Michael Murray wrote in with a question about how to export a Final Cut Pro HD sequence for use in LiveType; which led me to think about one of the truly time-saving features of FCP HD — round-tripping.
Last month, I showed you how to hide someone’s identity using a traveling matte. (Technique: Creating a Traveling Matte.) This month, I want to show you a technique suggested by Tom Wolsky, where the mask, shape, and tracking are all contained on one layer, rather than two layers in a traveling matte.
This technique is very useful when you need to find the video that goes with the audio, or the audio that goes with the video.
Following up on an earlier review of the Matrox MXO, a user contributes another application he discovered, while a word of warning on compatibility is offered by another contributor.
The way a monitor wall works is that you send it a full-screen feed for each camera or image you want it to display. It will then composite them into a single display. This gives you the highest image quality and the ability to zoom one of the images full-screen.
QuickTime does not always properly display 16:9 video. This means that iDVD may not accurately compress your video in the correct image aspect ratio. This article explains what you need to do to fix this problem.
Here’s a short article that describes what to do if you are experiencing jittery video playback. We look at what could cause it and how to fix it.
Larry fields a few questions regarding DVD problems from transcoding HD to SD, the advantages of Blu-Ray, and more.
The best way to export from FCP is reexamined with new attention given to changes in distribution mediums. Also, Larry provides a detailed explanation of how he exports files from Final Cut.
What are the disadvantages of using DV, rather than SD, video? This discussion also features comments from a variety of readers.
While there is no one perfect codec, this article can help you improve your capture image quality, while reducing file size, when capturing SD (non-DV) video.
There is no one “perfect” video codec (compressor/decompressor), but some codecs are better than others. This article helps you make a better choice.
DV provides outstanding quality, until it comes to compositing and chroma-keying. This article discusses the differences between 4:4:4, 4:2:2 and 4:1:1 color space and how it affects DV video.
If you’ve ever had to convert a 16:9 sequence into a 4:3 letterbox video, this explains how to do it.
Why doesn’t MP3 audio play nicely with Final Cut Pro? The answer is because Final Cut Pro was invented to support only uncompressed audio files. There are only three audio formats that Final Cut supports: AIF (and AIFF), WAV (and Broadcast WAV), and SDII. All compressed formats (like MP3 and AAC) need to be converted into an uncompressed format before you can edit them.
Taking a portion of a 16:9 image and expanding it so it fills a 4:3 screen is called a “center cut.” While taking a center cut of an HD image to fill a 4:3 SD frame is easy, this article describes how, and whether, to expand a 16:9 SD image to fill a 4:3 frame.
The native format of HDV isn’t QuickTime, it’s .M2T. However, FCP can’t play M2T files – it needs to convert them. There are two ways you can do this — using Compressor or using MPEG StreamClip. This article shows you how.
Larry draws attention to a group that specializes in digitalization of analog media services, converting 8mm, Super 8, and more.
Martin Baker of Digital Heaven has the answer to a question regarding the creation of a 14:9 Title Safe in a 16:9 image.
You may have heard that Final Cut sequences can be customized. But what you may not know is how significantly you can make changes — as long as you don’t want to play the results on a DVD or record them to video tape. In this article, I’ll show you how to change the size of your sequence to any size you want.
Data rates measure the speed of all things digital – hard disks, the internet, the internal components of your computer. This short article explains what data rates are, how they are measured, and the differences between “bits per second” and “bytes per second.”
A sequence dragged into another sequence creates a nest – a single item contained in another. However, sometimes you need to deconstruct all the elements of that first sequence. Here’s a quick tip that explains how.
Most of the time the default settings in Compressor are not too bad. But, sometimes, problems arise when down-converting high-def material to standard-def (HD to SD). In this case, if you are getting images that look worse than you expect, try this two-step process (called “pre-compression”) and see if your image quality improves.
It’s possible to drag files from the Finder into the Final Cut Browser. But do you want to? In this article, I explain the process and provide reasons both pro and con about doing so.
Have you ever wondered why a 1 TB drive never has 1 TB of free space? Or why a 500 GB drive stores much less than 500 GB? Well, it isn’t your imagination, it’s that engineers and marketers use two different numbers – but the same words – to measure the storage capacity of a hard drive.
Are dropped frames driving you nuts. Here’s a checklist of tips you can use to resolve your dropped frames problem — before you drop your computer out a second-story window.
There are lots of questions about using DSLR cameras for video. In this article, we summarize some of the benefits and limitations, as well as add lots of feedback from readers.
If you’ve ever compared the quality of your DV movies in Final Cut to what they look like in QuickTime, you can very quickly become suicidal. Why does QuickTime make your images look so bad? This quick article explains.
I’ve taught this technique in my classes for a long time, but recently discovered that I have not written about it. When you are compressing a QuickTime movie for a DVD, the default settings for video and audio compression may need to be tweaked.
There are a variety of ways to export a project from Final Cut Pro for a DVD. This article showcases the best way to do it if you are using Final Cut Pro 6.x. (FCP 7 users may want to consider using Share or Send, which this article doesn’t cover.)
Want to give your DVDs a more professional look? In this detailed, step-by-step article, you’ll learn how to create menus and button highlights in Photoshop, import them into DVD Studio Pro, build a menu and add buttons, all to create a professional-grade menu. (Part 1 of 2 – the second part discusses how to create a motion menu in Final Cut Pro for a DVD.)
By default, DVD Studio Pro creates tracks that support 4:3 video. However, this is easy to change, but hard to find. This short article describes what you need to do to create wide-screen DVDs.
The worst time to discover you have a problem is at the end of editing, when you have no time and no money. In fact, the best time to solve these problems is before production even starts. Here’s short article that provides guidelines on what you need to do to prevent problems down the road.
I’ve been writing a lot about HDV recently – and not all of it positive. However, Iain Anderson sent this in with his positive results using HDV. You owe it to yourself to read both side of the issue and Iain does a nice job.
One confusing issue new editors need to deal with is getting Final Cut Pro to recognize 16:9 (also called “widescreen,” or “anamorphic”) video. As well, if the editor is a new Mac user, they may also have problems with exported file sizes. This article addresses both these issues.
The recent conversion to all-digital broadcasting brought this reflection on the changes we’ve seen in television over the years. I guess this isn’t really technical, but it struck me as appropriate.
Here’s a seven-step process to export your Final Cut video sequences to Flash.
MXF is the native format for a variety of HD video formats. However, it is not one that Final Cut Pro currently supports. This short article details what you need to know to get your QuickTime video into MXF format.
There are a variety of ways to export a project from Final Cut Pro for a DVD. This article showcases the best way to do it if you are using Final Cut Pro 6.x. (FCP 7 users may want to consider using Share or Send, which this article doesn’t cover.)
One of the current limitations of Final Cut Studio is that it does not natively support creating Flash video output from a Final Cut Pro sequence. However, all is not lost. This article describes three different ways you can get what you want.
Want to give your DVDs a more professional look? In this detailed, step-by-step article, you’ll learn how to create menus and button highlights in Photoshop, import them into DVD Studio Pro, build a menu and add buttons, all to create a professional-grade menu. (Part 1 of 2 – the second part discusses how to create a motion menu in Final Cut Pro for a DVD.)
The default video transition in Final Cut Pro is a 30 frame cross-dissolve. This article shows you how to change it.
NTSC video, unlike PAL and HD, has two different timecode systems — drop-frame and non-drop-frame. This article describes what they are and when you need to worry about them.
Having problems capturing 24 fps video from the DVX camera? This article tells you what you need to know.
Here is a ten-step, tested technique to convert DVCProHD sequences into HDV. This would a good way to archive HD sequences if you don’t have a DVCProHD sequence to tape.
As Eric Mittan writes: “My favorite keyboard shortcuts are those that are contextual. The function of the keys in question change in the context of what task is being performed, or what item is selected, or what tool is chosen in order to get a different, if slightly related result.
As we move away from tape and into tapeless video, questions about how to best archive our projects take on a new importance. For many, the issue revolves around the hardware we use to archive. But there is a second question: what video format do we want to use to store our files for the long-term. In this dialog with Philip Hodgetts, we examine this very complex issue and provide some guidance.
Asymmetric trimming allows you to trim the audio and video in opposite directions at the same time. I’m still not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Here’s how it works.
Here is a great trick to solve one of the features of FCP that drives me nuts — we can’t slip keyframes. But, here, in this article, I’ll show you an undocumented way to slip audio keyframes. Very cool and very quick.
Every clip in Final Cut supports up to three timecode tracks — a primary and two auxilliary tracks. This article describes how to access them, change the timecode they contain, and idea on what to use them for.
