Printing to Video
Chapter 2, "Installing and Setting Up." If you don't need customized pre-program elements at the beginning of your dub, playing your sequence in the Timeline and recording the output directly may give you satisfactory results and save you some time as well. See "Recording Timeline Playback" earlier in this chapter.
Print to Video: Rendering Tips
The quality of the render settings you specify on the Render Control tab of the Sequence Settings window before you use Print to Video is reflected in the quality and size of the playback window you see on your computer screen and on your video tape copy. In other words, what you see is what you get. If you have multiple layers of sub-sequences in your sequence (sub-sequences within sub-sequences inside the master sequence), it's a good idea to render material in the nested items at the lowest root, or sub-sequence, level firstat least for the first render. Subsequent adjustments and re-renders can be processed at the parent level, and Final Cut Express will more reliably find all the nested sub-sequence material that requires re-rendering. The pre-program elements discussed in the section "Print to Video settings checklist" must be rendered before you can print to video. If you use the same pre-program sequence frequently, you may want to use the Print to Video function to assemble your color bars, leader, slate, and countdown in advance. After your pre-program sequence has been rendered, print it to video and then capture it as a clip. You can drop your prepared pre-program clip into sequences before you print, speeding up the final output process.
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Print to Video settings checklist
The Print to Video dialog box (Figure 19.8 ) displays a list of formatting options. Select the elements you want to include in your video tape copy. You can specify durations for all options.
Figure 19.8. Select the pre-program elements you want to include in your video tape copy from the Print to Video dialog box.
Leader: Select the pre-program elements you want to include in your video tape copy. Your pre-program sequence will be assembled in the same order that the elements are listed in the dialog box, which is why there are two separate Black options. Check the elements you want to include and then specify a duration (in whole seconds) for each option in the field next to the option. These elements must be rendered before printing to video can begin. Color Bars: Check this box to include color bars and a 1-kHz tone, preset to 12 dB, before the beginning of the sequence or clip. Tone Level: If necessary, adjust this slider to change the level of the preset 12-dB, 1-kHz audio reference tone. Note that this slider does not adjust the output level of your audio track, just the level of the reference tone. Black: Check this box to add black frames between the color bars and the slate. Slate: Check this box to include the slate information specified in the Slate Source pop-up menu in the adjoining field. Slate Source pop-up menu: Select a source for the information that appears on your slate. You can specify the sequence or clip name, a file on disk, or multiple lines of custom text. Black: Check this box to include black frames between a slate and a countdown (or before the beginning of the sequence or clip, if you aren't adding a slate and a countdown). Countdown: Check this box to add a 10-second countdown before the sequence or clip (Figure 19.9 ). Choose FCE's built-in 10-second SMPTE standard countdown or use the corresponding pop-up menu and Browse button to specify your own custom countdown file.
Figure 19.9. Final Cut Express's default countdown screen.
Media: Specify the material you want to include in the program section of your tape copy. You can print an entire sequence or clip or only a marked portion. You can also loop the sequence or clip selection and insert black at the end of each loop. Print pop-up menu: Choose Entire Media if you want to print the entire sequence or clip. Choose In to Out if you want to print a portion of the selected item. Specify the portion to be printed by setting In and Out points in the sequence or clip. Loop: Check this box to print your selection multiple times. Times: Specify the number of repetitions for Loop. Black: Check this box to insert black frames between repetitions for the duration specified in the Black field. Trailer: Check the Black box to add a black trailer at the end of the printed sequence or clip; then specify the duration in the Seconds field. If you are looping the sequence or clip, the trailer appears after the last repetition. Duration Calculator: These fields display the total duration of all the media you selected to print, as you have specified it. Automatically Start Recording: Check this box to enable FCE to automatically place your deck or camcorder into Record mode during a Print to Video operation. If you leave the box unchecked, you'll be prompted to put your deck into Record mode manually.
Tip
To print a sequence or clip to video without device control:
1. | Read and follow the setup process described in "Setting up for recording to tape" earlier in this chapter. | 2. | In the Browser, select the sequence or clip you want to print (Figure 19.10 ). Open the sequence and make the Timeline active.
Figure 19.10. In the Browser, select the sequence you want to print to video.
| 3. | Choose File > Print to Video. The Print to Video dialog box will appear. | 4. | Select the program elements you want to include in your program. Refer to the "Print to Video settings checklist" earlier in this chapter for explanations of your options. If you need to change any of the settings, do so now. | 5. | Click OK (Figure 19.11 ).
Figure 19.11. Select the pre-program elements you want to include in your video tape copy and then click OK.
If the sequence you select needs to be rendered before it can be printed, FCE automatically renders any unrendered sequence material, plus any additional program elements you've specified. When the rendering is complete, FCE displays a dialog box telling you to go ahead and start recording on your video deck. If render quality settings on this sequence's Render Control tab specify less than full quality, FCE will display this helpful advisory dialog box (Figure 19.12 ). Click OK to proceed with the Print to Video operation.
Figure 19.12. If render quality settings on this sequence's Render Control tab specify less than full quality, FCE will display this warning dialog box. Click OK to proceed or cancel the operation and adjust your render quality settings.
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| 6. | Start recording on your video deck or camcorder, and when the device is up to speed, click OK to start playback of your Final Cut Express sequence. | 7. | When your program material has finished printing, stop recording on your deck or camcorder. Final Cut Express doesn't provide any end-of-process beep (the large black box disappears from the screen, and the interface returns), so check in at the scheduled end-of-program if you plan on recording unattended. | 8. | Play back your recorded sequence and check the quality. |
Tips | If you don't specify a post-program black trailer, Final Cut Express will hold on the last frame of your sequence, creating a freeze-frame that will be recorded onto your tape until you stop recording. Once the Print to Video process is complete, you'll have access to the render files created for Print to Video in your regular Timeline version of the sequence. HDV users take note: Because FCE uses AIC, an intermediate codec, to handle HDV footage inside the application, all HDV projects must be rendered before they can be output back to tape in HDV format. Apple recommends that you take extra care to avoid any possible interruption in this rendering process. HDV users should read Apple's Knowledge Base Article 300775, Final Cut Express HD: Tips for HDV Print to Video. This Kbase article provides a checklist of activities that could possibly interrupt your HDV Print to Video operation, and suggests ways to avoid trouble.
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Output Options for HDV
If you're one of the first human beings in history to complete an HDV project, congratulations and welcome to the cutting edgethat chilly breeze blowing through your HDV-format project right now is a lack of true HD distribution options. HD-DVD and Blu-Raythe two competing DVD formats that can handle HD videoaren't due to be released until later in 2005. What are your options right now? FCE HD offers a wide variety of output options. These two are the best available options for HDV: You can use FCE's Print to Video function to record your HDV material back out to your HDV camcorder. FCE HD will automatically re-encode your AIC-format media files back to HDV format before recording the material back to video tape. You can export your HDV format material for use in iDVD. The export operation is the same for HDV and DV format material; both are converted to MPEG-2 for use in iDVD.
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To print a sequence or clip to video with device control:
1. | Load the tape to which you want to record into your deck or camcorder and cue the tape to the point where you want recording to start. If you are starting your recording at the beginning of a tape, be sure to record a few seconds of black at the very head of the tape. | 2. | Follow steps 1 through 4 in the preceding section, "To print a sequence or clip to video without device control." When the Print to Video dialog box appears, be sure to select Automatically Start Recording to enable FCE's device control over your camcorder or deck (Figure 19.13 ); then click OK.
Figure 19.13. In the Print to Video dialog box, check Automatically Start Recording to enable FCE's device control over your camcorder or deck.
If your selected settings will output video or audio at less than full quality, FCE will display an advisory dialog box. Click OK to proceed with the Print to Video operation. When the sequence rendering is complete, Final Cut Express will automatically place your video deck in Record mode and then start playback. When the recording is complete, FCE will stop recording on your deck, the large black box will disappear from the screen, and the interface will return. |
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