Apple FINAL CUT EXPRESS HD New Features
New Features
in Final Cut Express HD
This document contains information about new features included in
Final Cut Express HD. For the latest information about product updates, tips and
techniques, and qualified third-party devices, visit the Final Cut Express HD website at
http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress.
Final Cut Express HD revolutionizes the video postproduction field by offering 720p
and 1080i high definition (HD) video acquisition using the HDV format. HDV is a new
HD format created by a consortium of manufacturers, including Sony, Canon, Sharp,
and JVC. The great advantage of working with HDV is that you can record an hour of
HD video with a consumer-priced camcorder on standard mini-DV videocassettes. This
format brings the exquisite quality of HD video to anyone from a seasoned pro to a
hobbyist on a budget.
Bundled with Final Cut Express HD are LiveType and Soundtrack, which will help your
productions look and sound even more professional. LiveType allows you to create
elaborate motion typography quickly and easily. Soundtrack assists you in creating
sophisticated musical tracks for your program, while providing ease of use even
for musical novices. These applications work together seamlessly with
Final Cut Express HD.
An Introduction to HDV
With a frame size that is up to four and one-half times larger than the current
resolution of DV, this new medium is ideal for high-impact corporate presentations,
event coverage, news gathering, or even HD cinema applications. MPEG-2 video
compression makes it possible to put such large HD images on mini-DV tapes. In fact,
HDV uses a type of MPEG-2 compression that is very similar to the compression used
for DVD-Video.
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Since HDV is high definition video using MPEG-2 compression, it requires a slightly
different workflow than intraframe formats such as DV. With DV, each frame contains
all the information needed to display the video. With HDV video, only some of the
frames contain all the information required for display. These are called
Grouped together with several subsequent frames (called
B-frames
and
I-frames
P-frames
.
),
these frames form a GOP (Group of Pictures). This MPEG-2 footage needs to be
processed, or encoded, into an intraframe format before you can begin editing in
Final Cut Express HD. This format is called the Apple Intermediate Codec. Encoding
is done automatically for you during the capture process.
Comparing the Data Rates of HDV and DV
It is useful to know the data rates for the Apple Intermediate Codec, so you can plan for
the storage requirements for HDV footage. For example, 1 hour of 720p30 HDV video
requires 23 gigabytes (GB) of disk space.
Format Frame size Data rate
DV NTSC 720 x 480 3.6 MB/sec. (equivalent to
12 GB/hr.)
DV PAL 720 x 576 3.6 MB/sec. (equivalent to
12 GB/hr.)
Apple Intermediate Codec
720p30 HDV
Apple Intermediate Codec
1080i50 HDV
Apple Intermediate Codec
1080i60 HDV
1280 x 720 7 MB/sec. (equivalent to
23 GB/hr.)
1440 x 1080 14 MB/sec. (equivalent to
46 GB/hr.)
1440 x 1080 11 MB/sec. (equivalent to
38 GB/hr.)
Note:
Data rates for the Apple Intermediate Codec are variable; these figures are
approximate and may vary according to the complexity of your footage. Images with a
lot of detail have a higher data rate, while images with less detail have a lower data
rate.
HDV Devices
Before you can work with HDV, you need an HDV camcorder. Final Cut Express HD
supports a number of camcorders for HDV capture and output. To make sure that you
have a qualified HDV device, be sure to check the “Final Cut Express HD Qualified
Devices” document, located at http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/specs.html.
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HDV Workflow in Final Cut Express HD
New capture presets and a special video capture dialog make the process of capturing
HDV clips simple and reliable. Just choose the Easy Setup that corresponds to your HDV
format in the Easy Setup dialog before you begin working on your project. Once you
choose the correct Easy Setup, Final Cut Express HD is ready to handle your HDV video.
After capturing the video, organize and edit the clips as you would for any other
Final Cut Express HD project. You can even use a second computer display, such as an
Apple Cinema Display, to display HDV video at its native size.
To print to video, you first need to encode the video back to the HDV format using the
Print to Video command. After the video is encoded back to HDV, it can be either
manually or automatically recorded to tape.
More specific details regarding the HDV workflow with Final Cut Express HD follow in
the next section.
Capturing, Editing, and Outputting HDV Video
Now that you have some background about how HDV operates within
Final Cut Express HD, you are ready to set up your system to capture, edit, and
output HDV video.
Setting Up to Capture HDV Video
Before attempting to capture HDV video in Final Cut Express HD, you need to set up
your system properly. Setting up an HDV editing system is similar to setting up a
standard DV system.
To set up your HDV editing system:
1
Make sure your HDV camcorder is properly connected to your computer and turned on
before you open Final Cut Express HD.
For information about connecting a camcorder to your computer, see
Final Cut Express HD Help, Chapter 2, “Setting Up Your System.”
2
Double-click the Final Cut Express HD icon in the Applications folder to open
Final Cut Express HD.
3
Before you begin, save your project by doing the following:
a
Choose File > Save Project.
b
In the Save dialog, enter a name and choose a location for the project.
c
Click Save.
3
4
If necessary, specify a scratch disk (the hard disk where the media files you capture in
Final Cut Express HD are saved).
For information about specifying a scratch disk, see Final Cut Express HD Help,
Chapter 4, “Specifying User Preferences, System Settings, and Easy Setups”.
Note:
By default, Final Cut Express HD saves media files to the startup disk.
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Choose the Easy Setup that corresponds to your HDV video format.
a
Choose Final Cut Express HD > Easy Setup. The Easy Setup dialog appears.
b
Choose one of the following options from the Setup For pop-up menu:
Â
HDV Apple Intermediate Codec 720p30
Â
HDV Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i50
Â
HDV Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i60
You are now ready to begin capturing HDV video in Final Cut Express HD.
Capturing HDV Video
Capturing HDV video is very similar to capturing DV video using the Capture Now
command. The main difference is that capturing HDV video may not take place in real
time. The reason for this is that Final Cut Express HD processes the HDV frames into the
Apple Intermediate Codec, so you can edit the video.
To capture HDV video in Final Cut Express HD:
1
Click in the Browser to make it active, then choose File > New Folder.
2
Control-click the folder, then choose Set Capture Folder from the shortcut menu.
Your captured clips are placed in this folder.
3
Name the folder, then press Enter.
4
Choose File > Capture (or press Command-8).
5
In the Capture dialog, enter a name for the clip, then click Capture.
The capture preview window appears and the camcorder begins playing back video.
However, unlike video on the LCD screen on the camcorder, video in the capture
preview window may not play back in real time.
The status area of the capture preview window displays the percentage of real time in
which the video is being encoded from HDV to the Apple Intermediate Codec.
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Press the Esc (Escape) key to stop capturing.
The video playback on the camcorder stops immediately. The capture preview window
may lag behind, displaying where the video is in the encoding process instead. As
these frames are being processed, the status area of the capture preview window
displays the percentage of frames left to process.
Note:
Pressing the Esc key a second time stops the encoding process and cancels the
capture.
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After the capture preview window closes, the HDV clip appears in your Capture Folder.
Note:
Final Cut Express HD has an incremental clip naming function with HDV video.
When you capture an HDV clip, Final Cut Express HD looks for any recording breaks
introduced at the shoot. For each break, individual clips are made from the original
HDV video clip. When capture is completed, these clips appear in the Capture Folder,
and the corresponding media files are placed on your hard disk.
Editing HDV Video
Editing HDV video in the Apple Intermediate Codec is just like editing DV video in
Final Cut Express HD. If you want to monitor your HDV video at full-frame resolution,
you can use a dedicated HD video monitor. Alternatively, you can route the signal to a
second computer display, such as an Apple Cinema Display. This makes for a more costeffective way to monitor your HD footage at its true size.
To view your HDV video on a second computer display:
m
Choose View > Video Out > Digital Cinema Desktop Preview.
Outputting HDV Video
After you’ve completed your program, you’ll want to output it. You have a couple of
options for outputting. You can either output to videotape using your camcorder, or
export your sequence to a QuickTime movie for use in iDVD.
To output HDV video to videotape:
1
Make sure your HDV camcorder is properly connected to your computer and turned on
before you open Final Cut Express HD.
2
Insert a DV tape into the HDV camcorder.
3
Click anywhere in the Timeline or Canvas to make it the active window.
4
Choose File > Print to Video (or press Control-M).
The Print to Video dialog appears.
5
If you want Final Cut Express HD to start recording automatically, select the
Automatically Start Recording checkbox.
6
Select any other elements you want to include on your tape, such as Bars, Slate, and
Countdown, then click OK.
A progress bar shows the progress of encoding from the Apple Intermediate Codec
back to native HDV and gives you a time estimate for when the encoding process will
finish.
After the video is encoded, the camera automatically begins recording your program to
tape if you selected the Automatically Start Recording option. If you did not, a dialog
appears instructing you to press the record button on the camcorder, and then click
OK. In either case, the camcorder stops after the program is recorded to tape.
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