The most recommended way of ripping material from a DVD for Edit in FCP is using MPEG-StreamClip. This is an easy application that allows you to convert the MPEG-2 material on the DVD into a single Quicktime file that contains the video and audio in the codec of your choice. It's a free application that you can download here.
The easiest way to import an Avid timeline into Final Cut Pro is to use the Automatic Duck Pro Importer plug-in. This allows you to literally bring an Avid timeline directly into Final Cut Pro. This does work best if you plan to re-capture the footage in FCP, such as in an offline / online situation. In general Avid codecs don't work in FCP.
In Avid, you export the timeline in an OMF or AAF format. I find that AAF works better as it tends to bring more information over from the Avid timeline.
In FCP, create a New Project and then choose File > Import > Automatic Duck
In the dialogue box, be sure to import the project in the same format as the original Avid timeline. For instance, if the Avid timeline was an uncompressed SD 29.97 timeline, set up as 8bit Uncompressed SD 29.97 format in FCP. Even if you plan to capture to another format in FCP (such as HD) import the project in the native format.
The Duck will create a Bin and a Sequence that exactly matches the Timeline from Avid.
Now you're ready to recapture and conform the project into whatever format you require.
How do I set up and/or Import Graphics/Photos into FCP?
All photos and still graphics should be at least the same size as the frame size you will be editing with. For instance, DV-NTSC has a 720x480 frame size, so your graphic / photo / still image should be no less than 720x480 pixel size for a clean, full screen image.
If you want to do moves, zooms, pans, etc. on the images, then you will want the image frame size to be larger, we recommend double, the frame size you will be editing with. So for DV, a still image size of 1440x960 would allow you plenty of room on a DV timeline to do zooms and other moves on the image without seeing the edge of the frame appear or losing quality on the still image.
The easiest way to determine what frame size you are editing with is to simply highlight your Sequence, then on the top menu bar, click "Sequence > Sequence Settings." The dialogue window that appears will show you the frame size, such as 720 x 480.
As for dpi, or Dots Per Inch, that is a print term and really has nothing to do with video. As a rule, 72dpi is the most quality you'll ever need for a still image whether you're cutting DV or HD.
You can manually set the length of the graphics when they are imported into FCP. Of course you can always change the length after they're in the Browser, but often it's easier to do this before they come in so they're all consistent.
Final Cut Pro > User Preferences > Editing Tab
There you will find the Still/Freeze Duration setting. Simply set this to whatever you want it to be and each time you import a Still Graphic / Image / Photo it will automatically be set to this amount.
Capturing / Digitizing
How do I capture HDV to ProRes via Firewire?
With Final Cut Pro 6 and higher, it is possible to convert your HDV footage to ProRes while you are capturing, provided you have a fast enough computer. ProRes conversion taxes the CPU's so if you want to try this, be sure you have a very fast system and fast media drives.
Creative Cow Contributor Chris Poisson created an easy to follow tutorial outlining how to do this procedure.
If you are trying to capture HDV and you don't have control of your deck or see any video in your Log and Capture Window, make sure you have chosen an HDV Easy Setup.
Final Cut Pro > Easy Setup
Then be sure to select the correct HDV easy setup for the HD format and frame rate, such as HDV 1080i/60.
If this does not work, double check your Firewire connection between the VTR and the Mac. I HIGHLY recommend you turn OFF your HDV deck / camera when you connect the device to the Mac.
How do I digitize across timecode breaks?
Shane's Stock Answer #6: Digitizing across timecode breaks
Your tape is full of timecode breaks? There are four ways of capturing the footage from this tape.
1) Press play and hit "capture now." When it gets to the break it will stop. Name the clip, go to the next one, do it again. Pre-naming the clip helps to ensure that you don't end up with a lot of UNTITLED files, that can be a pain when it comes to reconnecting or media managing your footage.
2) In your Capture window, set your device to "non-controllable device,' press play and hit 'capture now.'
While this means that FCP will capture the footage without referencing the tapes time code, without capturing ANY time code, the fact that you have lots of breaks and possibly time code starting at 00;00;00;00 several times on the tape makes the timecode pretty useless.
3) If you are dealing with TIME OF DAY code, then it would be wise to either do step #1, or LOG AND CAPTURE your footage. Making sure that you have 5 seconds of pre-roll before each clip.
4) You could dub the tape to another DV tape before digitizing. This will give you clean code start to finish and allow for re-digitizing at a later date if you need to.
I'm getting Dropped Frames During Capture / Playback
Shane's Stock Answer #12: Dropped frames on capture/playback
1) Do not capture to your main system drive. Since it is busy reading the operating system and application files, it will intermittently drop frames during capture. Capture to a separate internal drive, or external hard drive (firewire and eSATA for example).
2) Deactivate any anti-virus/filesaver software, including Norton and Virex. For some reason these programs think that the large files created when you capture media are in fact caused by some sort of virus, and they try to prevent this.
3) Check the format of the drive you are capturing to. It should be Mac OS Extended, journalling off. If it isn't, copy your files from it and re-initialize it. If it is any other format, you will encounter problems. If not at first, then eventually.
4) Trash the FCP preference files. Use the freeware FCP Rescue.
5) Make sure that the hard drives you are capturing to are fast enough to handle the footage being captured to it. A regular firewire 400 drive cannot capture uncompressed HD, or even uncompressed standard definition. A RAID array of drives might be in order for these formats.
This method applies to the AJA Kona 2, 3, LH and LHe.
Final Cut Pro MUST be set up in the HD format you are editing in. Do NOT change anything in FCP to SD. For example if you are editing in AJA Kona 3 DVCPro HD 1080i/29.97, then leave FCP set to AJA Kona 3 DVCPro HD 1080i/29.97.
Click on the Kona Control Panel.
Click on the Control Tab
Primary should be set to your FCP HD format. In this example that would be 1080i/29.97
Secondary should be set to the SD format you want to downconvert to. In this example that would be 525/29.97.
Click on the Output tab you want to downconvert. The Konas have up to three outputs represented on the right side of the Control Panel. Simply click on the one you want to Downconvert.
Select Secondary 525.
If you want to downconvert more than one output, select those outputs and do the same.
Now go back to Final Cut Pro.
The outputs you chose to downconvert are now displaying the downconverted SD.
This is the correct way to use the Control Panel. NEVER use Final Cut Pro to do any sort of conversions. You leave that set up in the Primary format.
How do I create a Standard DVD from an HD Project?
From your finished HD timeline:
File > Export > Quicktime Movie.
Leave it set to "Current Settings"
You can export a Reference movie if you'd like, meaning leave "Make Self Contained Movie" UNchecked.
Take that Quicktime movie into Compressor.
Choose the DVD Compression of your choice, such as DVD 90 Minutes High Quality. Compressor will create a Standard Definition 16:9 MPEG-2.
Also select the Dolby Digital Audio to create the AC-3 audio file.
Launch DVD Studio Pro and bring the MPEG-2 and AC-3 into your project.
Now create a DVD!
DVD Studio Pro will create a DVD in 16:9 widescreen format that will automatically play Letterboxed on a 4:3 TV and full screen on a 16:9 widescreen.
Cool, huh?
How do I Create a Windows Media File in FCP?
The easiest way to do this is to purchase Telestream's Flip4Mac. This installs a plug in that will give you a Windows Media option when you export from Final Cut Pro.
File > Export > Using Quicktime Conversion
Once Flip4Mac is installed, Windows Media will show up as an option in this dialogue box.
If you want even more control and features, you can step up to Episode, also from Telestream.
Can't add a Transition / Transition is only 1 frame / I get "Insufficient Content"
Shane's Stock Answer #1
You need to make sure that your clips have enough media (called 'handles') at the beginning of the incoming clip and at the end of the outgoing clip for the transition. For example, if you have a 1 second (30 frame) dissolve, your in and out point need to be at least 15 frames from the edge of the clip.
What you are running into is that you are marking an out point at the end of a clip then adding a cross dissolve, say 20 frames in duration. Since the dissolve is centered on the cut, it will start 10 frames before the cut, and try to go 10 frames AFTER the cut...which it can't do.
What you need to do is plan how long your dissolve will be and back-time your cut so that it works.
A full 1 second crossfade reaches 15 frames into each clip. So, if you want to change a cut to a crossfade, there has to be at least 15 additional frames of each clip.
Say you're trying to crossfade from one clip into the very first frame of a second clip. FCP cannot 'create' 15 more frames of the second clip to do a crossfade. If they're not there, you're out of luck.
FCP has to extend the end of your first clip by 1/2 of your transition length, and the beginning of your second clip by 1/2 of your transition length, so those frames need to be in your system. The nature of a crossfade is mixing two clips together.
No Realtime Playback / I have to Render Every clip in the Timeline.
If you have to render every clip in your timeline, then your Sequence Settings do not match your Clip Settings. Depending on your system, when this happens, you might have to render every single clip as you put them into the timeline.
For instance, you have digitized DVCPro HD footage but your timeline is 8bit Standard Definition. FCP would most likely have to render every single clip before you can play it back.
The simple solution is check your Clip Settings and make sure your Sequence exactly matches your clips. So look at the Clip Format in the Browser and then look at your Sequence Settings. If they don't match, create a New Sequence and choose the correct Setup so the Sequence matches your clip.
A really easy way to do this is the use the Easy Setup Function under the Final Cut Pro menu. Final Cut Pro > Easy Setup. Choose the correct setup for what you are editing and then FCP will automatically set up your system for that format.
Now create a New Sequence and start editing. If you have already started the edit in the "wrong" formatted Sequence do NOT copy and paste the clips from that "wrong" timeline into the "correct" timeline. FCP will modify the clips as you enter them into the timeline so don't move those modified clips or you'll have the same problem all over again. Start fresh all over again and you should be good to go.
We have a tutorial here on the Cow that fully explains all of this as well:
ONLY JUDGE THE QUALITY OF YOUR MATERIAL ON AN EXTERNAL BROADCAST MONITOR, OR AT LEAST A TV.
The Canvas in Final Cut Pro is a degraded representation of your finished work. Apple expects you to have a properly connected external broadcast monitor or TV to your editing system.
If you do not have a proper external monitor, you will not be able to properly view the finished quality of of your work.
For more about this topic and other basic FCP questions, check out Shane Ross' Real World FAQ's.
System Configuration (Drives, Cards, Macs, Monitors, etc.)
What's the difference between the AJA Kona boards?
The AJA Kona series of capture cards allow you to ingest footage from a variety of formats and if needed, convert them to other formats for editing. For instance, you can convert any SDI signal to ProRes or any HD-SDI signal to ProRes or DVCPro HD. Here are the basic differences between the various Kona Boards.
One feature of the Kona boards that is not widely recognized is the "Input Pass-Through" mode. All Kona boards have this feature and allows you to use the board as a hardware format converter without the need to pass the video through Final Cut Pro. For instance, you can dub HD material directly to DVCAM or Beta by downconverting it through the Kona and passing the video directly from the HD deck to the SD deck. You can continue using the computer for whatever you need while this process is taking place, it's all happening in the hardware without the need for any software.
All Kona boards have RS-422 included.
Kona 3: This is a PCIe card for the G5 Quad 2.5 and all Mac Pros.
Allows realtime SD to HD Up-conversion, HD to SD Down-conversion, HD Cross-conversion (720 to 1080 and 1080 to 720)
This card has Digital Inputs ONLY. AES/EBU/SDI for Audio. SDI (HD/SD) for Video.
This card has Digital and Analog Outputs. AES/EBU/SDI/RCA for Audio. SDI (HD/SD), Component, Composite for Video.
Kona 3X: This is the PCI-X version of the Kona 3 for older model G5's.
Kona LHe: This is a PCIe card for the G5 Quad 2.5 and all Mac Pros.
Allows realtime HD to SD Downconversion.
This card has Analog and Digital Inputs. AES/SDI/XLR for Audio. SDI (HD/SD), Component, Composite, S-Video for Video.
This card has Analog and Digital Outputs. AES/SDI/XLR/RCA for Audio. SDI (HD/SD), Component, Composite, S-Video for Video.
Kona LH: This is the PCI-X version of the Kona LHe for older model G5's.
Kona LSe: This is a PCIe card for the G5 Quad 2.5 and all Mac Pros.
This is a Standard Definition version of the LHe. Same inputs and outputs as the LHe, but all SD only.
Kona LS: This is the PCI-X version of the LSe for older model G5's.
Kona Breakout Boxes: The breakout boxes are generally a $299 upgrade for all the Kona cards and are highly recommended. The cards come standard with a snake of cables that can be a bit messy. The K-Box gives you a very clean box to connect all your equipment.
What Drives do I need for High Definition?
First you need to determine what form of High Definition you plan to edit.
For compressed formats like DVCPro HD and HDV, simple Firewire 800 drives or multiple internal drives striped together will work just fine. Manufacturers recommend by Cow Users are WeibeTech, LaCie, CalDigit, Other World Computing, Western Digital, G-Tech.
For ProRes, Firewire 800 will work, but generally SATA arrays and at least three drives striped internally are better. ProRes has a higher data rate than any of the other compressed HD formats. SATA Array manufacturers recommended by Cow Users include MaxxDigital, Dulce, CalDigit, G-Tech, and Sonnet. Some users also build their own using off the shelf enclosures with Hitachi, Western Digital and Seagate bare drives.
For Uncompressed HD, you need a high speed array that can run at at least 200MB/s sustained data rate, but 300MB/s and up is even better. Generally a minimum of 5 drives striped together is the bare minimum required to attain this type of sustained speed, though most folks use 8 or more. SATA and FibreChannel arrays are recommended for Uncompressed editing. In addition to the SATA Array manufacturers listed above, FibreChannel array manufacturers recommended by Cow users include Facilis, Ciprico and Dulce.
Keep in mind that when you run high speed media arrays, failure of a drive is always a very real possibility. All drives will fail eventually. This is why we recommend you get arrays that can support RAID 5 so in the event of a drive failure, a backup drive will kick in and you can keep working.
Also, understand that the higher your overhead in speed, the more realtime capabilities you give your system. So a media array that runs at 500MB/s will give you a lot more realtime than a media array that runs at 200MB/s no matter what format you're working with. More speed means more streams of data can run at the same time. So you can run more video tracks, more video filters, more audio tracks and the like. So even if you're editing in DVCPro HD, getting a high speed SATA array running 350MB/s or faster will yield much more realtime than a 2 drive FW800 array. They will both work, but you can work more efficiently with the higher speed array.
What is RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 5?
To RAID drives for editing means you take 2 or more hard drives and stripe them together as one large media drives. You do this using Apple's Disc Utility and just use the RAID function in there. The more drives you stripe together, the more speed you get out of your media array and the more realtime functionality you'll get from your FCP system.
RAID 0 means you have a hard drive array striped for the absolute fastest speed possible. The trade-off is you have absolutely ZERO protection in the event of a drive failure. If any of the drives in your array fail, you more than likely have lost all of your data. If you run in RAID 0, it is highly recommended that you also run some sort of a backup device to protect your data each day. A RAID 0 can be set up with as few as 2 hard drives.
RAID 1 means you have a hard drive array striped so that all of the data is mirrored. This essentially splits your storage in half so that you are writing / editing to half of the array and the other half is creating a mirror copy of all your data. This gives you absolute protection against data loss, but cuts your storage capacity in half and seriously slows down your array speed. This is really not a recommended RAID setup for video editing. RAID 1 can be set up with as few as 2 hard drives.
RAID 5 means you have a hard drive array that can rebuild itself in the event of a single hard drive failure. This is a great combination of high speed and protection for your data. The array has one drive essentially on "stand-by" that will immediately activate in the event that any of the other drives in the array fail. The data will not be lost and you will not lose any time editing. With the properly configured array, you should not even know that a drive has failed, it should all happen seamlessly in the background.
RAID 5 is not something you can set up with Apple's Disc Utility, this requires software from your Host Adapter, or the hardware card that your drive connects to. Companies such as ATTO, LaCie, Areca, and Dulce provide software with their Host Adapters that allow you to configure your array as a RAID 5 before you using Apple's Disc Utility to actually erase and stripe the RAID. Ihighly recommend you speak directly to the company tech support if you have never set up a RAID 5 before or do not understand any of the instructions that come with your software. If the array is not set up correctly, you will most likely get reduced speeds and potentially dropped frame issues.
RAID 5 requires at least 3 hard drives striped together, though 5, 8 and 14 drives is more common.
