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Tutorials
and Troubleshooting
Tutorials are a necessary
ingredient in any educational group, and the lafcpug is no exception.
With the help of our expert members, we have and will continue
to bring you "How2s" on working with FCP, Digital Movie
Making, Multimedia, and what ever else we can think of that we
believe everyone could benefit from.
If you have a suggestion
for a How 2, email
me, Michael Horton,
and we will do our best to write it up.
Final
Cut Pro 5/6
- DVCPRO
HD Aspect Ratio Bug in Final Cut Pro 6

Ever since an update of either Final Cut Pro, QuickTIme or
Pro Apps (no-one really knows) Final Cut Pro has a nasty bug
when exporting a self contained quicktime movie from a DVCPRO
HD (720p & perhaps 1080i) timeline. The aspect ratio and
frame size of the resulting self contained movie is incorrect
and therefore requires render when brought back in a native DVCPRO
HD sequence - even the same sequence the movie was exported from.
- Uploading
Movies for YouTube with maximum quality.
What people tend to forget is that you are
sending YouTube a master for them to compress, therefore
send the highest quality you can, that fits with their limitations.
- Scrolling Text in LiveType
A very easy way to use LiveType for all
your scrolling end credits. Here's how:
- Exporting to the iPod Using Compressor
This article will explore the process of
high-quality encoding, but also upon what a professional editor
can and should do in order to optimize content for iPod Video.
- Color
My World:
Repairing and styling color, featuring 'The Grading Sweet.'
Recently I was asked to review a new set
of plug-ins for FCP devised by Sydney cinematographer Ben
Allen (ACS). But the way I figure it, you don't really want
to know whether I think a product is great. After all, who the
hell am I anyway? Why should you care what I think?
- Multicam Sync in Final Cut Pro
A workflow guide to syncing
video clips using in-points for use with FCP's multiclip feature.
Assumes the footage has been generated by free running cams some
of which have not been run continuously throughout the shoot.
Also contains a workflow for cutting a realtime event into separate
sequences to greatly reduce overhead.
- Thumbnail
Video Index

This tutorial is a result of my needing
to create a photo index for a stock footage compilation. I needed
stills representative of the video shots that had been compiled
so the client could see what they were getting before I had sent
the footage as well as have a visual index of the tape's contents
for their archives.
- Exporting
Project Files for DVD
I've had a number of requests for instructions
on how to export a Final Cut project to a DVD. Here
are the steps:
- Working
with BWF Audio in FCP
If you haven't been confronted
with it previously, .BWF (Broadcast Wave Format) is an audio
format initially developed under the auspices of the European
Broadcast Union around 1996 as a non-proprietary 24 Bit Integer
audio file format.
- Create your own AIFF converter using Compressor
by making a Droplet
A DROPLET is a small, single-purpose
application that you can create in Compressor.
Each Droplet you create will do one thing, and one thing only:
convert files into a specified format, and place the conversions
in a pre-defined location.
- Trashing Prefs in FCP 3, FCP 4 and FCP
5
Over 5,000 years ago Confucius
wrote: "If you are toiling away, you have changed nothing
and FCP heads South on you, then it is time to trash your FCP
Preferences."
- It's Alive! How to Make Cut-Out Animations in
FCP.
This tutorial outlines a simple way of making
cut-out animations similar to the style used in programs such
as 'Monty Python's Flying Circus', 'Angela Anaconda' and 'South
Park' with FCP. This is an intermediate level tutorial, and a
basic working knowledge of Photoshop and FCP is required.
- Chroma Sampling: An Investigation
In this article I hope to be able to show
if there are any picture quality benefits to bringing in DV (I'll
refer to miniDV, DVCAM and DVCPro as DV as they all share the
same codec) to Apple's Final Cut Pro over uncompressed SDI compared
to the "normal" route of transfer over Firewire and
using the Apple DV codec.
- Breaking Free of HDV Limitations
Sometimes editing
HDV natively just doesn't "cut" it. HDV
is a tempting video format because it offers high quality video
images at a fraction of the price of other HD solutions. However,
creating the right HDV editing workflow for a particular project
is a difficult task. As the creator of HDVxDV, a program which
translates HDV video to many different HD and SD formats, I'll
explore the advantages of using a non-native HDV editing workflow
and show how HDV can be converted to Quicktime with HDVxDV and
edited in Final Cut 4.5 HD and above.
- Open FCP5 projects in FCP4.5 with XML Export/Import
For years now we've had to live with the
fact that while FCP projects could travel forwards from one version
to the next, (with varying levels of success) they could never
go back. Yes you could use EDLs and Batch Lists, but it wasn't
easy, and it wasn't enough. XML import and export has changed
all that, and it's now very easy to move an FCP5 project back
to FCP4.5, or even 4.1
- Upgrading to Tiger 10.4.x & FCP 5 Suite
Apple has both substantially upgraded its
operating system, and started shipping the Final Cut Pro 5 application
suite, which consists of new versions of Final Cut Pro, Motion,
DVD SP, SoundTrack Pro, Compressor, etc. Although the Suite will
run in 10.3.9, Tiger (10.4.1) is the recommended OS to take full
advantage of many of the Suite's new features and capabilities.
David Saraceno shows you how HE does the upgrade.
Final
Cut Studio Tutorial Movies from Ripple
Training
- Compressor Tutorial - Compression Markers (Movie)

Learn how a few well placed compression markers can improve
the quality of your DVD movies.
- Color Tutorial - Working with Grades (Movie)
"Working with grades: Color allows
you to work with up to four different grades per clip, making
it easy to experiment with different looks and corrections. In
this excerpt from Ripple
Training's color grading in color DVD-rom, Andrew Balis will
walk you through the steps."
- Final Cut Pro Tutorial - Subframe Audio Editing
(Movie)
Remove clicks and pops within your audio
tracks even if the problem does not fall on a frame boundary
- Soundtrack Pro Tutorial - Replace with Ambience
(Movie)
Replace unwanted sounds with background
ambience copied from another part of the clip
- Final Pro Tutorial - Saving Favorites (Movie)
Learn how to create an entire library of
transitions, filters, and motion effects that can be instantly
applied any time you need them.
- Compressor Tutorial - QuickTime Components (Movie)
Learn how to set up encoding for third party
codecs and other "non-standard" QuickTime codecs
- Soundtrack Pro Tutorial - AppleScript Batch Processing
(Movie)
As a busy editor you are always looking
for ways to save time. This tip will show you how to batch process
an entire folder of audio files using an Applescript created
right within Soundtrack Pro.
- Motion/DVDSP Tutorial - Creating Alpha Transitions
(Movie)
Learn how to create your own custom alpha
transitions in Motion then use them in DVD Studio Pro.
- Final Cut Pro - In the Spotlight (Movie)
This effect, Steve calls "spotlighting"
you will learn how to call attention to an individual in a photograph;
illuminate text in a book, or emphasize an item on the screen
for a training demo.
- Soundtrack Pro - Get on the Bus (Movie)
Creating a bus can be a fast and efficient
way of applying effects to multiple tracks in soundtrack pro.
- Motion - Cops Revisited (Movie)
Learn how to obscure the identities of your
on-camera subjects using Motion's compositing tools.
- Final Cut Pro - Animated Text Highlight (Movie)
In this tutorial you'll learn how to bake
an animated light pass over your titles using the Boris 3D
text generator, a Highlight generator, then apply a
few composite modes for added flavor.
- Shake - Using Shake to Remove the Shakes (Movie)
That brilliant shot of your got the shakes
and looking unusable? Fear not. You maybe able to save it, providing
you have Shake.
- DVD Studio Pro - Creating Stories (Movie)
Chapter Marker? Stories? I'm confused. You
won't be after you view this. This is an excerpt from "DVD
Authoring in DVD Studio Pro" from Ripple Training. Available
in the lafcpug
store
- DVD Studio Pro - Creating Dual Layer DVDs (Movie)
Dual layer DVDs are out there. So how do
you create a DVD that will play on a dual layer DVD. This is
an excerpt from "DVD Authoring in DVD Studio Pro" from
Ripple Training. Available in the lafcpug
store
- Final Cut Pro - Speed Changes with Match
Frame (Movie)
How to change the speed of a clip without
changing it's duration.
- DVD Studio Pro - Translating FCP titles into
DVD subtitles (Movie)
Just like the tiltle says.
- Final Cut Pro - Flash Cutting with the Blink
Filter
What if there was a way to create quick cuts to the beat of the
music without ever having to make a cut. In this tutorial Steve
will show you how to put the blink filter to really good use.
- Soundtrack Pro - Using Multiple Outputs
In this tutorial you will explore the benefits of creating multiple
outputs in Soundtrack Pro.This technique is a real timesaver
when you need to mix down and output several tracks of related
audio material.
- DVD Studio Pro - Using Item Description
Files
Learn how to quickly share elements such as menus, tracks and
slideshows between project
- Final Cut Pro - Using the Boris Vector Shape
Generator
This is a great technique for instructional videos, documentaries
or any subject that requires visual underscoring
- Motion - Creating Caffeinated Text
In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create frenetic or jittery
text - which is a fairly common effect in commercials and bumpers.
- DVD Studio Pro - Batch Processing Images using
Tiger's Automator
Tired of cropping and resizing your photos one at a time? In
this tutorial you will learn how to use Tiger's Automator to
resize, rename, and crop an entire folder of still images for
use in DVD Studio Pro.
Final
Cut Pro 4.0/4.5
- Film to Digital Video in Cinema Tools: An Alternative
Workflow
This article describes an off-the-beaten-path
workflow that arose from wrestling with a common problem: bringing
film, shot at 24 progressive frames per second, to digital video,
which normally runs at 29.97 interlaced frames per second--without
losing the progressive frames.
- Storage
Solutions or -
- Building your own 1TB Sata Raid
Let's welcome the arrival of the SATA raid!
For under $1000, I was able to roll my own 1 TB SATA raid with
only a little frustration and a little humiliation to show for
it.
- Two
Works In Progress- Pt.1 - HDV Editing With FCP HD
Ned Soltz talks about "rolling
your own Sata Raids" for HDV editing and the myriad ways
you can edit HDV with FCP...as of now, anyway.
- The "Queer Eye" Effect
Anyone who has seen the makeover program Queer
Eye For The Straight Guy knows the signature Pop-art
move used to introduce each of the presenters. This tutorial
will explain how to reproduce and adapt that effect for your
own projects.
- Exporting Using OMF
I will happily produce a six track mix in Final Cut, because
the audio mixer makes that easily doable. However, if I have
more than six tracks, or I need serious compression/limiting
or noise reduction or smoother EQ or, well, golly, just about
any professional audio tool, I'll move the audio out of FCP into
ProTools. Here's how:
- Exporting Audio for Post-Production Sweetening
Many Final
Cut projects can be mixed directly in Final Cut, especially using
the new audio mixer that appeared in version 4.
However,
projects with more complex audio demands are more easily mixed
using audio software like ProTools, Logic or Deck. This
technique describes what you need to know to move audio out of,
then back into, Final Cut Pro.
- Opening Final Cut Pro's Help Files Using Preview
I'm wondering if you can tell me how to get the Help information
in Final Cut Pro 4.5 to open in Preview, where I can search it
easily, rather than in Adobe Acrobat.
- What Files does FCP create?
There are a variety of files and folders that Final Cut creates
automatically. Here's what they are, where they are stored and
what they do.
- Keyframes? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Keyframes
Setting keyframes in FCP is quick and easy, However, as most
working editors will attest, if it can be done quicker and easier,
then so much the better. This is a brief description of a clean
and very simple way of moving text, graphics and video on and
off screen without having to use a single keyframe.
- Color-Balancing
Using Match Hue
Have you noticed the Match Hue button in the Color Corrector
3-way window and wondered what it did? Well, it's a surprisingly
powerful tool that can help you color balance between two, or
more, scenes. If you have only one scene to color, you would
not use Match Hue. But, if you are trying to match the same color
between multiple scenes, Match Hue can be a big help.
- Technique: Using Auto Select
Larry Jordan show us all how to use the ever changing and wild
and wacky Auto Select tool in FCP 4 and 4.5
- Final Cut Pro HD - Updating LiveType Movies in
Final Cut Pro HD
There is much more to FCP HD than HD. One of the many benefits
of upgrading to FCP-HD is that you can now update your LiveType
animations directly in the FCP timeline. Steve Martin of Ripple
Training shows you how in this QuickTime Movie
- Technique:
Tips for Successful On-lining
Media Manager is a quagmire that can trap the unwary. It is way
beyond the scope of this short article to explain all the tricks
of Media Manager. However, if you want to take an existing project
that uses footage captured at low resolution and up-rez it, here
are some tricks that will make it a whole lot easier.
- Final
Cut Pro 4 to MPEG2
This is a very brief, down and dirty explanation of how to bypass
Apple's compressor application and use QuickTime Conversion instead.
If Compressor is giving you any trouble at all, you can use this
method.
- Archiving
and Organizing Your FCP Project (updated June 2004)
Your project is done. The client
is happy and their check is in hand. It's time to clear out that
old project and get ready to tackle something new.
- Roll
Your Own Keyboard Shortcuts
One of the great benefits of using Final Cut Pro version 4 is
the ability to customize it's keyboard shortcuts to match your
style. BUT, what about LiveType, or SoundTrack, or, well, any
other application you are currently working with?
- Exporting
Audio Only, from FCP to a CD
Exporting pure audio is just as simple as exporting a full-blown
video production. You just need to take a slightly different
path, which will Export only the audio whether you are in an
audio-only project or the usual audio/video project.
- Trashing
Prefs in FCP 3 and 4 - OS X
Over 5,000 years ago Confucius wrote:
"If you are toiling away, you have changed nothing and FCP
heads South on you, then it is time to trash your FCP Preferences."
Here's how.
- Meet
the Family: FCP 4's Clip Types
"Before
FCP 4, all clips were governed by the same clip-handling protocols.
FCP 4 uses three clip types: master, affiliate, and independent.
Master and affiliate clips use one set of behavior protocols;
independent clip behavior is governed by a different set of rules."
- "I
said Trim. Dang it!" -The Media Manager in FCP 4
"The subject of this article is using Media Manager to 'trim'
a sequence in the offline/online editing process. For those unfamiliar
with that concept, what we are talking about is FCP's ability
to capture a huge amount of video at very low resolution (and
thus taking up a minuscule amount of disk space), edit with that
low res footage (offline editing), then recapture only the parts
you used in the edited sequence at high resolution..."
- Time
Remap in FCP 4
With FCP 4 a new feature has been added,
'Time Remap' and now we can now smoothly and creatively ramp
the speed of a clip. Ken Stone shows you how.
- How
To Create the 'Pleasantville' Effect in Final Cut Pro
You know that movie, "Plesantville"
where many of the people and scenes are in black and white but
some are in color? Well how do you do that? Read this tutorial
by Darrin Sayewich and find
out.
- Final
Cut Pro v4.0 for Max OSX - An Ambitious Beginning
Charles (Chawla) Roberts continues his "ambitious"
series
"Final Cut Pro 4 adds a great many new features that will
be very useful to FCP editors across the board. Some of the more
significant changes are the subject of this article, the correct
setting of preferences, system settings and scratch disks. These
settings have been made far more flexible and intuitive. At the
same time, there are more of them to visit! You can't beat Final
Cut Pro for flexibility and configurability, but you have to
accept the responsibility that flexibility imparts."
- How2
Upgrade to Final Cut Pro 4 - the Right Way!
Things
can go wrong when upgrading to 4.0. That is unless you read Philip
Hodgetts "How to upgrade the Right Way" Why take chances?
DVD
Studio Pro
- Set
up and Resume

The purpose of
this tutorial is to illustrate how to create a setup menu that
allows the user to activate varying audio streams and subtitle
streams as well as to turn off subtitles. In addition, our setup
menu will feature a special resume function. The special feature
here is that our resume play is going to first check to see if
a track can be resumed, and if so it will resume play of that
track; otherwise, the resume function will simply take the user
to the main menu from the setup menu.
- A Solution to Multiple Language Video in
DVD Studio Pro
Graeme Nattress shows how he solved the problem of including
Multiple languages on a single DVD
- What's
new inside DVD Studio Pro 3 - Part IV
In
Part 4, the final part of the series, Alex Alexander covers these new features in SP3: DTS Audio Support.
Improved Integration with Adobe Photoshop. Jacket Picture Creation.
New DVD Recordable Formats. Importing iDVD4 Projects. Improved
Editing Capabilities
- What's
new inside DVD Studio Pro 3 - Part III: The Graphical View
The new graphical view will surely become a favorite tool among
many already great tools. For DVD Studio Pro 1.x users, you have
quite a learning curve to endure...
- What's
New Inside DVD Studio Pro 3 - Part II: Alpha Transitions
...this article will focus on the Alpha Transition itself, since
this feature provides you with a unique opportunity in terms
of customizing your project look and feel. That opportunity is
the creation of your own Alpha Transitions.
- What's
New Inside DVD Studio Pro 3 - Part I: Transitions
This
is part one in a series, by Alex Alexander on Whats new in DVD
Studio Pro 3, and how to use these new features. In this part
Alex covers Intro Transitions, Menu Transitions, Button Transitions,
and Video Transitions
- DVD Studio Pro 2: BitShifting
& Bit Extraction
BitShifting is a simple technique you can use to shift bits from
one location to another inside a register. If you have ever wanted
access to more GPRM registers than you have available then this
is for you.
- Single
video looping without a menu -For DVD Studio Pro 2
You may wish to create a
DVD that works a lot like a VHS player. No menus, just insert
the DVD and it repeat plays. This is the most simplistic of DVDs
to create and since the question comes up often enough, here
is a brief on exactly how to do this with Apple's DVD Studio
Pro 2.
- Understanding
DVD@CCESS or How to provide a link within DVD Studio Pro
2 to a File
This project covers a simple
sample of DVD@CCESS and DVD-ROM file storage within your DVD
project. If you wish to author a DVD and provide a file or files
and/or web links such as web page or email link, this tutorial
will help clear up the DVD-ROM and DVD@CCESS functions in DVD
Studio Pro 2.0 (Bandwidth for these
downloads provided courtesy of ProMax
Systems, Inc.)
- How
to Create an "Audio Feedback Menu" in DVD Studio Pro
2
This started as a question
that came up regarding how to create an audio feedback each time
a button is selected. While this can certainly be done, it is
somewhat slow. If you need such a function, this is for you,
otherwise I wouldn't recomend doing this. (Bandwidth
for these downloads provided courtesy of ProMax
Systems, Inc.)
Motion
- Why
Your Beautiful Motion Text Looks Bad in Final Cut Pro

It's probably one of the
most frequently asked questions on the Motion forums. Here's
the scenario: you use Motion to create some nifty animated text
for your Final Cut Pro project. It looks great. You bring it
into Final Cut. It looks awful. What happened? Can it be fixed?
- Motion 2: Output Your Project with Alpha
Ok, I just upgraded from FCP4.5 to Final Cut Studio, and started
using Motion2 for the first time. I've been using Avid's since
'94 and Final Cut Pro since '99 (FCP1.0), and I know LiveType,
After Effects, PhotoShop and many other app's, so I know about
graphics with alpha. The first thing I wanted to do with Motion2
was export a simple title with alpha so I could use it in my
Final Cut Pro 5 project. But, for some reason, everything I tried
didn't work? I asked a few other Producer/Editor's I work with
and they had the same problem. No way to export our projects
with alpha? What a bummer! Guess what, there is a way.
- How to Create an Alpha Mask Using Motion 2
You've shot some nice video but now you would like to take the
subject out of the foreground and background and place it on
top of another background scene. It is one thing to do this if
you were shooting with a blue or green screen and could chroma
key it all but, alas, you were outdoors on location and didn't
have that luxury.
- Working
with Keyframes in Motion, Part 1
With
all the hulabaloo about Behaviors, it's easy to forget that you
can use traditional keyframing techniques to create animation
in Motion. You can create keyframes for just about any parameter
of any object, mask, or effect, and you can manipulate the keyframes
in Motion's full-featured Keyframe Editor.
- Getting
Around in Motion
Apple has done a good job with keyboard shortcuts in Motion.
Many of them are consistent with the other Pro Apps, like Final
Cut Pro. Here, we'll focus on the shortcuts that enable you to
quickly navigate to different parts of the interface.
- From
Motion to NTSC via FireWire
Previewing your Motion projects through
your FireWire VTR.
Shake
- Create
an Alpha Channel Part 2
This tutorial is written as an
introduction to compositing in Shake. It is assumed that you
have done part 1 of this tutorial. In
this tutorial we will briefly cover tracking, roto shaping, slow
motion, some transform nodes and some basic color adjustments.
- Create
an Alpha Channel Part 1
This tutorial is meant for those
who have no or little experience using Shake. We will briefly
cover Keying, Tracking, Rotoshaping and some basic compositing.
The aim is to create an alpha channel.
Final
Cut Pro 3.0
- Creating a "Chalkboard Animation"
look with your video!
"In my relentless pursuit to
take full advantage of my Final Cut Pro editing system and all
it has to offer, I have stumbled upon a good trick to make your
video look as if it were an animation created on a chalkboard.
The good thing is that this look can be created using basic Final
Cut effects that come with the program!"
- Why
are my FCP Productions Darker on my clients PC's?
This is one of the most posted
questions on all FCP forums. It is most often posted by new editors
or editors that are providing their first production for a PC
client. Philip Hodgetts and James Diefenderfer explain why it
happens what to do in case it happens.
- Editing
Double-System Sound material
The technical quality of the sound recording on professional
video camcorders can be very good, but most sound recordists,
given the chance, prefer the flexibility and control they have
with their own separate recorder (be it DAT, mini-disc or even
analog tape).
- Working
with the Panasonic AG-DVX100, Final Cut Pro and
Cinema Tools
While the current versions of Final Cut
Pro and Cinema Tools don't offer full support of the AG-DVX100,
the current versions of software can be used to edit footage
from the camera at 24fps. Andrew Lau gives takes us through the
process.
- Panasonic
24P and the 3:2 pulldown
"Digital Alliteration:
Panasonic, Progressive, Pulldown and "Pretty Darn Cool"
This How2 from Charles Roberts explains
how to get that 24P media into your Mac from teh Panasonic DVX100
24P camcorder for editing in FCP. Also explains the 3:2 pulldown
in easy to understand terms.
- QuickView
One of the best reasons to get FCP 3, QuickView is also one of
the least understood. Ken Stone makes you understand it.allows
you to preview your effect
- The
Range Check Tool in FCP 3.0
The Range Check tool is one of
the handiest new tools in FCP v3 and you really ought to know
how to use it. Ken Stone shows you how.
- Fun
with Batch Exporting
"I like Batch Export. It doesn't have too many Bells and
Whistles, like Media Manager, and it doesn't promise the world.
But it's got a kind of reliable functionality, and it does work."
- Line
your own Nest: Basics of Nesting in Final Cut Pro
Charles Roberts
helps us all understand the basics of nesting
- Photoshop Titles
The article is adapted
from the book Final
Cut Pro 3 Editing Workshop
by Tom Wolsky and gives a How2 on prepping titles in PhotoShop
for import into FCP
- Boris
Calligraphy: Text Generators for Final Cut Pro 3
How 2 use the new Title
3D and Crawl included free with FCP 3.0
- The
Voice Over Tool in FCP 3.0
How to use the new VO tool
in FCP 3.0
Vaya
a la versión en español
- Final
Cut Pro 3.0 for OS X, an ambitious beginning
How to Install FCP 3 on OS X
- How
to Upgrade to Final Cut Pro 3.0 - the Proper Way
A guide to upgrading
from FCP 1.2.5 or 2.0 to FCP 3.0
- Final
Cut Pro 3.0 for OS 9.2.2, an ambitious beginning
A quickstart guide to getting
started with FCP 3.0
- What's
New in FCP 3
Philip Hodgetts takes us on a
first look and thorough tour of the new features in FCP 3.0
Final
Cut Pro 2.0
(many,
if not all of these tutorials are relevant to FCP 3.0 and 1.0)
top
3rd
Party Tutorials
(Photoshop,
After Effects, Boris, Pro Tools, iDVD, etc)
- Faking
Transparency in Flash Video

Whiskas wanted to release a virtual cat that would walk around
on top of their website. They wanted users to be able to interact
with it and it had to be real video of a cat Oh, and they wanted
it in the first quarter of 2005, 6 months before the release
of Flash 8 with native video transparency. So, Roguish and 2
other agencies worked together to create a method of faking transparent
video.
- Painting Images with the DVX-100
The Panasonic DVX-100 offers several ways to affect the look
of the image through controls including gamma, matrix, saturation,
and more. Two of these controls typically used to correct images
in-camera, chroma temp and chroma phase, can also be used to
creatively "paint" images.
- How
to Create a Custom Transition in Final Cut Pro with BCC
It is a distinct possibility that
during an edit we may have a specific requirement for a transition.
It is also very likely that we do not have that transition available
for us to use. The simple reason for this is that it probably
does not exist. Using Final Cut Pro's powerful effects creation
and compositing capabilities, we can build practically all of
the custom transition effects that we want. If we combine this
feature with the unique and equally powerful Continuum Complete
filter plugins from Boris we have endless possibilities for effect
creation.
- Using the Timecode Log Spreadsheet
A recent thread on LAFCPUG.org raised the question of whether
one could use a spreadsheet, like Excel, to log timecode and
have it automatically calculate duration for each clip, as well
as overall duration. I volunteered to look into it, and here
is the result.
- Dolby
Digital. Sure it can be done
Its no lie, you can produce full 3.2
+ sub channel Dolby Digital productions using nothing more then
a G5 and a few key pieces of software.
- Extracting
video from a DVD or Importing video from a DVD into Final
Cut Pro.
Many times someone will ask me, "Can you get this video
off of a DVD for me?" Up until recently, this was a very
difficult thing to do.
- Over/Under
Exposing Video
In the video camera realm, the warning
is very clear: "Protect your highlights!", and it's
common to underexpose your image for the sake of doing so. I
set up my DVX-100...
- DVX-100
Gamma Settings
There's a lot of mystery surrounding
the four gamma settings available on the Panasonic DVX-100 miniDV
camcorder. The options are "NORMAL", "LOW",
"HIGH", and the intriguing "CINE" setting
which is hyped as more "filmic". Stymied myself with
what these options actually offer, I set out upon a scientific
approach to gain a better understanding of how these various
gammas affect the camera and its images.
- Animating
Photos in Photoshop for import into FCP
Panning and zooming on still
photos to add movement, interest and emphasize a subject has
become a popular technique in documentary filmmaking. For a twist
on this popular effect, try separating a subject from its background
in Photoshop and then animating the elements. Here's how to do
it and, in the process, learn how to select and mask complex
shapes in Photoshop:
- Animating
a Cutout with an Inside Drop Shadow
Creating text or shapes
that cut through one video image to reveal another underneath
and cast an inside drop shadow to clarify the effect or
How to Bust Your ChOps (Channel Operations) in Photoshop.
- Using
Magic Bullet and Anamorphic in your DV project
"For the past two years
I have been on a "making video look like film" quest.
About a year and a half ago, after trying just about every method
out there, I realized that if I want my projects to look like
film, I'd have to shoot film." Maybe not.
- Using
the Contour ShuttlePro
The ShuttlePro can be a great addition to your keyboard shortcuts.
You just have to know how to set it up properly. Dave Hardy tells
you how he set it up and uses it.
- Keyframing
in Final Cut Express
Keyframing in FCE is a bit different than keyframing in FCP.
Ken Stone tells you how to do it.
- Synthetic Aperture's 'Color Finesse'
Don't have the hundreds of thousands of dollars for a DaVinci
color-correction system? But you do have After Effects? In a
jaw-dropping review of Synthetic Aperture's 'Color Finesse,'
Marco Solorio shows how Color Finesse far surpasses the capabilities
of standard color correction tools -- as well as the error-prone
realities of using standard color correction plug-ins. The differences
are shocking! Note: this is NOT an article on how to color correct
(although some of the principles are explored in the article
and there is much to be learned here).
- Photo
Scanning for Video with ScanGuide Pro
The mission: stamp out fuzzy photos
I don't care if you're posting for
a syndicated reality TV show, an A&E documentary, or even
a cloying AMC "Back Story" leveraging yet another shelf
of the immense 20th Century Fox archives of dead star stills
into formulaic all-new programming-- there is no excuse
for fuzzy photos. The goal here is to scan your photos to keep
pixels out of the picture, and leave you with the resolution
limits of the photo grain itself-- unless of course that's the
effect you really want, along with lower Neilsons.
- CGM
DVE Vol.2+
Digital Video Effects for Apple Final Cut Pro The Timewarp Filter
How to use the Time Warp filter in
CGM's fine package of filters and transistions
- A
little animated about 24p?
Producing, editing
and delivering animated content
at 24p with Aurora Igniter Film.
- Authoring
with iDVD 2 - OS 10.1
Ken Stone attempts
his first creation using iDVD on OSX.
- Glow Video, Glow
How to add glowing
highlights to your video using Boris FX6 or Red
- Secrets
of Final Cut Pro: Pro Tools Integration
How to export
audio from FCP to Pro Tools Free
- Sizing
and Scanning Photographs in PS for import into FCP
Getting those
photos just right before you bring them into PhotoShop for import
into FCP
- Porting
between FCP and After Effects
Getting clips from FCP to AE
and back again
- Preparing
Photoshop files for FCP
How to prepare those images in
Photoshop before you bring them into FCP
Vaya a la versión
en español
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Troubleshooting/Configuring
Tutorials
- Troubleshooting Your Final Cut Pro System
updated
Final Cut is a reliable, high-performance
editing system. However, there are things you can do to both
fix and prevent problems. This article focuses on tips to keep
your hardware, operating system and project files up, running
and optimized.
- Care
and Feeding of Panther

"Mac OSX Panther doesn't look or act like the so-called
"old world" Mac OS's, OS9.x.x and previous. And its
subtly different from the 10.2 Jaguar we just upgraded from."
Charles Roberts shows us how to take care of our Mac running
Panther.
- When
Good Apps Go Bad
Your project is due in a couple of hours, you're almost ready
to output and Final Cut Pro crashes. ...read this article for
some tips to get you back on the road to recovery...if you follow
the tips in this article, there are some preventative measures
you can take that can help keep you out of trouble in the future.
- Migrating
to the G5 and OSX Panther
One mans How2 on configuring
your G5. Plus how to get everything off your G4 and move it safely
onto your G5 with out accelerating your heart rate.
This is part 1 in Ned Soltz's series of installing new hardware
and software
- Avoiding
Trouble in the Move to Mac OS X, Parts 1 and 2
An absolute must read before
you install OSX. Not specifically written for the FCP user it
is more of a "how to avoid endless troubles" before
you start to work in OSX. Written by Adam C Engst, publisher
of TidBits
- Partitioning
a Hard Drive in OS X - Jaguar
Instructions
for partitioning either a boot drive or non-boot drive by Ken
Stone
- Care
and Feeding of Jaguar
"...most video editors
on the Macintosh platform have been here for a while now. We
are used to tooling our Macs, keeping them so tight the hinges
squeak. But with the leap to OSX, many have been left in complete
confusion about how to keep their Mac OS in shape. No Desktop
rebuilding? No inits to troubleshoot? A brave new world to be
sure."
- Configuration
of Non-Linear Digital Video Editing SystemsRevised 6/1/04
Info to help you make good choices
when configuring your FCP Workstation
- Arrays,
Raid Drives & Striping: How they Work
What is all this
stuff, and how do I configure it? Info you need before you buy
- Hints
for FCP Success
A list of troubleshooting tips and techniques for use with your
FCP system
- Restoring
A Corrupt Final Cut Pro Project
There is really nothing worse than
coming into the editing room, double clicking your project file,
and seeing an ambiguous error message that inevitably means that
you cannot open your Project. Here's how to restore it.
- Solving
Cryptic Memory Error Messages
What to try when you get those type 1, 2, or 3 errors
- How to Partition
your Hard Drive
Getting ready for FCP
- SCSI or EIDE
An answer to the frequently asked
question; should I get SCSI or EIDE
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FCP
Tiplets from DV Creators
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