User Guide

ManualsBrandsApple ManualsSoftwareFinal Cut Express HD

New Features

in Final Cut Express HD

This document contains information about new features included in

Final Cut Express HD. For the latest information about product updates, tips and

techniques, and qualified third-party devices, visit the Final Cut Express HD website at

http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress.

Final Cut Express HD revolutionizes the video postproduction field by offering 720p

and 1080i high definition (HD) video acquisition using the HDV format. HDV is a new

HD format created by a consortium of manufacturers, including Sony, Canon, Sharp,

and JVC. The great advantage of working with HDV is that you can record an hour of

HD video with a consumer-priced camcorder on standard mini-DV videocassettes. This

format brings the exquisite quality of HD video to anyone from a seasoned pro to a

hobbyist on a budget.

Bundled with Final Cut Express HD are LiveType and Soundtrack, which will help your

productions look and sound even more professional. LiveType allows you to create

elaborate motion typography quickly and easily. Soundtrack assists you in creating

sophisticated musical tracks for your program, while providing ease of use even

for musical novices. These applications work together seamlessly with

Final Cut Express HD.

An Introduction to HDV

With a frame size that is up to four and one-half times larger than the current

resolution of DV, this new medium is ideal for high-impact corporate presentations,

event coverage, news gathering, or even HD cinema applications. MPEG-2 video

compression makes it possible to put such large HD images on mini-DV tapes. In fact,

HDV uses a type of MPEG-2 compression that is very similar to the compression used

for DVD-Video.

Summary of content (16 pages)

PAGE 1
New Features in Final Cut Express HD This document contains information about new features included in Final Cut Express HD. For the latest information about product updates, tips and techniques, and qualified third-party devices, visit the Final Cut Express HD website at http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress. Final Cut Express HD revolutionizes the video postproduction field by offering 720p and 1080i high definition (HD) video acquisition using the HDV format.
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Since HDV is high definition video using MPEG-2 compression, it requires a slightly different workflow than intraframe formats such as DV. With DV, each frame contains all the information needed to display the video. With HDV video, only some of the frames contain all the information required for display. These are called I-frames. Grouped together with several subsequent frames (called B-frames and P-frames), these frames form a GOP (Group of Pictures).
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HDV Workflow in Final Cut Express HD New capture presets and a special video capture dialog make the process of capturing HDV clips simple and reliable. Just choose the Easy Setup that corresponds to your HDV format in the Easy Setup dialog before you begin working on your project. Once you choose the correct Easy Setup, Final Cut Express HD is ready to handle your HDV video. After capturing the video, organize and edit the clips as you would for any other Final Cut Express HD project.
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If necessary, specify a scratch disk (the hard disk where the media files you capture in Final Cut Express HD are saved). For information about specifying a scratch disk, see Final Cut Express HD Help, Chapter 4, “Specifying User Preferences, System Settings, and Easy Setups”. Note: By default, Final Cut Express HD saves media files to the startup disk. 5 Choose the Easy Setup that corresponds to your HDV video format. a Choose Final Cut Express HD > Easy Setup. The Easy Setup dialog appears.
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After the capture preview window closes, the HDV clip appears in your Capture Folder. Note: Final Cut Express HD has an incremental clip naming function with HDV video. When you capture an HDV clip, Final Cut Express HD looks for any recording breaks introduced at the shoot. For each break, individual clips are made from the original HDV video clip. When capture is completed, these clips appear in the Capture Folder, and the corresponding media files are placed on your hard disk.
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To export your sequence to a QuickTime movie for use in iDVD: 1 Open your Final Cut Express HD sequence in the Timeline. 2 Choose File > Export > QuickTime Movie. The Save dialog appears. 3 Enter a name and choose a location for the movie. 4 At the bottom of the dialog, make sure the Make Movie Self-Contained checkbox is not selected. 5 If you need chapter markers from your Final Cut Express HD project to be exported to the QuickTime movie, choose DVD Studio Pro Markers from the Markers pop-up menu.
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Choices for External Video Monitoring in the View Menu You have a number of choices for monitoring video on computer displays in Final Cut Express HD. The mode you choose depends on the number of computer displays you have connected. To choose an external video monitoring mode: m Choose View > Video Out, then choose an option from the submenu. Â Canvas Playback: Video plays on the main computer display only.
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Switching Between the Canvas and Digital Cinema Desktop Preview Modes If you want to switch between the Canvas and any of the Digital Cinema Desktop Preview modes, you have a couple of options. To switch between your last chosen Digital Cinema Desktop Preview mode and the Canvas, do one of the following: m Choose View > Video Out > Toggle Last. m Click the Toggle Video Out button. This button is located in the button bar of the Canvas.
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Â If you need to change the resolution of your display, do so prior to opening Final Cut Express HD. Â Turning on Digital Cinema Desktop Preview may restrict the number of real-time effects available in the Timeline. However, their real-time status does not change in the Effects menu or the Effects tab of the Browser. Â Refrain from clicking within the display area upon initially enabling Digital Cinema Desktop Preview. Â Exposé is not supported with Digital Cinema Desktop Preview.
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Opening iMovie HD Projects in Final Cut Express HD You can now open iMovie HD projects in Final Cut Express HD. Edits, as well as many of the effects and transitions used in an iMovie HD project, are imported intact, so you can further adjust them in Final Cut Express HD. Once your iMovie HD project is opened in Final Cut Express HD, fine-tune edits in the Trim Edit window or color correct your clips using a color correction filter.
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A LiveType project file within Final Cut Express HD is simply referred to as a LiveType clip or a LiveType movie. If necessary, you can reconnect the media (in this case, the actual LiveType project file on disk) to the LiveType clip, just as you would for any other Final Cut Express HD clip. Using LiveType Clips in Final Cut Express HD In Final Cut Express HD, imported LiveType project files behave the same way as any other clips.
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Final Cut Express HD relinks any LiveType clips that reference the LiveType project you just changed. In Final Cut Express HD, you can immediately see the changes to the LiveType title. Using this method, you do not need to reconnect the LiveType project file each time you alter it outside of Final Cut Express HD. Note: The Creator column in the Final Cut Express HD Browser indicates what application will open when you Control-click a clip and choose Open in Editor from the shortcut menu.
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Using Soundtrack With Final Cut Express HD Soundtrack allows you to create music with thousands of royalty-free music loops that can be combined together in an unlimited variety of mixes and tempos. If you can’t find the exact instrument or sound you are looking for, you can easily invest in thirdparty loops or even create your own. Soundtrack also imports special scoring markers created by Final Cut Express HD so you can create music that lines up exactly with your movie.
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Importing Soundtrack Audio Into Final Cut Express HD Soundtrack creates Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) files, either as a stereo mixdown or as individual stereo files per track. To import AIFF files created in Soundtrack, do one of the following: m In Final Cut Express HD, choose File > Import, navigate to the AIFF files you want to import, then click the Choose button. m Drag the AIFF files from the Finder to the Final Cut Express HD Browser.
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Exporting individual tracks is useful when you are using Logic Pro or other digital audio workstations. This makes it easy to further process those individual tracks. To export a Soundtrack track as an audio file: 1 Select the track to export. 2 Choose File > Export Tracks. A dialog appears with settings for the exported track’s audio file. 3 Configure the export settings. 4 Click Export.
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To import an audio file into Soundtrack, do one of the following: m Locate the file using the File Browser pane of the Soundtrack Media Manager, then drag it into the Timeline. m Drag the file from the Finder to the Timeline. Note: To import audio files from a music CD, you must first copy the files from the CD to your hard disk. Importing QuickTime Video Files Into Soundtrack Soundtrack supports standard QuickTime-compatible video file formats. You can import QuickTime movie (.mov) or MPEG-2 (.