Final Cut Pro HD | H•O•T Hands-On Training [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

1.

Start Final Cut and open Chapter 12 Lesson, if it isn't open already. Double-click Seq Snowboard Final to load it to the Timeline. Leave the Timeline selected.

2.

To export a sequence to LiveType, choose File > Export > For LiveType.

This dialog is just like the others you've seen earlier, except for the settings at the bottom. Notice that this time, Final Cut is including all the markers in the export. In fact, all four Final Cut marker types display in LiveType:

Generic marker

Chapter marker

Compression marker

Soundtrack marker

3.

Give the export file a name and click OK.

4.

To import the movie into LiveType, open LiveType, choose File > Place Background Movie, select your movie and click Open. The video from your movie shows up on the Timeline, ready for compositing.

5.

Exporting a sequence for Compressor is a bit more complex. Again, select your sequence, either in the Browser or Timeline. Then, choose File > Export > Using Compressor.

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6.

Compressor starts, and your sequence automatically loads. From the Preset pop-up menu, choose a compression setting. The rule is: choose the setting that is closest to, but longer than, the length of your sequence.

So, for a 30-second commercial, choose 60 Minute High-Quality.

For a 70-minute program, choose 90 Minute High-Quality.

For a 100-minute program, choose 120 minute High-Quality.

If your video is in a 4:3 aspect ratio, choose High-Quality. If it is in 16:9 aspect ratio, choose High-Quality Widescreen.

By the way, I always use the High-Quality setting. For me, the length of time it takes to compress a video is never the issue; making it look as good as it can is always far more important.

7.

Set the Destination to where you want the file stored. On my system, I've created a folder on my second hard disk called Compressed Files and use that as the default destination for Compressor.

The main reason to use Compressor is that you want to create high-quality MPEG-2 video files (which is the standard video format for DVD) to import into DVD Studio Pro. (iDVD won't read MPEG-2 files.)

One of the tricks of DVD Studio Pro is that it automatically links audio and video files that have the same file name to the left of the extension. So, I always change the Output file name so the audio and video file names match.

8.

So, in this case, change the name of each file to Snowboard Final and click Submit.

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The actual compression is done by a background application. Batch Monitor is only there to display the status of your job.

The first half of the job is compressing the audio, the last half is compressing the video. The progress bar displays the amount of the job completed.

While this compression is occurring, Final Cut is exporting each individual frame. It's this dual role of exporting and compressing that makes this take so much time. For me, the benefits of exporting directly out of Final Cut do not outweigh the time it takes.

Instead, I export my sequence as a Reference QuickTime movie, and drag it into Compressor. I can then set my compression settings as I just described and compress the file, without tying up Final Cut. I've found this to be a much, much faster way to operate.

When the compression is done, look on the Desktop and you'll see two files: an audio AIFF and video M2V. These are the files that get imported into DVD Studio Pro for your DVD. These two files get combined in the final stage of creating a DVD, in a process called "multiplexing."

9.

And that's it. You've covered all the major elements of outputting and exporting out of Final Cut Pro. Don't save your work, you haven't changed anything. Quit Final Cut if you need to take a break.

NOTE | Exporting a Still Frame

If you need a refresher on how to create and export a still frame of video, please refer to Exercise 5 in Chapter 10.

Option+R

Renders all clips in a sequence, depending upon what render elements are checked in Sequence > Render All.

Cmd+R

Renders a selected clip, series of clips, or sequence.

Ctrl+M

Opens Print to Video dialog.

Shift+N

Creates a still frame of the frame of video currently under the active playhead. The still frame appears in the Viewer.