Cinema Tools 4 User Manual
Copyright © 2009 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Your rights to the software are governed by the accompanying software license agreement. The owner or authorized user of a valid copy of Final Cut Studio software may reproduce this publication for the purpose of learning to use such software. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes, such as selling copies of this publication or for providing paid for support services. The Apple logo is a trademark of Apple Inc.
Contents Preface 7 7 8 8 Welcome to Cinema Tools About Cinema Tools About the Cinema Tools Documentation Additional Resources Chapter 1 9 9 12 13 13 14 16 19 20 21 An Overview of Using Cinema Tools Editing Film Digitally Why 24p Video? Working with 24p Sources Offline and Online Editing Creating the Cinema Tools Database Capturing the Source Clips with Final Cut Pro Preparing the Clips for Editing Creating Cut Lists and Other Lists with Cinema Tools How Much Can Be Done from Final Cut Pro? Chapter 2
54 Deciding How You Should Create the Database 58 Creating and Configuring a New Database 4 Chapter 5 65 65 66 66 67 73 74 76 77 80 80 81 84 Working with Databases Opening an Existing Database Viewing Database Properties About the Detail View Window Settings in the Detail View Window About the List View Window Settings in the List View Window Finding and Opening Database Records Settings in the Find Dialog Backing Up, Copying, Renaming, and Locking Databases About the Clip Window Settings in the Clip Wi
Chapter 9 143 143 144 146 150 150 151 157 158 Editing with Final Cut Pro About Easy Setups and Setting the Editing Timebase Working with 25 fps Video Conformed to 24 fps Displaying Film Information in Final Cut Pro Opening Final Cut Pro Clips in Cinema Tools Restrictions for Using Multiple Tracks Using Effects, Filters, and Transitions Tracking Duplicate Uses of Source Material Ensuring Cut List Accuracy with 3:2 Pull-Down or 24 & 1 Video Chapter 10 159 159 160 161 166 174 189 Generating Film Lists and
Appendix C 245 245 245 247 Glossary 249 Solving Problems Resources for Solving Problems Solutions to Common Problems Contacting AppleCare Support Contents
Preface Welcome to Cinema Tools Cinema Tools is a powerful database that tracks Final Cut Pro edits for conforming film, digital intermediate, and 24p video projects. This preface covers the following: • About Cinema Tools (p. 7) • About the Cinema Tools Documentation (p. 8) • Additional Resources (p.
The integration between Cinema Tools and Final Cut Pro makes it possible to perform the most common Cinema Tools tasks directly from Final Cut Pro—Cinema Tools performs the tasks automatically in the background. About the Cinema Tools Documentation Cinema Tools comes with the Cinema Tools 4 User Manual (this document), which provides detailed information about the application.
An Overview of Using Cinema Tools 1 Cinema Tools combined with Final Cut Pro gives unprecedented power to film, digital intermediate, and 24p video editors. This chapter covers the following: • Editing Film Digitally (p. 9) • Why 24p Video? (p. 12) • Working with 24p Sources (p. 13) • Offline and Online Editing (p. 13) • Creating the Cinema Tools Database (p. 14) • Capturing the Source Clips with Final Cut Pro (p. 16) • Preparing the Clips for Editing (p.
How Does Cinema Tools Help You Edit Your Film? For many, film still provides the optimum medium for capturing images. And, if your goal is a theatrical release or a showing at a film festival, you may need to provide the final movie on film. Using Final Cut Pro with Cinema Tools does not change the process of exposing the film in the camera or projecting the final movie in a theater—it’s the part in between that takes advantage of the advances in technology.
Cinema Tools also checks for problems that can arise while using Final Cut Pro, the most common one being duplicate uses of source material: using a shot (or a portion of it) more than once. Besides creating duplicate lists, you can use Cinema Tools to generate other lists, such as one dealing with opticals—the placement of transitions, motion effects (video at other than normal speed), and titles.
Cinema Tools databases can be used in this process to match the EDL to the 2K media, linking the reel names and timecode of each edit to entries in a database created from a folder of 2K image sequence clips. Using a Cinema Tools database provides powerful tools to diagnose and resolve any issues that occur, such as nonmatching reel names. See Basic Digital Intermediate Workflow Steps and Digital Intermediate Workflow Using a Telecine for details about this workflow.
Working with 24p Sources With the emergence of 24p HD video recorders, there is a growing need for Final Cut Pro to support several aspects of editing at 24 fps (in some cases, actually 23.98 fps). To this end, Final Cut Pro and Cinema Tools provide the following: • The import and export of 24 fps and 23.98 fps EDLs • The ability to convert NTSC 29.97 fps EDLs to 23.98 fps or 24 fps EDLs • A Reverse Telecine feature to undo the 3:2 pull-down used when 24 fps film or video is converted to NTSC’s 29.
• Online edit: Replace low-resolution footage and create a full-resolution master. 24p video 24p master source Online edit (24 fps) Edited 24p master Final Cut Pro with Cinema Tools (offline edit) NTSC or PAL video Capture video Convert to 24 fps Edit clips 24 fps EDL See Editing 24p Video with Final Cut Pro for more information. Creating the Cinema Tools Database There are a number of issues to take into account when you create your database.
A Detailed or Simple Database? Cinema Tools is designed to allow you to create a record for an entire camera roll, for each take, or somewhere in between, depending on how you like to work.
• Importing telecine logs using Final Cut Pro: When you import a telecine log using Final Cut Pro, you choose whether to import it into an existing Cinema Tools database or whether a new database should be created. As records are added to the selected Cinema Tools database, each record also creates an offline clip in the Final Cut Pro Browser so that clips can be batch captured. The film-related information from the telecine log is automatically added to each clip.
Note: Capturing video clips from a tape-based device may require third-party hardware. When using serial device control, make sure to calibrate its capture offset. See the Final Cut Pro documentation for more information. Also see Setting Up Your Hardware to Capture Accurate Timecode for more information about capturing your clips.
Capturing Tactics There are several approaches to capturing your video and audio. Determining which is right for you depends on a number of factors, including whether you have device control of the source tape deck and the transfer type used (camera-roll or scene-and-take). Device Control A primary consideration when determining how to capture video and audio is whether Final Cut Pro supports device control for the deck you use.
Scene-and-Take Transfers Scene-and-take transfers generally result in records in the Cinema Tools database that are suitable for performing a batch capture. You can export a capture list from Cinema Tools and import it into the Final Cut Pro Browser. Final Cut Pro can then perform a batch capture (assuming it can control the source device), creating clips as directed by the Cinema Tools list. These clips can then be easily linked to records in the Cinema Tools database.
In order to understand the Conform feature, you need to know a bit about the nature of QuickTime video files. Each video frame within a QuickTime file has a duration setting that defines the length of time that a particular frame is displayed (normal NTSC- or PAL-based QuickTime video has the same duration assigned to all frames). For example, the NTSC video rate has a value of 1/30 of a second (actually 1/29.97 of a second) assigned to each frame. The PAL video rate is 1/25 of a second.
See An Introduction to Film Lists and Change Lists for more details about all the film-related lists that are available. How Much Can Be Done from Final Cut Pro? Because of the high level of integration between Cinema Tools and Final Cut Pro, you have several options for each stage in your project’s workflow.
Following is a diagram showing an ideal workflow that focuses on using Final Cut Pro methods.
Before You Begin Your Film Project 2 Start planning your project early to ensure its success. This chapter covers the following: • An Introduction to Film Projects (p. 23) • Before You Shoot Your Film (p. 24) • Which Film to Use? (p. 24) • Transferring Film to Video (p. 25) • Frame Rate Basics (p. 28) • Audio Considerations (p. 34) • Working in Final Cut Pro (p. 38) An Introduction to Film Projects Successful film production requires thorough planning well before exposing the first frame.
Before You Shoot Your Film Before you begin your project, make sure to discuss it with all parties involved in the process: • Those providing equipment or supplies used during the production • Those involved in the actual production • The facility that will develop your film, create workprints, and create the release print • The video transfer facility • The editor using Cinema Tools and Final Cut Pro (if it is not you) • The negative cutter • The audio post-production facility These are people who are expe
Your budget will likely determine which format you use. Although it’s generally best to use the same film format throughout your production, Cinema Tools does not require it. Each database record has its own film format setting. Transferring Film to Video In order to digitally edit your film, you need to transfer it to video so that it can be captured by the computer.
But What If You Want a Clean Master? If you plan to conform the original camera negative, the presence of burned-in timecode and key numbers on the video clips you edit in Final Cut Pro may not be a problem, especially if you are working with a highly compressed video format. The burned-in numbers can be a problem, however, if you intend to use the edited video for screenings or for broadcast. As valuable as they are to the editor, the burned-in numbers can be distracting when watching an edited project.
Recording a Projected Image with a Camcorder Because of the greatly increased chances for error and the additional time you have to spend tracking key numbers, this method of transfer is strongly discouraged and should not be considered. Projecting your film and recording the results using a video camcorder is a method that, although relatively inexpensive, almost guarantees errors in the final negative cutting.
Additionally, because of the way it is recorded, audio is difficult to synchronize at the telecine during a camera-roll transfer. During a production, the sound recorder typically starts recording before film starts rolling and ends after filming has stopped. You also will often shoot some film without sound (known as MOS shots). This means you cannot establish audio sync at the start of the film roll and expect it to be maintained throughout the roll. Instead, each clip needs to be synced individually.
Working with NTSC Video The original frame rate of NTSC video was exactly 30 fps. When color was added, the rate had to be changed slightly, to the rate of 29.97 fps. The field rate of NTSC video is 59.94 fields per second. NTSC video is often referred to as having a frame rate of 30 fps, and although the difference is not large, it cannot be ignored when transferring film to video (because of its impact on audio synchronization, explained in Synchronizing the Audio with the Video).
Note that there is not a one-to-one correspondence between film frames and video frames after this pull-down occurs. The duration of a video frame is four-fifths the duration of a film frame. Because of this discrepancy, if you tried to match a specific number of whole video frames to some number of whole film frames, the durations would seldom match perfectly.
24 @ 25 Method Running the film at 25 fps sets up a one-to-one relationship between the film and video frames. The drawback is that the action in the film is sped up by 4 percent, and the audio will need an identical speed increase to maintain synchronization. To take advantage of the wide variety of 25 fps video equipment available, you can choose to edit with the action 4 percent faster.
Your Final Cut Pro system needs to be equipped with specialized hardware to capture 24p video, either as compressed or uncompressed clips. Alternatively, some DV cameras, such as the Panasonic AG-DVX100 camcorder, can shoot 24p video and use the 2:3:3:2 pull-down method to record it to tape at 29.97 fps (the NTSC standard). Using Final Cut Pro and Cinema Tools, you can capture this video and remove the 2:3:3:2 pull-down so that you can edit it at 24 fps.
To compensate for this, drop frame timecode skips ahead by two frames each minute, except those minutes ending in “0.” (Note that it is only the numbers that are skipped—not the actual video frames.) This correction makes the timecode accurate with respect to real time but adds confusion to the process of digital film editing. With non-drop frame timecode, once you find an A frame, you know that the frame at that frame number and the one five away from it will always be A frames.
In the above illustration, the blue NTSC fields represent fields that are removed during the reverse telecine process on a clip using traditional 3:2 pull-down. (See Adding and Removing Pull-Down in 24p Clips for information about 2:3:3:2 pull-down.) The window burn NTSC timecode will be different from what Final Cut Pro shows for all frames except the first one of each second, regardless of the clip’s length.
Choosing an Audio Timecode Format Unlike video or film, which must be structured with a specific frame rate, audio is linear with no physical frame boundaries. Adding timecode to audio is simply a way to identify points in time, making it easier to match the audio to video or film frames. During the shoot, you have the choice of which audio timecode standard to use (typically 30 fps, 29.97 fps, 25 fps, 24 fps, or 23.98 fps). You also have the choice, with 30 fps and 29.
You can export the audio from Final Cut Pro as an Open Media Framework (OMF) file for use at an audio post-production facility. An exported OMF file contains not only the information about audio In and Out points, but also the audio itself. This means that, for example, any sound effects clips you may have added are included. When you use an OMF file, the recording quality must be as high as possible, as this is what the audience will hear.
Synchronization Basics Synchronizing the audio with the video image can be fairly easy as long as some care was taken during the shoot. There are two aspects to synchronizing your audio: establishing sync at a particular point in each clip, and playing the audio at the correct speed so that it stays in sync. While shooting, you must provide visible and audible cues to sync on. The most common method is to use a clapper board (also called a slate or sticks) at the beginning of each take.
Synchronizing in Final Cut Pro If you don’t synchronize your sound and picture onto tape via the telecine transfer, they are captured into Final Cut Pro as separate audio and video clips. You can then synchronize them in Final Cut Pro, using the clapper board shots. See Synchronization Basics for more information. After you synchronize two or more clips, you can link them together as one clip, using the Final Cut Pro merged clips feature.
Using Effects Final Cut Pro provides extensive effects capabilities, including common film effects such as dissolves, wipes, speed changes, and text credits. Keep in mind that the video output of Final Cut Pro is not intended to be transferred to film, and these effects must be created by a facility specializing in opticals, or created digitally using high-resolution scans of footage to be composited.
Cinema Tools Workflows 3 The primary purpose of Cinema Tools is to export film lists based on edits made in Final Cut Pro. You can also use Cinema Tools in workflows involving Color, DPX image sequences, and REDCODE media files. There are a few critical steps that are necessary for these workflows, but for the most part, the Cinema Tools workflow you should follow depends on the equipment you use, your video standard, and how you like to work.
Stage 3: Connecting the Clips to the Database Once you have captured the source clips, you can connect them to the Cinema Tools database (also known as linking the clips to the database). Connecting a clip to the database gives Cinema Tools the ability to access a record’s clip while creating the cut list, reducing the chance of timecode entry problems. When creating a cut list, Cinema Tools starts by looking at the clip pathname used in the edit and matching it back to the database.
If You Used Scene-and-Take Transfers Because scene-and-take transfers require a database record for each take (because of noncontinuous key numbers), an important first consideration is whether or not a telecine log is available. Workflow for a Scene-and-Take Transfer with a Telecine Log Importing a telecine log automatically creates the database entries.
• Manually capture the clips with Final Cut Pro and use the Synchronize with Cinema Tools command to create the Cinema Tools database: This workflow is most useful when you don’t know the exact In and Out points for each clip or if you do not have device control. You can also create the Cinema Tools database by dragging the folder containing the clips to the Cinema Tools application icon.
Clip-Based Workflow for a Camera-Roll Transfer The clip-based method is more reliable because there are fewer variables.
Timecode-Based Workflow for a Camera-Roll Transfer The timecode-based method must be used in certain situations, such as when generating a list from an external EDL or when the clip files are offline.
• Use a telecine for all of the film, and then scan only the clips that are used: This approach is a bit more complicated and uses a telecine to provide the offline video for Final Cut Pro to edit. This approach is detailed in the Digital Intermediate Workflow Using a Telecine section. A typical scan-based DI workflow is outlined below.
You can create these downconverted files in Color by creating a new project with Render File Type set to QuickTime and Export Codec set to the codec you want to use. Then simply edit all the shots you want to convert into the Timeline, add them to the Render Queue, and click Start Render. See the Color documentation for more information.
• If the EDL refers to clips on more than one volume, a Cinema Tools database can connect to all of the clips. Color can automatically connect to the clips on only one volume, and you must manually connect to the clips on the other volumes. Stage 6: Finishing the Project in Color Once you have imported the EDL into Color and matched it to the source clips, the clips are conformed to match the edits, and you can proceed with the usual color correction process.
Stage 1: Creating the Offline Video Clips Using a telecine, you create the offline video clips that Final Cut Pro uses to edit the program. You should try to create offline video clips with the same frame rate as the DPX image sequence clips you will create with the film scan when the offline edit is finished. You also need to make sure the reel name and timecode of the telecine clips will match those of the clips from the film scan.
The advantages of choosing the Cinema Tools database are: • You can easily correct any issues there might be between the EDL and the actual clips. For example, if a reel name does not match, you can change the reel name in the Cinema Tools database to match the name listed in the EDL. • Once you have created the Cinema Tools database, choosing it when importing an EDL into Color can be faster than choosing the folder with the clips.
When you play the clip in the Clip window, a .mov file (usually the one with “_M” in its name) is played. Important: There has to be at least one .mov file in the folder for Cinema Tools to be able to play the clip in the Clip window.
Creating a Cinema Tools Database 4 At the heart of Cinema Tools is its database, providing powerful organizational tools. This chapter covers the following: • An Introduction to Cinema Tools Databases (p. 53) • Deciding How You Should Create the Database (p. 54) • Creating and Configuring a New Database (p.
Depending on your situation, you may be able to simplify the database creation process by building the database from a telecine log or by creating just one database record per camera roll. Understanding the Basic Structure of a Cinema Tools Database A database is made up of records, and each record describes one source clip.
If you haven’t done so yet, take a look at Cinema Tools Workflows for general information. Use these examples to guide you in determining the basic steps you need to take to create your database and capture your clips. The steps you take, and the order of those steps, differ depending on a number of factors, most of which are summarized in the workflow examples.
See Importing Database Information from a Telecine Log or ALE File for more information. If You Do Not Have a Telecine Log or ALE File Although it’s faster and more efficient to use a log, you can build a database without one. This is the most common approach with digital intermediate workflows. To create a database without a log 1 Create a new, empty database. See Creating and Configuring a New Database for more information. 2 Enter database records manually.
A Potential Database Shortcut for Camera-Roll Transfers If you used a camera-roll transfer and need to manually create your database, you may be able to save time by creating one database record per camera roll, depending on whether or not the edge code number-to-timecode relationship is continuous for each camera-roll transfer.
• Creating an audio Edit Decision List (EDL): If you plan to give an audio EDL to the audio post-production facility, make sure that the audio timecode, video timecode, and sound roll information is entered in each database record. Creating the database by importing a telecine log is the easiest and most efficient way to make sure that all the necessary information is entered in the database.
• Drag one or more folders with clips from a Finder window to the Cinema Tools application icon. Note: If you drag a mixture of selected clips and folders to the application icon, a dialog appears advising you not to mix the two types of items. Dragging selected clips to the application icon does not create a new database, but opens the clips in the Clip window instead. 2 In the New Database dialog, choose default settings for your database and click OK.
To create a new database using the Synchronize with Cinema Tools command 1 In the Final Cut Pro Browser, select the clips that you want to add to a new Cinema Tools database. These can be clips that are already in a database, or they can be new clips that are not in a database. 2 Choose Tools > Synchronize with Cinema Tools. A dialog appears that allows you to configure the synchronization process. The Database field shows the currently selected database. 3 Select the “Add new records” checkbox.
See Synchronizing Final Cut Pro Clips with Cinema Tools for more information about the Synchronize with Cinema Tools command, including how to use it to synchronize clips to an existing database. Importing a Telecine Log File to Create a New Database When you import a telecine log file into Final Cut Pro, you can choose to import it into a new or existing Cinema Tools database. See Importing Telecine Logs Using Final Cut Pro for more information.
Choose the standard film type used for your project from the Film Standard pop-up menu: • 35mm 4p: 35mm film, 4 perforations per frame • 16mm 20: 16mm film, 20 frames per key number • 35mm 3p: 35mm film, 3 perforations per frame • Video TC Rate: Cinema Tools supports four different video timecode rates. See Film Background Basics for information about timecode rates. The film lab that transfers your film to video can tell you what kind of timecode is recorded on the videotape.
• 24 FPS: Video timecode at 24 fps or 23.98 fps • Telecine Speed: Telecine speed (shown as TK Speed in the Detail View window, the Clip window’s Identify pane, and optionally in the Final Cut Pro Browser window) refers to the frame rate of the film in the telecine equipment during the transfer to video. From the Telecine Speed pop-up menu, you choose the speed at which the film was transferred: • 24: 24 fps or 23.98 fps telecine film speed • 25: 25 fps telecine film speed • 30: 29.
Working with Databases 5 To work with the database, you need to know how to open it, find specific records, and access information about a record’s clip. This chapter also details using the List View, Detail View, and Clip windows. This chapter covers the following: • Opening an Existing Database (p. 65) • Viewing Database Properties (p. 66) • About the Detail View Window (p. 66) • Settings in the Detail View Window (p. 67) • About the List View Window (p. 73) • Settings in the List View Window (p.
All the records in the open database are listed in the List View window, and the Detail View window shows the first record’s details. See About the Detail View Window and About the List View Window for details about using these two windows. Note: The current database closes if one is already open. Viewing Database Properties You can use the Database Properties dialog to see a wide variety of information about the current database, including its default settings and statistics about the records.
µ If necessary, click the Detail View window to bring it to the front. See Settings in the Detail View Window for more information about the Detail View window. Settings in the Detail View Window The Detail View window includes a number of fields and buttons for creating a database record. Only a few of these settings are required for the purpose of using the database to create a cut list or change list.
The Detail View window contains the following fields and buttons: Previous Record and Next Record buttons Field for take notes Field for telecine session notes Database Fields and Buttons These fields and buttons apply to the entire database. • Previous Record and Next Record buttons (arrows): Click these buttons to switch to the previous or next record (as currently sorted and displayed in the List View window).
• Shot description field: Enter a description of the shot. • Script Pages fields: Enter the starting and ending script pages associated with the scene and the shot. Film Settings The following settings relate specifically to the film. In general, you can ignore these settings if your project does not involve film or you are not intending to finish the project by conforming the original camera negative. • Scene field: Use this field to enter or modify the identifier for the scene.
• Key fields: (If you intend to create a cut list or change list for a film-based project, these fields or the ink number fields are required.) The first field should contain the key prefix that is constant throughout a roll of film. For example, for the key number KJ 29 1010 5867+07, the key prefix is “KJ 29 1010,” which you enter as “KJ291010.” You can enter up to eight characters (including spaces, although most often you will be skipping the spaces, as in this example).
Video Settings The following settings relate specifically to the video clips. • Video Reel field: (Unless all the clips you will be editing are connected to the database, this field is required if you intend to create a cut list or change list or audio EDL.) Enter the identifier of the video reel that contains this take. This field is essential for creating an accurate cut list or change list.
• Video Duration field: (Unless all the clips you will be editing are connected to the database, this field is required if you intend to create a cut list or change list or audio EDL.) Enter the timecode duration of the source clip. The value for this field can come from a telecine log. If you connect a clip to a database record that does not yet contain the clip timecode duration, Cinema Tools looks for this information in the clip file and automatically enters it in the database record.
See Choosing a Different Poster Frame for a Clip for more information about the poster frame. • Connect Clip/Open Clip button: If a clip has not been connected to the database record, this button is labeled Connect Clip. If a clip has already been connected, the button is labeled Open Clip. • Click Connect Clip to select a source clip to connect to this record.
The Show All and Find buttons allow you quickly either to show all of the records in the open database (click Show All) or to show a specific set of records by using the Find dialog (click Find). See Finding and Opening Database Records for information about using the Find button. The pop-up menu at the top-left corner of the window lets you choose the display mode, determining the type of information that appears.
List View Window Controls The following controls along the top of the List View window determine the columns that appear and allow you to choose the records that are shown. • Display mode pop-up menu: Use this pop-up menu to configure the List View window to show the columns most useful to you. • Keycode: Displays information about the film, including key numbers and rolls. • Video: Displays video timecode and reel information. • Sound: Displays audio timecode and sound roll information.
• Daily Roll: The value entered in the Daily Roll field • Ink Number: The value entered in the Ink field Finding and Opening Database Records You typically open database records in the Detail View window by selecting the record in the List View window. The set of records displayed in the List View window is often referred to as the found set, because you use the Find command to specify which records are listed there. Note: You can select only one record at a time.
µ To find a key number In the List View window, choose Keycode from the pop-up menu, then click the Keycode column heading to sort by key number. See About the List View Window for more details. To use the Find command to find records in the open database 1 Open the Find dialog by doing one of the following: • Choose Database > Find (or press Command-F). • Click the Find button in the List View window. 2 Configure the settings and click Find Records. See Settings in the Find Dialog for more information.
• To find all the records for a particular scene or shot: Enter the identifier for that scene or shot in the Scene field, leave the Take field blank, then click the Find Records button. (The Take field is disabled unless you select the “Show only exact matches” checkbox.) For example, if you enter “1” in the Scene field and then click Find Records, Cinema Tools finds all records associated with scene 1, including the shots 1, 1A, 1B, 1C, and so on.
Scene, Shot, and Take Number Details The way Cinema Tools interprets scene numbers can lead to unexpected results when using the Find dialog. Cinema Tools looks at a scene number as having up to four parts: • Prefix: This is an optional set of one or more letters in front of the scene number, usually used to indicate a new, unique scene added to the script. For example, the “A” in scene A54C-3.
Backing Up, Copying, Renaming, and Locking Databases As is the case with all important data, it is wise to store backup copies of your Cinema Tools database files and to lock the database files if you want to make sure they are not modified or deleted. Do this by using any of the standard desktop methods for copying and locking files. You can back up your files on your computer’s hard disk or on separate removable media.
You can have multiple Clip windows open at one time. They are dynamically added to and removed from the Window menu as you open and close them. See Settings in the Clip Window for information about the buttons and settings in the Clip window. Settings in the Clip Window You can play the clip by clicking the Play button (the triangle to the left of the timeline) or by pressing the Space bar.
If the clip has audio, you can control the volume by clicking the speaker icon next to the Play button and then dragging the volume slider. You can also drag the playhead to scroll through the clip. You can click the left arrow and right arrow buttons at the right side of the timeline or press your keyboard’s Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys to step through the clip one frame at a time.
Buttons in the Upper-Right Corner • Identify: Click to show the Identify pane, which displays the clip’s information from the Cinema Tools database it is connected to. You can use the Identify pane to enter film and timecode information in the database or to get information about the frame that is currently displayed in the Clip window. Additionally, the settings update to show the information for each frame as you move through a clip.
Accessing Information About a Source Clip The Analysis pane of the Clip window gives you access to specific information about a source clip. Click the Analysis button to display the Analysis pane. The Analysis pane displays the full path (location) and name of the file, along with its size and dates of creation and modification. You can also see the duration of the movie contained in the clip.
Entering and Modifying Database Information 6 Once you have created and configured your Cinema Tools database, you are ready to start entering information. This chapter covers the following: • About Working with Database Information (p. 85) • Importing Database Information (p. 86) • Entering Database Information Manually (p. 91) • Using the Identify Feature to Calculate Database Information (p. 96) • Deleting a Database Record (p. 98) • Choosing a Different Poster Frame for a Clip (p.
Even if you do generate a database with a telecine log, you may want to make modifications and additions to the database records at a later time. You can do this by using the Detail View window or the Clip window. (In the Clip window, you can only modify existing database records.) See Entering Database Information Manually for more information. Also see Using the Identify Feature to Calculate Database Information for details about how to determine various types of database information.
You can import telecine log files using either Cinema Tools or Final Cut Pro. See Importing Telecine Logs Using Cinema Tools and Importing Telecine Logs Using Final Cut Pro for more information. Assigning Camera Letters Whether you import the telecine log file using Cinema Tools or Final Cut Pro, you have the option of having Cinema Tools dynamically assign a camera letter to all records that are imported.
4 To assign a camera letter to the imported records, select the “Append a camera letter” checkbox (the camera letter is dynamically determined by the first letter of the camera roll value, if present, and is appended to the Take entry of each record). 5 Click Open. The data in the log is entered in the open database, and each new record is displayed in the List View window.
The Import a Cinema Tools Telecine Log dialog appears. Select the telecine log file to import. Choose to either create a new database or import the file into an existing database. Choose a camera letter to append to the imported takes (if needed). Lists the currently selected database. 4 Use the top half of the dialog to select the telecine log file to import.
7 Click Open to import the selected telecine log file into the selected Cinema Tools database. After the records have been imported and the offline clips have been added to the Browser, you can use Final Cut Pro to batch capture the clips. See the Final Cut Pro documentation for information about batch capturing clips.
Importing an Existing Cinema Tools Database One Cinema Tools database can be imported into another Cinema Tools database. There are a few reasons why you might want to do this: • You may want to create separate databases for organization and archiving purposes and then bring them all together in a master database. For example, you might want to create separate databases for your dailies.
Understanding the Relationship Between Scenes, Shots, and Takes To enter scene, shot, and take information in the database, you first need to know how scenes, shots, and takes are understood by the database. A motion picture production is composed of a series of scenes, and each scene is typically composed of a number of shots or angles. A shot is a continuous film recording that does not have any cuts. In shooting the film, there may be a number of takes for each shot, so a take is a version of a shot.
Note: You don’t have to enter anything in the Scene and Take fields in order to use Cinema Tools to match your digital edits back to your original camera negative. You can leave these fields blank or enter their values later. Also keep in mind that the scene and take entries are used to create the clip names if you export a batch capture list. See Generating a Batch Capture List from Cinema Tools for more information. The Detail View window appears after you click OK.
Using Scene, Shot, and Take Identifiers An identifier can be any combination of numbers and letters (up to 15 characters). • Take identifier: If the source clip associated with a database record contains more than one take, you can think of the take identifier as a source subclip identifier. If the source clip associated with a database record contains just one take, you can think of the take identifier as a source clip identifier.
In the example below, all records for scene A54 will have the same descriptive text (“Outside”) and page numbers (146 to 167). All takes for this shot (A54J) will have the same descriptive text (“Left” in this example) and page numbers (148 to 155). Each take for that shot will also have a unique Take Notes entry. Entering Information in a Database Record Once you have created a database record, you can enter the information about its clip.
If you know the edge code or timecode number for another frame in a clip, the Identify feature can help you determine the correct timecode or edge code number for the first frame of a clip. See Using the Identify Feature to Calculate Database Information for details. 3 Click Save. Until you save, data in the Detail View window is not entered in the database. You can choose Database > Revert Record (or press Command-R) to revert to the last saved version of the record.
To enter the edge code and timecode values in the database 1 If it isn’t already open, open the clip in the Clip window in one of the following ways: • Choose File > Open Clip (or press Command-O) and use the dialog to select the clip. • Click Open Clip in the Detail View window of the clip’s database record. 2 Click Identify in the Clip window to display the settings for the current frame. 3 Locate the marked frame in the clip playback area.
About Modifying Data with the Identify Feature You can use the Identify feature for a clip only if a database record has been created for that clip. The Clip window’s Identify pane includes fields and pop-up menus for settings that also appear in the Detail View window.
The default clip poster frame does not appear in the Detail View window until after: • The clip has been connected to a database record • The clip has been opened in the Clip window To choose a new poster frame for a clip 1 If it isn’t already open, open the clip in the Clip window in one of the following ways: • Choose File > Open Clip (or press Command-O) and use the dialog to select the clip. • Click Open Clip in the Detail View window of the clip’s database record.
µ To change the default settings for a database Create a new database with the default settings you want, then import your original database into the new one. See Importing an Existing Cinema Tools Database for more information. Changing All Reel or Roll Identifiers There may be times when you want to change all occurrences of a reel or roll identifier in a database. For example, you might need to change a reel identifier that is not EDL-compatible to one that is EDL-compatible.
Verifying and Correcting Edge Code and Timecode Numbers Assuming you know the timecode, key number, or ink number values for a frame in a clip—either by a marked frame or by window burn—you can use the Identify feature to verify these values for the clip. Verification is important because your cut list or change list is only as accurate as these values.
2 In the clip playback area, locate a frame near the beginning of the clip for which you know the correct edge code number or timecode value. This is easy if your video has window burn. Click Identify to show the current frame’s settings. Burned-in timecode value Burned-in edge code value 3 If necessary, click Identify to show the record’s settings. 4 Look at the Key, Ink, and Video Timecode fields in the Identify pane to see if the numbers match the window burn of the frame in the Clip window.
If you used serial device control, the timecode mismatch may have happened because you didn’t set the appropriate timecode offset in Final Cut Pro for the specific deck you used. You need to make this setting once per deck, per computer. For more information, see the section about calibrating the timecode signal in the Final Cut Pro documentation. 7 If you entered new numbers in the fields, click Save. Otherwise, if the values were already correct, close the window.
Capturing Source Clips and Connecting Them to the Database 7 Establishing the relationships between the source clips and the Cinema Tools database is key to a successful project. This chapter covers the following: • About Source Clips and the Database (p. 105) • Preparing to Capture (p. 105) • Generating a Batch Capture List from Cinema Tools (p. 109) • Connecting Source Clips to the Database (p. 115) • Fixing Broken Clip-to-Database Links (p.
• How to prepare for batch capturing (if you have a video deck with device control) • Considerations for capturing source clips individually (if you do not have device control) A Caution About Using OffineRT Media with Cinema Tools When you capture media with the OfflineRT Easy Setup in Final Cut Pro, your captured media is highly compressed, allowing you to capture more source clips to your hard disk—approximately 2 hours of video per gigabyte (GB) of hard disk space.
Setting Up Your Hardware to Capture Accurate Timecode The ability of Final Cut Pro to capture frame-accurate timecode for each clip is also dependent upon the proper setup of your capture hardware. When using DV decks, this is easy. In Final Cut Pro 3 and later, capturing video with a DV deck using FireWire for both device control and video and audio input results in 100 percent accurate timecode.
Calibrating the Timecode Offset Even when your deck and video capture interface are genlocked together, if you are going to use serial device control instead of FireWire device control to capture, it is still essential to calibrate the capture offset (found in the Final Cut Pro Device Control Presets tab) prior to capture. To use serial device control, you need to make this setting once per deck, per computer.
• You don’t want to drop any frames while capturing because that can result in an incorrect cut list and will interfere with the reverse telecine process. • If your video has non-drop frame timecode, make sure that Non-Drop Frame is chosen from the Default Timecode pop-up menu in the Final Cut Pro Device Control Presets tab. A quick way to do this is to choose DV-NDF in the Easy Setup dialog in Final Cut Pro. (Refer to the Final Cut Pro documentation for more details about using Easy Setups.
Advantages of Using a Cinema Tools Batch Capture List Using a Cinema Tools batch capture list provides several benefits: • Time savings: You can let Cinema Tools generate your batch capture list for you instead of creating it manually yourself. • Accuracy: The batch capture list captures source clips that match your database records.
How Cinema Tools Names Batch-Captured Clips If you capture clips with a batch capture list, and if there is both a scene and a take identifier in the database record, Cinema Tools creates a clip name using the scene and take identifiers, separated by a hyphen. For example, the clip for scene 10, take 1 would be named “10-1.” If there are no scene and take identifiers, Cinema Tools creates a clip name based on the video reel and timecode.
To display all of the records in the database, click Show All in the List View window. In the List View window, display the database records for which you want to capture clips. Important: The batch capture list will include only database records that have video reel, timecode start, and timecode duration values. Also, any database records that are already connected to a clip do not appear in the batch capture list. 2 Choose File > Export > Batch Capture.
• To include only those records that have video reel, timecode start, and timecode duration values and are not already connected to a clip: Click “Export only eligible records in the current found set.” 6 Click Save. A plain text batch capture list is created and saved to the designated location. Tip: You can edit the batch capture list in a text editor. However, make sure that you do not delete or overwrite the Tab characters that separate the fields in each line.
3 In the dialog that appears, select a location and enter a name for the batch capture list. 4 Do one of the following: • To include all records in the XML file: Click “Export all records in the current found set.” • To include only those records that have video reel, timecode start, and timecode duration values and are not already connected to a clip: Click “Export only eligible records in the current found set.” 5 Click Save. An XML batch capture list is created and saved to the designated location.
Connecting Source Clips to the Database Because source clips and database records can be created by different means at different times, you may need to establish the link between a source clip and its record after they both exist. This process is called connecting a clip to a record. How you connect clips to the database depends on how you captured your clips.
Avoid Moving or Renaming Your Source Clips in the Finder Once a source clip is connected to the database, that link must be intact when you generate any film lists. If the link is broken, the lists will be incomplete. A clip-to-database link is broken if: • The source clip filename is changed • The source clip file is moved or deleted See Fixing Broken Clip-to-Database Links for information about fixing broken links.
• If a record in the found set matches a clip in the selected folder, the record is connected to that clip, even if the record already had a connected clip. This is useful when you have moved a set of clips to a new location and want to reconnect them to their records. • Any records that do not match clips in the selected folder are not modified—if a record is already connected to a clip in a different folder, it remains connected to that clip if no matching clip is found in the selected folder.
Connecting Clips Using the Detail View Window In the Detail View window, you can tell whether a database record is connected to a clip by looking at the button below the clip poster frame. The Open Clip button replaces the Connect Clip button if a clip is already connected to the record. If the button is labeled Open Clip, the current database record has a clip connected to it. If the button is labeled Connect Clip, there is no clip connected to the database record.
Note: If you don’t want the Clip window to open after you connect a clip, press the Command key when you click the Connect Clip button. To use the Detail View window to disconnect a captured clip 1 Open the database record in the Detail View window and press the Command key. The Open Clip button changes to Disconnect Clip. 2 Click Disconnect Clip. Note: Clicking this button breaks the link between the source clip and the record so that they are no longer connected.
4 Do one of the following: • Click OK to connect this clip to the existing record in the database that corresponds to the scene and take you entered in the dialog. If no record exists for that scene and take, a new record is created. • Click New Record to create a new record, even if there already is an existing record that corresponds to the scene and take you entered. In either case, the source clip in the Clip window is connected to the record, so the relationship is established in the database.
Locating Broken Links and Reconnecting Groups of Clips For clips that have been moved or renamed, the Connect Clips command in the Database menu makes it easy to locate and fix the broken links for several clips in one folder. This command updates any broken links to clips that are in the selected folder and its subfolders. Note: When a disk volume containing clips is unmounted, Cinema Tools cannot find the clips until the volume is mounted again.
Preparing the Source Clips for Editing 8 Spending some time with your source clips before you start editing can make the editing experience smoother. This chapter covers the following: • An Introduction to Preparing Source Clips for Editing (p. 123) • Determining How to Prepare Source Clips for Editing (p. 123) • Using the Conform Feature (p. 125) • Reversing the Telecine Pull-Down (p. 127) • Making Adjustments to Audio Speed (p. 139) • Synchronizing Separately Captured Audio and Video (p.
• Maintain or restore audio/video sync Note: See Working with 24p Video and 24 fps EDLs for information about working with 24p video. Choosing an Editing Frame Rate In general, it’s a good idea to edit at the frame rate at which the picture was originally filmed and recorded. For example, if you film, record, and edit at 24 fps, the audio, the video, and the original sound and picture are at the same rate.
• Use the Reverse Telecine feature: If your clips have the NTSC standard frame rate of 29.97 fps, you can use the Reverse Telecine feature to reverse the 3:2 pull-down that was used to convert the clips to 29.97 fps, thus removing the extra fields created by the pull-down and converting the clips to 23.98 fps or 24 fps. When clips contain both audio and video, the Reverse Telecine feature also adjusts the audio speed so that the audio and video remain in sync after the frame rate is changed.
3 In the Conform Clip dialog, choose a new frame rate from the “Conform to” pop-up menu, then click Conform. You can also conform 25 fps clips to 24 fps from within Final Cut Pro. To conform a clip in Final Cut Pro 1 Select one or more clips in the Browser to conform from 25 fps to 24 fps. 2 Choose Tools > Conform 25 to 24. The clips are conformed to 24 fps. Note: If any of the selected clips are not 25 fps, a warning appears stating that one or more clips will not be processed.
• If Cinema Tools is unable to complete the conform process for a clip, that clip is moved into a Cinema Tools–created subfolder named Skipped. (A clip is not processed if it doesn’t contain a video track, if the frame rate is not supported, or if no codec is found for the video track.) • A text file named “conform.log” appears at the top level of the folder. This log gives the date and time that the process started and ended, for each clip.
Note: The Reverse Telecine feature cannot be used with temporally compressed video, such as MPEG-2-format video. 3:2 Pull-Down Removal One second Before (29.97 fps) A A B B B C C DDD A A B B B C C D DD A A B B B C C DD D A A B B B C C DD D A A B B B C CDDD A A B B B C CDDD A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D After (23.
Tips for Using Reverse Telecine Following are some tips for using reverse telecine: • Reverse telecine works best if the captured video does not have any dropped frames. If you attempt to use the Reverse Telecine feature on a clip that has dropped frames, a warning appears. See Avoiding Dropped Frames for more information. • If you have to reverse the pull-down for several clips, you might want to use the Batch Reverse Telecine feature instead, because it allows several clips to be processed at once.
What Is Field Dominance? The field dominance of a captured clip is determined by the telecine hardware and is usually not configurable by the user. Video frames are composed of two fields; one field consists of all the even lines of the video, and the other field consists of all the odd lines. At the telecine, the two fields are scanned at different times, which means that the film frame can advance between the time that the first field is scanned and the time that the second field is scanned.
If you are using non-drop frame timecode and your source clips have not yet been edited, there is a reliable five-frame pattern where an A frame occurs every five frames. Usually, any timecode number ending in “0” or “5” is an A frame (for example, 1:23:14:10 and 1:23:14:15).
4 In the dialog that appears, select the capture mode that indicates the correct field capture for the clip: • Field 1 Only: Select this option if the video contains only field 1. • Field 2 Only: Select this option if the video contains only field 2. • Field 1 - Field 2: Select this option if the video contains both fields, and field 1 is the dominant field (the first field to appear). • Field 2 - Field 1: Select this option if the video contains both fields, and field 2 is the dominant field.
Your frame type choices vary depending on the field capture mode you selected. If you want to see the choices as letters and numbers (for example, A2, B2, C1, and so on), choose Style 2 from the pop-up menu. Select the frame type that corresponds to the frame showing in the Clip window. Different choices are available depending on which capture mode is selected.
Note: This “Same (faster)” method is available only when the clip has been captured or recompressed to have only one field per frame. This is because reversing the 3:2 pull-down for a clip with two fields per frame requires deinterlacing two different frames, removing one field from each of those two frames, and then making a new frame out of the other two fields. When new frames are being created, a new movie file must be created.
Note: Occasionally there are clips with individual frame durations that are longer than they should be. This situation can cause the Reverse Telecine feature to report one or more dropped frames, when in fact there aren’t any. If you see this message, try using the Conform feature to conform the clip to 29.97 fps before starting the reverse telecine process again. The Conform feature ensures that all the frames are the same length. See Using the Conform Feature for more information.
It is important to understand that, although Final Cut Pro initiates the reverse telecine process, it is Cinema Tools that actually performs the task. Additionally, you are not presented with the same choices as when using reverse telecine directly in Cinema Tools—the settings that are used for the reverse telecine process using Final Cut Pro are the last settings that were used in Cinema Tools.
To use batch reverse telecine 1 Place all the clips that you want to process in one folder. 2 Choose File > Batch Reverse Telecine. 3 In the dialog that appears, select any source clip file in the folder that contains the source clips, then click Choose. 4 In the Batch Reverse Telecine dialog that appears, select the capture mode that indicates the correct field capture for the clip: • Field 1 Only: Select this option if the video contains only field 1.
The Standard Upper/Lower checkbox should be selected unless you find that the batch reverse telecine process does not produce the correct results. See Checking Your Reverse Telecine Results for more information. 7 To save the original clips in a separate folder, leave the Keep Originals checkbox selected. If you don’t want to save the original clips, deselect it. (When you deselect the checkbox, the original clips are deleted as each new clip is created.
4 Follow the steps in Using Batch Reverse Telecine for Multiple Source Clips to perform the batch reverse telecine. Note: If you connected the original reverse-telecined clips to the database records using the Reconnect command, the new reverse-telecined clips should automatically be connected to the database. Making Adjustments to Audio Speed If you need to make audio speed adjustments in order to reestablish synchronization with the video, there are various ways you can do this.
The clapper boards (also called slates) in your shots provide the audible and visible cues on which to sync your audio and video clips. There are a couple of different techniques you can use to synchronize clips before merging them, depending on how you shot your footage. • If your video and audio clips do not span exactly the same timecode values, and you slated all your shots at the beginning with a clapper board: You can use In points to line up all the clips you want to merge.
Dividing or Deleting Sections of Source Clips Before Editing Before you edit your media in Final Cut Pro, you have the option of further dividing or eliminating parts of source clips. If you used a batch capture list and device control for capturing, you may have captured your source clip files exactly as you want them.
The Difference Between Self-Contained and Reference Media Files There are two basic video and audio file types that you need to be aware of, especially if you are breaking a large media file into smaller ones using QuickTime Pro. Because video files tend to be large, the type of media file you create can have a large impact on your hard disk space. • Self-contained media files: A self-contained media file is complete; you can delete the original file and its duplicate will still play on its own.
Editing with Final Cut Pro 9 Once your source clips have been captured and prepared, you can edit them in Final Cut Pro. However, there are a number of issues to consider before you begin editing material that originated on film. This chapter covers the following: • About Easy Setups and Setting the Editing Timebase (p. 143) • Working with 25 fps Video Conformed to 24 fps (p. 144) • Displaying Film Information in Final Cut Pro (p. 146) • Opening Final Cut Pro Clips in Cinema Tools (p.
• 24fps from DV NTSC: Choose this option to capture NTSC video (in the non-drop frame timecode format) and to set the editing timebase to 24 fps. This option assumes you will reverse telecine the captured video to 24 fps. • DV NTSC NDF: Choose this option to capture NTSC video (in the non-drop frame timecode format) and to set the editing timebase to 29.97 fps. This option assumes you will not perform reverse telecine on the captured video.
To help with the audio sync issues, you can use the Conform feature to slow the video back down to its original 24 fps rate. Because the conform process does not alter the 25 fps timecode created during the film transfer, you have the option of retaining that timecode format while you edit in a 24 fps editing timebase. This can be useful for those situations where your negative cutter prefers to receive a 25 fps EDL instead of a film cut list for film match-back.
Displaying Film Information in Final Cut Pro You can display a variety of film-related information while editing the film’s clips in Final Cut Pro. There are four areas you can control: • Item Properties window: The Film tab of the Item Properties window lists the film-related information for a clip. See Showing Film-Related Information in Item Properties for details. • Browser: You can add columns that show film-related information such as key numbers and telecine film speed (TK Speed).
To synchronize Final Cut Pro clips with a Cinema Tools database 1 In the Final Cut Pro Browser, select the clips that you want to synchronize with a Cinema Tools database. These can be clips that are already in the database and need their information updated, or they can be clips that are not in the database. In that case, a new record is added to the database for each clip, with any applicable information added to each record. 2 Choose Tools > Synchronize with Cinema Tools.
• To choose an existing database: Click Choose Database. This opens a dialog that allows you to select an existing database to synchronize with. Click Open when finished. 6 If you used either the New Database or Choose Database button, click OK. The selected clips are synchronized with the selected database. Showing Film-Related Information in Item Properties The Film tab of the Item Properties window contains the film-related information for each clip.
3 To configure the overlay, choose View > Timecode Overlays to see a list of items you can display. Click an item to either display or hide it. (Checkmarks appear next to items that are shown.) Showing Film-Based Frame Counts You can set a project’s timecode display format to a Feet+Frame mode, giving film editors a more familiar way to judge project length. This setting affects the time display along the top of the Timeline, as well as the timecode fields along the top of the Viewer and Canvas.
For the Viewer and Canvas, this affects both timecode fields along their tops, and in the case of the Viewer, the timecode fields of its tabs. For the Timeline, this affects the timecode shown along the top of the window and in the Current Timecode field. The timecode displays in the Transition Editor and Trim Edit windows are also affected. Important: The feet and frame values that are shown are not the same as keycode or ink numbers.
• If you are going to export an audio Edit Decision List (EDL), you need to limit the audio to the first eight tracks in the Final Cut Pro Timeline. See Exporting an Audio EDL for more information. Using Effects, Filters, and Transitions Final Cut Pro and other Final Cut Studio applications provide extensive effects capabilities for video, including common film effects such as dissolves, wipes, motion effects, titles, color correction, and compositing.
If you are using a traditional film workflow, the effects must be output back to film using a digital film recorder. This is sometimes called the film-digital-film method. First, the original camera negative is scanned digitally; then the scanned digital copy is imported into a digital film workstation, and your special effects are created there before being recorded back to film.
• The effects clips are often not tracked by the Cinema Tools database. Including Titles, Supers, and Transitions in a Film Workflow The following workflow shows you how effects, supers (superimposed images or frames), and transitions might be added to a film that is edited in Final Cut Pro. This is a very basic workflow, containing steps for including both opticals and contact-printed effects in your film, though you may have only one or the other.
Stage 4: (Optical Printing) Giving the Film List and Any Appropriate Footage to the Lab If you are having effects and transitions created as opticals, your lab uses the specifications and descriptions in your film list as a guide for creating the opticals. The lab needs relevant film footage from which to create the opticals. The optical lab may want you to provide interpositives, or the lab may print the interpositives. The lab may also request a videotape of your movie to use as a reference.
About Interpositives Because the original footage is negative, the whole film must be printed from negative images in order to result in a normal, positive film image. This means you want your opticals to be negative when they are spliced into your original camera negative. The optical lab typically uses a low-contrast film print (of the relevant parts of the original camera negative) called an interpositive as the raw source footage from which to assemble the opticals.
• Length: Contact printing requires that the length of the transition be one of a set of standard lengths, whereas optical printing does not. Cinema Tools identifies the set of standard lengths for 24 fps or 23.98 fps media as 16, 24, 32, 48, 64, and 96 frames in duration. Cinema Tools identifies the set of standard lengths for 29.97 fps media as 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, and 120 frames in duration. (Make sure to check with your contact printer about the standard lengths required for different frame rates.
µ To export a film list supporting both contact and optical printing In the Export Film Lists dialog, choose “Std are cuts” from the Transitions pop-up menu. See Exporting Film Lists Using Final Cut Pro for more information about generating a film list. Tracking Duplicate Uses of Source Material Cinema Tools makes it possible to track multiple uses of the same source material in your edited sequence.
If you are editing your project as multiple sequences (for example, one sequence for each reel), it’s best to place all the sequences together before exporting a duplicate list. This way Cinema Tools can find duplicate usages across the entire feature. An easy approach is to place all the sequences into a nested sequence before generating a duplicate list. However, when you intend to export a film list, do not nest part of one sequence into another sequence.
Generating Film Lists and Change Lists 10 Cinema Tools can create a variety of lists from your edited project. This chapter covers the following: • An Introduction to Film Lists and Change Lists (p. 159) • Choosing the List Format (p. 160) • Lists You Can Export (p. 161) • Exporting Film Lists Using Final Cut Pro (p. 166) • Creating Change Lists (p. 174) • Working with XSL Style Sheets (p.
You can generate another type of list, called a change list, after an initial cut list has been created or when you want to compare two XML versions of a Final Cut Pro sequence. In a film workflow, the change list assumes a workprint has been cut to the specifications of a cut list (or prior change list) and specifies further changes to make to the workprint, based on edits you have made to the sequence in Final Cut Pro. See Creating Change Lists for more information.
See XML Film List Basics for more information about the contents of XML film lists. About Style Sheet–Based Film Lists Cinema Tools includes support for custom film lists. These film lists are based on Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) files, or, as they are referred to in Cinema Tools, style sheets. Cinema Tools includes style sheets and support for custom style sheets that you create. XSLT-based style sheets are commonly used to extract information from XML files.
Missing Elements List The missing elements list lists all of the clips in a sequence for which a corresponding database record either was not found or did not contain all of the necessary information. It is important that you export and examine a missing elements list to make sure that there are no elements missing before the negative cutter begins conforming the negative. For each clip listed in the missing elements list, the element that is missing is specified.
Resolving Missing Elements Resolving a missing element means finding the corresponding database record, if it exists, and filling in the missing information, or creating a new database record if none exists. To locate the database record, there are two basic approaches. If the Name of the Clip Is in the Missing Elements List You can use the clip name to look for the clip in the List View window. In the List View window, click Clip to sort the records by clip name.
Duplicate List and Double Usage Warnings When editing digitally, it’s easy to include a clip or part of a clip more than once in the edited program. When this happens, you either have to create a duplicate negative or reedit the program to remove the duplicate usages, because the footage exists only once on the original camera negative. But first you have to know where the duplicate usages are, and that is the purpose of the duplicate list and double usage warnings.
• Motion effects list: This list contains an entry for each optical list entry that contains a motion effect, such as a time remapping speed change. See Motion Effects List for more information. How the List Entries Are Linked If an optical list entry contains multiple types of effects, such as a transition, a filter, and a motion effect, the optical list entry only links to one of the effects lists.
Important: Because of the frame rate changes involved in motion effects, key numbers that are reported in the motion effects list are not guaranteed to be accurate. If you have a window burn of the key numbers, you should check to make sure that the key numbers in the motion effects list are accurate and correct them when necessary. Pull List The pull list is the same as the cut list, except that the shots appear in the order in which they can be found on the negative rolls.
The options are PDF, XML, and With Style Sheet. See About PDF-Format Film Lists, About XML-Format Film Lists, and About Style Sheet–Based Film Lists for information about these formats. 4 If you chose With Style Sheet from the List Format pop-up menu, choose a style sheet from the Style Sheet pop-up menu. 5 Click Continue. The Export Film Lists dialog appears. The settings in the dialog vary based on the format you chose in the List Format pop-up menu. Following is the dialog for the PDF list format.
If you expect to make changes to this Final Cut Pro sequence and want to export a change list later, make sure to select “Save a Cinema Tools program file.” You can use that program file to export a change list that compares this version of the sequence to another version. Note: You can use a Final Cut Pro XML file of the sequence in place of the Cinema Tools program file when you export a change list. 7 Click Export.
Settings the Export Dialogs Have in Common The settings available in the export dialogs vary depending on which output format you choose from the List Format pop-up menu, but all versions have the same basic settings. The dialog that appears when you choose PDF from the List Format pop-up menu contains additional formatting settings. See PDF Configuration Settings in the Export Film Lists Dialog for more information about configuring PDF film lists.
• Transitions: Choose how transitions should be listed in the film list. See Contact Printing vs. Optical Printing for more information. Note: Cinema Tools identifies the set of standard lengths for 24 fps or 23.98 fps media as 16, 24, 32, 48, 64, and 96 frames in duration. Cinema Tools identifies the set of standard lengths for 29.97 fps media as 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, and 120 frames in duration. (Make sure to check with your contact printer about the standard lengths required for different frame rates.
• Starting Footage: Enter a starting number to use for the film list’s “Feet & frames” value. The default value is 0000+00. Following are some tips for how to use the “Starting” entries: • If you are generating a cut list for conforming the negative: You typically want to start at zero. • If you are editing your film by scene or by reel: You may want to enter a starting point in the “Starting” fields that is the same as the ending point of the preceding scene or reel.
• Scene List: Select to include a scene list. See Scene List for more information. • Missing Elements List: Select to include a missing elements list. See Missing Elements List for more information. PDF Configuration Settings in the Export Film Lists Dialog When exporting a PDF-format film list, you can control which items appear in the list and their order. This allows you to create a film list that includes exactly the information you require.
To customize the PDF page layout 1 Choose Portrait or Landscape from the Orientation pop-up menu. 2 Choose a font size from the Font Size pop-up menu. You can save and load settings files that include the column configuration and the Orientation and Font Size settings. Additionally, most of the other settings in the dialog are also saved as part of the settings file. The exceptions are the Track, Starting Footage, Starting Time, and Starting Count settings.
Item name PDF name Shows Lab roll Lab Roll Lab roll number Daily roll Dly Roll Daily roll number Clip name Clip Name Source clip name Scene & take Scene and Take Scene and take settings DPX frame DPX Frame Starting and ending frame DPX filenames Creating Change Lists A change list reports the differences between two versions of a sequence edited in Final Cut Pro.
When Are Change Lists Used in a Film Workflow? Change lists are typically used in a cyclical workflow that involves digital editing, sound conforming, and workprints.
Stages 3 through 6 are repeated until it is decided that the picture is locked. Finally, the original camera negative is cut to match the final workprint and cut list. When Are Change Lists Used in Other Workflows? Change lists can be used in a variety of other workflows, including those that do not involve film at all. These include digital intermediate, sound conforming, and closed caption workflows—any workflow where you need to know what has changed between two edited versions of a program.
Stage 2: Exporting an XML File of the First Version of the Program After you have finished the initial edit of your program and are ready to screen it and have other departments such as sound conforming and closed captioning begin working on it, you need to export a Final Cut Pro XML file for the program’s sequence. This XML file provides a snapshot of the current state of the project. It is required if you end up making changes to the project later and want to export a change list.
About Exporting Change Lists You can export change lists from either Final Cut Pro or Cinema Tools. This section describes the differences between the two methods. See Exporting Change Lists Using Final Cut Pro and Exporting Change Lists from Within Cinema Tools for details about the change list export process. This section also describes the differences between using Final Cut Pro XML files and Cinema Tools program files when exporting change lists.
The following diagram shows the basic process when exporting a change list from Final Cut Pro. After you finish the initial edit of the program, you export a Final Cut Pro XML file (or a Cinema Tools program file if you are using a film-based workflow) and screen the program. If changes are required, you make the edits in the sequence and then export a change list that compares the file representing the initial edit with the current sequence.
• You cannot export any of the standard film lists, such as a cut list or a duplicate list, along with the change list, as you can from Final Cut Pro. You can include the change list–specific change pull list and discard list. The following diagram shows the basic process when exporting a change list from Cinema Tools. After you finish the initial edit of the program, you export a Final Cut Pro XML file (or a Cinema Tools program file if you are using a film-based workflow) and screen the program.
• Cinema Tools program files must use a valid telecine speed (24 fps, 25 fps, or 30 fps) as the frame rate. If you are not working on a film project and are using a frame rate other than the supported telecine speed frame rates, exporting a Final Cut Pro XML file retains the sequence’s frame rate. This frame rate is maintained if you export the change list using Cinema Tools. Exporting Change Lists Using Final Cut Pro Exporting a change list is similar to exporting a cut list.
About Change Lists, Effects, Gaps, and Soundtracks If you add motion effects to a program, an optical will have to be made, and the length of that section of film changes, affecting the sync. The film assistant who conforms the workprint needs to know where to put in slug (fill leader or substitute footage) in order to preserve synchronization while the optical is being made. For this reason, Cinema Tools lists motion effects in the change list similarly to the way it displays leader information.
6 Click Continue. There are two different dialogs that can appear: one for PDF output and one for XML and With Style Sheet output. The differences are similar to those between the Export Film Lists and Export XML Film Lists dialogs. 7 In the Export Change List dialog that appears, configure the settings, then click Export. See Settings in the Export Change List Dialog for details. These lists provide information about the changes. These lists provide information about the entire sequence.
10 Click Save. 11 If you selected “Save a Cinema Tools program file,” enter a filename and location for the file in the dialog that appears, then click Save. Give the program file a name that clearly identifies the sequence and the version, so that you can easily locate the file later if you need to export another change list. A change list file is generated that contains all the lists you selected in the Export Change List dialog.
Settings in the Export Change List Dialog The Export Change List dialog that you access from within Final Cut Pro contains the same settings as the Export Film Lists dialog (described in Settings the Export Dialogs Have in Common) and, if you chose PDF from the List Format pop-up menu, the same PDF column options (described in PDF Configuration Settings in the Export Film Lists Dialog), with the exceptions and additions described below.
• Combine deletions: If this option is selected, footage deletions that are contiguous are listed as one deletion rather than individual deletions. This instructs the film assistant to cut them as a lift, a series of pieces removed as one piece and stored intact, rather than as individual pieces. Film assistants tend to prefer seeing and performing the series as one deletion because it saves time and effort.
When you export a change list from within Cinema Tools, you cannot include a cut list or any of the other film lists that you can export using the Export Film Lists dialog; you can only export lists and information specific to change lists. See About Exporting Change Lists for information about how the change list export process differs between Final Cut Pro and Cinema Tools. To open the Export Change List dialog in Cinema Tools 1 Choose File > Export > Change List.
Settings Common to All Output Formats Following are the settings that appear in all versions of the Export Change List dialog when exporting a change list from Cinema Tools. • Original Track: Choose the video track to compare from the original sequence. • New Track: Choose the video track to compare from the new sequence. • Pull List: Select to include a change pull list, which lists any film that needs to be newly added to the workprint.
Note: Although XML output contains all change list information, the style sheet you choose for the Style Sheet output format determines which information appears in the output. If you use the supplied Plain Text style sheet, the information included in the output depends on how the last PDF-format style sheet was output.
Settings from the Export Film Lists dialog First event Items in this event Second event Items in this event First event Items in this event Second event Items in this event When you set up a style sheet, you generally start by defining the list information you want to output (cut list, pull list, and so on).
For example, if you want this style sheet to output ink numbers and not key numbers, you would make the following changes: • In the heading section: Modify the following three lines: • Change Key Prefix&tab; to Ink Prefix&tab; • Change First Key&tab; to First Ink&tab; • Change Last Key&tab; to Last Ink&tab; If other names better suit your workflow, you can enter whatever
Export Considerations and Creating Audio EDLs 11 After you’ve edited your project, you may want to export to videotape, export the audio, or export an audio EDL based on the edited project. This chapter covers the following: • About Common Items You Can Export for Your Project (p. 193) • Considerations When Exporting to Videotape (p. 194) • Considerations When Exporting Audio (p. 194) • Exporting an Audio EDL (p.
Considerations When Exporting to Videotape You may want to make a videotape of your edited program, either to make it easier to view the program or to provide a visual reference for the negative cutter. There are a few ways to create a videotape from an edited sequence, and these methods are explained in the Final Cut Pro documentation. However, if you edited video at 24 fps and you want to create a PAL or NTSC videotape, there are additional considerations explained here.
AIFF Files An AIFF file contains only the audio and cannot be easily changed. You must export a separate file for each audio track. As with OMF files, AIFF files can contain the audio from non-timecode-based sources, such as audio CDs. (Audio EDLs describe only edits using timecode-based sources.) See the Final Cut Pro documentation for information about exporting multiple tracks as AIFF files.
If your audio is synced during the telecine transfer and recorded onto the audio tracks of the videotape, the timecode and roll number of the original sound roll is no longer part of the clip, and all edits within Final Cut Pro refer only to the video timecode and reel number. Fortunately, the telecine log created during the transfer usually contains the audio information and adds it to the database when you import the log into Cinema Tools.
Cinema Tools opens and its Export Audio EDL dialog appears. 3 Enter and select settings in the Export Audio EDL dialog, then click OK. See Settings in the Export Audio EDL Dialog for settings information. 4 In the dialog that now appears, select the Cinema Tools database file to use, then click Choose.
• The text file created along with the EDL file uses the EDL’s filename with a .txt extension. The file contains information regarding the sequence used and all the settings of the Export Audio EDL dialog, including the number of tracks and their mapping. It also lists any errors that occurred during the export. Settings in the Export Audio EDL Dialog Cinema Tools uses information from the sequence to fill in several fields in the top part of the Export Audio EDL dialog.
• Audio Mapping: Use these pop-up menus to assign each of the eight possible sequence audio tracks to the four audio EDL tracks (the maximum supported by audio EDLs). See Audio Track Usage for details about configuring these settings. • Include clip comments: When this option is selected, the audio EDL includes the name of the clip file (if known) as a comment for each event in the list.
Final Cut Pro creates a Cinema Tools program file if you select “Save a Cinema Tools program file” in the Export Film Lists dialog. A Cinema Tools program file contains information about the edit sequence in a format that can be used by Cinema Tools to create the audio EDL. Other settings within the Export Film Lists dialog, such as whether or not the various available lists are included, have no effect on the program file.
Working with External EDLs, XML, and ALE Files 12 You can use Cinema Tools to work on projects started on other systems. On occasion you may find that you want to create film lists, including a cut list, based on edits from an editing system other than Final Cut Pro, or from a Final Cut Pro installation on a different computer.
Important: When you export film lists from an EDL or XML file, Cinema Tools has to use the timecode-based method of film list creation. For this reason, you must be careful to have accurate video timecode values in the database, because they alone, and not the actual clips, provide the edit information for generating the lists. There are two ways you can generate film lists from an EDL: • Use the Cinema Tools Export commands: This is the easiest approach.
EDL Video Standards EDLs are built on references to video timecode points. This means that EDLs have a frame rate, typically either 29.97 fps (NTSC), 25 fps (PAL), or 24 fps or 23.98 fps (based on either the film rate or the 24p video rate). Additionally, NTSC EDLs must contain a line near the beginning that starts with “FCM.” This comment specifies whether the timecode is drop frame or non-drop frame.
A dialog appears in which you can configure the information in the output file. The settings in the dialog vary depending on the output format you chose from the List Format pop-up menu. See Settings the Export Dialogs Have in Common and PDF Configuration Settings in the Export Film Lists Dialog for details about the settings. 8 Click Export. 9 Choose a location and name for the film list file to be created, then click Save.
Cinema Tools also looks for conflicts within the EDL, such as when two edits overlap (known as a dirty list). Cinema Tools cleans these edits, removing any portions that would be recorded over by any edits that follow. Any transitions or supers that are completely overlapped by a following edit are removed. If the transition or super is only partly overlapped by a following edit, it is flagged as a conflict, the later edit is removed, and an entry is added to the cut list indicating that this was done.
Warning: Use great care when editing an EDL file—some items that appear meaningless can be very important. Make sure you have a backup copy available in case you alter your working copy beyond usability. To edit an EDL file in TextEdit 1 Open TextEdit. 2 Choose File > Open, then locate the EDL file and click Open. 3 Choose Format > Make Plain Text, then click OK in the dialog that appears. The font changes to Monaco, a fixed-width font that ensures the text columns line up properly.
• Daily roll: Contains the number used for the Daily Roll field. • Ink number: Contains the Ink field values. • KN Start: Contains the Key field values. Video-Related Fields • Tape: Contains the Video Reel field value. • Start: Contains the Video Timecode field value. • End: Within Cinema Tools, this is a calculated value created by adding the Video Duration field to the Video Timecode field. • Duration: Contains the contents of the Video Duration field.
Exporting an ALE File Cinema Tools exports an ALE file based on the current found set. To avoid problems, make sure all of the records are complete and accurate prior to exporting. To export an ALE file 1 Create a found set that contains the records you want to export. (See Finding and Opening Database Records for details about creating a found set.) 2 In Cinema Tools, choose File > Export > Avid Log Exchange. 3 Enter a name and location for the new file. It’s recommended that you add an .
Working with 24p Video and 24 fps EDLs 13 Cinema Tools provides several tools that are useful when editing 24p video. The proliferation of high definition (HD) video standards and the desire for worldwide distribution have created a demand for a video standard that can be easily converted to all other standards. Additionally, a format that translates well to film, providing an easy, high-quality method of originating and editing on video and finishing on film, is needed. 24p video provides all this.
Considerations When Originating on Film When editing 24p material that originated on film, you need to be aware of a number of special circumstances.
Editing 24p Video with Final Cut Pro The excellent quality of 24p video presents a challenge when it comes to editing—the bandwidth and storage space it requires. Editing minimally compressed 24p video directly in Final Cut Pro requires that you have a system with a large, fast hard disk and specialized capture hardware. Even with a properly configured system, you may be able to capture only the video you actually intend to use, not the typical 20 to 100 hours you may have shot.
Even if your Final Cut Pro system is not configured to edit uncompressed 24p video, it can serve as an offline editor and export a 24 fps EDL to be used by a 24p online editing system. Even better, if your 24p online editing system uses Final Cut Pro, you can simply copy the project from the offline system, allowing you to preserve far more information about the edit than with an EDL alone.
• Import a 24 fps EDL: Can be used when your offline system supports exporting 24 fps EDLs. • Import an NTSC EDL: Can be used when your offline system can only edit downconverted NTSC versions of the 24p video and export an NTSC EDL. Copying the Project Copying the project from an offline Final Cut Pro system to the online Final Cut Pro system provides not only the edit In and Out point information but also all other information related to the project, such as filter and effects usage.
Note: If the dialog does not allow you to choose 24 fps as the editing timebase, it’s probably because the Easy Setups included with Cinema Tools are not installed. If they are not installed, reinstall Cinema Tools. 4 Select the name and location of the EDL file, then click Choose. A new sequence opens in the project, containing the edits of the EDL, all indicating that the media is offline. The Browser contains a list of the media used in the edit.
For offline editing, it is preferred that the 24p video be compressed and captured directly, with no frame rate conversions. This removes the possibility of errors during video and timecode rate conversions and eliminates the need to convert the video’s aspect ratio (see Understanding Aspect Ratios). However, this requires specialized hardware, so the following alternatives using standard downconverted versions of the 24p video have been developed.
To convert an NTSC EDL to 24 fps 1 In Cinema Tools, choose File > Export > Converted EDL > 24 FPS from 30 FPS. 2 In the dialog that appears, locate and choose the EDL file to convert. 3 In the next dialog, choose the name and location for the new file to be created, then click Save. The new EDL file is identical to the original, with the exception of the timecode values and effects durations, which have been converted to match the new frame rate.
Adding and Removing Pull-Down in 24p Clips Cinema Tools and Final Cut Pro have pull-down removal and addition features that address issues specific to working with 24p video. Pull-down is a process that adds redundant fields to video in order to distribute 24 frames per second into the NTSC standard of 29.97 frames per second. See Frame Rate Basics for more information. Some camcorders, such as the Panasonic AG-DVX100, are designed to shoot in progressive mode at 24 fps (literally 23.
Working with 2:3:3:2 Pull-Down Some camcorders, such as the Panasonic AG-DVX100, are designed to shoot in progressive mode at 24 fps (actually 23.98 fps) and then record the video to a tape as a 60-field interlaced signal by applying 2:3:3:2 pull-down to it. The 2:3:3:2 pull-down is similar in concept to 3:2 pull-down but has a different pattern of field repetition, as illustrated below.
• Unlike 3:2 pull-down removal, removing a 2:3:3:2 pull-down does not require the recompression and re-creation of any frames, so it results in a better picture quality. Final Cut Pro eliminates the redundant fields by simply pulling out the frames containing fields with two different images (the frames that were constructed from two different original frames). Only frames containing one still image are left, resulting in a clean picture. 2:3:3:2 Pull-Down Removal One second Before (29.
At some point after removing the 2:3:3:2 pull-down, you may want to output the video with 2:3:3:2 pull-down added back to recapture it with the camera. Or, for NTSC broadcast or distribution, you may want to apply the more conventionally supported 3:2 pull-down. You can output 24p video in either of these pull-down patterns. See Pull-Down Patterns You Can Apply to 23.98 fps Video for more information. To remove the pull-down in Final Cut Pro after capturing 1 In Final Cut Pro, select the clips or sequence.
4 Select “New (smaller)” or “Same (faster)” to specify the kind of file you want to create: • New (smaller): Creates a new media file that does not contain the extra frames introduced by the pull-down. The new file is about 20 percent smaller than before, but this method is slower. Regardless of whether the original file was reference or self-contained, this method creates a self-contained file. (See The Difference Between Self-Contained and Reference Media Files for more information.
To use automated batch reverse telecine to remove the pull-down from several clips at once 1 Place all the clips that you want to process in one folder. (Make sure that they are all clips that were captured from a 24p digital video camcorder.) 2 Choose File > Batch Reverse Telecine. 3 In the dialog that appears, select any source clip file in the folder that contains the clips you want to process, then click Choose. 4 Choose a frame rate from the “Conform to” pop-up menu: • 23.
• Same (faster): Modifies the current clip files so that the extra frames are not visible to the editing system, but the data is not removed from the files. This process is faster but does not reduce the size of the files. The resulting files are self-contained if they were originally self-contained, or reference if they were reference. If you select New, the file will be smaller. If you select Same, the processing will be faster.
• If Cinema Tools is unable to complete the reverse telecine process for a clip, that clip is moved into a Cinema Tools–created subfolder named Skipped. A clip is not processed if it doesn’t contain a video track, if the frame rate is not supported, if the clip does not contain cadence information, or if there is no codec found for the video track. • A text file appears at the top level of the folder you started with, named “reverse.log.
3:2 Pull-Down 3:2 pull-down is the same type employed by a telecine. See Working with NTSC Video for more information. Because 3:2 pull-down is the conventionally supported pull-down pattern for NTSC devices, you need to use this pull-down pattern to record to an NTSC device, such as an SD television, an MPEG-2 encoding device, or a high-end finishing system. A B A A B B Field Field Field 1 2 1 Field 2 C B C C D D D D Field Field Field Field Field Field 1 2 1 2 1 2 3:2 Pull-Down Before (23.
2:2:2:4 Pull-Down The 2:2:2:4 pull-down pattern is not typically supported for recording devices or cameras, but because it requires the least amount of processing power, it’s a good choice if you are editing 23.98 fps video and want to preview it with as many real-time effects as possible on an NTSC monitor.
See Pull-Down Patterns You Can Apply to 23.98 fps Video for details about the available patterns. 3 Output the video using your FireWire connection. Refer to the Final Cut Pro documentation for details about outputting video. The pull-down is performed on the video that is sent out of your computer via FireWire. Using Audio EDLs for Dual System Sound As with film productions, 24p video productions almost always record the sound separately from the picture, with a separate sound recorder.
A Appendix Film Background Basics Before you use Cinema Tools to edit your film, it’s helpful to have a general understanding of a few film properties and be familiar with the traditional film editing method. This appendix provides basic background information about film and how it is edited, both traditionally and digitally. Most of this information is very general and is not intended to be a complete guide (or the final word) on the film process.
Because of its lower costs, 16mm film is typically used for productions with smaller budgets. If you intend to shoot 16mm but release your project as 4-perf 35mm, you should use Super 16mm film. It has perforations along only one edge and a larger frame that more closely matches the 4-perf 35mm aspect ratio. 16mm format Super 16mm 35mm film is most commonly used for theatrical releases, with 4 perforations per frame (4-perf ) being the most prevalent version.
35mm Film 35mm film has 64 perforations per foot. Cinema Tools supports the 4-perf 35mm and 3-perf 35mm formats for all types of film lists and change lists. These are by far the most common 35mm formats. The 4-perf 35mm film format has 16 frames per foot. The 3-perf 35mm format does not have a whole number of film frames in a foot (there are 21 and one-third per foot).
Each film standard uses key numbers differently: • 16mm film can have a key number every 20 frames (most common) or 40 frames, depending on the film stock. Cinema Tools supports the 16mm-20 format. • 35mm film has a key number every 64 perforations (which works out to every 16 frames with the 4-perf format, or 21 and one-third frames with the 3-perf format). Unlike video timecode, which provides a unique number for each video frame, key numbers do not appear on every frame of film.
Ink Numbers Ink numbers, frequently used for workprints, are another method of encoding the edge of film in order to track feet and frames. Ink numbers are added to workprints and corresponding magnetic-stripe film soundtracks (called mag tracks) after the workprint and the mag track have been synchronized. On transferred workprints, ink numbers are easier to read than key numbers, and they provide a counting mechanism that is synchronized for both the soundtrack and the workprint.
Note: After you have captured your video but before you start editing, check the burned-in key numbers and timecode to make sure they match the actual ones on the film and videotape. There are a variety of reasons why the window burn values might not be correct, ranging from incorrectly entered values to faulty automatic detection. Any errors at this point will result in serious problems when the negative is conformed.
Stage 1: Shooting the Film and Recording the Sound Audio is always recorded separately from the film, on a separate sound recorder. This is known as shooting dual system sound. While shooting the film, you need to include a way to synchronize the sound to the picture. The most common method is to use a clapper board (also called a slate or sticks) at the beginning of each take.
Stage 7: Editing the Audio You typically “rough-cut” the audio while editing the workprint. While the negative is being conformed, the audio is edited (using the original sound rolls) and finished with sound effects and any required dialogue enhancements. Stage 8: Creating the Answer and Release Prints After the original camera negative has been conformed and the audio finalized, you can have an answer print created.
Stage 1: Shooting the Film and Recording the Sound Audio is always recorded separately from the film, on a separate sound recorder. This is known as shooting dual system sound. While shooting the film, you need to include a way to synchronize the sound to the picture. The most common method is to use a clapper board (also called a slate or sticks) at the beginning of each take.
Stage 4: Creating a Cinema Tools Database The key to using Cinema Tools is its database. The database is similar to the traditional code book used by filmmakers. It contains information about all elements involved in a project, including film key numbers, video and audio timecode, and the actual clip files used by Final Cut Pro. Depending on your situation, the database may contain a record for each take used in the edit or may contain single records for each film roll.
Stage 7: Editing the Video and Audio You can now edit the project using Final Cut Pro. For the most part, you edit your film project the same as any video project. If you captured the audio separately from the video, you can synchronize the video and audio in Final Cut Pro. Any effects you use, such as dissolves, wipes, speed changes, or titles, are not used directly by the film. These must be created on film at a facility specializing in film opticals.
Stage 11: Finishing the Audio You usually rough-cut the audio while editing the video (stage 7); the audio is typically finished while the film is being conformed. As mentioned in stage 5, you can use an exported OMF version of the Final Cut Pro edited audio or export an audio EDL and recapture the production audio (using the original sound rolls) at a DAW. Finishing the audio is where you perform the final sound mix, including cleaning up dialogue issues and adding sound effects, backgrounds, and music.
B Appendix How Cinema Tools Creates Film Lists Cinema Tools can produce a film list only if it can match edits made in the editing system to records in the Cinema Tools database. The database record contains the film roll and key number information that Cinema Tools needs in order to describe the edit in the film list. This appendix covers the following: • Film List Creation Overview (p. 241) • About the Clip-Based Method (p. 242) • About the Timecode-Based Method (p.
Cinema Tools always uses the clip-based location method when it can. If it doesn’t find a matching clip, it uses the timecode-based location method. If Cinema Tools cannot find a suitable database record with either method, an entry is logged in the missing elements list (if you chose to include a missing elements list in the film list). This process is outlined in the flow chart below.
About the Timecode-Based Method There are some situations in which the timecode-based method is useful or even essential: • If you have not logged clips in the Cinema Tools database by connecting them to database records: Only the timecode-based method can locate the database records.
C Appendix Solving Problems There are a number of resources you can turn to for help when you have issues with Cinema Tools. This appendix covers the following: • Resources for Solving Problems (p. 245) • Solutions to Common Problems (p. 245) • Contacting AppleCare Support (p. 247) Resources for Solving Problems If you run into problems while working with Cinema Tools, there are several resources you can use to find a solution.
You see warnings about duplicate usages of source material • When the number of frames reused is fewer than the number of frames you entered in the Cut Handles or Transition Handles settings in the film list export dialog, it’s possible that a duplicate usage warning is a result of the cut handles or transition handles. To determine whether this is the case, try setting the Transition Handles option to zero frames and the Cut Handles option to one-half of a frame, then export the film list again.
• Make sure that all the clips in your sequence have the same frame rate as the editing timebase for the sequence in Final Cut Pro. See the Final Cut Pro documentation for details about setting the editing timebase in the Sequence Preset Editor. • There may be dropped frames or discontinuities in the key numbers of the video. Try recapturing the clips.
• The version of Cinema Tools you have installed, including updates if applicable. To find the version of Cinema Tools, choose Cinema Tools > About Cinema Tools. • The model of computer you are using. • The amount of RAM installed in your computer, and how much is available to Cinema Tools. To find out how much RAM is installed, choose Apple menu > About This Mac. • What other third-party hardware is connected to or installed in the computer, and who the manufacturers are.
Glossary Glossary 2:3:2:3 pull-down A pull-down method that is the same as the 3:2 pull-down method, except that it is applied by a digital video camcorder (as opposed to any other type of equipment that could apply the same pattern of pull-down). This manual uses the term 2:3:2:3 when referring to the pull-down that comes from a 24p digital video camcorder; this type of pull-down can be removed using the automated form of reverse telecine. See also 3:2 pull-down .
24 @ 25 The most common method of transferring film to PAL video, where the film is sped up during the telecine transfer to 25 fps. This creates a one-to-one film-to-video frame relationship, but speeds up the action by 4 percent. See also 24 & 1, 24 @ 25 pull-down. 24 @ 25 pull-down The Final Cut Pro term for the 24 & 1 method. See also 24 & 1, 24 @ 25. 24p A high definition video format using a 24 fps rate and progressively scanned video.
contact printing A film printing method in which the emulsion sides of the original camera negative and the print stock are in contact as the negative is projected onto the print stock. Creates an image that is reversed in color and light (for example, black becomes white and white becomes black). cut list A text file that sequentially lists the edits that make up your program. The negative cutter uses the cut list to conform the original camera negative.
dual system sound Sound for any production using separate devices to record the image and the sound. Dual system recording is always used in film productions and often used in 24p productions. Also known as double system production. duplicate list A film list Cinema Tools users can export, indicating duplicate uses of the same film source material in an edited program. Also known as a dupe list. edge code Refers to feet and frame count numbers found on the film edge.
fps Abbreviation for frames per second. frame A single still image. Film and video are made up of a series of these images. Although a film frame is a photographic image, a video frame contains one or more fields. frame number The last part of the key number. The frame number consists of the footage number and the frame counter and indicates how many feet and frames into the film a particular frame occurs. See also key number . HD video See high definition video .
match back To match the edits of a video program that originated on film back to the original camera negative. All the edits to the video are listed in a cut list, which the negative cutter uses to cut the workprint and original camera negative. NDF See non-drop frame timecode . negative cutter A professional who conforms the original camera negative according to a cut list or a visual reference such as a workprint or a videotape generated by the digital editing system.
original camera negative Also known as OCN. The negatives from the film shoot; the original source film. The original camera negative is what the negative cutter cuts after all the edits have been finalized in the digital editing system. There is only one original camera negative. (Duplicate negatives can be made, but they are expensive.) PAL Acronym for Phase Alternating Line. A video format used by many European countries and other countries outside North America.
source clips The media files you start with when you begin editing. These are the files that are captured into your computer and linked to the Cinema Tools database before editing begins. standard definition video Refers to the NTSC and PAL video standards. See also high definition video , NTSC , PAL . style sheet Style sheets are Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) files that Cinema Tools uses to provide customized output lists.
window burn Visual timecode and keycode information superimposed onto video frames. It usually appears on a strip at the bottom or top of the frame, providing code information to the editor without obscuring any of the picture. workprint A positive copy of the original camera negative, cut to provide a record and prototype of the creative edit. In traditional filmmaking, the workprint is edited first and then used by the negative cutter as a guide for cutting the original camera negative.
