Help!

I’m in a time crunch and totally confused.

I am creating a dvd from a bunch of clips I am downloading from the internet. I want them to look their best when they are shown on a projection screen. What is the best way to convert them, edit them in FCP, and create a DVD?

How do I handle various frame sizes? I plan to convert them to quicktimes with MPEG Streamclip b4 I bring them into FCP. Is this the way to go? When I export from MPEG Streamclip what should my compression and frame size settings be? I assume I should try to match them up with my FCP sequence. Is that right?

What should my sequence settings be for

• frame size
• aspect ratio
• compression

Any quick response would be greatly appreciated

Steve Rogalinski

Not sure why you replied to another person’s post… But here is an answer dedicated to you…

Motion Picture Size
First, what is your sequence setting? NTSC, or 1080p or 720p. You can find this out by right clicking on your FCP sequence and seeing the Width X Height there. Lets assume for example that your resolution is 1080p or 1920 x 1080.

Resolution – 72 PPI (like photoshop)
So Final Cut keeps all images or frames of video at 72 ppi. When working with image just to make them POP and not have any res. issues I recommend 96 ppi. I would not recommend using any image which is lower then 1920 x 1080, and if you do use that, don’t stretch it beyond 100%.
To get your images in 96 ppi simply open the image in Preview and then go to tools and then adjust size – there you will be able to enter Resolution as well.

Workflow
I am guessing you would like to dump many images at once? If this is true then…
> Go to the Effect’s Tab and get slate, then cut your slate to the size you would like each picture to play for. So lets say you want one picture displayed for 10 seconds so your slates should be 10 seconds long. Keep copying and pasting them until you have enough that equal the images.
> So if you have 20 images then you should have like 20 black slates.
> Once the 20 black slates are ready be-sure that your playhead for the canvas is in the very beginning of your timeline.
> Finally, Select all your images, then click on the selection and then drag that to the canvas and drop them on “Fit to Fill.”
> That will get all your slates replaced with all your images

If my instructions are confusing this might help too:
https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=final+cut+how+to+use+fit+to+fill

Hope this helps – Don’t forget to like my FACEBOOK page

Photgrapher, Videographer, Web Designer, Editor, Still and Motion Graphic Designer yet not Invincible – Only an EYETOGRAPHER
Pls Like – https://facebook.com/eyetography

Here is an idea.

notice – If you can play it back in quicktime then you will be able to use any clip in fcp. You will only have to render the clip to preview it in final cut… which can take very long and be annoying. If you don’t want to do this you will have to convert them all in an fcp/apple friendly format.

I suggest using handbreak & vlc (google it, they are free softwares) to convert everything to MP4. Then when you bring in the first clip fcp will ask you to change your sequence to match that clip – once you agree everything should go good.

Inside handbreak choose Apple TV pre-sets, and I also recommend that you make all your frame rates the same, as you never know if you have some European PAL clips or even American which might be in 24 or 30

Hope this helps. Again don’t forget to friend us on Facebook!

Photgrapher, Videographer, Web Designer, Editor, Still and Motion Graphic Designer yet not Invincible – Only an EYETOGRAPHER
Pls Like – https://facebook.com/eyetography

[Shonit Jain] “I suggest using handbreak & vlc (google it, they are free softwares) to convert everything to MP4. “

Sorry Shonit, but that’s just not good advice. All MP4 files and all h.264 files need to be transcoded to a RT FCP codec. It’s not an optional decision as you’ve implied, it’s a standard workflow.

MP4 is not an editing codec in FCP. Yes, FCP will do some limited editing of the codec, but that’s more of an accident on Apple’s part at this point than a feature.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.com

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

A forum host of Creative COW’s Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums. Formerly host of the Apple Final Cut Basics, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.