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Activity Forums Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy I can’t change default image length to fraction of a second

  • I can’t change default image length to fraction of a second

    Posted by Jordan Wilson on May 1, 2010 at 10:06 pm

    I’m trying to group a bunch of still together for a stills move sort of thing.

    I go to User preferences and then go to editing. I’m trying to change the still freeze duration to a fraction of a second, like either 0.12 seconds or 0.08 seconds. It won’t let me for some reason.

    For example, I’ll type in 0.08, but it changes it to 00:00:00:08. I’m left with an 8 second default image. I’ve always tried to change it to 00:00:00:00.08 and 00:00:00.08 and a variety of other things.

    How can I achieve this?

    Andy Mees replied 16 years ago 4 Members · 4 Replies
  • 4 Replies
  • David Roth weiss

    May 1, 2010 at 11:19 pm

    Sorry Jordan, but when you go lower than a second of video, it works in fps (frames per second). If you’re in the U.S., that’s most likely 30 frames per second. The final two numbers in timecode you’re trying to change are frames, not fractions of seconds. If you want to think in terms of fractions of seconds you’ll have to do the math yourself.

    David Roth Weiss
    Director/Editor/Colorist
    David Weiss Productions, Inc.
    Los Angeles

    POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

    EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards

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

  • Jordan Wilson

    May 2, 2010 at 12:00 am

    Thanks David.

    I found out that you can change the duration once they’re in the timeline. It’s kind of annoying because when you add some 50-60 images at once, you have to zoom out, then zoom back in. Then highlight all, right click and then you can set it to 0.08 seconds.

    I’m still looking for a way you can do that in the beginning.

  • Michael Gissing

    May 2, 2010 at 12:22 am

    [Jordan Wilson] “I’m still looking for a way you can do that in the beginning.”

    You don’t have to look, just work out how many frames you want the still image to be in the preferences before you drag to the timeline. If you do it after the images are in the timeline it is a pain.

    You were on the right track but you just didn’t understand what the display mean. David has explained it. Now experiment with one image until you get the length you want and then do the lot.

  • Andy Mees

    May 2, 2010 at 3:07 pm

    [Michael Gissing] “You don’t have to look, just work out how many frames you want the still image to be in the preferences before you drag to the timeline. If you do it after the images are in the timeline it is a pain”

    Jordan, to be clear here.

    As David has pointed out, the timing is defined in frames per second, not a fraction of a second (for example, in NTSC land, 0.08 of a second is about 4 frames)

    Michael is guiding you correctly too, but note that you need to set the User Preferences window > Editing tab > Still/Freeze Duration before you import the stills into your project. The default duration as defined is only applied during import/creation of the still/freeze frame. Once they are in the project then no amount of changing that setting will affect their duration when dragging to the timeline. Best bet for now may be to set your required default Still/Freeze Duration as described and as needed, then delete those stills from the project and reimport them / drag them back in.

    Best
    Andy

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