chapter markers in FCP before compressor?

i have heard rumors that there's a way to set your chapter markers in FCP - is there?

And is that a stupid thing to do? I have set them in the past in DVD Studio Pro, never in FCP. I have a cut that'll end up about 42 mins long, but made up of segments that range in duration from about 3 to about 7 minutes. They want each segment to be a separate chapter. So I can put them all in one timeline, with a few seconds of black between, and export through compressor in one go, overnight.

Would it be best to set the chapter markers in FCP or in DVD Studio Pro?

I have a couple questions about compressor settings too, but I'll make a separate thread,

Thanks!

Marla in NY
PS-my client finally came through with their changes at the last second, and the amount I have to do in the next 2 days is overwhelming me to such a grave degree, I don't even know if I can handle the pressure! I need to keep breathing deeply andjust take it one task at a time, or I'll pass out from fear... I have to remember: it's just a video! As usual, all wisdom and humor is appreciated...

Hi Marla,

There is this.

[www.kenstone.net]

Wow-

Thanks!

MM

Great article, Ken, I just read it through, as well as the review on Brian's tutorial - alas, I haven't time to order it, much less study it, before my deadline on this project...

One more question: Should I export as a QT self contained also, or instead of, MPEG 2 via Compressor?

My issue is that I have been editing at a Post facility on FCP 5.0.4, and I have to be out of this room by Monday morning. I have tons to do still, so I thought I'd finish the edit by Sunday night, godwilling, and then do the export late Sunday night.

I go back to my museum-media job on Monday, so sometime after work or next weekend I can create the DVD in DVD Studio Pro at the museum. (Sadly I have FCP v 4.5 up there, so I won't easily have the option to re-export if anything goes wrong, though they would probably allow me to come back here some night next week to re-export on one of their FCP 5.0.4 systems...Come to think of it I am not even sure that you can't take a 5 project back into a 4.5 setting, but I assume that'd be a no)...

So-if I do a self contained, does that mean artifacting and those sorts of demons will be less problematical? Would they rear their ugly heads once I get the .mov into DVD studio pro?

Thanks for listening, and for writing so clearly and well,

Marla in NY

It is absolutely better to set the chapter markers first in Final Cut Pro, rather than DVD Studio Pro. Moving chapter markers in DVDSP is a pain in the ass, because of the weak, unresponsive timeline and lack of tools. In FCP, press M, M and a mouse click, and you're ready to go. To move a chapter marker, just key in the new timecode.

If you're going to be moving from system to system, you should definitely export a full-quality self-contained QuickTime movie for portability and stability. Such a movie file can be accessed by most versions of FCP, DVD Studio Pro and iDVD. You can carry around a 42-minute (probably around 8-10GB) movie file rather than all 120GB, say, of the original media that had comprised the project.

As for artifacting and quality, though, there is no way to tell until you actually burn the DVD. But for me, the above method has never yielded worse results than a direct Export - Using Compressor operation.

Groovey-thanks so much for the info. I didn't realize that I could converse between FCP versions 5.0.4 and 4.5, so now I am a bit more comfortable, as if something goes wrong with the export I can at least have the option of re-doing it next week...

But when you say just key in the TC, for changing a chapter marker in FCP, were you talking about once you are in the DVD Studio Pro environment?

Or FCP-land? And do you mean click the marker to open it up and change the TC in that window? Or just delete the marker and make a new one?

thanks,

Marla

> I didn't realize that I could converse between FCP versions 5.0.4 and 4.5

You can't, not easily. But with a QuickTime movie, you can burn to DVD, no need to access FCP.

> But when you say just key in the TC, for changing a chapter marker in FCP,
> were you talking about once you are in the DVD Studio Pro environment?

No, generally for chapter markers in FCP, you park your playhead where you want the marker, press M, and M again, then click "Add Chapter Marker". To move a pre-existing marker, put the playhead on the marker (the shortcut for skipping from marker to marker is SHIFT-Up/Down Arrow), press M, and key in the timecode you want the marker to be at, or you can use a numeric value -- for example, if you're moving a marker five seconds ahead in the timeline, key in +500.

> And do you mean click the marker to open it up and change the TC in that
> window? Or just delete the marker and make a new one?

Sometimes it *is* faster just to re-create the marker.

It's generally a lot better to have the markers already embedded in the QuickTime movie or MPEG-2 so that once you import that into a DVDSP track, the markers will transfer over.

Marla,

Self contained FCP QT movies (not with Conversion) can be opened in earlier versions of FCP, so it could be used as a shuttle.

--ken

marla,

Not sure if you know this... whatever text you add to the "Name" of the chapter marker in FCP will automatically carry over to the DVD SP chapter headings. This is very helpful and timesaving. We use it all the time to carry over simple headings like "Act one" "Main Titles" "Act two" "Next On", etc.

mark

Thanks all-

so is it definitely not possible to take a 5.0.4 project backwards into a 4.5 system (other than with a QT self contained movie)?

What about the media itself - can you just make a new project, drag in your QT self contained, and then also drag in any individual media files, even if they were digitized in a 5.0.4 project?

Thanks!

MM

> What about the media itself - can you just make a new project, drag in your
> QT self contained, and then also drag in any individual media files, even if
> they were digitized in a 5.0.4 project?

Media files can be imported, but not edits.

There *is* a way to use an FCP5 project in FCP4.5 -- by exporting an XML using an FCP5 station. It's not recommended to go back and forth between versions, however.

Marlas,

in FCP it's a lot easier to add, name and edit your chapter markers than in DVDSP.

in Particular, if you are working with an MPEG file in DVDSP,
because once the MPEG has been made, you are locked into putting chapters onto the file's I-frames, which wont necessary be where you want them.

Chapter markers added in FCP, when you make the export, remember there is a "Markers" pulldown on the export page.
with this you say that you want your FCP chapter markers added to the export.

that'll be in ken's article, but if you dont use that a lot, it;s easy to forget.
well.. i've forgotten it on occasion, and had to do the export again.

Export a Self-Contianed QuickTime Movie from FCP.
you can then convert that to MPEG in Compressor, or as a background process in DVDSP.
either way you can be working on other things, like laying out the menus, etc
i havent done the Encode in DVDSP, so i guess i'd say encode in Compressor.

cheers,
nick