Frequently Asked Questions About Final Cut Express HD

Why isn’t my serial number accepted by the program? Make sure you are reading from the original serial number label that came with the product. Be sure to enter your first and last name, and verify there are no mistakes in the serial number field. Also, make sure you enter a zero and not an O, a 1 and not a lowercase L, where appropriate. It is necessary to enter the dashes in the serial number. Make sure there are no spaces before or after the serial number.

Why can’t I hear audio while capturing? To hear audio during the capture process, connect headphones or speakers to your camcorder or deck.

Why can’t I hear audio during playback from the Timeline? If you’re viewing the video on an external camcorder or deck, connect headphones or speakers to that device. If you’re viewing the video on the monitor connected to your computer, choose View > Video Out > Canvas Playback.

Final Cut Express HD doesn’t recognize my camcorder. What’s wrong? Â Verify that the camcorder is on, connected to the computer, and in VTR mode. Â Make sure your camcorder is on the Final Cut Express HD qualified device list at http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/qualification.html. Â Use the appropriate Easy Setup for your camcorder. Some camcorders require FireWire Basic protocol. Â If you are using the Capture Now button to capture, make sure you press Play on the camcorder.

How do I transfer my project to iDVD? Select the icon for your finished sequence in the Browser. Then choose File > Export > QuickTime Movie. This saves a file which can be dragged into an iDVD project window.

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I hear beeping when I play audio. Why is that? The beeping indicates that one or more audio tracks are encoded in an incompatible format. MP3 files need to be converted to AIFF using a program such as iTunes or QuickTime Pro Player and reimported into Final Cut Express HD. Audio imported from iMovie projects can be rendered within Final Cut Express HD to resolve the issue.

How do I set keyframes? 1 Set the Canvas to Image + Wireframe. 2 Manipulate the position, rotation, and scale of the clip using the wireframe. 3 Click the keyframe button or press Control-K.

For more information, see Final Cut Express HD Help.

Why don’t I see real-time effects and transitions? Make sure you choose View > Video Out > Canvas Playback. Available real-time effects appear in bold type in the Effects menu and the Effects tab in the Browser and will vary based on the performance of your computer (a PowerPC G4 processor is required). Multiple video layers can also prevent real-time previews from appearing.

Can I save Final Cut Express HD project files to a DOS-formatted drive? Some hard drives are preformatted as DOS. If you try to save a Final Cut Express HD project file to a DOS-formatted drive, the operation may appear to be successful, but the project file will be empty. For this reason, you should reformat these drives as Mac OS Extended format using Disk Utility, which is available in Applications/Utilities.

Warning: Reformatting or reinitializing your hard drive erases all information on your disk. Make sure you have a backup copy of all files you may have created and any preinstalled software that came with your drive.

© 2005 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Final Cut, FireWire, iDVD, iMovie, iTunes, Mac OS, and QuickTime are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. PowerPC and PowerPC logo are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation, used under license therefrom.