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Chapter 58 Working with Mixed-Format Sequences 921
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Formats That Support Real-Time Playback
For a list of formats supported by the Final Cut Express real-time processing engine, check
the list of Easy Setups included with Final Cut Express.
Formats That Don’t Support Real-Time Playback
Media with codecs, frame rates, or image dimensions not supported by the real-time
processing engine in Final Cut Express, such as MPEG-4 or H.264 media, must be
rendered before it will play back.
Viewing Clip Properties and Sequence Settings
You can quickly check clip properties and sequence settings to see if the format of a
clip and a sequence match.
To view the current format properties of clip, do one of the following:
m Select a clip, then choose Edit > Item Properties > Format (or press Command-9).
m Look at the appropriate Browser columns. For more information on working with
Browser columns, see Chapter 5, “Browser Basics,” on page 65.
To view the current sequence settings:
m Select a sequence in the Browser, then choose Edit > Item Properties (or press
Command-9).
The following clip properties and sequence settings are relevant when working with
mixed formats. If any of the clip properties don’t match the corresponding sequence
settings, your sequence is a mixed-format sequence.
Clip properties Sequence settings
Image Dimensions and Aspect Ratio
Frame Size Frame Size (Width, Height, and Aspect Ratio)
Pixel Aspect Pixel Aspect Ratio
Anamorphic Anamorphic 16:9
Frame Rate and Scanning Method
Vid Rate Editing Timebase
Field Dominance Field Dominance
Video Codec
Compressor Compressor