Final Cut Pro 6 Video Tutorial – Editing Basics 09: Importing Video (6) – MP4

Over the next several days, we are going to release several or up to a dozen video tutorials for Apple’s Final Cut Pro 6. This series is intended for those who have just started using Final Cut Pro 6 without prior experience in digital video editing and need some guidance. We, MacHouse, edit more than 200 videos each year, using Apple Final Cut Pro. So we can help you.

This Final Cut Pro 6 video tutorial series is for offline editing. That is, we assume that all video clips are stored on a hard disk drive. So we don’t import videos from video cameras.

The most popular multimedia container for Mac is MOV. There are other media containers. One another popular video container is AVI. WMV is another one, which we covered in the last tutorial.

MP4 is also a multimedia format. This video container is exclusively supported by Apple, Inc. MP4 can contain MPEG-4-compressed (Part 2, Part 10) video and MPEG-4-compresed audio (AAC, Apple Lossless…).

In the 9th tutorial of the Final Cut Pro 6 Editing Basics video tutorials, we are going to deal with another video format. This time, it’s MP4. We are going to import an MP4-formatted video file to Final Cut Pro.

The original video comes from Internet Archive. The producer of this movie is shown as tertone prod. The rights of use is defined by Creative Commons and set to ‘No Rights Reserved.’

Keywords: AAC, MP4, MOV, Sequence Settings, MPEG-4 Video, Frame Size, Render All, Audio  Continue reading →

Final Cut Pro 6 Video Tutorial – Editing Basics 08: Importing Video (5) – Windows Media Video

Over the next several days, we are going to release several or up to a dozen video tutorials for Apple’s Final Cut Pro 6. This series is intended for those who have just started using Final Cut Pro 6 without prior experience in digital video editing and need some guidance. We, MacHouse, edit more than 200 videos each year, using Apple Final Cut Pro. So we can help you.

This Final Cut Pro 6 video tutorial series is for offline editing. That is, we assume that all video clips are stored on a hard disk drive. So we don’t import videos from video cameras.

In order to play back Windows Media Video movies with QuickTime, you need a QuickTime component called Flip4Mac from Telestream. And if you want to produce WMV movies with QuickTime, you need one of the retail versions of Flip4Mac. If we want to import WMV files to Final Cut Pro, then which version do we need? Can we edit WMV files with Final Cut Pro and also export projects with Windows Media Video?

The 8th installment of the Final Cut Pro 6 video tutorial series involves Windows Media Video. We want to find out the best way of importing and handling WMV with Final Cut Pro.

The original video comes from Internet Archive. It’s produced by a company called Sleeping Dogs Productions. The license of this video clip is set to Creative Commons License: Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.5 Generic.

Keywords: WMV, QuickTime components, Flip4Mac WMV Import.component, Item Properties, Format, Sequence Settings, Audio Settings, Stereo Downmix, Pixel Aspect Ratio, NTSC – CCIR 601 / DV, NTSC DV, Sequence, Render All  Continue reading →

Final Cut Pro 6 Video Tutorial – Editing Basics 07: Importing Video (4) – Photo JPEG with File Error

Over the next several days, we are going to release several or up to a dozen video tutorials for Apple’s Final Cut Pro 6. This series is intended for those who have just started using Final Cut Pro 6 without prior experience in digital video editing and need some guidance. We, MacHouse, edit more than 200 videos each year, using Apple Final Cut Pro. So we can help you.

This Final Cut Pro 6 video tutorial series is for offline editing. That is, we assume that all video clips are stored on a hard disk drive. So we don’t import videos from video cameras.

Reading a video clip with Final Cut Pro is never easy. For example, when you try to import a video clip to Final Cut Pro, you may occasionally get a warning sign that says ‘File Error: Unknown file.’ Okay… What does that mean? I can’t use this video clip with Final Cut Pro? If Final Cut Pro rejects it, then what can we do so that it will read it?

In the 7th tutorial of the Final Cut Pro 6 Editing Basics video tutorial series, we use a video clip whose video stream is compressed with Photo JPEG. The video clip comes from iStockPhoto.com.

Keywords: iStockPhoto.com, Photo JPEG, Key Frames, Sequence Settings, Aspect Ratio, Custom, Compressor  Continue reading →

Final Cut Pro 6 Video Tutorial – Editing Basics 06: Importing Video (3) – iShowU

Over the next several days, we are going to release several or up to a dozen video tutorials for Apple’s Final Cut Pro 6. This series is intended for those who have just started using Final Cut Pro 6 without prior experience in digital video editing and need some guidance. We, MacHouse, edit more than 200 videos each year, using Apple Final Cut Pro. So we can help you.

This Final Cut Pro 6 video tutorial series is for offline editing. That is, we assume that all video clips are stored on a hard disk drive. So we don’t import videos from video cameras.

Ambrosia’s Snapz Pro X isn’t necessarily the best screen-capture application for some people because of its frame rate problem. So what are other choices do Mac users have? One choice is shinywhitebox’s iShowU, which we reviewed several months ago. (Click here to read the review.)

In this video tutorial, we want to figure out what is the best way of using iShowU screen-capture videos with Final Cut Pro. So we first screen-capture desktop action with iShowU in real time. We then import this iShowU video to Final Cut Pro.

Keywords: Record system audio, Normal frame rate, Scale, Quality, Compression, Mouse recording, Mouse clicks, Capture size, Sequence, Render All  Continue reading →

Final Cut Pro 6 Video Tutorial – Editing Basics 05: Importing Video (2) – Snapz Pro X

Over the next several days, we are going to release several or up to a dozen video tutorials for Apple’s Final Cut Pro 6. This series is intended for those who have just started using Final Cut Pro 6 without prior experience in digital video editing and need some guidance. We, MacHouse, edit more than 200 videos each year, using Apple Final Cut Pro. So we can help you.

This Final Cut Pro 6 video tutorial series is for offline editing. That is, we assume that all video clips are stored on a hard disk drive. So we don’t import videos from video cameras.

One of the most popular screen-capture application for Mac is Ambrosia’s Snapz Pro X. So we want to use Snapz Pro X videos with Final Cut Pro. A question that you might ask is which video compressor is the best in making video tutorials. H.264 is a favorite compression choice for Mac users because QuickTime 7 supports it at default. So should we compress source videos with H.264? Wait… They say H.264 is a delivery codec. A delivery codec… What do they mean by that? Is H.264 really a delivery codec in the first place? Or if it is, should we use DV instead to compress source videos and edit them with Final Cut Pro?

In the 5th tutorial of the Final Cut Pro 6 video tutorial series, using Ambrosia’s Snapz Pro X, we first screen-capture desktop action for several seconds in real time. We then import this video clip to Final Cut Pro to figure out what is the best way of using Snapz Pro X video.

Keywords: Movie, Movie Settings, Fraterate, Compression Settings, DV, H.264 Delivery Codec, Key frame, Single-pass, Multi-pass, Sound Settings, Compressor, None, Sequence Settings, Field Dominance, Item Properties, Format, Export, Sequence, Render Selection, Render All  Continue reading →