Glenn Fisher
Forum Replies Created
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Steve is right.
From Final Cut Pro, choose File -> Export -> Export to Compressor. That will automatically launch the Compressor application. In the “Settings” window, choose Apple -> Formats -> Quicktime -> H.264. Highlight that preset and then drag it up to where it says “Drag Settings and Destinations Here.” After that, you can right click (ctrl-click) where it says “Source” and choose your own destination from the contextual menu. Click submit, and compressor will begin cranking away at the file. To check the status of the compression, you’ll want to open up the Batch Monitor.
I hope that helps. Best of luck!
– Glenn Fisher
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I concur with Jerry.
I don’t think that you should be concerned about it since the client knows that the video is in standard definition.
Even in this world of HD though, many home viewers are still stuck watching the majority of their cable shows in standard def, so I’m sure the client is already used to seeing standard definition content on his/her HDTV.
If you want to be careful, it might just be worth dropping a one-line when you’re talking to the client and say “I’ll make the footage look that best that I can, but it is in standard definition so it will look no better than standard definition cable broadcasts.”
I hope that helps! Good luck with your project!
– Glenn Fisher
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Are you sure that you have enough of a handle on the end of that clip in order to use transition?
Also, if all you want to do is fade out, and you’re having trouble with it, then you can try keyframing the opacity. By keyframing the opacity from 100 to 0 over the course of 1 second, that’s the same as a fade out.
To do that, put your playhead on the location in the timeline where you would like the fade out to begin, then double click on the clip in your timeline in order to open it up in the viewer. In the viewer, select the “Motion” tab, twirl down the opacity options, and then click on the rhombus button just to the right of the opacity slider. That sets the first keyframe (you’re telling Final Cut: “I want the opacity at this point in time to be 100%”). Then go back to the timeline, move your playhead to the end of the clip that you would like to have faded out. The position of the playhead in the timeline should be automatically updated in the viewer (i.e. by moving the playhead in the timeline, it moved the playhead for the corresponding clip in the viewer). Once you have the playhead at the end of the clip, then just go back into the viewer and drag the opacity slider from 100% down to 0%. Since you’re changing the setting, Final Cut Pro automatically sets a second keyframe at that point in time (this time you’re telling Final Cut: “I want this video to have 0% opacity at this point in time”). Final Cut, like all other video/audio applications, will “interpolate” between the two keyframes, meaning that it will gradually decrease the opacity from 100% to 0%, creating a fade-out effect.
I hope that helps. Best of luck to you!
– Glenn Fisher
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I’m not sure whether you’re asking about techniques for managing files for a current project or archiving files for a project that you’ve already completed, so I’ll mention both.
When you’re managing files for your current projects, you should find a system that works for you. All of your media should be stored on a drive other than the one that your operating system is running from. If you have two internal hard drives, then you can store media on your second internal. If you only have one internal hard drive (say, you’re working with a laptop) then you’ll want to use a firewire external hard drive to capture your video to, save render files to, etc. The location where you want to store all of that is considered the “Scratch Disk.” It sounds like you’ve already had some experience in dealing with that.
When you’ve completed a project and you want to archive it for future reference, then you’re best off using the “Media Manager.” With the Media Manager, you specify a location to save all of the files associated with your project, and it will automatically copy whatever you specify (project file, captured video, render files, waveforms, and anything else that might be associated with your project).
The Final Cut Pro 6 User Manual has two chapters devoted to the Media Manager. The first one, chapter 7, covers in-depth how to use the Media Manager and explains all of the possible options. The second one, chapter 8, gives examples of ways to use the Media Manager (since it serves more purposes than just archiving). You can find the manual online at: https://manuals.info.apple.com/en/Final_Cut_Pro_6_User_Manual.pdf. Chapter 7 begins on page 1570 of the PDF file, and chapter 8 begins on page 1588.
Since I think it might help you in figuring out a good workflow that works for you, I’ll describe how I handle media with all of my projects. I have a 1TB external hard drive which I use as a dedicated scratch disk for Final Cut. All of my media is capture to that drive inside of a folder that I called “FCP Scratch Disk.” My media lives there until I finish a project and want to archive it. At that point, I use the Media Manager to copy all of my media along with the project file onto another external hard drive. Once my media is archived, then I delete the original files from the scratch disk to free up room for more video.
I hope that helps! Best of luck to you.
– Glenn Fisher
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I’m not sure what format you are shooting in, but I have had terrible lag times with HDV that have made the scopes in Adobe OnLocation completely useless. With lag times of a second or more, it does not help to see the scopes. Anyway, I just wanted to point that out in case you’re using HDV (and maybe AVCHD, too). It might not be worth the trouble (although he can resist the curiosity! :D).
Best of luck!
Glenn Fisher -
I can’t give too much help or advice for this, but I can tell you that it’s normal. I have a similar issue on my computer. I’ve found that when choosing the “export using compressor” option, Final Cut Pro is unusable until compressor has finished processing the video.
That’s been my experience, at least. Perhaps somebody else can chime in and explain why or whether or not there is a setting that can be changed to allow Final Cut to remain usable.
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Although I haven’t tried this, now that a lot of iTunes songs do not have DRM, it might work. Select the song you want to use in iTunes. Right click it, and select “Show in Finder.” A finder window will open up with that song already selected. Right click it and choose “Open With” -> “Quicktime Player”. After the song opens in quicktime, you can try going to “File” -> “Export” and exporting it into an AIF file which would be compatible with Final Cut Pro. If your song does not have DRM, then this may or may not work. If your song does have DRM, then it definitely will not work.
If you’re stuck with a DRM song, you might want to take a look at Amazon’s online music store. I believe they sell mp3s there that are completely DRM free, and should be compatible with Final Cut.
Best of Luck,
Glenn Fisher -
Like Walter mentioned, any DVI capable monitor would suit you just fine. Just understand that it will probably NOT be color accurate at all. In fact, you will probably have color differences between the two screens that you’ll be using. Whether or not this matters to you depends on your work, but when I just recently got one of the older Dell 24″ monitors to work with my Macbook Pro, I found it excruciating to work on any photos or do even simple color correction, since the colors between my MBP and the Dell were very different. Of course, whenever you’re doing color correction you should really be using a separate reference monitor that you know is accurate.
Best of Luck,
Glenn Fisher -
In my experience of working with older projects, I have had no problems at all getting Final Cut to open up projects made in older versions. When you do so, however, a warning box pops up telling you that once you save the file, it will NOT be readable in FCP5. As long as you don’t need to have your project be opened up by FCP5 on another computer, then you should have no problems at all.
Best of Luck,
Glenn Fisher -
I’m glad that I could help! 🙂
– Glenn Fisher