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

NOTE | Marking Terms

Media Start:
The first frame of the media file stored on your hard disk.

Media End:
The last frame of the media file stored on your hard disk.

In:
The timecode location where a shot starts. If no In is set, the Media Start becomes the In.

Out:
The timecode location where a shot ends. If no Out is set, the Media End becomes the Out.

Marking:
Opening a clip in the Viewer and setting the In and/or Out prior to editing it into the Timeline. Marking is generally done in the Viewer, though it can also be done in the Timeline.

Trimming:
The process of adjusting the In and Out of a clip, or series of clips, to improve the flow of an edited sequence. Trimming is generally done in the Timeline.

1.

Open Final Cut, if it isn't already running. Notice, when you do, that it automatically opens the project you were working on when you last quit. If it opens a project file, choose File > Close Project to close it.

2.

Choose File > Open and open Chapter 04 Lesson. It's in the FCP Projects > FCP HOT files > Lessons folder you created at the beginning of this book.

3.

Double-click Sequence 1 and rename it to " Seq Snowboard Start," with a space as the first character, preceding the name. Because the Browser automatically sorts clips and sequences by file name, starting all your sequences with a space means they appear at the top of the Browser, making them very easy to find.

What you are about to create is a 30-second commercial for a snowboard company, called Board Feet. So, the first thing you need to do in starting a new project is to save it and give it a name.

4.

Choose File > Save Project As.

[View full size image]

5.

Save this in your FCP HOT Book Projects folder with the name of Board Feet.

Now that you've saved your project, start looking for your opening shot. The Browser provides a handy way to view and play thumbnails of all your clips.

6.

Click the Browser,Ctrl+click the Duration column header, and choose Show Thumbnail from the shortcut menu.

7.

Thumbnails of all your clips appear to the left of the Duration column. Put your mouse in the middle of the Floating clip. Click and drag inside the thumbnail from left to right. Watch, as you do, how the clip plays in the thumbnail.

8.

The still image you see as a thumbnail is called the clip's poster frame (the still image that represents the clip). It defaults to the first frame of the clip, but you can reset it by dragging the thumbnail to the frame you want to set as the new poster frame, then hold down the Control key and let go of the mouse.

9.

To hide thumbnails, Ctrl+click the Thumbnail column header and choose Hide Column from the shortcut menu.

10.

In order to set the In and Out for a clip, you need to move it to the Viewer. There are three ways you can do this:

Grab a clip in the Browser and drag it into the Viewer.

Double-click the icon of a clip in the Browser to load it into the Viewer.

Highlight a clip in the Browser and press Return.

Scrub through this clip using each of these techniques till you are comfortable moving around in a clip.

If you look in the top-left corner of the Viewer, you'll see that the duration of this shot is 15:27 (15 seconds and 27 frames). This is too long for the opening shot, so you need to set a different starting point. This starting point is called the "In."

13.

Chapter 9," Text, Titles, and Graphics."

17.

Move forward a few seconds until the snowboarder seems swallowed by the cloud of snow. This is around timecode 1:02:19:23.

[View full size image]

18.

Click the Mark Out button (or press the letter O). Notice the Out indicator appears in the top-right corner of the image.

19.

As well, Final Cut automatically calculated the duration of your shot as 6:03 (6 seconds and 3 frames). And, the Out marker moved right next to the playhead.

20.

Finally, you can watch your newly marked shot by clicking the Play In to Out button (or press Shift+\) to make sure it looks OK.

Congratulations! You've loaded and marked your first clip!

I spent a lot of time covering this procedure because setting Ins and Outs is essential to editing. You'll do it hundreds of times in a project. And the two Notes that follow provide even more shortcuts you can use to make this whole process even faster and easier.

21.

Since this is the last step in this exercise, choose File > Save (or press Cmd+S). It's a good habit to save your work frequently.

NOTE | Changing your Mind

If you decide you don't like your In or Out, use these keyboard shortcuts to get rid of them:

NOTE | Using Timecode to Mark Clips

Because marking clips is so essential, Final Cut allows you to use timecode to help set your Out.

Say you want to create a shot that's a specific length (for instance, 3:15). Set your In as you would normally.

Then, double-click the duration field at the top left of the Viewer window to select it and enter the duration of your shot (again, 3:15). Final Cut automatically sets the Out point exactly 3:15 from the In.

I use this technique a lot, especially for titles, stills, and shots that need to hit a fixed musical beat.