[Nate Tam]

What Michael said.

However, If you’re planning on using any media that is in the browser, but NOT in the timeline, than I say you’d just have to bite the bullet and re-transcode anything that’s not apple prores, whether that be through media manager or some other software like MPEG Streamclip. I personally would transcode in MPEG Streamclip just cause its faster, and final cut can still run (depending on the machine) while you transcode.

Afterwards, just reconnect all your media to the transcoded files.

Sorry I don’t have a more convenient answer for you…

Nate Tam
Freelance Film Editor
natetamiam.com

[Nate Tam]

Export a version from Final Cut using Export to Quicktime (NOT QUICKTIME CONVERSION)

Don’t touch a single setting. Final Cut reads the sequence setting and exports it as high quality as you’re gonna get.

Save to whatever destination you see fit.

If you don’t already have it, download MPEG Streamclip.

Open the export you had just made from Final Cut in MPEG streamclip, then go to file/export to other formats (quicktime works as well IF YOU’RE ONLY USING A MAC), then in the window that pops up, select options. that will bring up another window. Under format, select h264. Use the pertinent frame rate, and select fast encode. Under sound, i like to use IMA 4:1. DONT TOUCH ANYTHING ELSE. close out of that window and back to the previous one. Select the desired frame size. select “better downscaling” if you’re downscaling at all. If you shot progressive, then deselect interlaced scaling.

Last but certainly not least, towards the top of the window you’ll see a “limit data rate” checkbox. CHECK IT. than type a number in (most likely to be in the thousands or ten of thousands) until the file size indicator to the right is at the size you’d like it to be. ALWAY UNDERSHOOT. MPEG Streamclip tends to export things larger in file size than it predicts.

hit OK.

Be AMAZED.

Be happy. 🙂

Nate Tam
Freelance Film Editor
natetamiam.com

[Nate Tam]

Have you tried reimporting the clips into the browser and using those? I know it may be a hassle depending on how much footage you have and organization, but that might work.

If you still have the same problem, then I say it’s a settings issue.

Try deleting the Final Cut Pro prefs file located in Library/preferences/final cut pro user data. BUT BEFORE YOU DO, copy and paste it to your desktop, just to save it incase this doesn’t work.

Final cut will automatically create a new one when you restart it.

Hope all works out.

Nate Tam
Freelance Film Editor
natetamiam.com

[Nate Tam]

Yes, I agree if you’re looking for SLOWER than 60fps. If you’ve shot 60fps, all you need to do is conform in cinema tools to 23.98, or ramp down in final cut. Once doing that, you can judge if you want it slower or not, and based off that judgement, use the method that Stephen suggests.

Motion has a quick and easy way to achieve this twixtor effect, however if you can use AE, then twixtor is the way to go. There’s much more fine tuning involved that may give you a better result.

Nate Tam
Freelance Film Editor
natetamiam.com

[Nate Tam]

In order for your 60fps footage to be played back in slow motion, and then continue to edit it, you need to do a few things.

Firstly, you need to open up cinema tools and batch conform all of your source 60fps footage into 23.98fps footage. Then you’d have to transcode all of it into apple prores or whatever codec you’re looking to edit in, and then put that into FCP. You need to make sure the frame rate in the sequence settings in Final Cut match the clip, which should be 23.98 if you’ve done everything correctly. This is the best way I know to cut slow motion footage.

You can always try cutting 60fps footage in Final Cut (as long as the codec suits it) and just slow down the footage using the speed tool or command+j, but using the method I’ve described will allow you to cut without having to render.

Also, you don’t have to put the clips in FCP in order to see if you’ve got slow motion footage. After you batch conform all of your 60fps footage, you should just be able to play those back in finder, or quicktime in slow motion. All cinema tools is doing is stretching out the time it takes back to play the 60 frames into 23.98 frames.

Hope this helps.

Nate Tam
Freelance Film Editor
natetamiam.com

[Nate Tam]

Changing the settings in preferences doesn’t work for speed changes in the timeline. It only works for rendering.

I think what he’s asking is to have the checkbox unchecked as a default when you hit command-j.

Even though it doesn’t seem like something you should be complaining about, for me I somehow end up cutting music videos that have a TON of speed changes and don’t want frame blending…In that case, its just really annoying to be changing it every cut.