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

NOTE | Deck vs. Camera

I tend to use the term "deck" because that's what I work with most often. If you are serious about your editing, and can afford it, a videotape deck makes a great deal of sense. It decreases wear and tear on your camera, it has a more rugged tape transport, it allows you to permanently connect your video monitor and speakers to something that doesn't keep moving around all the time, and it frees up your camera for shooting.

So, from here on out, I'll use the term "deck" to include both camera and deck.

NOTE | Definitions

Marking a clip:
To view a clip to set an In (where it starts) and an Out (where it ends) using timecode.

Logging a clip:
Giving a clip that you've marked a name and storing it in the Browser.

Capture Now:
Capturing a clip immediately, without first assigning an In or an Out.

Log and Capture:
Capturing a clip after you first assigned a name and given it an In and an Out.

Talking head:
The audio and video of the person being interviewed.

B-roll:
Pictures of what the person being interviewed is talking about, used for illustration.

SOT:
Sound on tape. Video with audio, generally meaning a person talking.

Natural sound:
Sounds from the environment, not from someone being interviewed, such as the sound of machinery being used, an audience applauding, or animals in the field, which are included with B-roll video to provide a greater sense of realism.

NOTE | Log and Capture vs. Capture Now

There's a lot of heated debate about which is better, Log and Capture or Capture Now. Each has its benefits, and as usual, Final Cut supports both. You get to pick.

Log and Capture.
The benefit to Log and Capture is that you look at all your tape before you capture it and make decisions on what you want to capture. This means that you don't waste disk space, or time, capturing footage you won't use; for example, the 20-minute shot of the cameraman's foot as he walks from one location to another when he forgot to turn off the Record button.

The logging side of the Log and Capture window is specifically designed to make logging as painless as possible.

The disadvantage to Log and Capture is that you have to look at all your tape and start making decisions before you capture anything. This takes a lot of time and thought.

I am a huge fan of Log and Capture, but I will confess I hate to log my tapes. It takes time, and it forces me to start making editing decisions very early in the process.

Capture Now.
The benefit to Capture Now is that you click one button, Capture Now, and Final Cut starts immediately recording whatever you play from your deck onto your hard drive. This means that you can capture huge quantities of media, without having to watch them first.

Chapter 2, "Understanding the Final Cut Pro Interface" (the J, K, and L keys, spacebar, jog wheel, or shuttle bar), to play your tape until you find the beginning of the shot you want to use.

6.

Press the I key to set an In, or click the Set In button in the lower-left corner of the window. The timecode for your In now appears in the In field.

7.

Play your tape until you find the end of the shot.

8.

Press the O key to set an Out, or click the Set Out button in the lower-right corner of the window. The timecode for your Out now appears in the Out field.

Notice that Final Cut automatically calculates the duration of your shot and displays it in the upper-left corner of the window.

The box in the upper-right corner displays the current timecode location of the deck.

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9.

Give your clip a name by entering it into the Name fields you learned about in the last exercise. (Notice that a unique reel ID has been assigned to this clip.)

Generally, when I am editing an interview with B-roll, I start all interview clip names with the last name of the person being interviewed, and all B-roll shots with the letter "B." This makes it easer for me to find the shots I need later.

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10.

Click Clip in the Capture box. Final Cut cues up the deck to the proper spot and captures the clip. Once the clip is captured, Final Cut gives it the name you assigned in the logging window and displays it in the Browser. This is the easiest way to capture a clip when all you need is one clip.

11.

Ta-DA! You've captured your very first clip. (Well, at least, the very first clip using this book.) Double-click the clip in the Browser to load it into the Viewer, then scrub it to see how great it looks!

Leave the Log and Capture window open. Although it is not a good idea to leave the Log and Capture window open while you are editing, for now, you can leave the window open to view this clip in the Viewer.

12.

When you are done viewing the clip, click once on the Log and Capture window to bring it to the front. Notice, when you do that the clip name in the logging section of the Capture window has a number after it, or, if it ended with a number, that number has been increased by one. This is Final Cut's way to help you name your clips.

13.

Repeat Steps 5 through 9 to mark and log a second clip.

14.

This time, click the Log Clip button.

15.

A dialog pops up (assuming the Prompt check box is checked on the main logging screen) asking you to confirm the clip name and allowing you to add a descriptive comment and a check box indicating if the clip is any good. All of this information is also displayed in various columns in the Browser.

Chapter 5, "Organize Your Story," you'll learn how to import them into a new project. If you are done using Final Cut, for now, choose Final Cut Pro HD> Quit ; otherwise, choose File > Close Project and don't save changes.