[Nichofilm]

This is a problem I have been wondering about where I have been filming with a 3 camera shoot of a series of outdoor plays ‘in the round’ where it would be intrusive to have a clapper and the play happens regardless of the filming.

I haven’t tried it yet, or worked out how to sync it to the video, but I wonder if a quick peep on an ultrasonic dog whistle would help – show up on the timeline but not be audible in the production?

[Nichofilm]

I don’t think you will be taking the FCP manuals on the train Rob – 1600 pages in 3 volumes, topics spread across all 3, weigh over 2.5 Kg. They are good as manuals go, so worth having from Apple, and are duplicated in your FCP Help file. What I would recommend, not for any commercial reasons but because it has been an enormous help to me, is the Focal Press ‘Editing with Final Cut Pro’ by Charles Roberts.

He really helps with setting up your system and your workflow, and is much easier to read and understand than the FCP manual, which remains a good set of reference books. For instance, it is not obvious where FCP stashes all your files, and unless you understand this early on you can get in a huge mess after a while.

Have fun!