Key Concents/ Video Parameters

. Codec- The languagein which the video datais written Example:H.264 AKA:, format, encoder

. File Type- The packagein which the video datais wrapped Example:.mo% .m4v,.avi, .mkv AI(A:Wrapper, file extension

. Dimensions- How manypixels comprise the width andheight of the imag, Examples:19 20x108 0, t280x720, 720x480 . AI(A: Resolution,size Relatedconcept Aspectratio (width:height usually15:9 or 4:3)

. FrameRate - How many still imagesper secondmakeup the video image Examples:15 fps, 29.97 fps, 3 Ofps, 60fps Relatedconcepts: Progressive vs. interlaced

. Bit Rate- How muchdata per secondis availablefor video information Examples:600kbs, 1500kbs, 10mbs, 200mbs

Differentparameters are bestfor differentscenarios. Optimum parameters for playback on a local device itiffer greatly from those for streaming playback ov the internets or for those for frame accurate video editing.

Common tools for video acquisition and transcoding

. Handbrake- http://handbrake.fil Use:Ripping DVDs, transcoding video files for streamingor local playback

. MPEGStreamclip - http://www.squared5.com/ Use:Video playback, video transcoding for streaming,local playbac or editing simpleedits and trims

. EasyYouTube Downloader and VideoDownload Helper - googlethem Firefoxextensions for downloadinginternet videos

. SnapzProX - http:/fwww.ambrosiasw,com Use:Screencapture for Macs

. VLCPlayer - http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ Use:Plays almost everything includingDVDs from all regions Institutefor MultimediaLiteracy Schoolof CinematicArts University of Soutlern Californa Final CutPro - The Basics

This documentwill help getyou up and running. Termsmarked with a * are defined anddiscussed in the'Notesand Explanations'section.

1) SETUP - Taking time for proper setup is crucial. Be deliberateand organized. 'Create . a folderwhere you'll store your PROfECTFILE* and all of your MEDIA* e OpenFinal CutPro (FCP) r Saveyour new,'untitled' projectin your folder with an appropriatename . SetSCRATCH DISKS* - Fromthe''menu, choose'system settings' then in the 'ScratchDisks' tab setyour scratchdisk to be the folder you just created.

2) WORKSPACE- Learningyourway around cdPn Fth Edr

Browser - Top left window. Whereyou accessand organizeyour media into BINS.Create and maintainSEQUENCES*. Access the EFFECTS*tab. Viewer - Top middlewindow. Whereyou previewyour clips and media, makechanges to them,and decidewhich parts you want to usein your sequence. Timeline* - Bottomwindow. Whereyou putyour movietogether, manipulatingthe audioand video in your sequence. Institutefor MultimediaLiteracy ffl"""lli,'iHffifi*trrorna

. Canvas- Whereyou seethe result of the work you're doing, If the viewer is for lookingat one pieceat a time,the canvasis where you seehow all the piecesare fitting together.

3) ASSETACQUISITION - Gettingyour stuff into FCP

. Importing - Fromthe'file'menu choose'import' and then'files'or'folder'.

Importingis usedwhen you want to work with files that you alreadyhave on your computer.You shouldput all the filesyou want to work with into your projectfolder beforeyou import them. Importing them will not changetheir actuallocation on your computeror their originalproperties. (*see notes on what kinds of files are compatiblewith FCP)

. Log and Capture I Logand Transfer - Both are found in the'file'menu.

Theseoptions are usedwhen you want to work with footagethat is still on your camera.Both optionsallowyou to pickwhatyou want to bt'ingin from your camera,and will put the moviefiles into your SCMTCHDISK and allow you to work with them in FCP.Use LOG AND CAPTUREwhen working with a TAPEcamera. Use Log and Transferwith DISKBASED cameras. NOTE that somedisk basedcameras require you to transferfootage from the camerato your computerusing a differentprocess and are NOTdirectly compatible with FCP.

4) EDITING- Chopit up, moveit around,fit it together. Smooth.

. Nameyour SEQUENCEin the BROWSER.Double click to openit in the TIMELINE. (Note,at this point you shoulddecide if you want to SETTHE SEQUENCE SETTINGSMANUALLY{'using a Preset, or, allow FCPto setyour SEQUENCESETTINGS automaticallythe first time you add a clip)

. SETIN ANDOUT POINTS IN THEVIEWER - Doubleclick on a clip in the BR0WSERto load it into the VIEWER.Preview your clip by playingforward and backward.Find the point where you want to start usingthe clip and set 'ln the Point'by pressing'l' on the keyboard. Find the point you want to stop Institute for Multimedia Literacy Schoolof CinematicArts University of SouthernCaliforna 'Out usingig andset the Point'by pressing'O'. Thenclick and hold on the videoin theviewer to thendrag it downand place it whereyou want in your sequence.You can use multiple pieces of theclip. *(Seemore notes on workingwith clipsin theVIEWER)

ADDAND ADIUST CLIPS IN THETIMELINE - Whenyou bring the selected partof yourclip down into your sequence in thetimeline window, you'll see thatit consistsof a videotrack and usually two audiotracks. Video tracks are on thetop, audio on the bottom.You then use the following tools to adjust your clipsand move them around

SelectionTool - moveclips around, drag out heador tail

Select Track Tool - Singlearrow forward or backward, multiple arrow forward or bachuard. Letsyou selectand moveeverything on one or all tracks.

Razor Blade Tool - to cut a clip up in the timeline.

Pen Tool - Letsyou mark points and then adjustOPACITY and AUDIOLEVELS when OVERLAYSare turned on.

3 Institutefor MultimediaLiteracy Schoolof CinematicArts Universityof SouthernCaliforna

OVERTAYS- By turning clip overlayson, you get a line on your audioand video clips in the timelinethat lets you adjusteither the audiolevels or the video clipsopacity using the pen tool. , 'drarn/ . Transitions - You can in simplefades by puttingyour clips onto differenttracks, overlapping thenr, and adjustingthe Ievelswith the pen tool.

ORwhen clips are on the SAMETMCK you cansimply place a transitionon 'transitions' the point where they meetby draggingit from the video or audio folder on the EFFECTSTAB in the browser.

Effects- You canadd all sortsof effectsto your clips. Theyare found in the 'videofilters'folder of the'effects'tab.Simply drag them onto the desired clipsin your timeline (or in the browserbefore you add them to the timeline),then doubleclick the clip to bring it into the viewer,and then adjustthe parametersof the effectin the'filters tab'. You candistort the image,change the ,and more. '' Motion - You cancreate motion effectsby adjustingvalues in the tab of a clip in the viewer. Changescale, rotation, perspective and position. Animatethem overtimeby addingKEY FMMES for eachparameter and givingit differentvalues at eachKEY FRAME. Institutefor MrrltimediaLiteracy Schoolof CinematicArts Universityof SouthernCaliforna

o Rendering - If you seea red line aboveyour tracksin the timeline,or do not seeplayback in the canvas,you mayneed to RENDERyoUTsequence. This couldbe becauseyou haveadded effects, or becauseyour clip hasdift settingsthan your sequence.Under'sequence' menu, chose'Render' ('All'or 'Selection')

5) Finishing - Makingyour movieinto a movieyou canshare.

Now that you haveall of your piecesput togethernice and smoothin your sequence, you haveto get them out into a unifiedformat so that you canshare them. You can "PRINTTO VIDEO" if you needto put record it directly onto a tape. Otherwise:

. EXPORTQUICKTIME MOVIE - In the'File'menu,under'export'. Use this when you want a self-containedQuickTime movie based on the settingsof your sequence.May producea very largefile, but will be at FULL RESOLUTIONas longas you choose'UseCurrent Settings'. Make sure to includeaudio and video, and to'Make Movie Self-Contained'.

Drq$. F

EXPORTUSING QUICKTIME CONVERSION - Also in the'file menu'.Use this if you want to makea smallerfile for useon computers,but still of high quality.You can upload this to YouTube.Under the'format'option chose 'iPhone'.

5 lnstitutefor MultimediaLiteracy Schoolof CinematicArts Universityof SouthernCaliforna

. EXPORTUSING COMPRESSOR - In the'filemenu'under'export'as well. COMPRESSORis a wholeother application that workswith FCP.Use it if you needto prepyour filesfor DVDor want to be ableto makemore detailedchoices about how you exportyourproject. It haslots of useful presets.

ManyDVD creation programs can use your QUICKTIMEMOVIE. NOTESAND EXPLANATIONS (in orderof appearancein handout)

. PROIECTFILE - YourFCP Project File is whereyou do all your work. Right. It is importantto understandthat it doesnot actuallyCONTAIN any of your mediaassets. It simplycreates references to all of the bits andpieces you areworking with, andhow you aremanipulating them to fit themall togetherinto a movie.Changes you makein the projectfile do not effectthe originalpieces themselves

. MEDIA- Refersto anyof the assetsor elementsyou work with in FCP. Videoclips, music files, sound effects, still images,animation files are all typesof media.

. SCMTCHDISKS - Asyou work in FCP,the programis creatinglots of informationabout what you're doing. Scratch disks are where it putsthat info. Whenyou RENDE&it createsrender files and puts them here. Most importantly,when you CAPTUREfootage, it will go to your scratchdisk.

. SEQUENCES- These are files within your projectfile whereyou do mostof your actualediting work. Youview themand work with themin the TIMELINEWINDOW. You can have as many sequences as you want within a singleproject. You might create different sequences for differentparts of your movie,then create a new sequencewhere you combineall the parts from the othersequences. It canalso be helpfulto duplicatesequences at Institutefor MultimediaLiteracy Schoolof CinematicArts Universityof SouthernCaliforna

variousstages ofyour projectso that you cankeep older versions ofyour work in caseyou want to go backto somethingthe way it was before makinglots of complexchanges.

EFFECTS- Video and Audio filters canadd a lot of differenteffects to your work. Mosteffects have unique controls and canbe changedover time usingkey frames.The 3 Way ColorCorrector is very usefulfor adjustingthe color and brightnessof an image.The Low ShelfAudio Filter is usefulfor removingbad wind noisefrom sound,or rumblingtruck motorsand sounds in the low registers.Play around with the differenteffects to seewhat they do.

TIMELINEWINDOW - Youhave multiple video tracks on the top,and audio trackson the bottom. You canhave many tracks of both varieties.You can stackclips on top of eachother. For video,whichever one is on top will be visible.If you cropthe top clip fin motionsettings) or reduceit's opacity, you will seeboth clips.The numbers across the top of the timelinewindow indicatethe time. Theyellow trianglewith the line droppingdown from it is the PLAYHEAD,and shows you whereyou areworking in the sequence.You canZOOM IN to the timelineall the way down to the levelof a singleframe to makerefined adjustments, or ZOOMOUT to geta biggerlook at your project andto movelarge chunks around. You can ZOOM using the magniffingglass tool, or the slider nearthe bottom left of the timeline.

COMPATIBLEFILE TYPES - You canuse many different types of files in FCP. Mostcommon still imagetypes such as GIF and JPEG are fine. If you usea Photoshopfile, you caneven maintain independent layers.

Forvideo,.Mov QuickTime files are preferred. If you areworking with .MPEG,.FLV, .AVI, .WMV or other file types,it is recommendedthat you convertall of theminto QuickTimeusing Compressor or QuickTimePro beforeyou try to edit with them.

SEQUENCESETTINGS - Your sequence settings should match the settingsof the video clipsyou will be usingthe most for your project. For example,if you shootusing a standardMiniDV camera, you're settings should be DV/NTSCbecause that is what your camerauses to record.But thereare LOTSof other important settings,and lost of differenceseven within MiniDV cameras.If you know what your settingsare, or what you want them to be, you caneasily set the sequencesettings BEFORE YOU START ADDING CLIPS by'right clicking'(or'control'clicking) on your sequencein the browserand Institutefor MultimediaLiteracy ffli"."l$'iffi il1i:flt"rirorna 'load choosing'settings'thenpressing the sequencepreset'button in the bottomleft cornerof the window andchoosing the appropriatepreset OR If you're not sure,when you addyour first clip to the sequence,FCP will offer to setthe sequencesettings to matchthe settingsof this first clip you are introducing.This is a greatway to go,as Iongas you makesure to start with a clip that hasthe settingsyou want to use.

. WORKINGWITH CLIPS IN THEVIEWER - Thereare some conceptual points which areimportant to understandin termsof workingwith clipsin the viewer,how the changesyou makethere effectthe clip and all of its instances in your project.Setting in andout pointsdoesn't do anythingto the original clip itself. After you dragyour selectioninto the sequence,you couldgo back to the clip in the viewer and set more in and out pointsto drag differentparts of the clip into your sequence. Note,that if you doubleclick on a clip in the timeline window, when lou seeit in the viewer,changes you makethere will applyto the specific pieceof it you havein your sequence,INCLUDING the in and out points.If you click on the original source of that pieceback in the browser, then you won't changethe pieceyou've already put in your sequence. Besidesusing the viewerto setin andout points,you canalso make 'motion' changesin the tab of theviewer that applyto the scale,position, and movementof the clip. Again,clicking on the clipin your timelinewill make changesto just that occurrenceof it whereasclicking on a clip in the browser and makingchanges will then applythose changes whenever you subsequentlybring piecesof that clip downinto the timeline.It will not effectpieces of that clip which are alreadyin your sequencebefore the changeis made.Got it?

OtherResources

http://xwiki.usc.edu/groups/instructionalmaterialsl Youcan find this handoutand other instructional documents here on the IML Wiki. We are in the processof creatinga video tutorial of this handout,and otheraspects of FCP,including more help with COMPRESSOR.

http ://www.apple,com/support/final cutpro/ Apple'sSupport page. You'can download their FCPManual, chocked full of information.It's 2033pages! But it's searchable.They also have great FORUMSfor questions.Also searchable.

Final Cut Pro ltself - Theprogram has built in accessto its manual. Everythingyou needis in there.

B Compressor

Compressorconverts video. Use it to convertvideos you wantto bringINTO FinalCut Pro,and also use it to convertvideo coming OUT of FinalCut Pro.

GETTINGVIDEO INTO FINAL CUT

1. Dragyour clip ontothe Compressor Icon (or right click -> openwith -> 'compressor')

2. Compressorwill launch,loadingyour clip into a new'batch'in the top left windowof theprogram,

3. Now you needto tell it whichsettings to useto reformatyour clip. For editing,the mostcommon format will be DV NTSC 48ktrzAnamorphic (for standard definition) or DVCPROHD 1080i60with 48khzStereo Audio (for highdefinition) or If you areNOT planningto editwith yourconverted clip andjust wantit in a newformat, compressorhas lots of presetsfor makingQuick Time moviesthat will play on certain devicesor in certainsituations, such as 'iPhone' 'Apple TV'etc.

4. Apply settings,Right click on yourCLIP in thebatch window choose -> newtarget with setting-> apple-> otherworkflows -> advancedformat conversion-> standarddef - > DV NTSC 48KhzAnamorphic

OR

Usethe SEARCH BOX on the settingswindow by typingin someletters for the setting you wantto find, find it, thendrag it ontoyour clips in the batchwindow. 5. SetDestination. The defaultdestination is'source'meaning that the new clip will be createdin the sameplace as the old clip.To changethe destination, right click on your CLIP in thebatch window choose -> destination-> other.Then choose where you want to saveyour new file.

6. Onceyour settingsand destination are set, click'Submit'and then 'Submit'again to startprocessing. You cancheck your progress by openingthe'Batch Monitor'and clickingon This Computer'tosee your batchprogress.

GETTINGVIDEO OUT OF FINAL CUT PRO

Onceyou aredone editing in Final Cut Pro,you may want to usecompressor to convert - your work into differentformats for differentuses.

Justmake sure you havethe proper sequence selected, and choose File > SendTo > Compressor

This will createa new batchin Compressorfrom your Final Cut Pro sequence.You can thenadd any presets you like. TheDVD settingsare the most common. You canalso use presetsfor iPhone,AppleTV etc. Institutefor MultimediaLiteracy Schoolof CinematicArts Universityof SouthernCalifornia

Quick Guide to Ripping DVDs with HandBrake for Teachinglvith Digital Media Spring 201I

Overview HandBrakeis a freeprogram that helpsyou getvideo offof a DVD and onto your computer.The basic steps areto l) Downloadand install HandBrake 2) Useit to rip your DVD 3) If you want to edit the rippedfootage, convertit to an edit-friendlyformat usingMPEG Streamclip.

Steps l. Downloadand install HandBrake(and maybe VLC Playerand MPEG Streamclip).

HandBrakeis availablefor PC andMac, for free,at http://handbrake.fr wFind the latestversion for your platform,download and install it. HandBrakealso requires that you downloadand install anotherfree application called VLC & Playerwhichyou canfind at www.videolan.orglvlc If you plan to convertyour rippedvideo into an edit-friendlyformat, you shouldalso download ilffi and installM PEGStreamclip from http://www.squiued5.com/ 2. Rip DVD in HandBrake

Insertyour DVD into your computer.If your computerautomatically launches a DVD Playing application,wait for it to load,and then quit this defaultapplication, being sure NOT to eject the DVD.

Openthe HandBrakeapplication and choosethe DVD you just insertedas the 'sourcd NOTE When HandBrakelaunches, it promptsyou to choosea'source', if HandBrakeis already openand you areswitching Sources, just choose'OpenSource'from the Filemenu to openthe Source

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'Title' A) SOURCE Choose the title you want to rip and the chapter ranges. just refers to the fact that there maybe multiple videos on a DVD (main feature,previews, special features,etc.). By default, HandBrake will choosethe longest title on the Disc, assumingthat you want to rip the Main Feature. By default, HandBrake choosesall the chaptersof a title, but you can selecta range by setting a start and end chapter to rip.

B) DESTINATION rni, iswhere you set the destination for yournewly created file, and the nameyou want it to have.You can choose any name, but be surenot to alterthe file extension(any- thing afterthe period (.m4u for example).

C) PRESET Thepreset drawer contains many helpful presets. If you do not seethe preset drawer,choose to displayit from the'Window'menu.We recommend using the'Normal'preset un- der'Regular'

D) OUTPUT SETTINGS on.. you'veselected a preset,be sureto leavemost output set- tings asthey are. Oneplace you maymake changes is in the'Subtitles'windowwhere you canchoose 'burned a'subtitletrack' to includein your video. Note that the subtitletrack will be in',meaning you wont be ableto turn it on and offin your final video.

E) PRESS'START'to beginyour rip.

2 of 3 Continued 3.Convertto Edit-FriendlyFormat with MPEGStreamclip

Thisstep is only necessaryif you plan to edit (or remix) your clip.

Openyour clip in MPEGStreamclip.

Choose'File'-> Exportto Quicktime.

Setthe'Compression to AppleDV/DVCPRO NTSC'to work in standarddefinition OR setthe compressionto Apple DVCPROHD 1080i60'ifyou plan to mix this clip with High Defini- tion footage.NOTE if you alreadyknow the compressionsettings, dimensions and framerateof an existingediting or remix projectthat you aretrying to match,you canchoose those settings here in MPEGStreamclip. However, the optionsdescribed above should work for most situations.

We recommendleaving all other settingsas they are,and clicking'MakeMovid whenyou areready.

Choosea nameand location for vour convertedfile andclick'Save'.

That'sit!

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