Final Cut Pro 7: Use free tools to make your own single-document manual

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Text instructions are on my blog:
1. Create a copy of the documentation system and make all hidden text visible. Creating a version that can be viewed in your favourite web browser.
2. Combine the 3,500 html and graphics files together in a single document





@alex4d

More tips and free plugins on my blog

___________________________________________________
Alexandre Gollner,
Editor, Zone 2-North West, London

alex4d on twitter, facebook, .wordpress.com + .com

You are totally awesome alex.

I just can't get over how crazy this is that someone had to develop a HACK (basically) to present a decent Help Manual.

I sure hope Apple is reading this...

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

In TextEdit you also can choose US Letter in "Page Setup" then "Wrap to Page" and print to PDF. So all who use US Letter as page size can communicate again with page numbers and additionally do have the fast PDF search with context.

Andreas

Joey:

I wonder sometimes, if Apple can read!

Russ Andris

Mike- this thread should be a sticky.

Noah

Final Cut Studio Training, featuring the HVX200, EX1, EX3, DVX100, DVDSP and Color at [www.callboxlive.com]!
Author, RED: The Ultimate Guide to Using the Revolutionary Camera available now at: [www.amazon.com].
Editors Store- Gifts and Gear for Editors: [www.editorsstore.com]

It is in the sticky

Michael Horton
-------------------

[I sure hope Apple is reading this...]

I kinda hope not... if there's a rights issue.

We sure need this.

- Loren
Today's FCP keytip:

Nudge a Canvas layer by subpixel with Command-Option-Arrows !

Final Cut Studio 2 KeyGuide? Power Pack.
Now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

I don't see any real concerns about a rights issue- it would be a problem if this thread had a link to a processed file but all it is are instructions for viewing documents you have every right to view in a specific way that's more convenient.

Noah

Final Cut Studio Training, featuring the HVX200, EX1, EX3, DVX100, DVDSP and Color at [www.callboxlive.com]!
Author, RED: The Ultimate Guide to Using the Revolutionary Camera available now at: [www.amazon.com].
Editors Store- Gifts and Gear for Editors: [www.editorsstore.com]

Rights issue???

You mean users who paid for software that includes a Help File System that is unusable and the users exercising their RIGHTS to be able to view them? This should come with the license purchased. Boy...what a firestorm they would have on their hands if Apple started sending our C & D letters to those taking the time to create a workable Help File.

There should be absolutely no "rights issue". They should have already fixed this by now.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

There is a way for someone who doesn't have Final Cut Pro to create their own manual, but it still probably isn't legal to distribute it.

First they would download the .json file which contains a list of all the chapters in the manual from Apple's documentation site.

They would use a scripting language to turn the entries such as

{
"chapter_title" : "Appendix E: Working with Anamorphic 16:9 Media",
"index" : "120",
"submenu" : false,
"chapter" : "E",
"children" : 14
},

into html addresses like

documentation.apple.com/en/finalcutpro/usermanual/chapter_E_section_0.html
...
documentation.apple.com/en/finalcutpro/usermanual/chapter_E_section_14.html

and use another piece of software to download all 2,015 of them. Then another piece of software could go through all the html files and use the source to get the filenames of the 1500+ .pngs in the 'Art' subfolder of the documentation.apple.com/en/finalcutpro/usermanual/ folder. These files could then be downloaded to the local hard drive and my method applied to the web-downloaded version of the documentation system.

The filenames in documentation.apple.com/en/finalcutpro/usermanual/ and /Art aren't hidden using a copy-protection method, so the DCMA doesn't apply.

But remember, Apple may make the information available on a public website, and you might be able to download it all to your computer, but that doesn't mean it is legal for you to make it available to anyone else!


@alex4d

___________________________________________________
Alexandre Gollner,
Editor, Zone 2-North West, London

alex4d on twitter, facebook, .wordpress.com + .com

Best to err on side of caution here folks.

Michael Horton
-------------------

Creating it for yourself is one thing...DISTRIBUTING IT is something else entirely.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

All of this because someone has decided not to his or her job... professionally.
I work with several editing softwares, Avid, Quantel for years... and this the first time that i've seen a PRO software been realease with out the manual.
If Apple want's to go green i understand but reading an online "help" wastes a lot fuel to feed my Mac, the Monitor, the Router, the Modem, the central that connect's to the ISP, the ISP, the Isp Network systems, Under Sea cables or Sattelites, a lot a of connections until it reaches the Apple servers... and cooling them takes a lot of air conditioned, by the end how many tons of CO2 are realesed?
Now imagine the tons of people doing this zillions of times during the day!?
Oh $h.t... What if i'm in a dead zone with out a connection? Or at a TV network were some editing suites are cut of the internet for many reasons!
I will scream for help!!!!???
A book is printed once with recicled paper and used serveral times wherever we need to, on the beach or spending some time on the WC.
Sure i can understand that an iphone can not communicate with my Mac's via bluetooth, a simple thrashy Nokia does the job, or Flash is out of the question, it's cool to watch the websites with a LEGO logo, but shipping a Flagship software with more than a million of license sold with a guideline is pure... sorry my english ends here, i could move to portuguese but the words... better i leave it this way.
At least a damm PDF like the ones before, once considered one of the best manual of a Pro App ever.

Rui Barros
Editor Colorist Trainer
Lisbon, Portugal
RTP Post-Production
Apple Certified Trainer FCP 7
Apple Certified Pro FCP 7

There was a time when a new Final Cut was release and we'd have much discussion and debate about the new features and workflows.

Now we have post after post about how to get usable friggen manual out of the thing.

Rui, I think I can understand your Portuguese and you didn't even use it in your post.
I can't think of anything remotely polite to say about this errr document that comes with Final Cut.

Quote
There was a time when a new Final Cut was release and we'd have much discussion and debate about the new features and workflows.

That will come in the near future when folks start buying it. Right now very few have it so little discussion on new features and workflows. Quite frankly these threads just about mirror every FCS update.

Michael Horton
-------------------

Mike, I've been using FCP since around 1.25 and I never recall this much discussion on documentation.

Yes there was discussion as much of it was moved to PDF but that was about advantage/disadvantage of PDF vs Paper.

This is about just trying to make is useful under any circumstance.

I poke around a bunch of sites and I've never seen the kind of weight towards how to make documentation usable vs actual feature discussion.

Usually the bleeding edgers are doing a wow-wee or uh oh on the features with a sprinkle of doc discussion.

What I mean is there is discussion and gripes about what is missing. In this case it's focused on the help doc. But because of all this discussion we got a bit of a work around thanks to Alex Gollner. Not a bad thing.

Michael Horton
-------------------

That's true but . . .
There's often real R&D issues and time frames that result in missing or delayed features or less than "full" implementation at the point of delivery.

I've worked with developers beta testing, QA, going over manuals. I just can't fathom why such a thing as a numbered searchable PDF didnt' happen. It's not like it was a new endeavor for Apple. I've certainly participated in it being a "new endeavor" for other products.

They HAD a usable PDF. They only needed to revise it and relative to other full version upgrades this would appear to have been even less daunting than those.

As a graphics guy I'm coming to you Joe. Can you do this using Acrobat Pro? Do you know how to get it to show all the pages with this application?

Thanks.

If someone told me 15 days ago that I would be thinking so much about manuals, I wouldn't have believed them.

To continue...

Found on:

Apple Store for Business Volume Licensing

Final Cut Studio Documentation Set - $20!

Quote
Apple Store for Business
Media and Documentation Sets:
Customers will receive a certificate that authorizes their use of the software for the number of licenses purchased. Media sets and Document sets can also be ordered separately. The certificate is mailed under separate cover from the media and manual. Neither Media nor Doc Sets are included in License fee. The number of sets of each available for purchase is limited to the number of Licenses purchased. Media Sets, Doc Sets and Technical Support are not counted in determining volume licensing level. Upon completion of your Final Cut Studio Volume License order, you will receive an electronic or physical copy of a document containing the serial number for the licenses that you have ordered. The user manual is in PDF form on the Media so purchasing a manual (the printed Document Set) is optional if you only order a Media set.

Volume Licensing allows you to buy the right to install Final Cut Studio on 5 or more machines (starting at $899). It doesn't come with any product. You buy the DVDs in a media set separately (for $15). Documentation is also available for $20.

The educational price list is at
[images.apple.com]

I'm sure many people would have ticked the $20 box to have a user manual set shipped with their Final Cut Studio upgrade...

Let's hope the PDFs will be ready once Snow Leopard comes out and unlocks all those secret features that only work on 10.6!


@alex4d

Well, I'll be. Nice detective work Alex. Course I got no need for a VL

Michael Horton
-------------------

Hey what's Shake doing on that price list?

English translation $15 to buy a PDF?
Another $20 for printed? (that seems too low but that description is muddy to me).

The funny thing is that I think that this is a mistake: I would be surprised if the media set that you buy for $15 is any different from the DVD pack. We know those DVDs don't have PDF documents on them despite the description on the Apple Store and educational price list.

Maybe the $20 is for the short manual and bits of paper we got in the box!

I think there has been a mis-communication between the ProApps team and the Apple Store.

Maybe the Apple Store need to go to the Final Cut Studio feedback page too!


@alex4d

___________________________________________________
Alexandre Gollner,
Editor, Zone 2-North West, London

alex4d on twitter, facebook, .wordpress.com + .com

I knew it. I said it. I knew there would pin a COST on us for the manual. How pitifully disgusting is that? This is for an UPGRADE...so what ever happened to Customer Loyalty? BAD BAD BAD Apple...man that is so "nickle & dime". I am embarrassed right now to be a FCP user.

Next will be $5.00 for the little white Apple Stickers that come with the Machines.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Quote
grafixjoe
Next will be $5.00 for the little white Apple Stickers that come with the Machines.

I'm sending back my stickers right now and asking for a PDF Manual as replacement (I'll probably get a PDF of the Apple stickers with a EULA agreement regarding their use).

I can understand charging for the cost of a printed manual but PDF should be included free. I mean what was their R&D on using FrameMaker or other DTP/PDF software? What portion of the labor hours would have been needed to simply update the existing PDF?

This is not being offered to consumers from what I can tell. Its for those that are purchasing a volume license.

Michael Horton
-------------------

Fun fact: Apple is no longer searching for any applicants for this job...

Quote
jobs.apple.com on June 9, 2009
Software Engineer
Long-term continued development of our Single-Source publishing system. Our team produces the documentation for the Pro Apps (e.g. Final Cut Studio) and Aperture which are a diverse set of complex applications. Our writers create the documentation in XML and we convert that into a variety of output formats. The team consists of writers, editors, graphic designers, and one staff engineer, and two contract developers. We want to add an additional staff engineer.

As I mentioned on my blog back in June, Apple is hiring people to maintain their documentation systems.

The manuals we've seen so far probably started as some sort of export from this system. If it is important to us, we need a little reasoned persuasion to convince Apple of the upside of them changing their policy back. It's more fun to jump down their throats at the earliest opportunity, but I don't think that would be very effective.

@alex4d

Quote
once considered one of the best manual of a Pro App ever.

Agree. We used the manuals in version 1 to get to air in one week from purchase, with no knowledge of FCP at all above poking it around a bit in the shop. They were well written and actually useful.

I'd be more than happy with a good PDF version, since I love being able to use searches, but some of the computers I work on are not permitted on the Net and are kept in strict isolation. Manuals on the net sucks. A lot.

I don't use the manuals a lot anymore, but I do still use them whenever I get a client with a new workflow, so they are definitely not a luxury.

Jude Cotter Wrote:
> I'd be more than happy with a good PDF version,
> since I love being able to use searches, but some
> of the computers I work on are not permitted on
> the Net and are kept in strict isolation. Manuals
> on the net sucks. A lot.
>

The help may have been implemented in html, but the files are built into the Final Cut Studio applications, so if you have it installed, you don't need web access.

If you visit my post in the FCS sticky thread, you'll see that you can use these HTML files in your browser too.

@alex4d

Wow thanks Alex. I use Final Cut Pro at work and your tutorial just really helped me speed up my productivity. Really great tutorial.

Can you read more about the Pro Extender. Has anyone else used it?