Like many of the other applications within Final Cut Pro Studio, round tripping is possible with Color.

1. Select your sequence (you can only send sequences to Color) and choose File > Send To > Color.
   
2. A dialog box will open describing your selection, as well as letting you name the Color project. The name defaults to the name of the selected sequence.
3. After correcting and grading your footage you will need to render the clips in Color by choosing Render Queue > Add All and then choose Render Queue > Start Render.
4. Then from inside Color go to the File Menu > Send To > Final Cut Pro. This will generate an XML file that FInal Cut Pro will use to reconnect to the rendered clips from Color.
   

Note: You don’t have to worry about keeping track of the XML file as it’s passed seamlessly between Color and Final Cut Pro.



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

Continuing my mixtape habit.... I invite you to listen to an iMix (a collection of songs arranged around a topic). Just click this link to visit the iTunes music store and you can here a little part of the soundtrack of my life.

Radio & TV features some songs for those who work in the film/video/broadcast industry. A little satire, a few good beats, and some nice instrumentals. Seems that all my iMixes run with a theme... but I guess all good mix tapes do.


I posted this iMix here as it relates to the video industry... if you like this feature, be sure to check out Raster|Vector, the computer graphics blog.

Join Apple Certified Trainer Richard Harrington as he shows you how to customize your Final Cut Pro preferences so it behaves more like you want it to.



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So you’ve worked hard getting a perfect mix and have created submixes, outputted your show and are ready to archive your show as a self-contained QuickTime. In the past, if you were to do this, your audio would be mixed down to stereo or as grouped channels (i.e., stereo and dual mono).

Now, in Final Cut Pro 6 you can export individual discrete channels very easily.

1. Open up the Sequence Settings (Command + 0) window for your sequence.
2. In the General tab in the bottom right-hand corner there is an area labeled Audio Settings.
3. Change the Config pulldown option to Discrete and click OK to save the change.
4. Choose the File menu > Export > QuickTime Movie.
5. Save the file as you normally would. Discrete channels will be saved in the export.
   

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

Join Apple Certified Trainer Chris Phrommayon as he explains how you can edit faster in Final Cut Pro by using replace edits.



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Perhaps you were a little bit less than careful when ingesting your footage and now you have 10 hours of footage for a 10 minute show! Don’t worry, we can help you trim the fat. One thing before we begin, though. THIS IS DESTRUCTIVE! Please make sure you have a backup of your media (tapes or archives of tapeless formats). Also, it’s a good idea to only do this if you’re sure there won’t be major changes to the show.

1. Select the sequence you wish to trim in the Browser.
2. Choose File > Media Manager.
3. From the Media pulldown, choose Use existing.
4. Check the Delete unused media from duplicated items box.
5. Check Use handles and add a couple seconds of handles.
6. Uncheck Duplicate selected items and place into a new project if you’d like to stay in this project, or check it to create a new project. The new project will contain only the sequence you have selected and master clips folder with the trimmed media.
7. If you have the duplicate selected items and place in new project box checked, you also have the option to Include nonactive multiclip angles. Check this if you aren’t sure if you will be switching back to other angles or uncheck it if you’re satisfied with the current selection of angles in a multiclip.
8. Click OK to start processing the media. If you chose to create a new project, you’ll be prompted to name and save the project.
   

Depending on how your project is set up, you may also see a dialog labeled Additional Items Found. This is Final Cut Pro’s way of double-checking other open projects that reference the media you’re about to process.

• Clicking Add will bring along that additional media in other projects;
• Continue will not bring along that media, but may make the clips offline in the other projects;
• Abort cancels the operation.
  

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

Join Apple Certified Trainer Abba Shapiro as he explains how you can get material of the highest quality on your DVD by adjusting your video compression settings in Compressor.



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Experienced editors know that changing picture and sound at the same point (a straight cut) can be very jarring. It’s more noticeable when both elements change suddenly, which can be jarring to the Viewer. A much better method is to try and use an L-cut (so called because of its shape in the Timeline). In this case, the picture edit happens before or after the edit.

These are especially helpful when editing dialogue because they give the editor better control over pacing and reaction shots. You can also use an L-cut to hide a continuity error. Although the difference may sound small, you’ll soon discover what an impact they have on a professional edit. Follow these steps:

1. Move through your Timeline and select edit points with the Rolling Edit Tool.
2. Double-click to enter Trim Edit mode.
3. Use the comma (,) and period (.) keys to make minor one-frame edits.
4. Better yet, click the Dynamic trimming box, and you can use the J-K-L keys to quickly trim your show.
   

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

Join Apple Certified Trainer Richard Harrington as he shows you how to nest sequences and apply a broadcast safe filter in Final Cut Pro for a fast way to ensure that your project is ready for broadcast.



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Looking to expand your typographical toolbox? Then be sure to visit Dinc Type at the unique URL www.GirlsWhoWearGlasses.com. The site is sassy and filled with great fonts. The unique thing is that while fonts are free, the selection frequently changes and fonts appear then disappear. Its like an incredible import shop where everything’s free, but the inventory keeps changing. Bookmark and keep checking back as their fonts are absolutely fantastic.

Join Apple Certified Trainer Abba Shapiro as he shows you how to add and create menus in DVD Studio Pro.



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If you’re having system problems and want to clean the disk, check partitions, and so on, here’s a way to fix problems without any third-party applications: Start up in single-user mode, and run FSCK. Uh, what was that?

FSCK stands for “file system check,” and the –fy you’ll type just says to go ahead and fix any problems it finds. Here’s the drill:

1. Restart your Mac.
2. Immediately press and hold Command + Option + S. You’ll see a bunch of text begin scrolling on your screen. (Cool, you’re now a geek.) Soon you’ll see the Unix command line prompt (#). Don’t cry; it’s still your Mac—you’re just a true Unix god–well, demi-god.
3. Type fsck -fy (that’s fsck + space + minus + f + y).
4. Press Return.
   

The FSCK utility will do its magic, running some text across your screen. If there’s damage to your disk, you’ll see a message that says: “FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED.”

If you see this message, it found some problems and fixed them—repeat steps 1 and 2 until that message no longer appears. It’s normal to have to run FSCK more than once; the first run’s repairs often uncover additional problems.

When FSCK finally reports that no problems were found and the # prompt reappears, type reboot to restart or type exit to start without rebooting. Then press Return.



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