Final Cut Express : Two Questions...

[The Final Cut]

1) How can I get the message that went something like this "do you want the timeline to match the clip settings"... Reason is that FCE is rendering a video that takes very long and I no longer see this option.

2) How would I go about erasing the background of video where two characters are in the foreground. Ultimately I want to put another image in the background. I tried using After Effects, but it is way to complicated for me.

 

[FSMBP]

1. That only applies when you place your first clip into a Timeline that isn't formatted for your clip. Example. You have a widescreen clip and are placing it into a fullscreen timeline - Final Cut will ask you if you want to change the timeline settings to widescreen.

If rendering is you're issue, make sure you are going to EXPORT, then select the first option and NOT "Using Quicktime Conversion". Sometimes, clips take a long time to render because you have added titles, effects, etc.

2. Unless you filmed the characters against a green screen, you cannot successfully remove characters from their background in FCE.

You would need a program like you stated, After Effects or Motion, and cut then out and then use a "Track Motion" feature so track every movement they make will be recorded.

HOWEVER, if you're characters are relatively still, you can create a MASK around then and place a background beneath the mask. BUT, this will look like poop because FCE does not offer a good masking tool.