lot of motion. Progressive footage tends to look “smoother.”

                          Consider interlaced if
                          • compatibility with existing NTSC interlaced television is a must. Not having to convert from progressive reduces the possibility of introducing artifacts.
                            • you have a lot of detail. Interlaced footage tends to look “sharper” when compared to progressive footage.


                          fcpbook

                          Like this tip? It comes from the book
                          Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.





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                            Open Access


                            5_openaccess_3

                            Open format Timelines is one of our favorite features in Final Cut Pro 6. They become particularly useful when you need to integrate SD footage into an HD show. However, you need to make sure a couple of options are set up correctly.

                            1. Open up User Preferences by pressing Option + Q.
                            2. Choose the Editing tab and in the lower right-hand corner make sure Always scale clips to sequence size is checked. With this box checked, Final Cut Pro will scale your SD footage to the HD frame but it will not distort the aspect ratio. The result will be a blown up pillar boxed image.
                            3. Open up your sequence settings by choosing Sequence > Settings or Command + 0 and choose the Video Processing tab.
                            4. Change the Motion Filtering Quality pulldown to Best. This ensures Final Cut Pro will scale your SD clip using the highest quality. Click OK.

                            If, for whatever reason, you did not have the Always scale clips to sequence size checked in your User Preferences you would have ended up with your SD image centered in the HD frame as a small box. Don’t worry though, you can fix this.

                            1. Select the SD clip you want to scale.
                            2. Choose Modify > Scale to Sequence.
                            3. The clip’s scale has automatically been adjusted to fit the HD frame size.

                            While the scale to sequence method can be very helpful in working with SD footage in HD projects, scaling is happening (potentially a lot) so expect some degradation of the footage.

                            Note: Be wary of the Conform to Sequence command also found in the Modify menu. This command will adjust not only scale, but also aspect ratio possibly resulting in a stretched SD image if you conformed to an HD sequence. Conform to Sequence will also adjust field dominance by applying a Shift Fields filter if needed.


                            fcpbook

                            Like this tip? It comes from the book
                            Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.





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                            Multiple Versions

                            Multiple
                            So you’ve just completed your high definition masterpiece when you find out that you need to create a standard definition letterboxed version of the show. Thankfully, this is pretty easy inside Final Cut Pro.

                            1. Create a new sequence and load a new sequence preset (for example, Apple Pro Res 422 NTSC).
                            2. Take your high def sequence and nest it in the new one you just created.
                            3. If you’re asked if you want to conform this sequence to the new one, choose No.
                            4. Voila! You now have a letterboxed version of the show because FCP maintains aspect ratio of the original sequence its scale was reduced to fit in the 4x3 frame.

                            Additionally, after you nest the sequence you can open it in the Viewer and increase its scale to 70% (this will, of course, depend on your acquisition source—70% is derived from HDV footage). This will essentially edge crop the original HD sequence. Just be very careful—if the footage was not shot 4•3 safe—you could be cutting off important action and/or framing.



                            fcpbook

                            Like this tip? It comes from the book
                            Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.








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                            Check for Flash Frames

                            12-02flash frame gap
                            Before we print to tape, we step through our finished shows one edit at a time, just to make sure we don’t have any black flash frames. Use the up and down arrow keys to take you from edit point to edit point. If your Canvas shows a black frame (or unintentional frame), you have a flash frame. Switch to trimming, and you can take the offending frames out.



                            fcpbook

                            Like this tip? It comes from the book
                            Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.








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                            A Loop is a Loop is a Loop

                            15-23Loop
                            Need to make a show loop for a client’s tradeshow booth or front entry? Final Cut Pro makes it easy for you to make money. In the Print to Video or Edit to Tape dialog boxes, you can specify how many times a show should loop. You can also add black in between each segment.

                            Feel free to use the Bars and Tone options because they’ll only be added to the first pass; all of the loops will contain just the program content.



                            fcpbook

                            Like this tip? It comes from the book
                            Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.








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                            Audio Mixdown … Where Are You?

                            15-17mixdown
                            When outputting material to tape, an Audio Mixdown feature was a recommended precaution to ensure you didn’t drop frames. Choose Sequence > Render Only > Mixdown (or press Command + Option + R).

                            You can also map this as a button, and place it into the Timeline button bar.



                            fcpbook

                            Like this tip? It comes from the book
                            Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.








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                            Reference Movies

                            15-04Ref Mov
                            Need to save some space? Reference movies allow you to work with your video clips or
                            sequence files in other applications. Think of a reference movie as a pointer back to the
                            original media, a lot like a link on a web page.

                            Follow these steps:
                            1. Choose File > Export QuickTime Movie.
                            2. Name the file, and choose to not make the movie self-contained. This will save you disk space by referencing back to the media on your local drives. That being said, the media can’t be deleted, moved, or on a different machine that’s unreachable via a network.
                            3. Import the file into your other video application, and start working.

                            Reference movies are useful when working in After Effects, Cleaner, iDVD, or other applications where you want to work with a large video file. This is a useful way to export a sequence or longer segment of clips as one file. If you want to permanently save the video clip, be sure to check the Self-Contained box. Just remember that an hour-long show at DV-quality will need more than 12 GB of space!



                            fcpbook

                            Like this tip? It comes from the book
                            Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.









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                            Get it In—Color, That Is

                            We love Color! Finally, we have a professional-level color correction and grading tool.
                            It is important to know, however, that when you send a sequence to Color, there
                            are limitations. And depending on your project, some of these limitations can be
                            important.
                            • Most filters that you have applied in Final Cut Pro will not be previewed or rendered by Color. Once you have rendered and sent your project back to Final Cut Pro from Color, the filters you’ve applied will once again take effect. This is especially important for Color Correction or Image Control filters (with the exception of the Color Corrector 3-way which is translated as a correction in the Primary Room in Color). Prior to sending to Color, it’s a good idea to remove those filters, as you might get weird results when your project has returned to Final Cut Pro and those filters are again active. In general, you want to choose either Color or Final Cut Pro to do your color correction and grading work, and not mix the two.
                              Send to Color2
                            • Track layering will be maintained in Color, however Opacity and composite modes will not be previewed or rendered out of Color. Instead, this information is maintained and rendered in Final Cut Pro.
                            • Like filters, transitions are not previewed or rendered by Color, instead, the transitions are rendered when the project returns to Final Cut Pro.
                            • Speed effects are maintained and previewed by Color (although variable speed effects do not play properly in Color). They aren’t, however, rendered by Color; instead, Final Cut Pro renders them.
                            • Generators like text and shapes, still frames, Motion and LiveType Project files that are in your sequence are ignored by Color and will not be previewed. Their position on the Timeline is maintained and when the project is sent back to Final Cut Pro, they will relink and be displayed again.
                            • If you do need to color correct or grade generators or graphics material, you will need to render them out of Final Cut Pro as self-contained QuickTime files and reedit them back into your sequence.


                            fcpbook

                            Like this tip? It comes from the book
                            Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.







                            |

                            Don’t Forget About QuickTime Transitions

                            Most users avoid the QuickTime transitions folder. We’re not sure why—perhaps it’s because the transitions are oddly named. Try the following transitions out when you seem to be running low on ideas:

                            05-14.DFAQT

                            • Explode: This warps the outgoing clip into a tunnel-like wipe. We find this particularly useful when going between graphics and an incoming clip. Offset the center of the wipe to match the focal point of the incoming clip.
                            • Iris: The QuickTime Iris transition is worlds better than the Final Cut Pro Iris transition. Choose from 26 different shapes. Particularly nice is the ability to repeat the Iris pattern with separate controls horizontally and vertically. Be certain to check this one out.
                            • Radial: With similar options to the Iris transition and 39 patterns to choose from, this effect needs to be on your radar screen.
                            • Wipe: This one transition has more options and possibilities of all the transitions contained in Final Cut Pro’s wipe category.


                            fcpbook

                            Like this tip? It comes from the book
                            Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.






                            |

                            Rack It

                            3_rackit_1
                            Rack Focus effects are often used by camera ops to add a feeling of movement in the image without actually moving the camera. Typically, these effects happen at the head of a clip to act as a transition. From time to time we’ve found the need to simulate a rack focus. Fortunately, this is really easy using a Gaussian Blur filter.

                            1. Load the clip you’d like to effect into the Viewer and choose Effects > Video Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur.
                            2. Position the playhead at the head of the clip and set a keyframe for the Radius parameter with a pretty high value; something like 50 works well.
                            3. Move about one second forward into the clip (further for a slower rack) and change the Radius parameter to 0 (a new keyframe is automatically inserted).

                            Play back the clip. Now that’s Racking! Oh sorry, Rocking!



                            fcpbook

                            Like this tip? It comes from the book
                            Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.