Get Started Using Final Cut Pro
This handout will walk you through the process of how to set up a project in Final Cut Pro and how to capture footage from a Mini-DV tape as well as other kinds of media.
Note: Before launching ‘Final Cut Pro,’ always make sure the Sony DV Deck connected to your computer is turned on. (Green Light)
1) In the ‘Applications’ folder, open ‘Final Cut Pro.’
2) Setting your ‘Scratch Disks’. Once ‘Final Cut Pro’ opens, there are several steps you have to take before you can capture media or start editing.
Open Final Cut ‘System Settings’ by clicking on the ‘Final Cut Pro’ menu in the upper left corner and selecting ‘System Settings’.
Under the ‘Scratch Disks’ tab, you need to click on each of the four ‘Set’ buttons.
When you click on the ‘Set’ buttons, you will be prompted to select a location on the computer to save all of the files that Final Cut Pro writes to the computer.
You always want to set all of the ‘Scratch Disks’ to ‘Tempstorage’ or on your Hard Drive while you are working on a computer in the DML. NEVER work directly from ‘Classes’ or ‘Transfer’ drives.
To help you keep your media organized, you should crate a new folder on ‘Tempstorage’ with an original name. This can either be your name or the name of your project. This will be the folder you will need to backup when you are done working on your project. Inside this new folder you just created, you should create a subfolder titled ‘Media.’ This will be where you will target all four of the ‘Set’ buttons. Once this is done, click ok.
3) Saving your project. Now is a good time to save your project.
To save your project, Open Final Cut ‘Save project as’ by clicking on the ‘Final Cut Pro’ menu in the upper left corner and selecting ‘Save project as’.
You will be prompted to select where you want to save your project.
You should save your project in the folder you created. Below is an example of how the folder you created should look.
Make sure to give your project a name.
Note: Forgetting to save your project now will mean that any file created will be placed in a folder named ‘Untitled Project 1’.
4) The Browser Window. This is the window where you can organize all of the media you want to use in your project. You can ‘drop’ and compatible media directly into this window from the ‘finder’ or you can use the ‘import’ command in the ‘File’ menu.
Note: ‘Final Cut Pro’ is a non-destructive program. This means is that even if you import a file into the browser window, it does not copy it into your project. It is important to keep all of your media in one place. Always make sure to copy any media into your folder BEFORE importing it into ‘Final Cut Pro’.
5) Capturing footage from a tape. ‘Capturing’ is the process used in ‘Final Cut Pro’ to import footage from a Mini-DV tape.
Click on the ‘File’ menu in the upper left corner and select ‘Log and Capture’.
This will open the ‘Log and Capture’ window.
This is the ‘Logging’ tab. ‘Logging’ is the way that you tell ‘Final Cut Pro’ the name of the tape and the portion of tape you are capturing: the ‘clip.’
‘Reel’ is the name of your tape and ‘Description’ is the name you want to call a clip.
‘Final Cut Pro allows you to control the DV Deck from within the ‘Log and Capture’ window via the ‘Transport’ controls. You can use these controls to find the portion of your tape you wish to capture.
Once you have your tape at the beginning of where you want to start capturing, all you need to do is push ‘Play’ immediately followed by the ‘Capture Now’ button located in the lower right hand corner of the ‘Log and Capture’ window. Give it 5 seconds of lead space for safety.
As soon as you do this, the ‘Capture’ window should pop up that looks like the one to the left. You should see the video you are capturing in this window. Once you reach the end of the portion on the tape you wish to capture, press the ‘esc’ key to exit the ‘Capture’ window.
Repeat the same process until you have captured all of your media.
You can now close the ‘Log and Capture’ window. The clips you captured will now appear in the ‘Browser’ window.
Save your project.
You are now ready to start editing!
