Apple FINAL CUT EXPRESS HD User Manual

Final Cut Express HD

User Manual

Apple Computer, Inc.

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Preface 25 Final Cut Express HD Documentation and Resources

Getting Started

Onscreen Help

Apple Websites

Part I An Introduction to Final Cut Express HD

Chapter 1 29 About the Post-Production Workflow

The Industry Workflow

The Post-Production Workflow

Chapter 2 35 Video Formats and Timecode

About Nonlinear and Nondestructive Editing

Video Formats Compatible With Final Cut Express HD

Audio Formats Compatible With Final Cut Express HD

Video Format Basics

Chapter 3 39 Understanding Projects, Clips, and Sequences

The Building Blocks of Projects

Working With Projects

About the Connection Between Clips and Media Files

Filenaming Considerations

Part II Learning About the Final Cut Express HD Interface

Chapter 4 55 Overview of the Final Cut Express HD Interface

Basics of Working in the Final Cut Express HD Interface

Using Keyboard Shortcuts, Buttons, and Shortcut Menus

Customizing the Interface

Undoing and Redoing Changes

Entering Timecode for Navigation Purposes

Chapter 5 65 Browser Basics

How You Use the Browser

Learning About the Browser

Working in the Browser

Using Columns in the Browser

Customizing the Browser Display

Chapter 6 79 Viewer Basics

How You Can Use the Viewer

Opening a Clip in the Viewer

Learning About the Viewer

Tabs in the Viewer

Transport (or Playback) Controls

Playhead Controls

Marking Controls

Zoom and View Pop-Up Menus

Recent Clips and Generator Pop-Up Menus

Chapter 7 91 Canvas Basics

How You Use the Canvas

Opening, Selecting, and Closing Sequences in the Canvas

Learning About the Canvas

Editing Controls in the Canvas

Transport (or Playback) Controls

Playhead Controls

Marking Controls

Zoom and View Pop-Up Menus

Chapter 8 101 Navigating and Using Timecode in the Viewer and Canvas

101

Navigating in the Viewer and Canvas

10 8

Working With Timecode in the Viewer and Canvas

Chapter 9 111 Timeline Basics

111

How You Use the Timeline

113

Opening and Closing Sequences in the Timeline

11 4

Learning About the Timeline

12 3

Changing Timeline Display Options

12 7

Navigating in the Timeline

12 8

Zooming and Scrolling in the Timeline

Contents

Chapter 10 135 Customizing the Interface

13 5

Changing Browser and Timeline Text Size

13 5

Moving and Resizing Final Cut Express HD Windows

13 7

Using Screen Layouts

13 9

Working With Shortcut Buttons and Button Bars

Part III Setting Up Your Editing System

Chapter 11 145 Connecting Your Equipment

14 5

Connecting Your Camcorder

14 6

Connecting an External Video Monitor and Audio Speakers

14 6

Opening Final Cut Express HD and Choosing Your Initial Settings

15 0

What Is FireWire?

151

What Is Device Control?

Chapter 12 153 Determining Your Hard Disk Storage Options

15 3

Working With Scratch Disks and Hard Disk Drives

15 3

Data Rates and Storage Devices

15 4

Determining How Much Space You Need

15 6

Choosing a Hard Disk

157

Types of Hard Disk Drives

Chapter 13 161 External Video Monitoring

161

Using an External Video Monitor While You Edit

162

Connecting DV/FireWire Devices to an External Monitor

163

Using Digital Cinema Desktop Preview

167

About the Display Quality of External Video

167

Troubleshooting External Video Monitoring Problems

Part IV Capturing and Importing

Chapter 14 171 Capturing Your Footage to Disk

171

Overview of the Capturing Process

17 2

Overview of the Capture Window

174

Transport Controls

174

Jog and Shuttle Controls

17 5

Marking Controls

17 5

Capture Tab

17 8

Capture Buttons

17 8

Preparing to Capture

17 8

Organizing and Labeling Your Tapes

17 9

Logging Your Tapes

Contents

18 0

Choosing a Filenaming Scheme

18 0

Determining How Much Disk Space You Need

181

Capturing Individual Clips in the Capture Window

185

Using Capture Now

187

Adding Markers to Clips in the Capture Window

18 8

Marker Controls in the Capture Window

18 8

Setting Markers

18 9

Recapturing Clips

18 9

Using Capture Project

191

About the Additional Items Found Dialog

19 2

Finding Your Media Files After Capture

19 2

Where Are Captured Media Files Stored?

19 3

Consolidating Media Files to One Folder

19 4

Modifying a Media File’s Reel Name Property

19 5

Avoiding Duplicate Timecode Numbers on a Single Tape

19 6

Logging Tapes with Duplicate Timecode Numbers

19 6

Avoiding Multiple Occurrences of the Same Timecode Number on a Single Tape

Chapter 15 199 Importing Media Files Into Your Project

19 9

What File Formats Can Be Imported?

200

Importing Media Files

203

About Importing Video Files

204

About Importing Audio Files

Chapter 16 207 Working With HDV

207

About HDV

208

HDV Formats Supported by Final Cut Express HD

208

About MPEG-2 Compression

210

HDV Apple Intermediate Codec Editing Workflow

210

Connecting an HDV Device to Your Computer

211

Choosing an Easy Setup

211

Capturing HDV Video to the Apple Intermediate Codec

212

Editing Video Using the Apple Intermediate Codec

213

Outputting HDV to Tape or Exporting to a QuickTime Movie

214

HDV Format Specifications

Contents

Part V Organizing Footage and Preparing to Edit

Chapter 17 219 Organizing Footage in the Browser

219

Using Bins to Organize Your Clips

220

Creating New Bins

221

Opening Bins in the Browser

222

Opening Bins in a Separate Window or Tab

225

Moving Items Between Bins

227

Sorting Items in the Browser Using Column Headings

228

Searching for Clips in the Browser

228

About Search Options

231 Searching for Items in the Browser 233 Manipulating Items in the Find Results Window

Chapter 18 235 Using Markers

235 Learning About Markers

238 Working With Markers

Chapter 19 251 Creating Subclips

251 Learning About Subclips

254 Manually Breaking Large Clips Into Subclips

257 Automatically Creating Subclips Using DV Start/Stop Detection

Part VI Rough Editing

Chapter 20 261 Working With Projects, Clips, and Sequences

262 Working With Projects 262 Working With Multiple Projects in the Browser 262 Choosing Whether the Last Previously Opened Project Opens on Launch 262 Viewing and Changing the Properties of a Project

263 Backing Up and Restoring Projects 265 Learning About the Different Types of Clips 265 Types of Clips 266 Sequences as Clips 266 Viewing and Changing the Properties of a Clip

267 Changing Clip Properties in the Browser 268 Viewing and Changing Clip Properties in the Item Properties Window

269 Changing the Properties of Affiliate Clips 270 Creating and Working With Sequences 270 Creating and Deleting Sequences

271 Opening and Closing Sequences

272 Duplicating a Sequence

Contents

272 Copying a Sequence Into Another Project

273 Nesting a Sequence

273 Basic Sequence and Timeline Settings

Chapter 21 275 The Fundamentals of Adding Clips to a Sequence

275 Creating a Rough Edit

275 Basic Steps Involved in a Rough Edit

276 How Clips Appear in the Timeline

278 Undoing and Redoing Actions

278 Overview of Ways to Add Clips to a Sequence

278 Methods for Adding Clips to Sequences 280 Determining What Parts of Clips You Want in Your Sequence 280 Preparing a Sequence Order in the Browser

281 Sorting to Create a Sequence Order

281 Visually Storyboarding in the Browser

Chapter 22 283 Setting Edit Points for Clips and Sequences

283 About In and Out Points 284 Learning About the Out Point Inclusive Rule 285 Things to Keep in Mind When Setting an Out Point 286 Setting Clip In and Out Points in the Viewer 288 Specifying an Edit Point Using Timecode 289 Setting In and Out Points to Include a Whole Clip 289 Reviewing Your Edit Points 290 Setting Sequence In and Out Points in the Canvas or Timeline

291 Options for Setting Sequence In and Out Points 296 Setting Sequence In and Out Points 297 Setting In and Out Points to Match a Clip or Gap 298 Setting In and Out Points Based on a Selection in the Timeline 300 Navigating to In and Out Points

301 Moving In and Out Points 303 Clearing In and Out Points

Chapter 23 305 Working With Tracks in the Timeline

305 Adding and Deleting Tracks 306 Adding Tracks 308 Deleting Tracks 309 Specifying Destination Tracks in the Timeline 309 Understanding Source and Destination Controls

310 Setting Destination Tracks

311 Changing Source and Destination Control Connections 311 Disconnecting Source and Destination Controls

313 Resetting Destination Tracks to the Default State

8 Contents

314 Locking Tracks to Prevent Edits or Changes 315 Disabling Tracks to Hide Content During Playback 316 Customizing Track Display in the Timeline 316 Resizing Timeline Tracks 318 Creating a Static Region in the Timeline

Chapter 24 321 Drag-to-Timeline Editing

321 Overview of the Drag-to-Timeline Editing Process

322 Dragging Clips to the Timeline

323 Doing Simple Insert and Overwrite Edits in the Timeline

326 Automatically Adding Tracks to Your Sequence While Dragging

Chapter 25 329 Three-Point Editing

329 Understanding Three-Point Editing

329 Overview of the Three-Point Editing Process

330 Different Ways to Do Three-Point Editing

332 About Edit Types in the Edit Overlay

333 Performing the Different Types of Edits

333 Performing an Insert Edit

335 Performing an Insert With Transition Edit

336 Performing an Overwrite Edit

338 Performing an Overwrite With Transition Edit

339 Performing a Replace Edit 346 Superimposing Clips 348 Three-Point Editing Examples 348 Example: Editing a Specific Clip Into Your Sequence 350 Example: Editing a Clip Into a Gap in Your Sequence

352 Example: Backtiming a Clip Into Your Sequence

353 Example: Editing a Clip With No Specified In or Out Points Into Your Sequence

Chapter 26 355 Finding and Selecting Content in the Timeline

355 Understanding What’s Currently Selected

356 Identifying Selections in the Timeline

357 How Selections Are Prioritized in the Timeline

357 Direct Methods for Selecting Content in a Sequence

358 An Introduction to the Selection Tools 360 Selecting Clips

363 Selecting a Range of Timeline Content 364 Selecting All Clip Items on a Track 365 Selecting All Items on All Tracks Forward or Backward

367 Selecting or Deselecting All Clips in a Sequence

Contents 9

367 Finding and Selecting Based on Search Criteria

369 Selecting a Vertical Range Between In and Out Points

370 Using Auto Select to Specify Tracks for Selections

Chapter 27 373 Arranging Clips in the Timeline

373 Snapping to Points in the Timeline

375 Moving Items Within the Timeline

375 Moving by Dragging

376 Moving Clips Numerically

378 Performing Shuffle Edits 380 Copying and Pasting Clips in the Timeline 380 Copying Clips by Option-Dragging 382 Copying, Cutting, and Pasting Clips in the Timeline

385 Deleting Clips From a Sequence

385 Deleting With a Lift Edit (Leaving a Gap) 386 Deleting With a Ripple Edit (Leaving No Gap)

387 Finding and Closing Gaps

Chapter 28 391 Cutting Clips and Adjusting Durations

391 Performing Basic Cut Edits 395 Changing the Duration of Clips in the Timeline 396 Opening Sequence Clips in the Viewer to Change Durations

Chapter 29 397 Linking and Editing Video and Audio in Sync

397 Linked Sync Relationships Between Video and Audio Clips 398 When Linked Clips Are Moved Out of Sync

401 Understanding Sync Relationships Between Multiple Linked Audio Items 402 Linking and Unlinking Video and Audio Clip Items in the Timeline 402 Linking Video and Audio Clip Items 404 Unlinking Video and Audio Clip Items 405 Selecting Individual Clip Items While They Are Linked 406 Getting Clip Items Back in Sync 406 Moving a Clip Into Sync 408 Slipping a Clip Item Into Sync 409 Moving or Slipping All Clip Items Into Sync at Once

411 Establishing a Different Sync Relationship Between Linked Clip Items 411 Marking a Clip as In Sync

413 Learning About Linking Behavior in Audio Channel Pairs

10 Contents

Chapter 30 415 Split Edits

415 Learning About Split Edits 416 How Split Edits Look in the Viewer and Canvas 417 Setting Up Split Edit Points in the Viewer 418 Setting Up a Split Edit While Playing a Clip 419 Modifying and Clearing Split Edits

421 Split Edit Examples

Chapter 31 425 Audio Editing Basics

425 The Goals of Audio Editing 427 Using Waveform Displays to Help You Edit Audio 428 Learning About the Audio Controls in the Viewer

431 Editing Audio in the Viewer

431 Opening Audio Clips in the Viewer

432 Viewing Audio Tracks in the Viewer

432 Zooming In or Out of the Waveform Display Area 434 Scrolling Through a Zoomed-In Audio Clip 435 Using the J, K, and L Keys to Hear Subtle Details 435 Turning Off the Audio Scrubbing Sounds 435 About Setting Edit Points for Audio 436 Dragging an Audio Clip to the Canvas, Browser, or Timeline 436 Trimming Audio Clips in the Viewer 438 Editing Audio in the Timeline 438 Timeline Audio Display Options 440 Zooming In and Out of Waveforms in the Timeline

441 Moving Audio Items From One Track to Another at the Same Frame 442 Using Audio Transitions to Smooth Audible Changes 442 Creating or Separating Stereo Pairs 444 Working With Audio at the Subframe Level 444 Subframe Synchronization of Audio and Video 446 Examples of Ways to Easily Edit Audio 446 Example: Replacing Unwanted Audio With Room Tone 449 Example: Fixing Awkward Audio Cuts in the Timeline

Part VII Fine-Tuning Your Edit

Chapter 32 453 Performing Slip, Slide, Ripple, and Roll Edits

453 About Trimming With Slip, Slide, Ripple, and Roll Tools

453 Sliding Clips in the Timeline

455 Performing Slide Edits by Dragging 456 Performing Precise Slide Edits Numerically

457 Slipping Clips in the Timeline

Contents 11

458 Performing a Slip Edit Using the Slip Tool 459 Performing Precise Slip Edits Numerically

461 Using the Ripple Tool to Trim an Edit Without Leaving a Gap 462 Performing Ripple Edits 466 About Ripple Edits and Sync Relationships of Clip Items on Other Tracks 468 Doing Ripple Edits on Multiple Tracks at Once 468 Asymmetrical Trimming With the Ripple Tool 470 Using the Roll Tool to Change Where a Cut Occurs

471 Rolling the Position of an Edit Between Two Clips

Chapter 33 477 Learning About Trimming Clips

477 What Is Trimming? 479 Controls That Affect Trim Edits 480 Selecting Edits and Clips to Trim

481 Tools for Selecting Edit Points 482 Selecting Single Edit Points 482 Selecting Multiple Edit Points 483 Trimming Clip In and Out Points 483 Trimming With the Selection Tool 485 Extending and Shortening Clips in the Timeline 486 Trimming Clips in the Viewer

487 Precision Editing Using Timecode

491 Understanding Alert Messages When Trimming

Chapter 34 493 Trimming Clips Using the Trim Edit Window

493 Learning About the Trim Edit Window 495 Opening and Closing the Trim Edit Window 496 Controls in the Trim Edit Window 500 Using the Trim Edit Window

501 Playing Incoming and Outgoing Clips in the Trim Edit Window

501 Dynamic Trimming

501 Trimming an Edit in the Trim Edit Window 504 Reviewing and Playing Back Your Edits in the Trim Edit Window 504 Slipping a Clip in the Trim Edit Window 505 Listening to Audio While Trimming

Chapter 35 507 Adding Transitions

507 Learning About Transitions 508 Common Types of Transitions 509 Using Transitions in Your Sequences 509 How Transitions Appear in the Timeline

510 Having Handles at Edit Points 510 Aligning a Transition in the Timeline

12 Contents

511 Adding Transitions

511 Adding Transitions With Clips You Add to the Timeline 512 Quickly Adding the Default Transition to Clips in Your Sequence 513 Adding Transitions to Clips in Your Sequence 515 Moving, Copying, and Deleting Transitions 516 Moving a Transition to Another Edit Point 516 Copying and Pasting Transitions 517 Deleting Transitions 517 Modifying Transitions in the Timeline 517 Changing the Duration of a Transition in the Timeline 519 Changing the Alignment of a Transition in the Timeline 519 Changing an Edit Point After Adding a Transition

520 Replacing Transitions 520 Video Transitions That Come With Final Cut Express HD 524 Using After Effects Transitions

Chapter 36 525 Refining Transitions Using the Transition Editor

525 Using the Transition Editor 532 Applying a Modified Transition Directly to a Sequence in the Timeline 532 Trimming Transitions and the Surrounding Clips 536 Previewing and Rendering Transitions

Chapter 37 539 Sequence to Sequence Editing

539 Methods for Editing Clips From One Sequence to Another 540 Opening More Than One Sequence at a Time 540 Copying Clips From One Sequence to Another 544 Nesting Sequences 547 Editing the Content of One Sequence Into Another Without Nesting It

Chapter 38 551 Matching Frames

551 Working With Sequence Clips in the Viewer

552 Opening a Sequence Clip in the Viewer

553 Switching Between the Viewer, Canvas, and Timeline

553 Using the Viewer to Adjust Sequence Clip In and Out Points

554 Using the Viewer to Adjust Motion and Filter Parameters

554 Matching Frames Between Sequence and Master Clips

555 Matching a Frame in the Canvas to Its Master Clip

555 Matching a Frame in the Canvas to Its Media File

556 Matching a Frame in the Viewer to a Sequence Clip in the Canvas or Timeline

Contents 13

Chapter 39 557 Working With Timecode

557 About Timecode in Final Cut Express HD

557 Displaying Timecode Affected by Speed Changes

558 Clip Time Versus Source Time

558 Changing Global Timecode Display Options

Part VIII Audio Mixing

Chapter 40 561 Overview of Audio Mixing

561 Audio Finishing Features in Final Cut Express HD 562 Overview of Audio Sweetening in Final Cut Express HD 565 Making the Final Mix

Chapter 41 567 Setting Up Audio Equipment

567 Choosing External Audio Monitoring Components 568 Choosing an Audio Interface

569 Choosing Speakers and an Amplifier for Monitoring

570 Setting Up a Proper Audio Monitoring Environment

572 Audio Cables, Connectors, and Signal Levels

572 About Balanced Audio Signals

574 Microphone, Instrument, and Line Level

574 Audio Connectors

576 Configuring External Audio Monitors

576 Connecting Speakers to Your Editing System

577 Setting Monitoring Levels and Muting System Sound Effects

Chapter 42 579 Audio Fundamentals

579 What Is Sound? 580 Fundamentals of a Sound Wave

581 Frequency Spectrum of Sounds 582 Measuring Sound Intensity 584 Signal-to-Noise Ratio 584 Headroom and Distortion

585 Dynamic Range 586 Stereo Audio 588 Digital Audio 589 Sample Rate 590 Bit Depth

14 Contents

Chapter 43 593 Audio Levels, Meters, and Output Channels

593 About Audio Meters

593 Average and Peak Audio Levels 594 Average Versus Peak Audio Meters

595 Analog Versus Digital Meters 596 About Audio Meters in Final Cut Express HD

597 Avoiding Audio Clipping 598 Setting Proper Audio Levels 598 Setting Levels for Capture 598 What Reference Level Should You Use for Mixing? 600 Outputting Bars and Tone at the Head of Your Tape 600 Stereo Versus Dual Mono Audio

Chapter 44 601 Mixing Audio in the Timeline and Viewer

601 Adjusting Audio Levels in the Timeline 605 Changing Audio Levels in the Viewer 607 Panning Audio in the Timeline and Viewer 607 Panning Audio in the Timeline 608 Changing the Pan of Audio in the Viewer 608 Changing Pan for an Entire Clip 609 Copying, Pasting, and Removing Audio Attributes

610 Adjusting Clip Levels and Pan Using Keyframes 610 Tools for Adjusting Keyframes

611 Creating, Modifying, and Deleting Keyframes in the Viewer

Chapter 45 623 Using the Voice Over Tool

623 About the Voice Over Tool 624 Setting Up Your Computer to Record Voiceover 627 Controls in the Voice Over Tool

631 Defining the Recording Duration and Destination Track

636 Recording a Voiceover

Chapter 46 639 Using Audio Filters

639 About Audio Filters 640 Overview of Audio Filters 640 Equalization (EQ) Filters 642 Compression 643 Expansion 644 Noise Reduction Filters 645 Echo and Reverb Filters

Contents 15

647 Working With Audio Filters 648 Applying Filters to an Audio Clip 650 Modifying and Removing Filters

651 Making Real-Time Audio Filter Adjustments

Chapter 47 653 Tips for Better Audio

653 Learning to Describe Sound Accurately 654 Efficiently Using the Frequency Spectrum 654 Tips for Cutting Dialogue

658 Tips for Cutting Music 660 Organizing Your Tracks

Part IX Effects

Chapter 48 663 Video Filters

663 Different Ways to Use Filters 664 Applying a Filter to a Clip 666 Applying Multiple Filters to Clips

667 Viewing and Adjusting a Filter’s Parameters

673 Displaying Filter Bars in the Timeline

673 Enabling and Rearranging Filters

674 Copying and Pasting a Clip’s Filters

675 Removing Filters From Clips

676 Video Filters Available in Final Cut Express HD

Chapter 49 689 Changing Motion Parameters

689 Creating Motion Effects in the Viewer 690 Adjusting Parameters in the Motion Tab

695 Using Cartesian Geometry to Position Clips

697 Examples Using Motion Settings 707 Creating Motion Effects in the Canvas 707 Choosing a Wireframe Mode 708 Manipulating Images in the Canvas 709 Zooming In to the Canvas

710 Using Wireframe Handles to Transform, Scale, and Rotate

Chapter 50 719 Adjusting Parameters for Keyframed Effects

719 Animating Motion Effects Using Keyframes

720 How Keyframing Works

721 Determining the Number of Keyframes to Use

722 Keyframing Tools in Final Cut Express HD

723 Setting Keyframes 724 Adjusting and Deleting Keyframes

16 Contents

725 Moving Between Keyframes

731 Adjusting All Opacity Keyframes of a Clip

731 Smoothing Keyframes With Bezier Handles

732 Understanding Bezier Handles and Curves

734 Smoothing Keyframes

735 Creating Keyframed Motion Paths in the Canvas

735 What Are Motion Paths?

736 Creating Motion Paths

737 Adding, Moving, and Deleting Keyframes in Motion Paths

738 Creating Curved Motion Paths Using Bezier Handles

740 Controlling Speed Along a Motion Path

743 Moving an Entire Motion Path in the Canvas

Chapter 51 745 Reusing Effect and Motion Parameters

745 Copying and Pasting Specific Clip Attributes

746 About the Paste Attributes Dialog

747 Copying and Pasting Clip Attributes

748 Removing Attributes From a Clip

749 Applying Filters Across Multiple Tracks at Once

Chapter 52 751 Changing Clip Speed

751 Speed Basics

752 How Changing Speed Affects a Clip’s Duration

752 Performing a Fit to Fill Edit

755 Speed Settings

755 Frame Blending and Reverse Speed

757 Making Speed Changes

Chapter 53 759 Working With Still Images and Photographs

759 Using Still Images and Graphics in Your Sequences

760 Creating Freeze Frame Stills From a Video Clip

761 Considerations Before Creating and Importing Stills

769 Changing the Duration of Still Images

Chapter 54 775 Compositing and Layering

775 Introduction to Compositing and Layering

776 Methods of Compositing

776 Different Ways to Layer Clips in the Timeline

777 Adjusting Opacity Levels of Clips

780 Working With Composite Modes

780 How Composite Modes Affect Images

781 Applying Composite Modes to Clips

782 Composite Modes in Final Cut Express HD

792 Using Travel Mattes to Hide or Reveal Parts of a Clip

Contents 17

794 Working With Layered Photoshop Files 794 What Happens When You Import a Multilayered Photoshop File 796 Using Video and Graphics Clips With Alpha Channels

797 Types of Alpha Channels Recognized in Final Cut Express HD 798 Working With Clips That Have Alpha Channels 799 Importing Clips With Alpha Channels 799 Changing a Clip’s Alpha Channel Type

801 Changing Canvas and Viewer Background Colors 802 Temporarily Excluding Clips From Playback or Output 803 Temporarily Disabling a Single Clip 804 Soloing Clips in Multitrack Sequences

Chapter 55 805 Keying, Mattes, and Masks

805 Ways to Layer and Isolate Elements in Clips 805 What Are Mattes and How Can You Use Them? 806 What Is Keying and How Can You Use It? 807 What Are Masks and How Are They Used? 808 Using Keying to Isolate Foreground Elements 808 Shooting Footage That Keys Well

810 Overview of Compositing Using the Chroma Keyer Filter

813 Working With the Chroma Keyer Filter 822 Using Mattes to Add or Modify Alpha Channels 822 Matte Filters Available in Final Cut Express HD 824 Using Masks to Replace or Modify Alpha Channels 824 Mask Filters Available in Final Cut Express HD

Chapter 56 827 Color Correcting Clips

827 What Is Color Correction? 828 Why Color Correct Your Footage? 829 Color Correction Starts During Your Shoot 830 Measuring and Evaluating Video 830 Luma (Luminance)

831 Chrominance (Chroma) 832 Whites 832 Illegal Broadcast Levels 833 The Color Correction Process 835 Looking at the Picture 836 Using the Color Corrector Filter 837 The Color Corrector Filter 837 General Controls 837 Color Balance Controls 838 The Color Corrector Filter Controls

844 Hue Matching Controls in the Color Corrector

18 Contents

Chapter 57 849 Using Built-in Generated Clips

849 What Is a Generator Clip? 850 Different Ways to Use Generators in Your Sequence

851 Graphical Video and Audio Generators Available in Final Cut Express HD 853 Creating and Adding Generated Clips to Sequences

Chapter 58 855 Creating Titles

855 How You Can Use Titles in Your Project 856 Installing and Choosing Fonts 856 Making Sure Titles Fit on TV Screens 857 Text Generators Available in Final Cut Express HD 858 Creating and Adding a Title Clip

862 Other Options for Creating and Adding Titles

Part X Real Time and Rendering

Chapter 59 865 Using RT Extreme

865 Introduction to Real-Time Processing Using RT Extreme 866 How Many Effects Can Be Played in Real Time?

870 Available Real-Time Effects 871 Display Quality and Accuracy of RT Extreme 871 Using Real-Time Controls in Final Cut Express HD 872 About Render Status Bars 873 Identifying Which Effects Can Be Processed in Real Time 873 Setting Real-Time Playback Options 876 Real-Time Audio Mixing in Final Cut Express HD 876 Improving Real Time Audio Performance

Chapter 60 877 Rendering

877 What Is Rendering? 878 Reasons for Rendering 879 Render Indicators in Final Cut Express HD

879 About Render Status Bars in the Timeline 882 About Item-Level Render Bars 883 The Rendering Process 883 Rendering Effects in Sequences 885 Commands for Rendering Effects

887 Rendering One or More Sequences 888 Rendering Part of a Sequence 889 Rendering Audio Items in a Sequence 889 Using the Mixdown Command 890 Temporarily Disabling Rendering

Contents 19

891 Auto-Rendering While You Are Away From Your Computer 892 Changing Settings in the Render Control Tab 893 Preserving Render Files 894 Tips for Avoiding Unnecessary Rendering 895 Reducing Render Time

Part XI Project Management and Settings

Chapter 61 899 Media Management

899 What Is Media Management? 900 Reasons to Manage your Media

901 What You Need to Know to Manage Your Media

901 Media Management Steps in Final Cut Express HD 902 Strategies for Media Management

Chapter 62 903 Backing Up and Restoring Projects

903 Backing Up and Restoring Projects 903 Using the Revert Project Command 904 Using the Autosave Feature 906 Restoring Autosaved Projects 907 Opening a Project File After Your Computer Is Unexpectedly Powered Off 907 Archiving Completed Projects 908 Creating an Archive of a Finished Project 909 Updating Projects From Previous Versions of Final Cut Express HD

Chapter 63 911 Elements of a Final Cut Express HD Project

911 About Clips, Media Files, and Sequences 915 About Icons and Project Elements in the Browser 916 Clip Properties

Chapter 64 921 Working With Master and Affiliate Clips

921 Using Master and Affiliate Clips 922 How Master Clips Connect to Media Files 922 Identifying Master Clips 923 Creating Master and Affiliate Clips

925 Breaking the Relationship Between an Affiliated Clip and Its Master

926 Independent Clips 928 Using Keyboard Shortcuts to Modify Master-Affiliate Relationships 929 Finding a Clip’s Master Clip 929 Master-Affiliate Relationships With Subclips and Freeze Frames

20 Contents

930 Master-Affiliate Clip Properties 930 Master Clip Properties

931 Affiliate Clip Properties

931 Media File Properties

Chapter 65 933 Reconnecting Clips and Offline Media

933 About the Connections Between Clips and Media Files 934 How the Connection Between Clips and Media Files Can Be Broken

935 Reconnecting Clips to Media Files 942 When Final Cut Express HD Reconnects Your Clips

Chapter 66 945 Choosing Settings and Preferences

945 Changing User Preferences 946 General Tab 950 Editing Tab

951 Timeline Options Tab

952 Render Control Tab

952 Locating and Trashing the Preferences File

952 Changing System Settings

953 Scratch Disks Tab

953 Search Folders Tab

955 Memory & Cache Tab 956 Playback Control Tab

957 External Editors Tab

Part XII Output

Chapter 67 961 Preparing to Output to Tape

961 Output Requirements 962 How to Output to Tape in Final Cut Express HD 963 Setting Up Your Editing System to Output to Tape

Chapter 68 965 Printing To Video and Output From the Timeline

965 Different Ways You Can Output Video From the Timeline 966 Printing to Video 966 Automatically Recording With Print to Video 966 Using the Print to Video Command 968 Recording From the Timeline 970 Outputting to VHS Tape

Contents 21

Chapter 69 971 Exporting Sequences for DVD

971 The DVD Creation Process

974 Adding Chapter and Compression Markers to Your Sequence

977 Exporting QuickTime Movies for iDVD

Chapter 70 979 Learning About QuickTime

979 What Is QuickTime? 980 The QuickTime Suite of Software Applications 980 QuickTime for Media Authoring 980 The QuickTime Movie File Format 983 How Final Cut Express HD Uses QuickTime for Import, Export, and Capture 984 Formats Supported by QuickTime 989 How Do You Export the Files You Need?

Chapter 71 991 Exporting QuickTime Movies

991 About the Export QuickTime Movie Command 992 Choosing the Type of QuickTime Movie to Export 993 Exporting a QuickTime Movie File

Chapter 72 995 Exporting QuickTime-Compatible Files

995 About the Export Using QuickTime Conversion Command 996 Types of QuickTime-Compatible File Formats 997 Exporting a QuickTime Movie File for Web Distribution

1005 Exporting a DV Stream 1007 Exporting an AVI File

Chapter 73 1009 Exporting Still Images and Image Sequences

1009 Determining the Image Format for Still Image Export

1010 Exporting a Single Still Image 1012 Exporting Image Sequences

Chapter 74 1015 Exporting Audio for Mixing in Other Applications

1015 Ways You Can Finish Your Audio 1016 Organizing Your Audio Clips for Multi-Track Export 1017 Exporting Audio Tracks to Individual Audio Files 1018 Preparing to Export Audio Tracks as Audio Files

10 21 Exporting Audio Tracks as Individual Audio Files

22 Contents

Part XIII Appendixes

Appendix A 1025 Video Formats

1025 Characteristics of Video Formats 10 26 Storage Medium 10 26 Tape Size, Cassette Shape, and Tape Coating 10 27 Video Standards 1028 Type of Video Signal 1030 Aspect Ratio of the Video Frame

10 31 Frame Dimensions, Number of Lines, and Resolution 10 33 Pixel Aspect Ratio 1034 Frame Rate 10 35 Scanning Method 10 37 Color Recording Method 10 37 Video Sampling Rate and Color Sampling Ratio 1040 Video Compression 1042 Types of Video Signals and Connectors 1042 Composite 1043 S-Video 1043 Component YUV (Y´CBCR) and Component RGB 10 44 FireWire (Also Called IEEE 1394a or i.LINK) 10 44 FireWire 800 (Also Called IEEE 1394b) 10 44 SCART 1045 A Brief History of Film, Television, and Audio Formats

Appendix B 1047 Frame Rate and Timecode

1047 What Is Frame Rate? 1048 Understanding Flicker and Perceived Frame Rate 1049 Frame Rate Limits: How Many Frames per Second Is Best? 1050 Choosing a Frame Rate 10 52 What Is Timecode? 10 52 About Drop Frame and Non-Drop Frame Timecode 10 55 Timecode on Tape 10 56 Comparison of Various Timecode Formats

Appendix C 1059 Working With Anamorphic 16:9 Media

10 59 About Anamorphic 16:9 Media 10 63 Recording Anamorphic Video 1064 Capturing Anamorphic Media 1064 Viewing and Editing Anamorphic Media 1066 Rendering Items That Contain Anamorphic Media 10 67 Exporting Anamorphic Video to a QuickTime Movie

Contents 23

Appendix D 1069 Solving Common Problems

10 69 Resources for Solving Problems 1070 Solutions to Common Problems 10 75 Contacting AppleCare Support

Glossary 10 77

Index 11 0 7

24 Contents

Final Cut Express HD Documentation and Resources

You can use Final Cut Express HD to create movies of any budget, style, and format. Final Cut Express HD comes with both printed and onscreen documentation to help you learn how.

This preface provides information on the documentation available for Final Cut Express HD, as well as information about Final Cut Express HD resources on the web.

Final Cut Express HD comes with several types of documentation to help you learn more about movie editing and how to use the application:

Â Final Cut Express HD Getting Started

Â Final Cut Express HD onscreen help

Getting Started

The Final Cut Express HD Getting Started book provides an overview of the application and explains the basics of editing in Final Cut Express HD. If you are new to Final Cut Express HD and want to start using the application right away, read this book first.

Preface

Onscreen Help

Onscreen help (available in the Help menu) provides easy access to information while you’re working in Final Cut Express HD. An onscreen version of the Final Cut Express HD User Manual is available here, along with other documents in PDF format and links to websites.

To access onscreen help:

m In Final Cut Express HD, choose an option from the Help menu.

Onscreen User Manual

The

Final Cut Express HD User Manual

the application.

To access the onscreen user manual:

In Final Cut Express HD, choose Help > Final Cut Express HD User Manual.

provides comprehensive information about

Information About New Features

For information about features that have been added or enhanced since the last version of Final Cut Express HD, you can read the New Features section of the onscreen help.

To access the New Features document:

In Final Cut Express HD, choose Help > New Features.

Apple Websites

There are a variety of discussion boards, forums, and educational resources related to Final Cut Express HD on the web.

Final Cut Express HD Websites

The following websites provide general information, updates, and support information about Final Cut Express HD, as well as the latest news, resources, and training materials.

For information about Final Cut Express HD, go to:

http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress

To get more information on third-party resources, such as third-party tools, resources, and user groups, go to:

http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/resources.html

For information on the Apple Pro Training Program, go to:

http://www.apple.com/software/pro/training

To provide comments and feedback to Apple about Final Cut Express HD, go to:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/finalcutexpress.html

Apple Service and Support Website

The Apple Service and Support website provides software updates and answers to the most frequently asked questions for all Apple products, including Final Cut Express HD. You’ll also have access to product specifications, reference documentation, and Apple and third-party product technical articles:

http://www.apple.com/support

26 Preface

Final Cut Express HD Documentation and Resources

Part I: An Introduction

to Final Cut Express HD

Find out how Final Cut Express HD fits into the moviemaking process and learn about fundamental concepts of digital video editing and the basic elements of a Final Cut Express HD project.

Chapter 1 About the Post-Production Workflow

Chapter 2 Video Formats and Timecode

Chapter 3 Understanding Projects, Clips, and Sequences

1 About the Post-Production

Workflow

No matter what your project, Final Cut Express HD is the cornerstone of your post-production workflow.

This chapter covers the following:

Â The Industry Workflow (p. 29)

Â The Post-Production Workflow (p. 30)

The Industry Workflow

Before you start editing, it’s helpful to consider how post-production fits into the overall moviemaking workflow. Even though no two movie projects follow exactly the same steps, there is a common workflow that almost every project adheres to. From conception to completion, the basic steps to complete a film or video project are described below.

Step 1: Scripting

Scripting is where the movie is conceived and written.

Step 2: Preproduction

This is where budgeting, casting, location scouting, equipment and format selection, and storyboarding take place.

Step 3: Production

Production is where you create your footage, capturing performances using video or film cameras, as well as audio recorders. Lighting, cinematography, acting, and directing all come together to create the elements used to tell your story or deliver your message. For practical reasons, scenes are usually shot out of order, which means they have to be properly arranged during editing.

Step 4: Post-Production

Post-production is where you organize and assemble your production footage, putting scenes in proper order, selecting the best takes, and eliminating unnecessary elements. Production sound is synchronized (with the picture), edited, sometimes rerecorded, and mixed. Music is composed and added. Footage is color-corrected and special effects are created. The final movie is output to tape, film, or some other high-quality media format.

Step 5: Distribution

Distribution is when you release a movie for viewing. This may involve theater screenings, video and DVD releases, festival submissions, or web delivery.

The Post-Production Workflow

The post-production phase begins with the raw source footage and ends with a completed movie, ready for making distribution copies. As technology evolves, postproduction continues to proliferate into an increasing variety of jobs and tasks. Where there was once a single editor who was responsible for the majority of the postproduction process, there may now be a whole special effects team, an audio department, a colorist (responsible for color correction), and a number of assistant editors keeping track of all the footage. Final Cut Express HD is at the heart of the postproduction pipeline, allowing you to organize and assemble media from multiple sources into a finished product.

30 Part I An Introduction to Final Cut Express HD

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