Tutorials/Video/Getting started with editing in Final Cut Pro
From Bjoern Hassler
[edit] 1 Final Cut Studio: Getting Started with Editing
Contents |
This pages discusses the use these programs:
- Final Cut Pro
- Compressor to go from FCP to DSP.
- DVD Studio Pro
There are other programs for making titles (Livetype), music (soundtrack), as well as basic animation (motion). The wouldnt be used in a normal workflow, but if you wanted something fancy, you could look into them.
Final Cut Studio comes with training DVDs and other training materials: You might like to look at this also.
[edit] 1.1 Basic Editing in Final Cut Pro
Basic windows are: Browser, Viewer, Canvas, Timeline.
Browser keys
- apple-n when in the browser creates a new sequence
- apple-b creates a bin.
Timeline keys:
- shift-e goes to next edit, alt-e goes to old edit, likewise with m's for markers
- diagonal arrows go to beg and end of sequence
- a is arrow, b is blade
Tip:
- if cutting audio etc give yourself some room either side. then click on 'snapping' so that you can cut any other tracks to the same place.
- if there is a warning triangle there is something wrong - probably not setting where to save it to!
Lecture editing: Firstly, give the project a sensible name, we'll agree on something for Dublin, but generally it might be something like 'MMP - Some Lecturer'. The reasons for naming things in a certain way is that the name will carry through e.g. to the video file store on disk, and to the encoded footage. If everything is just called 'lecture' or 'finished' then we'll soon loose track.
- Make title sequence, make credit sequence (the name of the sequence should be the same as the name of the project, followed by what it is, e.g. 'MMP - Some Lecturer - 1 Titles'
- Make lecture sequence, by putting captured video footage into it (again, sensible name 'MMP - Some Lecturer - 2 Lecture')
- Find good in point, find good out point. (e.g. make decision about whether to have MC or not, and closing comments)
- Apply fade in and fade out at those in and out points (audio and video), making sure that there is no cut to a different angle, either during or close to, the fade
- Apply audio range compression. Play a typical bit of the lecture, and see what typical audio level is like (on audio meter). Set compression 'threshold' to that level. (Typically -12 to -18dB). You might need to reduce the overall level (red line in audio track) by 1dB to stop the signal peaking (press apple key, use mouse to change level)
- You could apply some chapter markers, at least at the end of the titles, at the end of the intro, and before the credits. More chapter markers can be added later in DSP, but chapter markers that are related to special places should be inserted now.
- Make overall lecture sequence (including tite sequence, lecture sequence, credit sequence) and watch
- all transitions (from title to lecture and from lecture to credits)
- watch title and credits looking out for spelling mistakes
- watch first 5min of lecture (for look and feel)
[edit] 1.2 Export to Compressor
- Compressor prepares Final Cut Pro footage for use in DVD Studio. When finished movie:
- want to export title, movie, and credits seperately to mpeg2 (in case of error in title or credits, so dont have to reincode the whole thing. genius!)
- to export for DVDs: click on the sequence in the browser. make sure that is selected and click file, export, using compressor. Do that for your title, movie, credits. then you need to say what format to export them as. so, in compressor, click on the little blue, up and down arrows then select 120 mins fast encode. OR, highlight the item under source media and click preset.
- for the all together one you want this to be for internet streaming. you dont want them to receive all three bits separately, you want them to receive the whole thing. make this into mpeg4 pal source material. (It's easier to encode the whole thing in one, rather than stitching the other bits up later.)
An alternative way of doing this (whcih doesnt tie up FCP while compressor is exporting, is to use reference movies. THis has the advantage that reference movies can be used straight in DSP, and can later be replaced by encoded mpeg-2 footage. Ie. you can start editing straight away in DSP, and lateron bring in the encoded footage.)
[edit] 2 Basic DVD creation in DVD Studio Pro
[edit] 2.1 Menu-free DVDs
DVD studio pro: 3 things to do first in the disk window (bottom right)
- - change the name of the disk from untitled to name of project
- - simplest DVD is menu-free. so, change first play to track 1 and not menu
- - change tv system to PAL, not NTSC
- find the files encoded with compressor in the finder and drag it into the Assets box (bottom left)
- then drag in the different sections (audio and video) into the track timeline thing. click on simulator to check.
- to add chapter marks, click in chapter section. in the simulator you can then skip to those parts of the track.
[edit] 2.2 Menu DVDs:
- ctrl-click in big window on left and click add, then menu. ctrl-click it and select first play. then apply a template.
- then ctrl-click on one of the buttons (the left hand bit of where it says button 1) and click target as track 1.
- then click on track 1 and set its end point (with the menu on the RHS). set the end point as the first menu. This means that when that track has played it will return to the menu.
- you can follow this procedure to add multiple tracks. When you select that track you can add different bits from the asset menu onto the timeline. again you can make different chapter marks too.
- you can add another menu too.
so, could have first, opening menu, as the opening window. that can then be attached to different menus (say, one for the lecture, one for the interview, one for further information/experiments). Each of these menus can have many tracks assigned (say, the different chapters or section of a lecture, or the different questions of the interview etc.) and so on.
