Final Cut Express 4 Help with Rendering

[TheHemdooger]

Hey, I am interested in recording and editing video gameplay and making montages with it but at the moment i do not have a device to record my own gameplay with so I have asked permission from some people i know to download there youtube videos and use that footage. I was given permission but when I put it into Final Cut Express, I press play and in the Canvas where it should show what is happening in the Timeline it just says "Unrendered" and makes a beeping sound.

What does this mean and how will I be able to properly view these downloaded clips in FCE4?

thx heaps for the help guys.

 

[martinX]

Quick question: which Youtube footage (URL) and what sequence settings are you using in FCE?

 

[TheHemdooger]

Quick question: which Youtube footage (URL) and what sequence settings are you using in FCE?

This is the video I downloaded. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUfTa3r5E-E

It is an mp4 file if that means anything.

and what do you mean by sequence settings (do you mean the render control thing)

 

[martinX]

Nope - sequence settings.

Final Cut Express -> Easy Setup...

or ^Q

This determines what the base codec of your sequence is to be, for example DV or AIC, and other parameters like frame size.

 

[martinX]

I got an FLV file from that URL, and also from the high quality URL.
The standard is 640 x 320 and the HQ one is 854 x 428 (which is the oddest size I have ever come across...), both 29.97 fps. I opened them in QT Pro 7 with Perian installed for that info (command-I).

In FCE, I clicked "Easy Setup" and chose 'Format: HD' and 'Use: HDV-Apple Intermediate Codec 720p' and then started a new project.

Using MPEG Streamclip (very handy video utility for Macs), I opened the FLV file. I exported it to a MOV doing the following steps:
- Select File -> Export To Quicktime and select the following:
- Compression is Apple Intermediate Codec
- Frame Size is 720p
- Deinterlace video
Then "Make Movie".

Import the resulting QT file into your new FCE project and you should be OK. I had no need to render video or audio tracks.