Visual QuickStart Guide [Electronic resources] : Final Cut Express HD for Mac OS X

Lisa Brenneis

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  • Setting Up for Capture

    Apple's FireWire capture system has simplified video capture, but capturing still requires some preparation, because it puts your entire editing system through its paces.

    Capturing is important, and you should set up for it correctly. Here's an overview of the setup procedure and your objectives in each step:

    • Review your selected Easy Setup. You want to be sure that you've selected an Easy Setup that uses the proper combination of presets for this capture operation. Select an Easy Setup that uses the correct audio sample rate to match the media you want to capture. Your capture settings should match the video hardware and tape format you're using. Your device control settings should be compatible with your camcorder or deck.

    • Check scratch disk preferences. You want to ensure that any media you capture will be written to the correct hard disk or folder, that your designated scratch disk is fast enough to handle the data transfer, and that you have enough space to accommodate the media files you want to capture.

    • Review the Abort Capture on Dropped Frames option on the General tab of the User Preferences window. Abort Capture on Dropped Frames automatically stops the capture process if dropped frames are detected. If your system and source tapes are in perfect condition, you should leave this safeguard option checked. However, if you're unable to complete a capture because FCE is reporting trouble (and you're willing to risk some uncertainty about timecode or frame integrity), you should uncheck this option.

    • Test device control settings. You want to ensure that the video, audio, timecode, and device control connections between your deck or camcorder and Final Cut Express are operational.

    Chapter 14, "Compositing and Effects Overview."

    • Is Your System Capture-Ready?

    Capturing video puts your entire FCE systemincluding external hardwareto the test. Any conditions that impair its performance can show up as dropped frames, audio sync drift, or error messagesnot a good start for your project.

    Apple's Knowledge Base has a good article on the subject: "Final Cut Pro: Dropped Frames and Loss of Audio Sync" (article ID 58640).

    Here's a checklist, summarized from the article, that you can use to avoid the most common causes of capture troubles:

    • The Canvas size should be set to Fit to Window or smaller. If you can see scroll bars in the Canvas, you have a problem.

    • Your computer monitor's refresh rate should be set to 75 Hz or higher in the Displays pane in your System Preferences.

    • On PowerBook FCE systems, turn off processor cycling on the Options tab of the Energy Saver preferences pane.

    • You should be using FCE-qualified drives. If your drives are overly full, or if the data is too fragmented, drive performance can be impaired.

    See "Optimizing Performance" in Chapter 2 and "Troubleshooting Capture Problems" later in this chapter for more tips on improving performance in Final Cut Express.