[Andy Johnson-laird]

but where does the subclipping you originally described come into this workflow?

Usually I chop out large chunks of “dead air” on the original camera clips just to keep the timeline shorter before I let sequenceLiner “do its thing” — so that’s where I first encountered the problem.

But it seems to occur more often when I’m doing short form editing with one or two cameras and want to position clips at places on the timeline different from the embedded time code.

But then I kept wondering how on earth can you make subclips with head/tail if you use markers and you have, say, three markers in a row, delimiting two contiguous clips? So I kept searching the fora and reading the FCP manual, with the nagging thought that it must be me not understanding FCP.

Regards
Andy

Forensic Software/Internet/Image Analyst
Portland, Oregon

[Andy Johnson-laird]

Check out Singular Softwares Pluraleyes. It syncs everything up like magic!

As I understand it, it uses the audio data to move video into sync. Unfortunately for me, one of the three cameras is on an eight foot boom and, to minimize the counterbalancing required, I remove the electronic viewfinder and on-camera microphone so there is no audio.

Regards
Andy

Forensic Software/Internet/Image Analyst
Portland, Oregon

[Andy Johnson-laird]

That’s an obsolete license from when FCP was a standalone product.

OMG (as the younger crowd would say). You’re right. I dug through the post installation debris field and found the printed FCS2 license.

That’s interesting. I’ve never seen software licenses that attempt to restrict the ownership of the hardware on which the software runs.

Thanks for pointing that out.
Regards
Andy

Forensic Software/Internet/Image Analyst
Portland, Oregon

[Andy Johnson-laird]

That’s what I use with multicam clips with multiple takes.

I only wish I had the option for getting multiple takes, Rebecca.

I am typically doing a three camera shoot with three XLH1a, using a single camera remote control to sync the timecodes on all three cameras before the shoot (using timecode, free run from preset). So all three cameras are then frame accurate in timecode sync.

After the shoot, I then drag all the clips from all three cameras’ FS-CV disk recorders into the timeline on the appropriate Vn/An channels, I then use sequenceLiner to arrange up all the clips on the timeline according to the embedded/synced time code. Then I export the entire sequence as three separate QT movies and reimport them into a new FCP sequence.

Then I select all three clips and make them a multiclip and do the editing by playing back, cutting to each camera as required. I can use the Blade tool to remove unwanted material from the multiclip. It’s the NLE version of meatball surgery.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Albert Einstein
“Until it comes to making FCP do what I want it to. Then it’s just knowledge I need.” Me. 🙂

Regards
Andy

Forensic Software/Internet/Image Analyst
Portland, Oregon

[Andy Johnson-laird]

Placing markers on the master clip opens a twirldown with each marker listed separately below, and each can be labeled, much like subclip.

Oh…now there’s a thought. So, if I understand you correctly David, you do NOT do the “Make Subclip” step after you have added clip markers to the master clip….

I infer that in the VIewer, you set your In/Out points *based* on the clip markers — but leaving a bit of head and tail either side of where the markers are located, and then bringing the resulting clip from the Viewer down into the timeline? Then you repeat the process with the same master clip, setting the In/Out points on the next pair of clip markers?

Being an indolent computer geek, I wonder whether there is a means of getting the Mac and FCP to do the grunt work of making 50 or so such “subclips.”

Thanks for responding though.
Regards
Andy

Forensic Software/Internet/Image Analyst
Portland, Oregon

[Andy Johnson-laird]

Hi Rebecca:
Thanks! That’s an idea I hadn’t thought of it and, at first blush, it’s certainly a good workaround — albeit one that one has to be done on a subclip by subclip basis

As you could probably tell, using clip markers is tantalizingly close to what I need to do if only FCP7 could be persuaded to add head and tail material to marker-delineated subclips where such material is available (which is everywhere other than at the start and end of the main clip).

Thanks for the idea. I’ll try it.

Regards
Andy

Forensic Software/Internet/Image Analyst
Portland, Oregon

[Andy Johnson-laird]

First of all, what version of the software are you using? Second, what format are you working in?

Oh…sorry, Tom. I should have called that out better: FCP7.0 (it was in the subject line).
I’m using HDV format.

These two questions will effect how you can work with the media. There is no one answer. You might also want to look at the extend marker function to create a head an tail for your subclips. Make subclips as loose as you can, usually simply from the beginning to the end of the shot. Making subclips is really an organizational function and not an editing function per se.

I understand. The real trouble comes when I need to make a series of subclips from a contiguous chunk of a clip — the marker at the end of one clip becomes the marker at the start of the next clip and therefore, there’s no apparent way to get any tail on the first clip and head on the second.

Regards
Andy

Forensic Software/Internet/Image Analyst
Portland, Oregon

[Andy Johnson-laird]

I had wondered about this question too, Tom (in the context of wondering whether I could legitimately install FCP on a computer I rented).

I checked the license agreement at https://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/FinalCutProSWlicense.pdf but I do not see any requirement that you must own the computer on which FCP is installed.

Is there some other agreement that you know about, please?

Thanks in advance
Andy

Forensic Software/Internet/Image Analyst
Portland, Oregon

[Andy Johnson-laird]

Found an answer. Bring 1080i60 clip on to Timeline, File > Export as Quicktime Movie, select 1080p30 codec in the Export dialog box and create new .mov.

Then reimport into FCP.

Hope this helps someone else with the same question. 🙂

Regards
Andy

Forensic Software/Internet/Image Analyst
Portland, Oregon

[Andy Johnson-laird]

You’d think that it might, but no. 🙁

What I end up having to do is (believe it or not) take screen shots on a PC using Hypersnap DX and saving the image of each slide as a PSD file and then importing those into FCP. Ugggerly, but it works. Hypersnap DX allows for automating the capture/save as PSD step, so it’s not a slow as the process suggests. But it is clunky.

Of course, you lose all the Powerpoint animation. (What we in the software biz call a “real feechur.”)

There’s got to be a better way. I was thinking of using PowerPoint on a Mac and something like Camtasia to record a movie of the animations.

Let us know if you find a better way.
Regards
Andy

Forensic Software/Internet/Image Analyst
Portland, Oregon