The Focal Easy Guide to Final Cut Pro 6

Book description

Software packages are complex. Software books don't need to be. Simplify your life with The Focal Easy Guide to Final Cut Pro! This concise, full-color book lives up to its name by paring down the software to its essentials. You learn the key features and essential workflow to get you up and running in no time.

With this book you can start cutting immediately, whatever you edit, whatever the format. This is an ideal introduction whether you are a professional moving over to Final Cut Pro from another package or system, a new user, or just someone who wants to get the best results from Final Cut Pro, fast!

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Full Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. Preface
  6. Introduction
  7. Getting Started
    1. The Digital Laboratory
    2. Hardware and Software Requirements
    3. Inside your Mac
    4. How Much Hard Drive Space?
    5. Firewire
    6. Before and After Firewire
    7. Video Formats
    8. Television Aspect Ratio
    9. Loading the Software
    10. Initial Setup
    11. Easy Setup
    12. DV Audio
  8. The interface
    1. Arranging the Interface
    2. Learning a Custom Layout
    3. Important Details about the Interface
    4. Button Bars
    5. Customizing the Keyboard Layout
    6. Saving Projects and Accessing the Autosave Vault
  9. Capture
    1. Setting Scratch Disks
    2. Working with Formats other than DV
    3. Getting the Most Out of the Capture Process
    4. Methods of Capturing Footage from Tape
    5. Deck Control
    6. The Capture Window
    7. Capture Clip
    8. Capture Now
    9. Batch Capture
    10. Selectively Capturing using Batch Capture
    11. Setting a Logging Bin
    12. Clearing a Logging Bin
    13. The Clip Settings Tab
    14. Capturing Multi-channels of Audio
    15. Capturing HDV
    16. Log and Transfer
    17. Importing Music from CD
    18. Converting Audio Sample Rates
    19. Converting Audio Sample Rates Using QuickTime Pro
  10. Organizing your Footage
    1. Viewing Clips
    2. Playing Video through Firewire
    3. DV Start/Stop Detection
    4. Working with Bins
    5. Working in Icon View
    6. Setting Poster Frames
    7. Searching for Clips
  11. Editing
    1. Insert and Overwrite Editing
    2. Getting Started with Editing
    3. Distinguishing between Insert/Overwrite
    4. Three Point Editing
    5. Other Editing Options
    6. Modifying ‘In’ and ‘Out’ Points
    7. Directing the Flow of Audio/Video
    8. Locking Tracks
    9. Adding and Deleting Tracks
    10. Essential Editing Tools
    11. Undo/Redo
    12. Linked/Unlinked Selection
    13. Moving Edits in the Timeline
    14. Selecting Multiple Items in the Timeline
    15. Cut, Copy, Paste
    16. Snapping and Skipping between Shots
    17. The Razorblade Tool
    18. The Magnifier Tool
    19. Bringing Clips Back into Sync
    20. Creating New Sequences
    21. Subclips
    22. Freeze Frame
    23. Match Frame Editing
    24. Slow/Fast Motion
    25. Split Edits
    26. Drag and Drop Editing
    27. Extending/Reducing Clips by Dragging
  12. Rendering
    1. The Render Settings
    2. Open Format Timeline
  13. Media Management
    1. Making Clips Offline
    2. The Render Manager
  14. Effects
    1. The Concept of Media Limit (Handles)
    2. Applying Transitions
    3. Changing Transition Durations
    4. Applying Filters
    5. Compositing
    6. Methods of Creating Multiple Tracks
    7. The Motion Tab
    8. Using the Motion Tab
    9. Image + Wireframe
    10. Titlesafe
    11. Working with Multi-Layers
    12. Keyframing Images
    13. Multi-Layered Dissolves
    14. Keyframing Filters
    15. Time Remapping
    16. Copy and Pasting Attributes
    17. Titling
    18. Master Templates
  15. Audio
    1. Setting Correct Audio Levels
    2. Getting the Most Out of your Audio
    3. Converting Clips into Stereo Pairs
    4. Adjusting Audio Levels
    5. Boosting Audio Levels with the Audio Gain Filter
    6. Adding Sound Fades
    7. The Audio Mixer
    8. Adjusting and Recording Audio Keyframes
    9. Adding Audio Cross Fades
    10. Adding Audio Tracks
    11. Mixdown Audio
  16. Output
    1. Print to Video
    2. Other Forms of Distribution
    3. Compressor
    4. Working with Compressor 3
    5. Export Using QuickTime Conversion
    6. H.264 Encoding
    7. ProRes 422
    8. Working with ProRes
    9. Converting Files to ProRes
    10. Export to ProRes Using QuickTime Movie
    11. Encoding to ProRes Using QuickTime Conversion
    12. Encoding to ProRes Using Compressor
    13. When to Use ProRes
  17. High Definition
    1. Affordable High Definition
    2. Working Around the HDV Problem
    3. Batch Export In Final Cut Pro
    4. The Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC)
    5. Encoding Using ProRes 422
    6. Previewing Your HDV Signal As DV Over Firewire
    7. Previewing Your HD Signal Without Firewire
    8. What Next?
  18. Multicam
    1. Working with Multiple Cameras
    2. Mixing Live vs. Cutting in Post
    3. Preparation
    4. Creating Multiclips (Syncing up the Reels)
    5. Syncing by ‘In’ Point
    6. Working with Multiclips
    7. Cutting your Multicam Sequence
    8. Working with Multicam without Cutting the Soundtrack
    9. Fine Tuning your Multicam Sequence
    10. Final Tips
    11. Dealing with ‘Buttoning On and Off’
    12. Syncing without sound
  19. Epilog
  20. Index

Product information

  • Title: The Focal Easy Guide to Final Cut Pro 6
  • Author(s): Rick Young
  • Release date: November 2012
  • Publisher(s): Routledge
  • ISBN: 9781136060137