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Steps: (may be useful for making a checklist?)

• (Day-book 2010-08-16 12:30)
  • Did it at office.

I was initially unable to find some required Easy Setups in FCP.  Eventually I did locate them in the menu, it was just that they didn’t appear by default - I had to select the right (from FCP’s point of view) frame rate or something (I forget now).

• But before I discovered that, I googled lots, coming up with the following conclusions, which I am no longer sure about - whether they still apply or are obsolete.  Maybe informative somehow anyway, so I’ll post it for posterity at least…

In Final Cut Pro menu: [Final Cut Pro > Easy Setup], if select Format [Apple ProRes 422] then Use only offers 720p50 ???.  However, further options do exist, they are just hidden away as “Additional Easy Setups”.   (Huh?  I thought Apple philosophy was to make things easy???).  For example there is the additional setup that I need, namely [Apple ProRes 422 1920×1080 25p 48 kHz.fcpre].  The fix for this is:

• The Format/Use combinations are stored as [.fcpre] files.
• The main folder for [.fcpre] files is [Macintosh HD>Library>Application Support>Final Cut Pro System Support>Custom Settings].
  • That’s the only place (to my knowledge) that FCP looks.
• Additional [.fcpre] files are to be found in [Macintosh HD>Applications>Final Cut Pro Additional Easy Setups>English].
• Manually copy required files from the latter to the former.

(more…)

What happens when Sony XDCAM Transfer is used, within or without FCP, to import XDCAM footage (BPAV folders etc.)?  The following is my best guess at the moment, based on my experiences and web-searching.

• Logging is best done via ClipBrowser.  That updates the meta-info of this “master source”, which may then feed downstream to other formats (mxf?  mov?)
• The main function is to re-wrap to [.mov] files.
  • These may be FCP-specific
    • “.Mov’s containing XDCAM material are a very specific file, tailored for FCP. Even Premiere CS5 on a Mac doesn’t like them.” [http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdcam-ex-cinealta/480547-ex-workflow-do-you-keep-bpav-files.html]
• Each time you start XDCAM Transfer, check the settings in Preferences, in particular for Import Location.
  • The Cache location can instead be an application-specific, project-independent location.
• To import to FCP:
  • Start XDCAM Transfer, by doing one of the following:
    • From FCP, do one of the following:
      • Menu: File > Import > Sony XDCAM
      • Browser: RtClk > Import > Sony XDCAM
        • Sadly, only ever imports to root of project, not to bin you right-clicked from…
    • From MacOS:
      • Start [XDCAM Transfer.app]
      • Optionally, in Preferences, tick [Open imported files with: Final Cut Pro]
  • Can mark-up selected clip(s) - e.g. OK/NG - affects all (selected) clips straight away (no ‘go’ button…).
• XDCAM Transfer is not just an application but a package, including File Access Mode (FAM) Driver (for XDCAM disks), FCP Import and Export plugins and FCP Sequence presets.
• It can import not only raw BPAV folders (etc) but also MXF-Sony (I tried it).
• There is a Fetch Metadata option, but I have yet to see it have any effect - because as far as I can see all the metadata is displayed anyway.  Possibly only useful for obscure situations e.g. if some data or thumbnails fail to appear http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/142/865859 or for a “clip or disc that contains modified essence marks” http://www.tapelessmadeeasy.com/2008/11/xdcam-transfer-update/
• Opinions are divided on whether or not to retain BPAV folders, but the balance is in favour of doing so [http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdcam-ex-cinealta/480547-ex-workflow-do-you-keep-bpav-files.html]

Searching on Final Cut info generally, discovered some things that were added in the version 7 release of FCP and indeed the greater FCS 3, about a year ago.  I am attempting once again to wean myself off relying so much on (my traditional) Sony Vegas.

• http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/in-action/eatpraylove/
  • Apple Article: Bradley Buecker: Editing Eat Pray Love
    • The editors (used) ProRes 422 (Proxy) … introduced with Final Cut Pro 7.  As soon as dailies arrived … Assistant Editor Doc Crotzer would transcode the files from ProRes 422 (HQ) to ProRes 422 (Proxy), organize the footage into bins, and prepare the material for editing.
    • Using background exporting, another new Final Cut feature, Crotzer was able to continue editing even as he was compressing the files.
      • What is “background exporting”?
    • (He) cut in Proxy and in a few simple keystrokes (was) reconnected in ProRes 422 (HQ) to output for a screening.
      • How set up / do that?
• Google: [”background exporting” fcp]
  • http://community.avid.com/forums/p/74269/415595.asp
    • Avid forum post, “FCP can do Background exports. Avid needs to add this feature”, August 2008
      • FCP does not have background rendering (though)
  • http://www.studiodaily.com/blog/?p=1785
    • Studio Daily blog, July 2009
      • Thursday surprise with Final Cut Pro 7 and new Final Cut Studio By Scott Simmons
        • Post-article forum pulls apart the details and interpretations of the new features in this version.
          • e.g. Per-Project Capture-Scratch (etc) ?
            • Q: have they moved the capture scratch and render drive settings to be saved WITH the project for this release?
            • A: (Doubtful.)   Check out the Preference Manager from Digital Rebellion as it lets you do something similar if not exactly that. http://www.digitalrebellion.com/pref_man.htm
              • How best integrate this into my workflow?
                • Search on this topic another time, e.g. [”preference manager” “capture scratch” “per project”]
  • http://danrubottom.com/2009/07/final-cut-pro-7-did-they-listen/
    • Article “Final Cut Pro 7, Did They Listen?” by Dan Rubottom
      • when you undo, you don’t lose renders
      • Export, render and publish in the background using Compressor.  You can use Apple Qmaster QuickCluster for even quicker rendering
• YouTube: [final cut 7]
  • http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22final+cut+7%22&aq=f
    • lynda.com: Final Cut Pro 7 Overview: Exploring the Final Cut Pro …
      • Ah yes, lynda.com, must remember them!
    • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P4ytCeagHs
      • “lynda.com: Final Cut Pro 7 Overview: Exploring the Final Cut Pro interface”
    • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF7ALnyydfg
      • “lynda.com: Final Cut Pro 7 Overview: Creating retiming effects”
        • FCP has a new simple-to-use retiming interface/feature