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Table of Contents

.......................................................................................................................................What is Final Cut Express? 2

...........................................................................................................................................................Getting Started 2

Storage volume 2

Gather your media 2

Create a folder for your project 2

Set system settings 3

Set user preferences 3

Starting a new project 3

Easy Setup 3

....................................................................................................Capturing Video and Importing Media Files 4

Capturing video 4

Importing Files 4

.............................................................................................................................The Final Cut Express Interface 4

............................................................................................................................................................................Editing 5

Organizing 5

Viewing 5

Editing 6

Adding Filters 6

Three Point Editing 6

The Wireframe 6

Keyframes 7

Working with Keyframes from the Timeline 7

..................................................................................................................................................Working with Audio 7

Adding volume changes 7

......................................................................................................................................................................Resources 8

Documentation 8

Web Pages 8

Books 8

.........................................................................................................................................................................Glossary 9

.............................................................................................................Appendix A: Video Formats Explained 12

Intra-frame 12

Inter-frame 12

......................................................................................................................Appendix B: Media Management 13

.....................................................................................................................................................................Fine Print 14

Colophon 14

A Brief Introduction to

Editing with Final Cut Express v.3c

by David Tamés

david.tames@massart.edu

is document provides a brief introduction to editing with Final Cut Express 4. It is a work-in-

progress, therefore, please provide feedback on how it can evolve into a more useful document,

especially in terms of what’s missing and what you nd confusing. Please send comments and/or

corrections, to: David Tamés via email to david.tames@massart.edu or call 617.879.7298. Special

thanks to Zak Ray and Nomi Lawn for their valuable contributions to this document.

Summary of content (14 pages)

PAGE 1
A Brief Introduction to Editing with Final Cut Express v.3c by David Tamés david.tames@massart.edu is document provides a brief introduction to editing with Final Cut Express 4. It is a work-inprogress, therefore, please provide feedback on how it can evolve into a more useful document, especially in terms of what’s missing and what you find confusing. Please send comments and/or corrections, to: David Tamés via email to david.tames@massart.edu or call 617.879.7298.
PAGE 2
What is Final Cut Express? Apple bundles iMovie with every new Macintosh, providing easy-to-use video editing for everyone. Some media makers, however, require the creative flexibility provided by a traditional timeline-based editing application. is is where Final Cut Express comes in. Reasonably priced (compared to Final Cut Pro), Final Cut Express is sophisticated enough for doing high-end work, flexible enough for demanding artists, yet basic enough for those who are new to editing.
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Final Cut Pro captures media from a video tape, it places it in a folder called “Capture Scratch” in a location determined by the system settings we discuss in the next section. Yes, Final Cut’s media management is a little complicated at first. Hang in there, it will make sense at some point along the way. Set system settings Setting scratch disk(s) is done in order to tell Final Cut where to store certain files.
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Capturing Video and Importing Media Files To begin capturing video in Final Cut, choose File > Capture. It’s good to enter descriptive information about the video you’re capturing so you can easily find it later. Capturing video Navigate to the spot on the tape you want to capture, and begin playback of your tape (either via device control in the Capture window or directly on your camera or VTR) and click the 'Now' button (lower right of the dialog) to begin to capturing.
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it in the Viewer. Common tasks here include setting in and out points, editing sound levels, and adjusting eﬀects or filters. Notice the playhead for moving back and forth in your media is located directly above the playback controls—to move it, click and drag. Keep in mind that if the playback line below the image has dotted lines, you’re looking at the version of the clip that is in the timeline, not the original clip. Once you start editing, you’ll see the diﬀerence. 3.
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e down-arrow indicates that the clip will be inserted directly into whatever other contents are present, this is know as an overwrite edit. e right-pointing arrow indicates an insert edit, which causes the clips beyond the insertion point to be oﬀset from the current position. Experiment with this, the best way to get a feel for the interface is to drive it and do some experimentation.
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Keyframes Suppose you wanted to create an eﬀect in which a filter was gradually applied to a clip over a certain period of time. How would you do it? With keyframing. For example, suppose you wanted to apply a blur filter and, over the course of five seconds, transform an image from crisp to blurry. First, double-click to select the clip (in the Timeline or Browser) and apply the filter by choosing Eﬀects > Video Filters > Blur> Soft Focus.
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Resources is introduction only scratches the surface. ere is no better teacher than hands-on experience and practice. e following books and web sites will provide you with guidance to help you get the most out of your time exploring the art and craft of editing, as well as dealing with Final Cut Express specific issues.
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Glossary Here are some terms you should know if you’re editing digital video. 4x3. e aspect ratio of standard television, as opposed to the 16x9 of high definition television. See aspect ratio. 16x9. e aspect ratio of wide screen television (may be either standard or high definition) as opposed to the 4x3 of standard television. See aspect ratio. Anamorphic. Refers to wide-screen video that has been“squeezed” to fit into a standard definition 4x3 frame.
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Filter. An eﬀect applied to a clip in a non-linear editing system. FireWire. A fast data interconnection standard originally developed by Apple (also known by the standards designation IEEE 1394 or i.Link, Sony’s brand name for the same thing). FireWire is used for connecting cameras and external hard disks to a computer.
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e Panasonic DVX100 was the first prosumer camera to provide 24p and 30p progressive scan. Today, many video cameras oﬀer a progressive scan option. Progressive scan oﬀers an image that is well suited for web video and for display on computer monitors and flat-screen displays. Resolution. e amount of detail in an image. Higher resolution equals more detail. Also used to describe the size of an image, usually in pixels, e.g. a high definition video frame consists of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Single system sound.
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Appendix A: Video Formats Explained Video is not just video-- there are many diﬀerent ways of storing it, whether on a tape, on a computer, on a DVD, or on an iPod. e diﬀerent formats of storage are codecs, as in to code and decode the video. ese codecs reduce the amount of data required to store the video using clever mathematical techniques.
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Appendix B: Media Management Does this illustration on the right resemble your computer? Maybe your documents folder, or your external hard drive? Being disorganized with your personal files may not have any big consequences, but this is not always the case when working with media on shared lab computers. ere are a few good reasons to keep your files organized when working here: It’s easier for you.
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Fine Print Colophon This document was produced on a MacBook Pro using Pages and set in Adobe Myriad Pro and Adobe Garamond. Some of the music played while writing included The Talking Heads, Brian Eno, Philip Glass, Yo La Tengo, Colin Owens, Tangerine Dream, Erik Satie, Blonde Readhead, Gato Loco de Bajo, R.E.M., Spoon, Univerworld, and Stereolab. Copyright © 2009, 2010 by Massachusetts College of Art and Design, some rights reserved.