Apple FINAL CUT PRO HD New Features V4

New Features in Final Cut Pro HD

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Apple Computer, Inc.

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Preface 7New Features in Final Cut Pro

New Features in Final Cut Pro HD

High Definition Video

Editing

Film Editing

Timecode

Titles and Effects

Capture, Output, and, Media Management

External Monitoring

Preferences and Settings

New Features in Final Cut Pro 4.1

Editing

Audio

Media Management and File Interchange

External Monitoring

Support Features

New Features in Final Cut Pro 4.0

Improvements for Setup

Interface Enhancements

Preferences and Settings

Real-Time and Rendering

Capture and Output

Media and Clip Management

Editing

Audio

Effects

Chapter 1 41 Using DVCPRO HD

Getting Started With DVCPRO HD

DVCPRO HD Formats Supported in Final Cut Pro

Setting Up a DVCPRO HD Editing System

External Monitoring Setup

Capturing DVCPRO HD in Final Cut Pro

Editing DVCPRO HD in Final Cut Pro

Working With DVCPRO HD Timecode

Using Graphics and Effects With DVCPRO HD

Creating Graphics for HD Projects

Generating Color Bars and Tone for 1080i60 and 720p60 Video

Real Time and Rendering

Upconverting and Downconverting

Combining High Definition and Standard Definition Media in Sequences

DVCPRO HD Output in Final Cut Pro

720p Output and Playback

Offline and Online Editing Using DVCPRO HD

Capture and Media Management Workflows Using DVCPRO HD

Trading Project Files Using Email or the Internet

Chapter 2 63 Editing and Trimming

Copying and Pasting Clips in the Timeline

Filling a Timeline Gap With Slug

Adding Edits on Auto-Selected Tracks

Asymmetrical Trimming

Applying Filters to Multiple Tracks

Dynamic Trimming in the Trim Edit Window

Choosing Incoming and Outgoing Clips in the Trim Edit Window

Listening to Sequence Audio While Trimming

Changing View Options in the Timeline Track Layout Menu

Detecting Duplicate Frames Over Transitions

Chapter 3 71 Using LiveType Titles in Final Cut Pro

Chapter 4 73 Editing Film With Final Cut Pro in a PAL Environment

New Support for Conforming 25 fps to 24 fps and Exporting 25 fps EDLs

Exercises for Understanding 24 @ 25 fps Timecode

Chapter 5 83 Viewing and Modifying Timecode

Displaying Timecode in Final Cut Pro

Modifying Media File and Sequence Timecode

High Definition and Film Timecode Options

Generating Timecode Window Burns

Chapter 6 93 Media and Clip Management

Edit to Tape and Print to Video

Setting Minimum Allowable Space on Scratch Disks

Maximizing Media File Performance for Multiple Stream, Real-Time Playback

Determining the Application That Created a Clip

Creating Duplicate Master Clips in the Browser

Contents

Changing Affiliate Clips Into Independent Clips

Removing Subclip Limits

Automatic Naming of Captured Clips

Additional Settings in the Batch Capture Window

Display of Items in the Render Manager

Including Master Comment Information in EDLs

Chapter 7 97 External Audio and Video Monitoring

External Monitoring Setups

10 0

Challenges With External Monitoring

Appendix 10 3 High Definition Video Fundamentals

10 3

A Brief History of Film, Television, and Audio Formats

10 7

The Benefits of High Definition Video

10 8

High Definition Formats in Common Use

11 0

Discussing HD Formats in Conversation

111

Upconverting and Downconverting

112

Downconverting High Definition Video

11 5

Upconverting Standard Definition Video

11 6

DVCPRO HD Specifications

11 6

DVCPRO HD Tape Format

11 6

Aspect Ratio

117

Interlaced and Progressive Scanning Methods

117

Native Image Dimensions

11 8

Color Depth and Video Sampling Rate

11 8

Frame Rate

11 9

Versatile Formatting Choices With Digital Formats

12 0

DVCPRO HD Timecode

121

Brief Overview of DVCPRO HD Formats

121

1080i60

121

1080i50

12 2

720p60

12 2

720p30

12 3

720p24

12 4

Recording and Playing Back Variable Frame Rates With DVCPRO HD

Contents

New Features in Final Cut Pro HD

This is an overview of new features of Final Cut Pro, covering Final Cut Pro 4.0 through Final Cut Pro HD (version 4.5). New features not covered in the

User’s Manual

are described in depth in the following chapters.

New Features in Final Cut Pro HD

For more information on these features and their use, see the corresponding chapters in this document.

High Definition Video

Capturing, editing, and output of DVCPRO HD high definition video

Final Cut Pro HD natively supports DVCPRO HD media. You can capture, edit, and output DVCPRO HD video using the built-in FireWire port on a qualified Power Mac without any additional specialized equipment.

Final Cut Pro 4

Preface

For details about working with DVCPRO HD in Final Cut Pro, see “Using DVCPRO HD” on page 41. For historical and background information about high definition video, see “High Definition Video Fundamentals” on page 103.

Editing

Copying and pasting clips follows track selection in the Timeline

Final Cut Pro HD performs copying and pasting in the Timeline differently than Final Cut Pro 4.1 and earlier. When you copy clips from tracks in the Timeline, Final Cut Pro pastes those clips in the same tracks unless you specify different destination tracks by clicking their Auto Select controls.

For more information, see “Copying and Pasting Clips in the Timeline” on page 63.

Listening to sequence audio while trimming

When trimming footage in the Trim Edit window, the following options are available in the Editing tab of the User Preferences window:

•

Trim with Sequence Audio:

Allows you listen to all sequence audio tracks while

trimming in the Trim Edit window.

•

Trim with Edit Selection Audio (Mute Others):

Mutes all audio tracks except the ones

currently selected in the Timeline.

For more information, see “Listening to Sequence Audio While Trimming” on page 69.

Film Editing

New support for conforming 25 fps to 24 fps and exporting 25 fps EDLs

Final Cut Pro now provides features that let you conform 25 fps (PAL) media to 24 fps, edit at 24 fps, and export a 25 fps EDL. This is for situations in which your content originated on film and your negative cutter prefers to receive a 25 fps EDL from you instead of a film cut list. To allow you to edit at the same speed as the film and yet export an accurate 25 fps EDL for the negative cutter, the 25 fps timecode is maintained while the editing timebase of your sequence is 24 fps.

The new features that make this possible include:

•

A DV PAL 24 @ 25 Easy Setup and DV PAL 48 kHz - 24 @ 25 sequence preset

• A “Conform 25 to 24” command in the Tools menu

• The ability to export a 25 fps EDL from a 24 fps sequence

• A new source timecode rate called 24 @ 25

For more information about editing film using 24 @ 25 fps PAL video, see “Editing Film

With Final Cut Pro in a PAL Environment” on page 73.

Timecode

New timecode display and modification options

Final Cut Pro HD displays timecode information differently than in earlier versions:

• Speed adjustments are no longer interpreted by the clip time display mode. Instead,

a separate time mode called View Native Speed can be selected. The View Native Speed mode can be applied to source time or clip time modes.

• 60 @ 30 time display and 24 @ 25 frame rate are supported.

• New Project Properties allow you to set global timecode view settings per project.

• Sequence presets now have independent timecode rate and video frame rate

(timebase) settings.

For more information, see “Viewing and Modifying Timecode” on page 83.

8 Preface

New Features in Final Cut Pro HD

New TC Rate Browser column and item property

The new TC Rate item property (visible in both the Browser columns and Item Properties) shows the source timecode rate of clips and sequences. Only the source timecode rate is displayed, not Aux 1 or Aux 2 timecode rates. Use the TC Rate Browser column to adjust the timecode rate for many clips at once. Some timecode rates are not allowed for some video frame rates.

Note: TC Rate refers to the rate of a media file or sequence timecode track. Vid Rate refers to the frame rate of the video itself.

New timecode reader and generator filters

In Final Cut Pro HD, Timecode reading and generation are separated into two filters, replacing the Timecode Print filter. Both are located in the Video category of the Video Filters bin in the Effects tab.

For more information about the new timecode reader and generator filters, see “Generating Timecode Window Burns” on page 92.

Titles and Effects

Using LiveType with Final Cut Pro

You can directly import LiveType project files into Final Cut Pro. This eliminates the need to render a QuickTime movie of your LiveType title each time you want to use it in Final Cut Pro.

For details about working with LiveType projects directly in Final Cut Pro, see “Using

LiveType Titles in Final Cut Pro” on page 71.

New Creator Browser column and item property

The Creator item property (visible in both the Browser columns and Item Properties) shows the name of the application that created the media file referenced by a clip.

Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD 9

More real-time effects displayed in bold

In Final Cut Pro HD, the following filters and transitions are now capable of real-time playback when Unlimited RT is the selected real-time playback mode:

Filters

• Compound Arithmetic

• Bumpmap

• Displace

• Difference

• Image Mask

• Curl

Transitions

• Page Peel

• Gradient Wipe

Capture, Output, and, Media Management

Maximizing media file performance for multiple stream, real-time playback

Final Cut Pro automatically captures and writes media files to maximize the number of simultaneous streams and real-time effects during playback.

For more information about how Final Cut Pro optimizes media files, see “Maximizing

Media File Performance for Multiple Stream, Real-Time Playback” on page 94.

Edit to Tape and Print to Video

In some instances, Edit to Tape and Print to Video used to require re-rendering of material in the Timeline prior to output. In Final Cut Pro HD, re-rendering is no longer necessary, significantly reducing rendering time before output.

Note: Built-in countdowns, slates, color bars, and tone still require rendering before output.

Automatic recording with Print to Video

When printing to videotape, Final Cut Pro can automatically trigger recording on FireWire camcorders and decks.

For more information, see “Edit to Tape and Print to Video” on page 93.

10 Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD

External Monitoring

Using a computer display for external video monitoring

Final Cut Pro allows you to monitor Canvas or Viewer video using a computer display, simplifying your video editing system setup. If you have two computer displays, one can be used to view the Final Cut Pro interface and the Finder while the other can be used as a dedicated video monitor.

For more information, see “Using a Computer Display for External Video Monitoring” on page 99.

Preferences and Settings

New Editing tab in User Preferences

The User Preferences window contains a new tab for editing preferences. Many of the preferences in the new Editing preferences tab were formerly located in the General preferences tab.

Setting minimum allowable space on scratch disks

Each time Final Cut Pro generates a new preference file, the Minimum Allowable Free Space On Scratch Disks number field is calculated based on a percentage of the first scratch disk selected in the Scratch Disks tab in the System Settings Preferences.

The minimum allowable disk space depends on whether the disk is currently a boot volume (the drive with the currently running operating system) or a non-boot volume:

• If the first scratch disk selected is a boot volume, 5% of the total drive capacity is

automatically entered.

• If the first scratch disk selected is a non-boot volume, 1% of the total drive capacity is

automatically entered.

You can adjust this value as needed.

Feedback command added to the Final Cut Pro menu

You can now launch the Apple Final Cut Pro feedback webpage directly from the application menu.

Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD 11

New Features in Final Cut Pro 4.1

The following features were added in Final Cut Pro 4.1.

Editing

Choosing incoming and outgoing clips in the Trim Edit window

In the Trim Edit window, you can activate the outgoing or incoming clip by moving the pointer over it. The play button on the active Trim Edit viewer is highlighted. JKL keys only affect the currently active clip.

Filling a gap with slug now uses multiple edits

In Final Cut Pro 4.0 and earlier, filling a Timeline gap with slug performed a fit-to-fill operation, applying a constant speed change to the slug. In Final Cut Pro 4.1 and later, choosing the Fill with Slug shortcut command uses as many 2-minute slug generators as necessary to fill the gap.

Audio

Controlling audio levels in the Viewer

The new Source pop-up menu, located in the upper right of the Audio Mixer, selects whether Canvas or Viewer audio levels are controlled by the Audio Mixer. If you want the Audio Mixer to automatically switch between the Canvas and Viewer depending on which window you are using, choose Auto from the Source pop-up menu.

Media Management and File Interchange

XML interchange format support

Final Cut Pro project elements such as clips, bins, sequences, filters, keyframes, and markers can now be imported and exported using the new Final Cut Pro XML Interchange Format. Developers familiar with XML can now easily build tools for automatic sequence generation, clip management, and effects automation.

12 Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD

Here are a few examples of how the new interchange format can benefit post-production workflows:

• Improve project compatibility between Final Cut Pro and other video editing systems

• Archive and manage databases of multiple Final Cut Pro projects

• Maintain multiple sequence versions in multisystem editing environments

• Enhance batch lists to include detailed log notes, comments, bins, subclips, merged

clips, and master/affiliate clips

• Synchronize dual-system video and audio clips (typically used for film post-production)

• Automate effects and generator creation

• Automate text generator subtitle creation

• Complete access to motion, effects, and speed parameters within clips

• Change a sequence duration by batch processing parameters such as clip In points,

durations, and locations within the sequence

For the latest technical specifications about the Apple XML Interchange Format, visit the Apple Applications page at the Apple Developer Connection website at

http://developer.apple.com/appleapplications.

External Monitoring

Frame offset for synchronizing an external monitor and the computer display

Final Cut Pro allows you to compensate for the delay between your computer display and external video and audio outputs. Frame offset is active only when your sequence real-time effects are handled by Final Cut Pro. For information about the settings in the Effects Handling tab of the Sequence Settings window, see Volume I, Chapter 6, “Viewing and Setting Preferences,” in the Final Cut Pro 4 User’s Manual. For more information about monitoring video externally, see “Compensating for Latency With

Frame Offset” on page 101.

Support Features

Create support profile command has been added to the Help menu

There are certain support situations in which AppleCare may require information about both your computer and how this particular application is configured. Choosing Help > Create Support Profile creates a file that contains the necessary information and can be emailed to AppleCare. You would not normally use this feature unless directed to by an AppleCare representative.

Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD 13

New Features in Final Cut Pro 4.0

This is an overview of the new features in Final Cut Pro 4.0. For more information on these features and their use, see the Final Cut Pro 4 User’s Manual or Final Cut Pro Help.

Improvements for Setup

Missing scratch disk warning

You are now warned when scratch disks become unavailable. This can happen for a number of reasons: They might be turned off, disconnected, or temporarily unmounted. If the scratch disk folder you selected has been moved, deleted, or renamed, Final Cut Pro might not be able to find the scratch disk. The next time you open Final Cut Pro, if the scratch disk can’t be found, a dialog appears with three options:

• Quit

• Set Scratch Disks to choose a new scratch disk

• Check Again, allowing you to reconnect or start up your scratch disk, wait for it to

mount, and then proceed as usual

New screen layouts

There are several new screen layouts, including:

• Audio Mixing: This places the Viewer, Canvas, and Tool Bench at the top of the screen.

The Tool Bench window contains the Audio Mixer tab. The Browser and Timeline are on the bottom, with the Tool palette and audio meters to the right of the Timeline.

• Multiple Edits: This layout only appears if your screen resolution is set to 1280 x 854

or higher. This layout is useful for comparing three clips in a sequence in a row for color correction. At the top of the screen, from left to right, are the Viewer; a Tool Bench window with a Frame Viewer tab showing the previous edit point; the Canvas; and another Tool Bench window with a Frame Viewer tab showing the next edit point. The Browser and Timeline are on the bottom, with the Tool palette and audio meters to the right of the Timeline.

Other improvements to screen layouts include the following:

• You can now create and save multiple-monitor screen layouts.

• Screen layouts are now resolution specific; a new screen layout’s minimum required

resolution is the resolution your monitor was set to when that layout was created.

14 Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD

Interface Enhancements

Customizable keyboard shortcuts

All commands in Final Cut Pro can be assigned to customizable keyboard shortcuts using the Keyboard Layout window by choosing Tools > Keyboard Layout > Customize. The default keyboard shortcut layout can be changed at any time to better suit your needs. For example, if your style of editing requires a particular set of commands that isn’t readily available by default, you can modify the default keyboard layout with your own set of commands.

You can also create different keyboard layouts for different tasks, switching between them at will. For example, you may find it useful to create different keyboard layouts for editing, color correction, and audio mixing.

Keyboard shortcut for Deselect All has changed

The default keyboard shortcut for Deselect All is now Shift-Command-A (not Command-D).

Keyboard shortcuts for Play Every Frame command

In the Viewer and Canvas, you can choose to play every frame of a clip. To do this using keyboard shortcuts, press Option-\ or Option-P.

Using keyboard shortcuts to zoom in and out of the Timeline

Pressing Option-+ (plus) or Option-– (minus) zooms in or out of the contents of the Timeline, as long as the Browser is not the active window.

Customizable button bars in each window

Shortcut buttons can be created and placed along the top of the main windows in Final Cut Pro—the Browser, Viewer, Canvas, Timeline, and any Tool Bench windows. You can then click any of the shortcut buttons in this button bar to perform commands, instead of entering key combinations or using menus.

Resize multiple Final Cut Pro windows simultaneously

You can now place the pointer at the intersection of two or more windows in Final Cut Pro and resize all of them simultaneously when the Resize Window pointer appears.

To resize multiple windows in Final Cut Pro, move the pointer over the border between the windows you want to resize. When the pointer changes to the Resize Window pointer, drag the border in the desired direction to resize the appropriate windows. The windows on either side of the border are resized accordingly.

Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD 15

Resize individual tracks in the Timeline

You can change the size of individual tracks in the Timeline by dragging a track’s boundary in the Timeline patch panel:

• If it’s a video track, drag the upper boundary of the track in the Timeline patch panel.

• If it’s an audio track, drag the lower boundary of the track in the Timeline patch panel.

New view options in the Timeline track layout menu

The Track Layout menu now includes five additional options. These options can also be set in the Timeline Options tab of the Sequence Settings window.

• Show Video Filmstrips

• Show Audio Waveforms

• Show Through Edits

• Show Duplicate Frames

• Show Clip Labels (not available in the Timeline Options tab)

New default sequence settings

New sequences are now created by default with one video and four audio tracks. You can change this in the Timeline Options tab of the User Preferences window.

Save custom Timeline track layouts

Once you’ve created a custom track layout for your sequence, you can save it for future use. Saved custom track layouts appear in the Track Layout menu, and can be applied to any sequence that’s open in the Timeline. Up to 40 custom track layouts can appear in the menu at once.

New DV Sequences created with white setting

DV sequence presets in Final Cut Pro 4 use a default white point setting of White instead of Super-White. (There are several DV sequence presets that use Super-White; these are labeled as such.)

Assign destination tracks for editing using the new Timeline patch panel

Many editing operations in Final Cut Pro require you to use the Source controls in the Timeline to assign destination tracks to determine where edited, duplicated, or moved clips will appear. Source and Destination controls are located in the Timeline patch panel, at the left of the Timeline window.

When you open a clip or sequence into the Viewer, a number of Source controls appear in the Timeline patch panel and correspond to the number of video and audio items that make up that clip, or the number of tracks that appear in that sequence. For example, if you open a clip into the Viewer that contains one video and four audio items, one video and four audio Source controls appear in the Timeline patch panel.

16 Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD

A merged clip may consist of 1 video and up to 24 audio items, so typically as many as 25 Source controls will appear in the Timeline. You can also open a sequence into the Viewer, in which case as many as 99 video and 99 audio tracks can appear in the Timeline, depending on how many tracks there are in the sequence. Whenever you open a new clip or sequence into the Viewer, the number of Source controls in the Timeline patch panel updates to reflect the number of video and audio items in the new clip or sequence.

Auto Select controls in the Timeline

Enabling the Auto Select controls of specific tracks in the Timeline allows the contents of those tracks to be selected via In and Out points in the Timeline or Canvas, just as if you’d used the Range Selection tool. When In and Out points are defined in the Timeline, operations such as the Copy command and lift edits are limited to the selected regions of tracks that have Auto Select turned on.

When one or more Auto Select controls are enabled, regions of clips in the Timeline defined by In and Out points are highlighted, which indicates that these regions can be operated upon.

Mute and solo controls in the Timeline

Click a track’s mute button to turn off audio playback for that track. The mute button affects monitoring during playback only. When a track is muted, it isn’t audible during playback, but is still output during Print to Video and Edit to Tape operations, or when exported to an audio or movie file. The mute buttons for each channel in the Audio Mixer and the mute control in the Timeline editing controls are light amber when mute is enabled.

Click a track’s solo button to mute all tracks that don’t also have solo enabled. For example, if you click the solo button on track A1, and it’s the only track with solo selected, all other audio tracks are muted. If you enable the solo button on multiple tracks, all tracks with solo enabled play back, while all other tracks are muted. Like the mute button, the solo button affects monitoring during playback only. If solo is enabled on at least one track in a sequence, tracks that don’t have solo enabled are not audible during playback, but are still output during Print to Video and Edit to Tape operations, or when exported to an audio or movie file.

The solo button is dark red when turned on. When you solo a track, the mute controls of all non-soloed tracks are automatically turned light amber; this way, you can tell which tracks are soloed and which are muted, if other tracks are not displayed in the Timeline window.

Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD 17

New Timeline zoom functionality

Timeline zoom functionality has been improved. You can zoom into the Timeline in any of the following ways:

• Drag the thumb tabs on either side of the Zoom slider to adjust both ends of your

view at the same time. If the playhead is visible, it stays centered during the zoom. If the playhead is not visible, the visible area of the Timeline stays centered.

• Hold down the Shift key while you drag one of the thumb tabs to zoom in or out of

your sequence from the selected end of the Zoom slider, while keeping the other thumb tab locked in place. This also moves the visible area of the Timeline in the direction you’re dragging as you zoom.

• Click or drag the Zoom control to view the Timeline at a different time scale while

keeping either the playhead or the current area of the Timeline centered. Clicking to the right of the control zooms out to show more of your sequence; clicking to the left zooms in to show more detail.

Custom column layout menu in the Browser

You can create customized column layouts for your own specific uses, and save these arrangements as custom layouts for easy access at any time. The custom column layouts you save appear in the shortcut menu that appears when you Control-click any column heading in the Browser except the Name column.

Preferences and Settings

New organization of preferences

All preferences have been reorganized into two windows–User Preferences and System Settings.

Sync Adjust Movies Over preference has been removed

The Sync Adjust Movies Over preference available in earlier versions of Final Cut Pro has been removed from the General tab of the User Preferences window. The A/V sync of all captured clips in Final Cut Pro 4 is automatically maintained no matter which video device you capture from.

Memory usage settings

Two sliders in the Memory & Cache tab of the System Settings window allow you to decide how much of the RAM available in your computer to use when working in Final Cut Pro. Your computer’s available RAM is defined as the amount of RAM not used by Mac OS X and other currently open applications. By limiting the amount of RAM Final Cut Pro uses, you can maintain the performance of Final Cut Pro by preventing Mac OS X from using virtual memory unnecessarily. This is especially important when multiple applications are open at the same time.

18 Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD

Additional Timeline display options

There are several new display options for the Timeline in the Timeline Options tab of the User Preferences window, including:

• Show Duplicate Frames: Select this option to mark clips that are used more than once

within a single edited sequence. Colored bars appear at the bottom of the clip’s video item in the Timeline if that clip has been used more than once. You can adjust the parameters that determine when duplicate frames indicators appear in the General Preferences tab.

• Show Audio Controls: Select this option to display the mute and solo buttons to the

left of each audio track in the Timeline. By default, these controls are hidden. Audio controls can also be displayed using the Audio Controls button in the Timeline.

• Video and audio keyframe editor: The keyframe editor shows you keyframe graphs for

motion effects or parameters of filters applied to clips in your sequence. These graphs are identical to those found in the keyframe graph area of the Motion and Filters tabs in the Viewer. You can edit keyframes in the keyframe editor using the Selection and Pen tools. The keyframe editor can only display the keyframe graph of one effect parameter at a time.

• Video and audio speed indicators: Speed indicators show you the speed of clips in

your sequence using tic marks. The spacing and color of these tic marks indicate the speed and playback direction of your clips. The speed indicators of clips in the Timeline update in real time as you make variable speed adjustments to clips in your sequence, showing you exactly how you’re altering a clip’s timing. There are no useradjustable controls in the speed indicator area.

Audio Outputs tab

The Audio Outputs tab contains a list of presets that allow you to define the number of audio output channels that are available to your sequence via external audio interfaces connected to your computer. The selected audio output preset is automatically assigned to all new sequences and projects you create. Each sequence in your project has its own individual audio output settings. After a sequence has been created, any future changes to its audio output settings must be made in the Audio Outputs tab of the Sequence Settings window.

Default location of Easy Setup files

By default, the files for Easy Setups you create are stored in the following location: /Library/Application Support/Final Cut Pro System Support/Custom Settings.

New location for third-party presets

To install third-party preset files or use preset files that you’ve moved, you must drag the desired preset files to the following folder: /Library/Application Support/Final Cut Pro System Support/Plugins.

The next time you open Final Cut Pro, the presets will be available in the Audio/Video Settings window.

Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD 19

New location for locked presets

Presets are stored with the Easy Setup they are used with. If you want to lock a preset that you’ve created, you can make a custom Easy Setup and store it in the folder where locked Easy Setups are located. To lock a preset that you’ve created as part of a custom Easy Setup, drag your custom Easy Setup from /Library/Application Support/Final Cut Pro System Support/Custom Settings

/Library/Application Support/Final Cut Pro System Support/Plugins.

Note: You must quit Final Cut Pro and reopen the application for the preset to appear locked in one of the preset tabs in the Audio/Video Settings window.

Real-Time and Rendering

Unlimited RT

Selecting the Unlimited RT option in the RT pop-up menu of the Timeline allows Final Cut Pro to play additional real-time effects that exceed your computer’s real-time playback capabilities. Unrestricted real-time playback allows you play more effects, but increases the likelihood that your sequence will drop frames during playback. This mode is useful for getting a real-time preview of complex effects compositions.

RT pop-up menu in the Timeline

The Real-Time Effects (RT) pop-up menu allows you to adjust the playback quality of real-time effects in Final Cut Pro. Using the options in this menu, you can decide which is more important to you–visual playback quality or maximizing the available effects that can be played back in real time.

For example, if it’s more important to you to be able to view your program at the highest quality, you should deselect the Unlimited RT option and select the High playback option in this menu. This ensures that your program’s video quality is always as high as possible, and that no frames are dropped during playback. The tradeoff in this case is that the number of simultaneous real-time effects that can be played back is reduced.

If you’d rather lower the playback quality of your video in order to increase the number of real-time effects that can be played back, you can select the Unlimited RT and Low playback quality options to maximize your computer’s playback performance.

When you want to output your program to video, you can choose whether to render the effects that won’t output at full quality in real time, or output them at the reduced quality you’ve selected in order to avoid rendering.

Final Cut Pro always warns you before outputting video to tape at reduced quality when you use the Print to Video and Edit to Tape commands.

20 Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD

Software-based real-time effects can be output using FireWire and other built-in video interfaces

All real-time effects can be output to an external video monitor using FireWire or the built-in video output of a Macintosh PowerBook G4. This is true whether you’re using OfflineRT or DV source media in your projects. Outputting real-time effects to video using FireWire is a processor-intensive operation, requiring a very fast computer. Outputting this way will significantly reduce the maximum number of real-time effects that your computer can play in real time.

RT Scrubbing command removed from the sequence menu

The RT Scrubbing command available in the Sequence menu of earlier versions of Final Cut Pro has been removed. Improved performance makes it no longer necessary.

Real-time pull-down insertion for 24 fps sequences

If you’re editing 24 fps video, Final Cut Pro can play back and export your DV or OfflineRT sequence with 3:2 pull-down added. This lets you output 24 fps video to

29.97 fps using FireWire or the built-in video output of a Macintosh PowerBook G4 for viewing or exporting to tape, all in real time.

Improved management of audio and video render cache files

Audio and video render cache files are handled differently, eliminating the need to rerender effects in many instances:

• Audio and video render cache files are now managed separately. Modifying video

edits and making changes to video effects that overlap audio effects no longer affects rendered audio render cache files, and vice versa.

• Audio and video render cache files are preserved when clips are duplicated or copied

and pasted.

• New item-level rendering of audio clips allows you to preserve audio cache files for

audio effects and rendered resampling while making changes to volume and panning levels.

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Real-time effects playback and rendering options

Three new tabs allow you to control real-time effects playback and rendering in your projects:

• The Render Control tab in the User Preferences window allows you to enable and

disable the most processor-intensive effects in Final Cut Pro. Changing the settings in the Render Control tab of the User Preferences window changes the default Render Control options that all new sequences are created with. To change the Render Control settings for existing sequences, alter these settings in your sequence’s Sequence Settings window.

• All settings in the Playback Control tab in the System Settings window remain the

same for all sequences and projects opened on that computer. These settings also appear in the RT pop-up menu in the Timeline. Using these settings, you can decide which is more important to you–visual playback quality, or maximizing the available effects that can be played back in real time.

• The Effect Handling tab in the System Settings window allows you to set how real-

time effects are processed for clips compressed using a real-time-capable codec. This includes clips captured and compressed using the DV, DVCPRO50, and Photo JPEG codecs. Such clips, by default, can play back software-based real-time effects applied directly in Final Cut Pro. If a third-party capture card capable of real-time effects processing is installed that can process these codecs, you can reassign real-time effects handling to your hardware, instead.

Auto-rendering

The Auto Render preference allows you to take advantage of idle computer time when you’re not editing–such as during a coffee break or lunch–to render open sequences in the Timeline. Options in the General tab of the User Preferences window allow you to define how long to wait before rendering, which sequences to render, and whether or not to render real-time effects in the selected sequences.

Support for 10-bit video processing

Final Cut Pro now supports 10-bit video processing for selected filters and transitions.

22 Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD

Capture and Output

Automatic timecode break handling during capture

New timecode break handling allows Final Cut Pro to automatically capture over timecode breaks without interruption. You can now capture the footage from an entire tape, skipping every timecode break on the tape. The “On timecode break” pop-up menu in the General tab of the User Preferences window gives you three ways to avoid capturing media with timecode breaks:

• Make New Clip: This is the default option. Video that’s already been captured before

the break in timecode is saved as a single clip, with its Out point set to the frame occurring immediately before the dropped timecode instance. Final Cut Pro then automatically continues capturing video after the dropped timecode frame as a second media file. When this option is selected, clips captured after timecode breaks are named with the original name plus a dash and the number of the clip. For example, if the first captured clip’s name is “Cats Playing,” then the second clip’s name is set to “Cats Playing-2.” This is a good setting if you are batch capturing an entire tape at once. For example, suppose you are capturing the entire contents of a 60-minute tape that had four timecode breaks. Instead of making you restart capture every time a timecode break is detected, Final Cut Pro captures all media from the tape as five clips, skipping every timecode break and ensuring that the timecode of all captured media is frame-accurate and in sync.

• Abort Capture: If this option is selected, capture is stopped whenever a timecode

break is detected. All media captured before the timecode break has frame-accurate timecode and is preserved. The resulting open media clip is saved to the Browser.

• Warn After Capture: If this option is selected, timecode breaks are reported after

capture and the media file with the timecode break is preserved. It is unwise to use such a clip unless you have no choice, because timecode breaks result in incorrect timecode from the timecode break forward, and will impair your ability to accurately recapture your media.

Capturing audio and video to separate files now creates true merged clips

When you capture video and audio to separate files, two sets of media source files are saved on your hard disk, but the clips appear in your project as merged clips. Capturing your video and audio as separate files allows you to divide the workload between two scratch disks, maximizing the performance of each scratch disk you’re using so that you can capture your video at the highest possible data rate. Video and audio media files that have been captured separately are no longer dependent on one another.

Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD 23

Automatic naming of captured clips

Automatic naming of captured clips in Final Cut Pro has been updated to remove extra zeroes from the beginning of a clip number. For example, in previous versions of Final Cut Pro, a series of clips would automatically be named and numbered as follows: Untitled 0001, Untitled 0002, Untitled 0003. The extra zeroes in front of the number ensured that the clips would remain in sequential order once the clips reached 0010 and 0100 respectively. Final Cut Pro no longer requires the extra zeroes in order to sort effectively. Now clips are automatically named and numbered as follows: Untitled, Untitled 2, Untitled 3.

Additional settings in the Batch Capture window

In the Batch Capture window, when you select the Use Logged Clip Settings checkbox, additional settings are included for the captured clips:

• Image and Gain settings (for analog capture)

• Capture settings from the Capture pop-up menu

• Audio settings from the Audio Format pop-up menu

These settings are found in the Clip Settings tab of the Log and Capture window.

Field dominance of sequences with progressive scan clips must be set to None

Whenever you capture clips from progressive scan sources (such as cameras with a progressive scan mode), the field dominance of these clips should be set to None in the Format tab of the Item Properties window. You must also must make sure that all sequences you edit progressive scan clips into have their field dominance set to None. This prevents artifacts from occurring in motion effects that you apply to these clips.

Advanced pull-down removal

Select the “Remove Advanced Pulldown (2:3:3:2) From MiniDV Sources” setting of your capture preset if you’re capturing from a DV format source that used the 2:3:3:2 pulldown method to capture 24P video. You want to remove the 2:3:3:2 pull-down to eliminate the redundant frame fields created by the pull-down so that you can edit true 24 (actually 23.98) fps progressive video.

Pull-down insertion

If you’re editing a sequence with a 23.98 fps timebase and you want to output to an NTSC device via FireWire, you can choose one of three pull-down insertion patterns from the RT pop-up menu in the Timeline. Pull-down insertion is a method of converting 23.98 fps video to the NTSC standard of 29.97 fps video. Depending on the speed of your computer, you can select from 2:3:2:3, 2:3:3:2, or 2:2:2:4 pull-down.

Control the quality of effects being output to video

When outputting a sequence with draft-quality proxy effects to video, you can choose whether to render the effects that won’t output at full quality in real time, or output them at the reduced quality you’ve selected in order to avoid rendering by choosing Use Playback Settings from the RT pop-up menu in the Timeline.

24 Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD

Capturing audio using house sync

When capturing audio intended to be synchronized to video from a separate source, it’s important that your device-controllable audio deck be synchronized to your computer via a common video timing signal, such as a blackburst generator (also referred to as house sync). This is true even if you’re capturing your audio via a dedicated audio capture interface. This can be accomplished by connecting a blackburst generator to both the genlock connector (also called external sync) of your audio deck and to the genlock connector of an external video capture interface connected to your computer. When capturing audio from a genlocked audio deck, you need to select “Sync audio capture to video source if present” in the General tab of the User Preferences window.

Audio Sync tool for the Panasonic DVX-100

To address the way the Panasonic DVX-100 handles audio/video sync, the DVX-100 Audio Sync Tool plug-in is available in the DV Camera Tuner Scripts folder on the Final Cut Pro 4 installation DVD. If you’re working with clips captured from the Panasonic DVX-100, you should move this plug-in to the following location: /Library/Application Support/Final Cut Pro System Support/Plugins

When the DVX-100 Audio Sync Tool plug-in is installed, a new menu item appears in the Tools menu, Offset Audio Sync.

To use the Offset Audio Sync tool:

1 In the Browser, select any clips you captured that were recorded with the DVX-100.

2 Choose Tools > Offset Audio Sync.

The audio of all selected clips will be offset 2 frames later than the video to adjust their sync.

Note: Adjustments made to clips using the Offset Audio Sync command are only saved in the Final Cut Pro project file where the adjustment was made. The corresponding source media on disk is unaffected.

Edit to Tape window has new icons

In the Video tab of the Edit to Tape window, two icons have changed. The Insert Timecode icon is now a yellow round clock icon, similar to the Timecode Duration and Current Timecode icons found in the Viewer and Canvas. The Insert Video icon is now a yellow frame of film with no letters.

Support for separate video and audio capture interfaces

You now have the ability to specify separate video and audio capture interfaces in the A/V Devices tab of the A/V Settings window.

Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD 25

Support for multichannel audio output

Final Cut Pro supports audio output via up to 24 outputs using Mac OS X–compatible audio interfaces. The Audio Outputs tab of the Sequence Settings window allows you to define the number of audio output channels that are available to tracks in your sequence via the external audio interface connected to your computer. All audio tracks in a sequence can be assigned to specific pairs of audio outputs using the shortcut menu in each audio track header in the Timeline.

Support for multichannel audio during Edit to Tape operations

Using a Mac OS X–compatible audio interface, you can now output up to eight audio channels while using the Edit to Tape command. The number of audio tracks that can be recorded to when using the Edit to Tape command depends on the number of audio tracks your video or audio recording device supports.

When using a video or audio interface capable of outputting more than two channels of audio, you need to manually choose an appropriate audio track configuration based on the video or audio recording device you’re recording onto. You can specify this configuration by selecting or creating a device control preset, and setting the Audio Mapping pop-up menu in the Device Control Preset Editor to the appropriate configuration for your recording device. The Audio Mapping pop-up menu does not automatically detect the number of audio tracks your video or audio recording device is capable of recording to. You need to choose a configuration based on your recording device’s capabilities.

Edit to Tape audio insert pop-up menu has new states

Audio channels that are available to be recorded to can be enabled and disabled individually, or all at once. To record-enable an audio track, choose it from the Audio Insert pop-up menu and a checkmark appears next to it. Choose it a second time to remove the checkmark and disable the track.

Eight audio channel indicators in the Audio Insert pop-up menu indicate which audio tracks are being output. The color of an audio channel indicator indicates its state. The colors have changed. The following is an update replacing the audio channel indicators listed in the Final Cut Pro 4 User’s Manual.

• Yellow: Indicates the audio track is available.

• Gray: Indicates the audio track is unavailable.

26 Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD

Support for audio interfaces with multiple input channels

During capture, Final Cut Pro only supports the first two channels of audio interfaces with multiple input channels. Any additional channels do not appear in the Audio/Video Settings window, and appear to have fewer output channels than they really support.

Despite this, the actual number of audio output channels supported by your audio interface is available for playback, Edit to Tape, and Print to Video operations. Audio outputs in sequences may be assigned to a maximum of 24 audio channels. In this situation, you may get a warning dialog improperly stating that the output map you’ve selected for this sequence contains more channels than the output device. If you know your audio interface supports the appropriate number of audio channels, you can ignore this alert.

Media and Clip Management

Viewing Item Properties for clips

The Item Properties window provides you with information for an individual clip. Three tabs in this window—Format, Timing, and Logging Information—allow you to view or change various properties of a clip.

In the Browser, you can only view the Item Properties of one clip at a time. If you select more than one clip, you’ll only see information for the first clip. However, in the Timeline, you can select multiple clips and view all of their Item Properties in the same window.

To view Item Properties:

1 Do one of the following:

• Select a clip in the Browser.

• Select one or more clips in the Timeline.

2 Do one of the following:

• Choose Edit > Item Properties, then choose an option from the submenu.

• Control-click the clip, then choose Item Properties from the shortcut menu.

New master/affiliate clip relationships within a project

Final Cut Pro 4 introduces master/affiliate clip relationships for clips used in a project. The first instance of a clip that is captured or imported into a project is a master clip. Editing a master clip into a sequence or duplicating it in the Browser results in the creation of a sequence clip or duplicate clip that is an affiliate of the original master clip. A relationship exists between the original master clip in the Browser and all edited or duplicated affiliates of that clip that appear in every sequence and in every bin of that project. For any group of affiliated clips in a project, there is only one master clip.

Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD 27

As a result of the relationship between master and affiliate clips, changes made to certain properties of a master clip, such as Clip Name, Reel Name, or Timecode, are automatically made to all affiliated clips within the current project. These same changes, if made to an affiliate clip, are also made to that clip’s master clip, as well as to all other affiliated clips in the current project.

The online or offline state of clips is also automatically updated among all affiliated clips in a project, all at once. Suppose you open a project in which all the clips are offline. Relinking that project’s master clips in the Browser automatically relinks all the affiliate clips that appear in each of that project’s sequences, as well.

New commands, including Reveal Master Clip, Duplicate as New Master Clip, and Make Independent Clip, allow you to manage these clip affiliations. The Match Frame command opens a clip’s affiliated master clip from the Browser.

Creating duplicate master clips in the Browser

To create a new master clip instance of a clip in the Browser, press Option while dragging a clip from the Timeline into the Browser, then press Command. When you see a pointer with M+ next to it, this indicates that a new master clip is being created; you can release the keys.

Changing affiliate clips into independent clips

As a result of the relationship between master and affiliate clips, changes made to certain properties of a master clip, such as Clip Name, Reel Name, or Timecode are automatically made to all affiliated clips within the current project. These same changes, if made to an affiliate clip, are also made to that clip’s master clip, as well as to all other affiliated clips in the current project.

Depending on your project, you may choose to sever an affiliate clip from its master. This prevents the affiliate clip from updating with its master clip and other affiliate clips.

To make an affiliate clip in a sequence independent:

Control-click the affiliate clip in the Timeline, then choose Make Independent Clip from the shortcut menu.

Your affiliate clip is now an independent clip. Any changes you make to this clip do not affect the master clip.

28 Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD

Finding master clips

You may find it necessary to find the master clip in the Browser that is affiliated with a particular clip in the Timeline. You can do so using the Master Clip command.

To find an affiliate clip’s master clip:

1 Select a clip in the Timeline.

2 Choose View > Match Frame > Master Clip.

The master clip is automatically highlighted in the Browser.

Changing the label of a clip changes labels of all affiliated clips

If you use labels to identify and sort your clips in the Browser, the clips’ names are highlighted in the color that matches each label. Using keyboard shortcuts, you can change the labels of clips directly in the Timeline. Changes made to the label of any clip are also applied to all of that clip’s affiliated clips.

Support for merged clips using separate video and audio source media

A merged clip is one that links to more than one source media file on disk. For example, a merged clip might link to both a QuickTime video file and a separate audio file. Merged clips allow you to synchronize the audio and video items of footage shot via dual system recording. Instead of syncing your video and audio onto tape prior to capturing, you can capture your audio and video separately, and then merge them together in Final Cut Pro.

You can sync a video clip with up to 12 stereo or 24 mono audio clips (merged clips can contain a total of 1 video and 24 audio items) using their timecode, In points, or Out points. After a group of clips has been synchronized in preparation to create a merged clip, select them all and choose Modify > Merge Clips.

Linking clips in the Timeline prior to creating a merged clip

When creating a single merged clip by dragging multiple items from the Timeline into the Browser, all clips to be merged need to be selected and linked in the Timeline before they are dragged into the Browser. If you don’t link them in the Timeline first, each unlinked clip will appear as a separate item when the group is dragged into the Browser.

Note: Only one video and up to 24 audio items can be linked together in the Timeline in preparation for making a merged clip.

Opening multichannel clips into the Viewer

If the In and Out points of a merged or linked clip’s audio don’t match, and you doubleclick the clip in the Timeline, only the individual item you clicked opens into the Viewer. If you are in the Browser and open the same merged clip into the Viewer, all linked video and audio items open simultaneously in individual tabs in the Viewer.

Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD 29

Removing subclip limits

As a result of the relationship between master and affiliate clips, changes made to certain properties of a master clip or subclip are automatically made to all affiliated clips within the current project. The same is true of subclips and any affiliates associated with them.

In particular, if you extend the In and Out points on a subclip to those of the original master clip, your subclip now has all of the media in the original master clip. Therefore, if you remove the limits from one subclip, Final Cut Pro removes the limits from all other subclips associated with it.

Improvements to the Media Manager

Two new options give you more control over operations performed by the Media Manager.

• Include affiliate clips outside selection: You can choose whether or not to include

additional marked master clip media and other affiliated clips in the selected Media Manager operation. How much extra media will be included depends on whether or not the “Duplicate selected items and place into a new project” option is selected.

Including affiliate clips may dramatically increase the amount of media included by the Media Manager operation, but it will ensure that you include the maximum amount of useful footage by including master clip media that:

• Is marked by an In point, Out point, or both

• Falls between two unconnected clips derived from the same master clip

• Appears as an affiliate clip in another sequence

• Base media file names on: This pop-up menu lets you determine how clips are named

when they’re segmented as a result of the “Delete unused media” option. Since the clip names used in your project do not necessarily match the name of the source media files on disk (you may have renamed them manually, for example), you can specify which names to use. You have two options:

• Existing file names: Filenames of clips created by the Media Manager are based on

the source media files on disk.

• Clip names: Filenames of clips created by the Media Manager are based on the

names you’ve given the clips inside your project.

Improvements to the Item Properties window

The Item Properties window has been updated. Three tabs in this window—Format, Timing, and Logging Information—allow you to view or change various properties of a clip. The Item Properties window can now show information for a group of linked clips in a sequence, merged clips, and groups of sequence clips that have been opened simultaneously.

30 Preface New Features in Final Cut Pro HD

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