Best settings in FCP

[diamond3]

I have FCP 5 and I want to know what are the best settings to use for setup. I have a miniDV camera that I shot the video in widescreen, and then I have pictures that I am going to use. I would like the best quality possible for the video that will be put on a DVD.

Any tips on what to do on the pictures? In iMovie if you don't have the pictures moving, the resolution bad. there's not smooth edges. If you do the ken burns effect its better. Will this be a problem in FCP. Will reducing the resolution of the pictures help out? Thanks for the responses.

 

[markjones05]

I have FCP 5 and I want to know what are the best settings to use for setup. I have a miniDV camera that I shot the video in widescreen, and then I have pictures that I am going to use. I would like the best quality possible for the video that will be put on a DVD.

Any tips on what to do on the pictures? In iMovie if you don't have the pictures moving, the resolution bad. there's not smooth edges. If you do the ken burns effect its better. Will this be a problem in FCP. Will reducing the resolution of the pictures help out? Thanks for the responses.

Just use NTSC DV easy setup and export in lossless.

 

[bkvideography]

well there is no such thing as the "best settings" i believe....but only the "correct settings". If you shot widescreen with a standard definition camera, you need to go to Final Cut Pro - Easy Setup, and choose DV/NTSC Anamorphic (which means widescreen) and go ahead and capture by pressing apple-8. when you're done editing, just export the movie by going to file-export- using compressor and use the best quality 16X9 mpeg-2 format, and dolby 2.0. then drop those 2 files into dvd studio pro and burn away. that is the BEST quality you will ever get.

the thing with photos is that they aren't video....so they aren't so easy to work with. However, hou can just drop them in and scale them how you like.

does that help?

 

[bkvideography]

there is no format called "lossless" so that's just confusing!

 

[diamond3]

Alright, thanks. I didn't know if I could have a High def project or something so the pictures maintained a higher resolution.

 

[bkvideography]

Alright, thanks. I didn't know if I could have a High def project or something so the pictures maintained a higher resolution.

nope, use a sequence that has the same settings as your camera. if you didn't shoot widescreen, you would just choose the DV/NTSC without the anamorphic part.

high def sequences are only if you shot in high def.

 

[diamond3]

Another question, I've done the easy setup with that setting you mentioned. I've gone through and done some capturing of the movie. I have the clips and when I place them in my timeline, i have a few questions:

1. It says it has to render the movie in order to play it.

2. In the canvas window, it doesn't fill up all the black area. So it looks like the video is zoomed out because there is black around all the sides. Should i add the clips, and zoom in so it fill the whole area and then render? Thanks

 

[bkvideography]

If you KNOW that you shot widescreen video, and you have to render the clips in the timeline, then your timeline is not the right format.

When you opened Final Cut Pro, a default project probably opened and the timeline is at the bottom. At the top left of your monitor, you will see Sequence 1, which is the name of the timeline at the bottom. If you went to easy set-up and changed the format to anamorphic (the kind of footage you shot and wanted to capture), the current timeline format does not change.....you have to erase the already open timeline and make a new one. try erasing your current timeline and make a new one after changing to the dv/ntsc anamorphic format in the easy set-up menu. If you just drop a clip in the timeline and have to render, your timeline is not set-up correctly.

also - go to Window - arrange - standard (this will resize all the windows to the correct size for your particular monitor)

try that and it should play fine.

 

[diamond3]

ok, so whats the best way to edit clips and do all that. I enjoy having a big clip and then I go through and split it up and delete in between. The only problem is you can't rename each clip to what you want as far as i can see. I could do the batch capture, but its easier for me to just import the whole thing and then split it up so I don't have to wait for the camera to play and do its thing. Am I going about this the wrong way? Thanks for your help though. I got the problem fixed from your advice.

 

[bkvideography]

ok, so whats the best way to edit clips and do all that. I enjoy having a big clip and then I go through and split it up and delete in between. The only problem is you can't rename each clip to what you want as far as i can see. I could do the batch capture, but its easier for me to just import the whole thing and then split it up so I don't have to wait for the camera to play and do its thing. Am I going about this the wrong way? Thanks for your help though. I got the problem fixed from your advice.

good question.....find a way you like the best, and ask how to do it in the final cut forums on apple's site....that's really the best way to answer that question.

 

[bigbossbmb]

after capturing a whole tape, you can create "subclips" which acts as clips but reference your large capture file.

to do this, set in and out points on the large clip and press command-U. then you can name your new clip.

 

[markjones05]

i generally use in and outs in my viewer window and insert into the timeline using a shortcut. I find that to be the best way for me. i also like to be over organized with my subclips and bins in general. Slapping an entire tape into the timeline and using the blade tool seems too linear for my liking.