[Alan Okey]

Media manager will only copy the media files included in the edit, not the STP or Shake workspace files.

[Alan Okey]

In the Capture Settings tab of the Log and Capture window, make sure “Preview” is checked under the Audio section.

[Alan Okey]

Isn’t Animation 4:4:4 RGB?

[Alan Okey]

[Larry Asbell] “Any further tips on doing that? Such as, does one mark out on the same frame as the next segment’s mark in? “

The out mark should be one frame prior to the in mark of the next segment in the sequence, otherwise you’ll have a duplicate frame.

[Larry Asbell] “Any problems with audio continuity from segment to segment?”

I haven’t had any issues.

[Larry Asbell] “Can you drop a corrected segment of video into a larger segment of audio and video (the equivalent of a video only insert)? “

No, because theres no way to insert a clip into another clip within DVDSP – the timeline handles sequential segments only. Also, you can’t do a frame-accurate cut on an MPEG-2 encoded asset because it’s already undergone long-GOP compression. The finest granualrity you can have for cut points or chapter markers in DVDSP is every 15 frames. It’s best to manage segment cut points in FCP.

If you anticipate needing to make a lot of changes in a piece, cut your sequence into shorter, more manageable segments so that you won’t have to re-encode the entire piece if a change is made.

[Larry Asbell] “Finally I’m wondering, since DVD Studio Pro can’t author Bluray does that mean we’d need a different app’s timeline to combine mp4 segments into one track before burning to Bluray? “

Yes, you’d need a different app, but I don’t know what that would be. I haven’t done any Blu-Ray work.

[Alan Okey]

To be honest I don’t really care much anymore. Now that Smoke is available for the Mac at a reasonable price, I have access to a product that is much better suited to my needs. FCP has served me well, but I don’t see it becoming like Smoke anytime soon – that is, a single application with a comprehensive integrated finishing toolset as opposed to a group of separate applications that requires a round-tripping workflow. Color remains the best part of Final Cut Studio for my needs, but that could change if Lustre comes to the Mac.

Having said that, here’s my last wish list from November, 2008. Only one of the items in my original list (speed change behavior) was addressed in FCP 7.

1. Better text tools

I hate Boris Title3D and the FCP text tools. FCP deserves nothing less than a truly integrated text generator with realtime onscreen previewing for interactive feedback.

2. UI widget overhaul

The UI widgets in FCP are pretty long in the tooth, and were designed at a time in which huge high-res, high-ppi monitors were a rarity. As a result, many UI elements in FCP look tiny. While FCP currently allows you to save your own window layouts, the actual window elements (window buttons, tool palette objects, etc.) are not scalable. The ability to customize the UI color would also be fantastic. Compared to Motion, Soundtrack Pro or Logic Studio, FCP is way behind the curve on this.

3. Media Manager overhaul

‘Nuff said.

4. Background rendering

The ability to continue cutting while unrendered elements are processed would be an immense time saver. Smoothcam background processing is a good start, now just expand the concept.

5. Distributed rendering

Logic and Compressor take full advantage of any available CPUs in a cluster. FCP should too.

6. Masking tools

FCP should incorporate all of the masking tools available in Motion – i.e. animatable bezier or B-spline masks and motion tracking. An “8-point Garbage Matte” just doesn’t cut it anymore, nor does manually keyframing a matte to follow an object in a shot. Bring FCP into the 21st century already and integrate the new technologies already present in Motion.

7. Keyframe animation overhaul

Round-tripping to Motion just to get still pan & zooms that don’t suck is inexcusable. The motion tab should inherit Motion’s functionality.

8. Improved speed change behavior

(fixed in FCP 7)

The ability to change clip speed without altering the position of everything else that follows on the same video track would be brilliant – i.e. keep the clip in and out points in the same place on the timeline. Also, adding Shake’s optical flow technology for smooth slow motion with interpolated frames would be a much-appreciated addition to the simple frame blending that FCP currently uses.

9. Improved Browser functionality

It would be nice to have more sorting options for files and clips appearing in the browser, i.e. sort by type, sort by file size, sort by date, etc. Infinitely scalable icons would be an improvement over the stock small, medium and large presets. Right-clicking on a clip or file could offer an option to “find clip in timeline” in addition to the current options. Some type of indication whether or not a clip or file is currently being used in any sequences would also be great. DVD Studio Pro has this feature for assets, why not FCP?

[Alan Okey]

If you’re not adding a lot of text or graphics or doing any extensive color correction, and if your system doesn’t bog down when editing HDV, then there’s no compelling reason for you to change your workflow. “If it ain’t broke…”

Variables that might alter your decision would be the addition of lots of graphics/text, doing extensive compositing/color correction or adding lots of filters. In that case, ProRes would be a better choice.

[Alan Okey]

[stewart charles] “IM using fcp 6 on a Mac book pro I’ve been asked to capture 2 HDV tapes as H.264. Do I do this in the capture settings of fcp or do I have to use compressor to convert to it?. “

You need to use Compressor for this. h.264 is a delivery codec, not an editing codec, therefore FCP does not offer h.264 for capture.

You might want to look into one of the hardware alternatives out there like the Blackmagic Video Recorder:

https://www.decklink.com/products/videorecorder/

I believe that particular product may only be for standard definition video, but there may be a similar product that can encode HD to h.264 in realtime.

[Alan Okey]

I’ve used a 2007 dual 2.66GHz Mac Pro (four cores total) for the last two years and I’m quite pleased with it. With adequate RAM, GPU and HDs, the Mac Pro you specified will serve you well, and will most likely be faster than your existing laptop.

[Alan Okey]

David’s advice is sound. Without time and experience, this will be a difficult shot for you to fix, especially within Final Cut Pro.

The golden lining is that if the camera doesn’t move in the shot, it would be a fairly easy task to use a program with great paint tools like Combustion (much better than AE in this case) to replace the sections of the image containing the reflection by using clean plates from an earlier point in the same clip. In Combustion, this would be done using a reveal brush, which “reveals” the same portion of the image at another point in time – in your case, earlier in the clip prior to the window closing. The transition point where the window’s edge crosses the frame might be a bit tricky, but it’s not an impossible shot.

You might actually be able to use a similar method in FCP, but you would need to overlay the same clip over itself offset in time and use garbage masks to limit the area affected. FCP’s garbage masks and keyframing are clunky, blunt objects compared to the tools available in a dedicated compositing application like Combustion.

If the camera is moving during the shot, more powerful software like Imagineer’s Mokey could handle the task.

Good luck.

[Alan Okey]

[Pradip Patil] “So if I export it as an image sequence, what happens to interlacing? “

Nothing happens. Interlacing is maintained, you just get both fields together in one image. Smoke should handle that just fine. Don’t deinterlace, you’ll be throwing out half of your vertical resolution if you do.