Apple Final Cut Pro - 7 Professional Formats and Workflows

Final Cut Pro 7

Professional Formats and Workflows

Your rights to the software are governed by the accompanying software license agreement. The owner or authorized user of a valid copy of Final Cut Studio software may reproduce this publication for the purpose of learning to use such software. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes, such as selling copies of this publication or for providing paid for support services.

The Apple logo is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Use of the “keyboard” Apple logo (Shift-Option-K) for commercial purposes without the prior written consent of Apple may constitute trademark infringement and unfair competition in violation of federal and state laws.

Every effort hasbeen made to ensure thatthe information in this manual is accurate. Apple is not responsible for printing or clerical errors.

Note: Because Apple frequently releases new versions and updates to its system software, applications, and Internet sites,images shownin this manualmay be slightly different from what you see on your screen.

Apple 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino, CA 95014 408-996-1010

www.apple.com

Apple, the Apple logo, Apple TV, DVD Studio Pro, Final Cut, Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Studio, FireWire, iPod, Mac, Mac OS, MacBook, PowerBook, and QuickTime are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Cinema Tools, Finder, and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc.

MobileMe is a service mark of Apple Inc.

Intel, Intel Core, and Xeon are trademarks of Intel Corp. in the U.S. and other countries.

The YouTube logo is a trademark of Google Inc.

Other company and product names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective companies. Mention of third-party products is for informational purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation. Apple assumes no responsibility with regard to the performance or use of these products.

http://www.jeanpaulbonjour.com

Welcome to Final Cut Pro7Preface

About Final Cut Pro7 About the Final Cut Pro Documentation7 Additional Resources8

An Overview of Professional Formats and Workflows9Chapter 1

About Standard Definition Formats10 About High Definition Video Formats10 About Digital Cinema Formats11

Working with HDV13Chapter 2

About HDV13 About the Log and Capture Window17 Native HDV Editing Workflow24 Transcoded HDV Editing Workflow33 Using the Sony HVR-V1 HDV Camcorder37 HDV Format Specifications37

Working with DVCPRO HD41Chapter 3

About DVCPRO HD41 Working with DVCPRO HD in Final Cut Pro44 Choosing 720p60 DVCPRO HD Timecode Display Options49 Using the DVCPRO HD Frame Rate Converter50 Working with 24p DVCPRO HD56 DVCPRO HD Format Specifications58

Working with IMX61Chapter 4

About IMX61 Working with IMX in Final Cut Pro62 IMX Format Specifications63

Working with Panasonic P2 Cards65Chapter 5

About Panasonic P2 Cards and Media Files65 Recording Footage with a P2 Camcorder66

Mounting P2 Cards, Disk Images, and Folders66 Deleting P2 Clips Directly in the Log and Transfer Window69 P2 Card Restrictions During Preview70 Removing Advanced Pull-Down and Duplicate Frames During Transfer70 Working with Spanned Clips71 Using Print to Video to Output to P2 Cards in P2 Camcorders71 Capturing over FireWire as If a P2 Card Were a Tape in a VTR73 Panasonic P2 Camcorder Compatibility74 Panasonic P2 Card Format Specifications76

Working with AVCHD79Chapter 6

About AVCHD79 Working with AVCHD in Final Cut Pro79 AVCHD Format Specifications82

Working with AVC-Intra85Chapter 7

About AVC-Intra85 AVC-Intra Formats Supported by Final Cut Pro86 Working with AVC-Intra Footage86 Native AVC-Intra Editing Workflow87 Transcoded AVC-Intra Editing Workflow89 Finishing and Outputting AVC-Intra Projects90 AVC-Intra Format Specifications91

Working with Sony XDCAM Formats93Chapter 8

About XDCAM, XDCAM HD, and XDCAM EX93 Working Natively with Sony XDCAM Formats in Final Cut Pro96 XDCAM, XDCAM HD, and XDCAM EX Format Specifications101

Working with Sony Video Disk Units105Chapter 9

About Sony Video Disk Units105 Importing Media from a Sony Video Disk Unit105

Working with Apple ProRes109Chapter 10

About the Apple ProRes Codecs109 Types of Apple ProRes Codecs111 Working with Apple ProRes Codecs112 Apple ProRes Format Specifications115 Apple ProRes Tips117 About the Apple Intermediate Codec118

Working with REDCODE Media119Chapter 11

About REDCODE119 Native REDCODE Editing Workflow121

4 Contents

Transcoded REDCODE Editing Workflow126 Finishing and Outputting REDCODE Projects129 REDCODE Format Specifications130

5Contents

Welcome to Final Cut Pro

This preface covers the following:

• About Final Cut Pro (p. 7)

• About the Final Cut Pro Documentation (p. 7)

• Additional Resources (p. 8)

The first choice of professional editors worldwide, Final Cut Pro delivers high-performance digital nonlinear editing, native support for virtually any video format, and professional-level extensibility and interoperability. Its workflow extends through the other Final Cut Studio applications and Final Cut Server for even more power. Whether you’re working solo or collaborating with a team, Final Cut Pro gives you the creative options and technical control that you need.

Preface

About Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro is the hub of Final Cut Studio, with powerful capabilities for working with the other Final Cut Studio applications.

Final Cut Pro lets you edit everything from uncompressed SD to HDV, DVCPRO HD, and uncompressed HD—as well as Panasonic P2 and Sony XDCAM HD file-based formats. You can mix and match a wide range of formats and even frame rates in the open format Timeline. Final Cut Pro includes a complete set of professional editing and trimming tools that let you work quickly, with a full range of customization options to give you flexibility and control. Also included are powerful multicamera editing tools that allow you to view and cut video from multiple sources in real time.

About the Final Cut Pro Documentation

Final Cut Pro comes with various documents that will help you get started as well as provide detailed information about the application.

• Exploring Final Cut Pro: The Exploring Final Cut Pro manual presents the basics of Final Cut Pro in an easy, approachable way. Each chapter presents major features and guides you in trying things out. A PDF version of the printed manual is available in Final Cut Pro Help (in Final Cut Pro, choose Help > Final Cut Pro Help).

• Final Cut Pro 7 User Manual: The onscreen user manual is a comprehensive document that describes the Final Cut Pro interface, commands, and menus and gives step-by-step instructions for creating Final Cut Pro projects and for accomplishing specific tasks. It is written for users of all levels of experience. The user manual is available in Final Cut Pro Help.

• Professional Formats and Workflows: This document covers how to use digital cinema, high definition, and broadcast formats (such as DVCPRO HD, HDV, AVC-Intra, Sony XDCAM, REDCODE, and Apple ProRes) and devices (such as Sony Video Disk Units and Panasonic P2 cards) with Final Cut Pro. This document is available in Final Cut Pro Help.

Additional Resources

Along with the documentation that comes with Final Cut Pro, there are a variety of other resources you can use to find out more about Final Cut Pro.

Final Cut Pro Website

For general information and updates, as well as the latest news on Final Cut Pro, go to:

• http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/finalcutpro

Apple Service and Support Websites

For software updates and answers to the most frequently asked questions for all Apple products, go to the general Apple Support webpage. You’ll also have access to product specifications, reference documentation, and Apple and third-party product technical articles.

• http://www.apple.com/support

For software updates, documentation, discussion forums, and answers to the most frequently asked questions for Final Cut Pro, go to:

• http://www.apple.com/support/finalcutpro

For discussion forums for all Apple products from around the world, where you can search for an answer, post your question, or answer other users’ questions, go to:

• http://discussions.apple.com

8 Preface Welcome to Final Cut Pro

2K (video)

2K (35 mm film)

1080 (HD)

720 (HD)

576 (SD)

480 (SD)

An Overview of Professional Formats and Workflows

This chapter covers the following:

• About Standard Definition Formats (p. 10)

• About High Definition Video Formats (p. 10)

• About Digital Cinema Formats (p. 11)

More and more video formats are introduced every year. Making Final Cut Pro the center of your post-production workflow ensures that your suite is compatible with the latest digital cinema, high definition, and broadcast formats.

The diagram below shows the relative frame sizes for common SD, HD, and digital cinema formats that are edited in Final Cut Pro today.

About Standard Definition Formats

During most of the decades of color television broadcasting and video technology, the video medium was defined as 525 or 625 interlaced lines per frame at either 29.97 or 25 frames per second (fps). With the emergence of new high definition (HD) video formats, video signals meeting these older broadcast standards are now referred to as standard definition (SD) video formats.

For complete details about and specifications for standard definition formats, see “Appendix A: Video Formats” in the Final Cut Pro 7 User Manual.

About High Definition Video Formats

Digital high definition (HD) formats are defined by their vertical resolutions (number of lines), scanning methods (interlaced versus progressive), and frame or field rates. For example, the 1080i60 format has 1080 lines per frame, uses interlaced scanning (indicated by the i), and scans 59.94 fields per second. HD frame rates are compatible with NTSC video, PAL video, or film.

Note: For comparison to HD formats, standard definition (SD) video formats are now defined in similar terms. For example, 480i60 has 480 lines, interlaced scanning, and 59.94 fields per second (NTSC).

NTSC-Compatible HD Formats

The following table shows common NTSC-compatible HD formats.

DescriptionFormat

1080i60

1080p30

720p60

• Has high-resolution frames, is able to capture fast movement, and has reduced vertical resolution due to interlacing.

• Easily downconverts to NTSC.

• Has high-resolution frames.

• Movement isless smooth but resolution is higher than interlaced formats in areas of movement.

• Captures fast-action movement with clarity. However, still frames have lower resolution than 1080-line still frames.

• Is ideal for sports videography and commercial television.

• Easily downconverts to NTSC.

• Is a variant of 720p60 with a lower frame rate.720p30

PAL-Compatible HD Formats

The following table shows common PAL-compatible HD formats.

10 Chapter 1 An Overview of Professional Formats and Workflows

1080i50

DescriptionFormat

• Has high-resolution frames, is able to capture fast movement, and has reduced vertical resolution due to interlacing.

• Easily downconverts to PAL.

1080p25

720p50

720p25

• Has high-resolution frames.

• Movement isless smooth but resolution is higher than interlaced formats in areas of movement.

• Captures fast-action movement with clarity. However, still frames have lower resolution than 1080-line still frames.

• Is ideal for sports videography and commercial television.

• Easily downconverts to PAL.

• Is a variant of 720p50 with a lower frame rate.

• Can be slowed down to 24 fps for film transfers or downconverted to PAL.

Film-Compatible HD Formats

The following table shows common film-compatible HD formats.

DescriptionFormat

1080p24

720p24

• Has the resolution, scanning method, frame rate, and aspect ratio closest to film.

• Is the same as 1080p24, but with lower resolution.

• Is ideal for a “film transferred to video” look.

About Digital Cinema Formats

The newest professional video category is that of digital cinema cameras and formats. These cameras have large imaging chips (16mm, 35mm, or larger), which allow for the use of cinema lenses with accompanying high image quality and depth-of-field control, as well as high imaging resolution, progressive field image capture, and advanced light sensitivity. Digital cinema cameras record at least 1080 lines per frame. Most of these cameras also record at 2K and 4K resolutions, requiring a proprietary RAW format or DPX image sequence capture. Digital cinema cameras capture 4:4:4 RGB color.

Many digital cinema cameras, such as the RED ONE camera manufactured by the RED Digital Cinema Camera Company, recordtheir own proprietary RAW formats. Some digital cinema cameras can record to other formats. For instance, the Panavision Genesis camera is often configured to record to a Sony HDCAM SR deck. In this case, the media format corresponds to the recording deck, not the camera. The Thomson Viper FilmStream camera, on the other hand, records straight to DPX imagesequences, making the process very similar to a digital intermediate (DI) workflow.

11Chapter 1 An Overview of Professional Formats and Workflows

Final Cut Pro workflows for digital cinema formats include ingesting native RAW camera media as QuickTime files, ingesting from Sony HDCAM SR video decks, and ingesting DPX image sequences. (See the Color User Manual for more information about DPX image sequence workflows.)

Example camerasDescriptionRecording format

RAW camera formats

Sony HDCAM SR

DPX image sequences

RAW image files contain uninterpreted, bit-for-bit digital data from the camera’s image sensor when the images are captured. Along with the pixels in the image, the RAW file also contains data about how the image was shot, such as exposure settings and the camera and lens type. This information is also known as metadata. Using RAW formats, you can grade and finish using the most accurate and basic 4:4:4 RGB data about an image.

Sony HDCAM SR is capable of recording in 10-bit 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 RGB, with a video data rate of 440 Mbps in SQ mode and 880 Mbps in HQ mode. Several digital cinema cameras use Sony HDCAM SR as their recording medium.

Digital Picture Exchange (DPX) is a common file format for digital intermediate and visual effects work and is an ANSI/SMPTE standard (268M-2003). Visual information is stored as a series of high-resolution still images.

• RED ONE

• Vision Research Phantom

• Silicon Imaging SI-2K

• Panavision Genesis

• Arriflex D-20

• Thomson Viper FilmStream

• Vision Research Phantom

• Arriflex D-20 (with optional hardware)

12 Chapter 1 An Overview of Professional Formats and Workflows

Working with HDV

This chapter covers the following:

• About HDV (p. 13)

• About the Log and Capture Window (p. 17)

• Native HDV Editing Workflow (p. 24)

• Transcoded HDV Editing Workflow (p. 33)

• Using the Sony HVR-V1 HDV Camcorder (p. 37)

• HDV Format Specifications (p. 37)

Final Cut Pro supports native capturing, editing, and output of HDV media. If you already have experience editing DV footage, making the switch to HDV is simple.

About HDV

HDV is an HD format created by a consortium of manufacturers including Sony, JVC, Canon, and Sharp. HDV allows you to record an hour of HD video on standard mini-DV videocassettes. You can connect an HDV camcorder to your computer via FireWire, so you can capture and output just as you would with a DV device.

HDV uses MPEG-2 compression to achieve a maximum video data rate of 25 Mbps, which is the same as the DV data rate. This means you can fit the same amount of video on your scratch disks as you can when using DV.

Although the HDV workflow is nearly identical to a typical DV workflow, a few additional steps are required. This chapter describes the unique features of Final Cut Pro that allow you to capture, edit, and output HDV video in its native format.

HDV Formats Supported by Final Cut Pro

Within the HDV specification, 1080-line and 720-line formats using several frame rates are defined. Final Cut Pro supports the following HDV formats.

59.94 fps–Based Formats

The following table shows the 59.94 fps–based HDV formats supported by Final Cut Pro.

Final Cut Pro Easy SetupFormat

1080i60 (Canon)

Basic

1080F30 (Canon)

Basic

1080F24 (Canon)

Basic

Video data rateFrame dimensions

25 Mbps1440 x 1080HDV - 1080i601080i60

25 Mbps1440 x 1080HDV - 1080i60 FireWire

25 Mbps1440 x 1080HDV - 1080p30FireWire

25 Mbps1440 x 1080HDV - 1080p24FireWire

18.3 Mbps1280 x 720HDV - 720p60720p60

18.3 Mbps1280 x 720HDV - 720p30720p30

18.3 Mbps1280 x 720HDV - 720p24720p24

50 fps–Based Formats

The following table shows the 50 fps–based HDV formats supported by Final Cut Pro.

Final Cut Pro Easy SetupFormat

1080i50 (Canon)

Basic

1080F25 (Canon)

Basic

Video data rateFrame dimensions

25 Mbps1440 x 1080HDV - 1080i501080i50

25 Mbps1440 x 1080HDV - 1080i50 FireWire

25 Mbps1440 x 1080HDV -1080p25FireWire

18.3 Mbps1280 x 720HDV - 720p50720p50

18.3 Mbps1280 x 720HDV - 720p25720p25

Standard Definition Recording with an HDV Camcorder

In addition to recording HD video, most HDV camcorders can also record standard definition DV video. You can capture, edit, and output this DV video just as you would any other DV video.

Important: You should avoid recording DV and HDV videoon the same tape. (You should

also avoid recordingHDV footage using different frame sizes and frame rates on the same tape.) This can cause problems during capture and playback.

An additional format defined within the HDV specification, known as SD, is available on some JVC camcorders. Final Cut Pro does not support this format.

14 Chapter 2 Working with HDV

About MPEG Compression

HD video requires significantly more data than SD video. A single HD video frame can require up to six times more data than an SD frame. To record such large images with such alow data rate, HDV uses long-GOP MPEG compression. MPEG compression reduces the data rate by removing redundant visual information, both on a per-frame basis and also across multiple frames.

Note: HDV specifically employs MPEG-2 compression, but the concepts of long-GOP and I-frame-only compression discussed below apply to all versions of the MPEG standard: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4 (including AVC/H.264). For the purposes of this general explanation, the term MPEG may refer to any of these formats.

Spatial Compression

Within a single frame, areas of similar color and texture can be coded with fewer bits than the original frame, thus reducing the data rate with a minimal loss in noticeable visual quality. JPEG compression works in a similar way to compress still images. Spatial, or intraframe, compression is used to create standalone video frames called I-frames (short for intraframe).

Temporal Compression

Instead of storing complete frames, temporal (interframe) compression stores only what has changed from one frame to the next, which dramatically reduces the amount of data that needs to be stored while still achieving high-quality images. Video is stored in three types of frames: a standalone I-frame that contains a complete image, and then predictive P-frames and bipredictive B-frames that store subsequent changes in the image. Every half second or so, a new I-frame is introduced to provide a complete image on which subsequent P- and B-frames are based. Together, a group of I-, P-, and B-frames is called a group of pictures, or GOP. HDV uses a long-GOP pattern, which means that there is at least one P- or B-frame for each I-frame.

For example, suppose you record some typical “talking head” footage, such as an interview in which a seated person moves very little throughout the shot. Most of the person’s body stays still, so most of the visual information is stored in an I-frame; the subsequent P- and B-frames store only the changes from one frame to the next.

Because P- and B-frames depend on other frames to create a meaningful image, your computer spends more processing power decoding HDV frames for display than it does when displaying intraframe-only formats such as DV, uncompressed video, or the Apple Intermediate Codec.

15Chapter 2 Working with HDV

Transcoding HDV to Other Apple Codecs

Instead of working with native MPEG-2 HDV video, you can transcode your HDV video to an Apple ProRes codec or the Apple Intermediate Codec during capture. For more information about these codecs, see “Transcoded HDV Editing Workflow,” “Working with

Apple ProRes,” and “About the Apple Intermediate Codec.”

Unlike MPEG-2 HDV, these Apple codecs do not use temporal compression, so every frame can be decoded and displayed immediately, without first decoding other frames.

You can also capture and edit native HDV but render your footage using an Apple ProRes codec. For more information, see “Stage 4: Choosing a Render File Format for HDV

Sequences” in “Native HDV Editing Workflow.”

Working with HDV in Final Cut Pro

If you’ve previously worked with DV, you’ll find that the HDV workflow is similar. However, the nature of MPEG-2 long-GOP editing can add significant rendering time when editing native HDV. To avoid this, you may want to choose one of the other HDV editing workflows.

There are two main workflows for working with HDV footage in Final Cut Pro.

Native MPEG-2 HDV Capturing, Editing, and Rendering

This is the default HDV workflow. For more information, see “Native HDV Editing Workflow.”

16 Chapter 2 Working with HDV

A slight variation of this native workflow involves rendering using an Apple ProRes codec.

Finish

Shoot EditIngest

Native format

Ingest Transcode to Apple ProRes

Edit Finish

Shoot

Apple ProRes

For more information, see “Stage 4: Choosing a Render File Format for HDV Sequences” in “Native HDV Editing Workflow.”

You can only output HDV footage to tape using the Print to Video command. The Edit to Tape command is not supported for HDV media. For more information, see “Stage 7:

Using the Print to Video Command to Output HDV” in “Native HDV Editing Workflow.”

Transcoding, Editing, and Rendering Using an Alternative Codec

In this workflow, you transcode your media to an alternative codec directly on ingest. For more information, see “Transcoded HDV Editing Workflow.”

In the illustration below, the media is transcoded to an Apple ProRes codec, but you can also use the Apple Intermediate Codec in a transcoded HDV workflow.

About the Log and Capture Window

You use the Log and Capture window to capture your HDV footage.

To open the Log and Capture window

Choose File > Log and Capture (or press Command-8).

17Chapter 2 Working with HDV

The Log and Capture window appears.

Log and capture buttonsPreview area

Logging, Clip Settings, and Capture Settings tabs

Resize control

The Log and Capture window contains several general areas:

• Preview area: On the left is the area where you view video while logging clips. This area contains transport controls, marking controls, and timecode fields. If device control is not available, the transport controls do not appear.

• Tabs: On the right are the Logging, Clip Settings, and Capture Settings tabs.

• Log and capture buttons: You click one of these buttons when you are ready to log a clip or capture media.

The resize control in the lower-right corner allows you to adjust the size of the Log and Capture window. This option is available only when you select an HDV Easy Setup.

18 Chapter 2 Working with HDV

Preview Area

Clip In Point Timecode field

Current Timecode field

Clip Out Point Timecode field

Timecode Duration field

Video preview area

Device status

Shuttle control

Transport controls

Available time

Available space

This section of the Log and Capture window lets you view video from tape while you log and capture it. If your camcorder or deck is not on or there is no tape inserted, you’ll see color bars or black. The following controls appear if your camcorder or deck is on and properly connected, and device control is available.

Important: If your computer has a PCI graphics card installed and you are logging or

capturing HDV footage, Final Cut Pro does not preview video or audio in the Log and Capture window. You can still log and capture, but you need to use your HDV camcorder display to preview video.

The preview area contains the following elements:

• Current Timecode field: Displays the timecode number of the current frame of your

• Available space and time: Final Cut Pro displays the amount of available space on all

source tape. You can enter a timecode number in this fieldto navigate to that timecode point on your tape.

Tip: When using the Log and Capture window with a native HDV Easy Setup, you can drag timecode values between the Log and Capture timecode fields by holding down the Option key while you drag a timecode value from one field to another. Dragging timecode from other windows is not supported.

currently assigned scratch disks.

19Chapter 2 Working with HDV

• Timecode Duration field: Displays the duration, in timecode, between the current tape

Shuttle control

Mark In

Go to Out Point

Mark Out

Device status

Clip In Point Timecode field

Go to In Point

Clip Out Point Timecode field

In and Out points. If you enter a duration in this field, the Out point is adjusted.

• Shuttle control: A shuttle control similar to the one in the Viewer and Canvas is available for navigating through the tape.

In the Log and Capture window, you can use the J, K, and L keys for playback and shuttling, just as you can in the Viewer and Canvas. For more information about using the J, K, and L keys for playback, see the Final Cut Pro 7 User Manual.

Note: Tape playback is not as efficient as playback from media files on your hard disk. It takes a few seconds for a tape to cue to the proper frame or change playback direction. The video frames and timecode displayed on the camcorder LCD screen may differ from the frames you see in the video preview area. This is because Final Cut Pro is decoding the MPEG-2 HDV in real time.

• Marking controls: Use these controls to set In and Out points for a clip on tape.

• Mark In: Click this (or press I) to set the In point for a clip on tape.

• Clip In Point Timecode field: Shows the timecode value of the currently set In point.

• Go to In Point: Click this to cue the connected VTR to the currently set In point.

• Mark Out: Click this (or press O) to set the Out point for a clip on tape.

• Clip OutPoint Timecodefield: Shows the timecode value of the currently set Out point.

• Go to Out Point: Click this to cue the connected camcorder or VTR to the currently

set Out point.

• Device status: Shows the readiness of camcorders and decks connected to your computer and being controlled by Final Cut Pro. If you see “VTR OK,” your equipment is connected and working properly.

20 Chapter 2 Working with HDV

• Transport controls: If you have device control, use these to control your camcorder or

PlayStop

Play Around Current Frame

Fast-Forward

Rewind

Play In to Out

New Bin button

Logging fields

Marker controls

The Log Bin button contains the name of the currently selected logging bin.

deck. These controls are similar to controls in the Viewer and Canvas, except that they control playback of a videotape instead of a media file.

Tabs in the Log and Capture Window

The Log and Capture window has several tabs you can use for logging and capturing your HDV footage.

Logging Tab

Use this tab to add descriptive information to each clip that you log, such as reel name, scene/take number, log notes, markers, and so on. Much of this information can also be added later in the Browser.

21Chapter 2 Working with HDV

Clip Settings Tab

Individual audio channel meters

Capture Audio Channel control

Select this option to enable video capture.

Select this option to enable audio capture.

Stereo/Mono control

Use this tab to select which video and audio tracks you capture from tape. You can choose to capture video only, audio only, or both video and audio. You can also specify which audio channels you capture.

When an HDV Easy Setup is chosen, only two audio channels are available for capture. You can choose to capture one channel or you can capture both audio channels, either as two discrete mono tracks or a single stereo pair.

22 Chapter 2 Working with HDV

Capture Settings Tab

Current scratch disk capacity and Capture Now settings are shown here.

Click here to open the Scratch Disks tab.

Use this tab to specify scratch disks for capture. You can also specify scratch disk settings by choosing Final Cut Pro > System Settings and then clicking the Scratch Disks tab.

Log and Capture Buttons

As you log and capture, use the following log and capture buttons.

• Log Clip: Logs a single clip with the current logging information and clip settings.

• Capture Clip: Logs and captures a single clip with the current logging information, clip settings, and capture settings.

• Capture Now: Captures the current video and audio input to a media file on disk until you press the Esc (Escape) key. No In or Out points are necessary. You can use this to capture an entire tape in a single pass. When scene breaks are detected, new media files and corresponding clips are created automatically.

• Capture Batch: Captures the selected clips in the Browser, or the clips in the currently assigned logging bin.

23Chapter 2 Working with HDV

Native HDV Editing Workflow

If you use this method, you capture, edit, and output your original MPEG-2 HDV data throughout the entire process. This process is referred to as native editing because Final Cut Pro works directly with the MPEG-2 data captured from your HDV tapes. Native HDV playback is processor-intensive because displaying a single frame can require decoding of several frames earlier or later in the video stream. As a result, you may be able to play back fewer real-time effects when editing in this format. However, there are many benefits to native HDV editing:

• Native HDV editing uses less disk space because long-GOP MPEG-2 HDV video has a very low data rate.

• Outputting HDV to tape requires little processing before output because your video is already in the native HDV format. Only segments of your sequence that contain cuts or effects must be reencoded, or conformed, to create the proper HDV GOP pattern.

This workflow is useful for cuts-only edits that you want to quickly output back to tape, or for export to other MPEG formats.

The process for capturing, editing, and outputting HDV in Final Cut Pro is almost identical to the workflow used for DV, but there are several important differences. The differences between the HDV and DV workflows are highlighted in the sections that follow.

• Stage 1: Connecting an HDV Camcorder to Your Computer via FireWire

• Stage 2: Choosing an HDV Easy Setup

• Stage 3: Logging and Capturing Native HDV Footage

• Stage 4: Choosing a Render File Format for HDV Sequences

• Stage 5: Editing HDV Footage Natively

• Stage 6: Rendering and Conforming Long-GOP MPEG-2 Media

• Stage 7: Using the Print to Video Command to Output HDV

24 Chapter 2 Working with HDV

Stage 1: Connecting an HDV Camcorder to Your Computer via FireWire

FireWire

HDV camcorder

in VTR mode

Computer

6-pin connector

to computer

4-pin connector

to camcorder

This stage is similar to connecting a DV device via FireWire. Once you have HDV footage on tape, you can connect your camcorder or VTR to your computer to capture.

To connect your HDV camcorder or VTR to your computer

1 Turn on your VTR or camcorder and switch it to VCR (or VTR) mode.

Note: On some camcorders, this mode may be labeled “Play.”

2 Connect the connector on one end of your FireWire cable to the FireWire port on your

camcorder.

3 Connect the connector on the other end of your FireWire cable to a FireWire 400 port on

your computer.

4 Make sure your camcorder is in HDV mode, not DV mode.

For more information, see the documentation that came with your HDV device.

Stage 2: Choosing an HDV Easy Setup

Final Cut Pro has several native HDV Easy Setups available. Always choose the Easy Setup that corresponds to your footage.

To choose an Easy Setup

1 Choose Final Cut Pro > Easy Setup.

2 Choose HDV from the Format pop-up menu.

3 Choose “(all rates)” from the Rate pop-up menu.

4 Click the Use pop-up menu to see all of the Easy Setups related to your choice in the

Format pop-up menu.

You can further refine the list by choosing a specific frame rate from the Rate pop-up menu.

5 Choose an Easy Setup from the Use pop-up menu.

25Chapter 2 Working with HDV

Important: Make sure to choose an Easy Setup that matches the format of your HDV

source tapes.

6 Click Setup.

The corresponding capture, sequence, and device control presets are loaded, as well as A/V device settings.

Stage 3: Logging and Capturing Native HDV Footage

This stage is much like logging and capturing DV and other video formats. The differences are:

• Some options and controls are different in the Log and Capture window when you capture HDV. For example, you can resize the window in real time.

• When capturing HDV, scene detection is always enabled. A scene break is embedded data on tape that indicates where the camcorder was stopped and then started again. Whenever Final Cut Pro detects a scene break in your incoming HDV footage, a new media file and corresponding clip are created.

Once you’ve connected your camcorder and chosen the appropriate Easy Setup, you can log and capture your footage. When you select a native HDV Easy Setup, the Log and Capture window appears, specifically tailored for use with HDV. For information about the Log and Capture window, see “About the Log and Capture Window.”

For detailed instructions about logging and capturing, see the following chapters in the Final Cut Pro 7 User Manual:

• “Overview of Capturing Tape-Based Media”

• “About the Log and Capture Window”

• “Logging from Tape”

• “Capturing Audio from Tape”

When you capture HDV footage, you can control how media files are created when start/stop indicators and timecode breaks are detected. This behavior is slightly different from the way DV footage is handled:

• When you capture DV: Start/Stop indicators can be detected after capture if you select the clip and choose Mark > DV Start/Stop Detect.

• When you capture HDV: You can control whether start/stop indicators create individual media files by selecting or deselecting the “Create new clip on Start/Stop” checkbox in the Clip Settings tab of the Log and Capture window.

In the General tab of the User Preferences window, the option you choose from the “On timecode break” pop-up menu determines how timecode breaks affect capture, but the Warn After Capture option is disregarded to avoid capturing media files that contain breaks in the middle of an MPEG-2 GOP.

26 Chapter 2 Working with HDV

To choose how Final Cut Pro handles start/stop detection when capturing HDV footage

1 If you have not already done so, choose Final Cut Pro > Easy Setup, choose HDV from the

Format pop-up menu, and then choose an Easy Setup from the Use pop-up menu.

2 Choose File > Log and Capture (or press Command-8), then click Clip Settings.

3 Select or deselect the “Create new clipon Start/Stop” checkbox to turn start/stop detection

on or off:

• Start/Stop detection on: When the checkbox is selected, a new media file and corresponding clip are created each time Final Cut Pro detects start/stop indicators in the incoming HDV stream.

• Start/Stop detection off: When the checkbox is deselected, one continuous media file and corresponding clip are created, and start/stop indicators are ignored.

Note: The option to turn off start/stop detection is not available when capturing footage shot on a JVC HDV camcorder because the nature of the MPEG-2 stream requires creation of a new media file at each start/stop indicator.

To determine how timecode breaks are handled when you capture HDV footage

1 Choose Final Cut Pro > User Preferences, then click the General tab.

2 Choose an option from the “On timecode break” pop-up menu:

• Make New Clip: This is the default option. Whenever a timecode break is detected during capture, Final Cut Pro finishes writing the current media file to disk and then begins capturing a new media file. A clip corresponding to the new media file is also created in the Browser.

• Abort Capture: If you choose this option, Final Cut Pro stops capture immediately when a timecode break is detected. All media captured before the timecode break has frame-accurate timecode and is preserved. The resulting media files are saved, and the corresponding clips are placed in the Browser.

Depending on the signal on tape, you may see one of two messages when a timecode break is detected:

• A “stream error” message

• A “timecode break error” message

• WarnAfter Capture: When you capture HDV, this option behaves identically to the Abort Capture option.

27Chapter 2 Working with HDV

How Timecode Breaks Affect Clip and Media Filenames

Filenames for new media files and clips generated by start/stop indicators and timecode breaks are appended with a number to ensure they have unique names. For example, suppose you are capturing a media file named Cafe Wide Shot when a scene or timecode break is detected. At the break detection point, Final Cut Pro begins capturing a new media file named Cafe Wide Shot-1. If there is already a media file named Cafe Wide Shot-1, the new media file is named Cafe Wide Shot-2, and so on.

Recapturing HDV footage is similar to recapturing other video formats. It is important that your clips contain accurate timecode, or you may have difficulty recapturing. For more information about recapturing footage, see the Final Cut Pro 7 User Manual.

Important: Some HDV camcorders do not record timecode, so recapturing media files

from tapes recorded by these camcorders may result in new media files with an offset of one or two frames.

Using an HDV Camcorder to Capture or Output DV Footage

You can use an HDV camcorder as a standard DV device. However, before doing this, make sure that:

• The Log and Capture window is closed.

• The camcorder is set to DV mode, not HDV mode. For more information, see the documentation that came with your camcorder.

• You choose the proper DV Easy Setup before opening the Log and Capture window.

Stage 4: Choosing a Render File Format for HDV Sequences

When you render segments of an HDV sequence, you can choose to create render files using either the native HDV MPEG-2 codec of your sequence or an Apple ProRes codec.

Rendering native MPEG-2 HDV creates small render files that conserve disk space, but rendering takes longer than for other formats because of the interframe compression this format uses.

28 Chapter 2 Working with HDV

If native rendering is slowing down the pace of your editing, you can choose to render

Ingest Edit Finish

Shoot

Render in

Apple ProRes

Native format

segments of your native HDV sequences using an Apple ProRes codec. Because Final Cut Pro supports mixed-format sequences, you can play back the entire sequence, including the Apple ProRes codec files, in real time. In this slight variation of the native HDV editing workflow, you continue to edit using a native HDV sequence, but any render files will be in an Apple ProRes codec.

The advantages to using an Apple ProRes codec as the rendering codec are:

• Apple ProRes codecs use I-frame–only (intraframe) encoding, providing faster rendering and real-time playback performance.

• Apple ProRes codecs have a generous color sample ratio and bit depth, allowing for higher-quality rendering of visual effects.

The advantages to rendering natively are:

• Conforming for export or output to HDV tape happens faster because the render files are already in the necessary format. If you aren’t outputting to an HDV format, this may not be an advantage.

• Native HDV render files are smaller than those generated by other HD I-frame-only codecs.

To choose the render file format in an HDV sequence

1 Select your sequence in the Browser or Timeline.

2 Choose Sequence > Settings, then click the Render Control tab.

3 From the Codec pop-up menu, choose one of the following options:

• Same as SequenceCodec: This option enables rendering with the native MPEG-2 codec of your sequence.

• Apple ProRes 422 Codec: This option enables rendering with the Apple ProRes 422 codec.

Note: Because HDV, XDCAM HD, and XDCAM EX constant bit rate (CBR) footage use an identical format, the information in this section also applies when rendering XDCAM HD and XDCAM EX footage.

29Chapter 2 Working with HDV

Stage 5: Editing HDV Footage Natively

For the most part, editing HDV footage is identical to editing any other format in Final Cut Pro. However, because of the GOP structure of MPEG-2 media, edits in HDV sequences require some additional processing during playback and output. The additional processing happens automatically, but it is a good idea to understand why it is necessary.

When you edit two HDV clips together in a sequence, the GOP pattern is typically broken. In particular, cutting an HDV clip can remove the I-frame that subsequent P- and B-frames rely on for picture information. When this happens, Final Cut Pro must preserve the I-frame for these other frames to refer to, even though the I-frame is no longer displayed in the sequence. Final Cut Pro reconforms the broken GOPs in the vicinity of the edit and leaves the subsequent GOPs unchanged.

This requires additional processing power and memory not necessary for I-frame-only editing (such as DV editing). During playback, this process happens in real time. For output and export, Final Cut Pro reencodes (or conforms) the areas of your sequence that require new I-frames or GOPs.

To save time during rendering and editing, you can set up your native HDV sequence to render using an Apple ProRes codec. Using an Apple ProRes codec also produces high-quality 4:2:2 render files that, in some cases, may be higher quality than rendering back to native HDV. For more information, see “Stage 4: Choosing a Render File Format

for HDV Sequences.”

Note: Some applications, such as DVD Studio Pro, support simple MPEG-2 editing, in which you are allowed to cut only at GOP boundaries. Final Cut Pro allows you to cut on any frame. Although you cannot set Final Cut Pro to edit on GOP boundaries only, you can transcode your source files to an Apple ProRes codec, ensuring I-frame-only editing, or you can temporarily turn off the reconforming of the GOP boundaries by deselecting one or more render status categories in the appropriate Render submenu of the Sequence menu.

Stage 6: Rendering and Conforming Long-GOP MPEG-2 Media

Before you can output or export a native HDV sequence, Final Cut Pro needs to process your media in two ways:

• Render any applied transitions and effects, as well as any leader and trailer elements included in the Print to Video dialog.

• Conform any noncompliant GOPs to the correct I-, P-, and B-frame pattern. Any segments of your sequence that contain cuts, transitions, or other applied effects must be conformed to standard MPEG-2 GOP structures before output, creating new I-frames and GOP boundaries where necessary. Conforming also ensures that your HDV sequence has the proper data rate for the HDV format you are outputting. The time required for conforming depends on the number of edits and effects in your sequence.

30 Chapter 2 Working with HDV

+ 102 hidden pages

Apple Final Cut Pro - 7 Professional Formats and Workflows

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Welcome to Final Cut Pro

About Final Cut Pro

About the Final Cut Pro Documentation

Additional Resources

An Overview of Professional Formats and Workflows

About Standard Definition Formats

About High Definition Video Formats

About Digital Cinema Formats

Working with HDV

About HDV

HDV Formats Supported by Final Cut Pro

About MPEG Compression

Spatial Compression

Temporal Compression

Transcoding HDV to Other Apple Codecs

Working with HDV in Final Cut Pro

Native MPEG-2 HDV Capturing, Editing, and Rendering

Transcoding, Editing, and Rendering Using an Alternative Codec

About the Log and Capture Window

Preview Area

Tabs in the Log and Capture Window

Logging Tab

Clip Settings Tab

Capture Settings Tab

Log and Capture Buttons

Native HDV Editing Workflow

Stage 1: Connecting an HDV Camcorder to Your Computer via FireWire

Stage 2: Choosing an HDV Easy Setup

Stage 3: Logging and Capturing Native HDV Footage

Stage 4: Choosing a Render File Format for HDV Sequences

Stage 5: Editing HDV Footage Natively

Stage 6: Rendering and Conforming Long-GOP MPEG-2 Media