Revolutionary Final Cut Pro 3 Digital Post-Production

by Morgan, Diannah; Kingsnorth, George J.; Soltz, Ned; Tagliati, Michel; Kadner, Noah

• ISBN13: 9781903450819
• ISBN10: 1903450810
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2002-05-01
• Publisher: Springer-Verlag New York Inc

Summary

Final Cut Pro 3 is Apple's most recent offering to the digital revolution, as it grabs a larger chunk of the future of the film industry. FCP 3 increases the power accessible to filmmakers from their own computers, and provides extra features previously only available in more expensive suites.This book provides editors, producers, and consumers with a definitive guide to Post Production using the latest version of Final Cut Pro. It also documents four of the most popular delivery formats: Broadcast, DVD, the Net, and Film, and explains how they effect the workflow in the edit bay.The book covers:The professional features of Final Cut Pro's interface.The many 3rd party hardware/software enhancements such as Boris FX, 3DInvigorator, Contour Shuttlepro and Post-Op color-coded keyboards.Creating a proper EDL for film and 24p projects using FCP 3 and such products as FilmLogic.How to color correct in Final Cut Pro for consistency as well as to achieve new effects and styles.How to output projects for film, television, DVD and the Internet.How to take advantage of the Real-time features offered in FCP 3 including:Media Management Tools for compression and transfer and when to use them.Using Offline RT for Real-time editing both on a desktop and on a Powerbook G4.Creating titles with the new Real-time Text generators.Using RT filters and transitions to achieve amazing effects.Special techniques and power-user secrets that take FCP 3 beyond the boundaries stated by Apple- including how to accelerate RT effects on lower-end G4 machines.How to program your own unique effects using the FXBuilder.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
The revolutionary approach to FCP 3	p. 3
The DVD	p. 4
The web site	p. 4
How the book looks	p. 4
Support--just in case	p. 5
Time to set off	p. 5
What's New in FCP 3?	p. 7
The new features	p. 8
OS X compatibility	p. 8
Real-time editing	p. 8
Voice-Over tool	p. 9
Color correction	p. 9
Installation issues of FCP 3	p. 9
What system or systems do I use?	p. 10
Installing FCP 3 full version	p. 12
Installing in OS9	p. 13
Installing in OSX	p. 13
Upgrading to FCP 3	p. 13
Now that you've installed FCP 3	p. 14
Offline RT editing	p. 14
And the winner is...	p. 16
Three-way color correction	p. 17
Color Correction Filter	p. 20
Broadcast Safe	p. 21
The post production process
Looking at Post Production Workflow	p. 24
Chaotic compatibility	p. 26
How this affects Final Cut Pro	p. 26
Analyzing the projects	p. 27
An imaginary documentary	p. 28
Working with others	p. 33
Working with other applications	p. 34
Automation	p. 35
Input Formats Explored	p. 37
Quick Time	p. 37
Digital video formats	p. 39
Component vs composite	p. 39
What are all those D's?	p. 40
DV formats	p. 41
DV and FireWire	p. 42
Beyond FireWire	p. 47
Third-party Capture Cards	p. 47
Digital Voodoo	p. 47
CineWave	p. 49
Aurora	p. 54
AJA	p. 55
Other ways beside capture to acquire assets	p. 55
CDs/data DVDs	p. 55
Importing a CD with iTunes	p. 57
The NET	p. 59
EDL Support	p. 61
Why an EDL?	p. 61
EDL considerations	p. 62
Preparing for an EDL	p. 62
Reel naming conventions	p. 62
Before you capture	p. 63
Calibrate timecode	p. 63
User programmable timecode	p. 64
Timecode breaks	p. 65
Clip names	p. 65
Limit your edits	p. 66
Keep it on V1	p. 66
A note about audio tracks	p. 66
No nesting!	p. 66
Transitions	p. 67
Stills & speed & generators	p. 67
Formats	p. 67
Editing Techniques
Editing Techniques	p. 77
Compositing versus editing	p. 77
Pros of slicing and dicing	p. 78
Markers to sub-clips	p. 81
And the cons?	p. 84
Trim edits and the Trim Edit window	p. 86
Ripple edits	p. 89
Rolling edits	p. 89
Slip & slide edits	p. 90
Audio edits	p. 92
Marking the beat	p. 93
Viewing clips for multi-camera edits	p. 93
Better Sound than Sorry	p. 97
Reference levels	p. 99
Presets for analog audio-only capture	p. 104
Audio sample rates	p. 106
Techniques in editing audio clips	p. 111
Audio transitions and filters	p. 115
Adding voice-over directly into the timeline	p. 119
Adding music from a CD	p. 131
Mixdown audio	p. 135
Exporting audio into an online suite	p. 139
Importing audio into Peak DV	p. 140
System Configurations	p. 143
The basic system	p. 143
Beyond basic	p. 144
Video cards	p. 144
Monitors	p. 146
Hard drives	p. 146
The Super Drive	p. 149
Capture cards	p. 149
So you've seen the options, what do you choose?	p. 157
The Autosave Vault	p. 159
Setting up the Autosave Vault	p. 160
Restoring your project	p. 162
Managing media in FCP 3	p. 163
Moving clips offline from the browser	p. 164
Finding unused media	p. 164
Reconnecting media	p. 166
Using Media Manager	p. 167
Filters and Effects
Filters and Effects	p. 175
Applying an effect	p. 176
The filters	p. 177
Generators	p. 181
Motion control and motion paths	p. 182
Jigsaw tear-away	p. 182
Conception	p. 182
Suggestions for enhancing the puzzle	p. 191
Tweaking keyframes	p. 192
Third party plug-ins	p. 192
Online sites you should visit for plug-ins	p. 192
Applications you might want to consider	p. 193
Transitions	p. 195
What do transitions do for us?	p. 195
How does a transition work?	p. 196
Transitions and the EDL	p. 197
The new real-time (RT) transitions	p. 199
QuickView: Another way to cheat the render	p. 203
Other transitions	p. 205
Non-RT transitions	p. 206
Using nested sequences as clips	p. 212
Exploring third-party transitions	p. 213
Finding transitions on the net	p. 214
FXBuilder Demystified	p. 217
What is the FXBuilder?	p. 217
FXScripts	p. 218
Walking through a simple script	p. 220
Conditional statements	p. 222
Predefined variables	p. 223
Is this Apple script?	p. 226
A more customizable transition	p. 226
Walk through a script with input controls	p. 231
What do 'snap' and 'detent' do?	p. 232
Exploring and building FXScripts	p. 237
Reading code	p. 237
Running the code	p. 237
Reusing code	p. 239
Debugging code	p. 239
Finishing with Final Cut Pro
Creation of Media for DVD Studio Pro	p. 243
Exporting alternate audio tracks	p. 250
Exporting alternate angles	p. 253
Creating motion menus	p. 256
Creating a motion menu button overlay	p. 261
Designing DVD surround sound in FCP	p. 268
Creating DVDSP chapter stops in FCP	p. 275
Preparation of Media for Internet Delivery	p. 281
The state of broadband	p. 281
Shooting for the Internet	p. 281
Prepping for the Internet	p. 283
Cutting for the Internet	p. 283
Compressing	p. 284
Streaming or progressive download	p. 284
Compressing in Final Cut Pro	p. 285
Streaming QuickTime from Final Cut Pro	p. 290
Compressing in Cleaner	p. 292
A walk through Cleaner 5's advanced Settings	p. 300
Players	p. 304
QuickTime	p. 304
Real Player	p. 304
Windows Media Player	p. 305
Hosting and Servers	p. 306
Hosting vs. in-house	p. 306
Servers	p. 306
Throughput, bandwidth, downloads	p. 307
Code	p. 307
High-end workflows	p. 308
Broadcast Standards	p. 311
FCP 3 in the industry	p. 311
Turning your FCP 3 suite from offline to online	p. 312
Using FCP 3 to output finished programs	p. 313
Color correction	p. 313
Broadcast television requirements	p. 331
Making a delivery tape suitable for broadcast	p. 333
Finishing on Film	p. 339
Giving DV a film look	p. 339
DigiEffects' CineLook	p. 345
Starting digitally, finishing on film	p. 349
Starting as film, finishing as film	p. 351
Interfaces and Utilities
Workflow and Organizational Interfaces	p. 359
Organization beyond the FCP interface	p. 359
Multiple cameras	p. 359
Tapes	p. 360
Organization within the FCP interface	p. 363
Capture presets	p. 363
Anamorphic 16:9	p. 364
Regular 4:3	p. 365
Digital 16:9	p. 365
True 16:9 format	p. 366
Anamorphic 2.35:1	p. 366
Digital Cinemascope 2:35	p. 366
Sequence presets	p. 367
Bins and reel numbers	p. 368
Final Cut Pro Documents	p. 369
Project files	p. 370
The Media Manager	p. 370
Print to Video	p. 371
Dropped frames	p. 371
How to avoid dropped frames	p. 372
Editing Interfaces	p. 375
The Selection tool	p. 376
Edit, group, and range selection tools	p. 379
Track selection tools	p. 382
Ripple-n-roll	p. 383
Roll edits	p. 383
Ripple Edit tool	p. 384
Slip and slide	p. 386
Slip Item tool	p. 386
Slide Item tool	p. 387
Razor Blade tool	p. 389
Setting system preferences	p. 391
Arrangement layouts	p. 396
Custom layouts	p. 402
Offline media	p. 405
Automatic scene detection	p. 409
Mark audio peak tool	p. 411
...And now for something completely different!	p. 415
Launching FXBuilder text entry	p. 415
Accessing FXScript components	p. 416
Definition statements and input controls	p. 417
Input statements	p. 422
Rules of expressions	p. 424
Constants and variables	p. 426
Data types	p. 427
Operators	p. 428
Basic mathematical operators	p. 429
Boolean mathematical operators	p. 430
Assignment and flow control statements	p. 432
Functions	p. 436
Putting it all together	p. 437
The Dane Hack - Improving Real-Time Capabilities of Your Mac	p. 447
Index	p. 457
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.