THE Basics

Hello, and thanks for reading.

I want to make sure my media files match my sequence settings, and that all other settings on FCP 5.1.4 are set to handle these files. But I'm unclear on what some of those settings should be.

I understand the concept of making sure your sequence settings match your media files. I've tried to do that, and I'm only using one type of media file: Flip video MP4 files. Presently, I simply import the MP4 into FCP.

Also, if I need to convert my media files before importing them, I understand that concept too, but again, I'm unclear on some settings. The converting program I have is MPEG Streamclip.

So, these are all the many places I could be inputting something incorrect, causing FCP to always have to render audio (but not video), and to give me repeated dropped frame warnings.

User Preferences
System Settings
Audio/Video Settings
Clip Settings?
[Are Clip Settings only set via the Log and Capture window? My media files are already on my computer, so, do I ever have to bother with the Log and Capture window?]
Any other settings I'm missing?

Thanks.

Greg Wishnev