Ingesting & Importing A Screen Recording .mov into Final Cut Pro

As if we didn't have reason enough to hate QuickTime X here's another:

You can't just ingest a Screen Recording you make into FCP. Nope. You have to convert it first to something else.

I suspect it's because of the odd frame rates that screen recordings are in. Take a look at this example:

8.23 FPS.

If you try and ingest it into FCP you'll see this:

What's going on? How can  you load a QuickTime movie (a format by Apple) made by Quicktime X (software from Apple) into Final Cut Pro (Video editing software made by Apple)?

Insane, right?

I think it has something to do with the frame rate. Although I can't fathom why, FCP seems to want some "normal" frame rates in this case.

Test #1 - Export using QuickTime 7 to H.264 @ 29.97 FPS

Result: FCP will accept.

Test #2 - Export using QuickTime 7 to H.264 @ "current" FPS (8.23)

Result: FCP will NOT accept.

Test #3 - Export using QuickTime 7 to ProRes (non HQ) @ "current" FPS (8.23)

Result: FCP will NOT accept.

Test #4 - Export using QuickTime 7 to ProRes (non HQ) @ 29.97 FPS

Result: FCP will accept.

Bonus Test #1 - Export using QuickTime 7 to ProRes (non HQ) @ 8 FPS

Result: FCP will accept.

Bonus Test #2 - Export using QuickTime 7 to H.264 @ 8 FPS

Result: FCP will accept.

I have no idea why QuickTime X records Screen Recordings at a frame rate that FCP doesn't like. Likewise, I have no idea while FCP won't accept certain frame rates, but at least there's a work-around.

Btw, this is FCP 6.0.6. I haven't tested it under FCP 7.x yet.

I'd recommend transcoding your Screen Recordings into ProRes at 8 FPS which will make them a bit smaller compared to 29.97 (obviously) and less CPU intensive.

2011 MacBook Pro's Are Locking Up Under Load

I had a few calls about laptops locking up while on location while editing, running prompter software, audio recording etc... and it turns out it's a Thing™. You can read the pretty long (30 pages so far) post about it here.

My guess is it's too much thermal paste like in the past but thats an off-the-top-of-my-head guess.

Quickly Editing Scratch Track Voice Overs

Sometimes you don't have the professional VO talent yet so you lay down a scratch track VO to rough the edit to. When doing long projects like this I've gotten into the habit of listening to the scratch track VO at 2x speed (Tap the L key twice) so running through them and cutting out the mistakes takes a lot less time.

And since it's a scratch track it's not terribly important or worth taking too much time on. For me (and likely for you) the scratch track is just a reference VO to get shots in order and very roughly timed in.

FCP has some pretty decent scrubbing abilities (Unlike Audacity…still) so use them to shorten some of the time spent with stuff like this.

Keep the script in front of you and follow along and you shouldn't have too much trouble keeping up at 2x speed; just remember to listen for long pauses (which will be shortened relatively), mistakes and all that fun stuff…like sneezes.

Super Quick Generic Backgrounds for Green Screen

You have footage from a client that's green screen and need something…anything for the background right now!

Try this:

1. Find a still image, really just about anything and bring it into FCP.
2. Drop it in under the green screen person that you've already keyed.
3. Add Gaussian Blur - try 20 or so.
4. Add "Stripes" which is here: Video Filters > Distort > Stripes
5. Monkey with the Offset.

Try various levels of blur and different still images or frame grabs from the same project (just don't let the client see you do this :) (It's Shift + N, btw)

You can use video clips as well but they may take a little bit to render. Try slowing them down and/or key-framing the Offset parameter.

Using A Zoom H4n To Record Directly Into Final Cut Pro

You probably already have or at least know about Zoom's H4n. It shows up on lots of indie films and industrials now days. I have one I love and use pretty often for VOs.

A friend was surprised when I showed them how you can use the H4n to record directly into Final Cut Pro using the (Option + 0) -that's a zero- Voice Over tool.

1. Set up Final Cut so you're ready to record the VO.
2. Plug in the H4n using a USB cable.
3. THEN turn it on. (you can plug in the USB cable and select it after, but it's likely your H4n is off to begin with)

Note: the H4n may turn on automatically when you plug in the USB cable. There's an issue here that you may run into and should be aware of: if you hear a whine noise or some how unclean audio try plugging the H4n into it's AC power THEN turn it on, THEN plug in the USB cable and then go to Menu > Audio I/F > Connect. Don't forget to select your Frequency if you need to.

4. Select "Audio I/F"
4. Choose your kHz.
5. Select "Connect".
6. In FCP hit Option + 0 to open the VO Tool window.
7. Under "Source" select "H4".
8. In your TimeLine set an In and Out point for the VO

(NO you don't need to lay video slugs down to record VO…although that works as well, my friend's method, btw)

9. Hit record in the VO Tool window.

BONUS TIP:

If you want to use your H4n to record directly into Audacity, say on a laptop that can't run FCP or something, you need to first go to Audacity's preferences and go to Devices > Recording > Device then select "H4" there then hit Ok.

You can also select the H4n as a playback device if needed, routing audio from the Mac to the H4n.

Why are my photos so dark in Final Cut Pro? or CMYK vs RGB

Be cautious of still images some clients provide to you; they may be the ones they use for printing so use CMYK rather than RGB which is what FCP likes.

If the colors are WAY off or the image is just dark and no matter of color correction, brightness or contrast monkeying will bring it up to a useable level, check the color space of the image.

FCP won't tell you.

You can quickly find out two ways:

1. Get Info on the image in the Finder. Look for "Color Space".
2. Open the image in Preview and hit Command + I for the Inspector. The first tab will show the image's "Color Model".

To fix Save As… and RGB image in your favorite image processor.

Btw, a fast way to fix a whole mess of images (other than a batch process in Photoshop) is to use ColorSync Utility. What? (yes, I know it's from 2009…)

1. In the Finder hit Shift + Command + U to open your Utilities folder
2. Hit the C key to highlight ColorSync Utility
3. Drag your image onto it's icon to open it in ColorSync Utility (or right-click on it and use Open With…)
4. At the bottom of the window you'll see a pull-down, set it to "Apply Profile"
5. Then to the right of that in the middle pull-down select "Display" > "Adobe RGB (1998)" (or whatever you need)
6. Hit "Apply"
7. Save or Save As…

You can also make an Automator script/application.

1. Launch Automator which is in your Applications folder.
2. Click on "Photos" under the Library
3. Drag "Apply ColorSync Profile to Images" to the workflow window on the right.
4. Automator will ask you if you want to make copies of images you alter in case it screws up the originals. I choose yes, but that's me.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT CHECK "Preserve original color space" (that defeats the whole purpose of this Automator App you're making)

5. Save As… an Application. Name it.
6. You'll have your very own (super simple) RGB converter application on your desktop. Drag images onto it to convert them to RGB.

As it, it'll copy images to your desktop and that can get mess if you have a lot of images. Where you see "Desktop" in the top action you can select it to any folder you want to to keep things tidy.

What I do is to make a folder called something like "Converted to RGB", then tell the App to use that folder for the converted copies of the images, then place the App itself inside this folder. Then all I have to do is drag a pile of CMYK images to the app in this folder and watch it populate with converted still images. It keeps things neat and organized.

A way to be further organized -if you need to convert images often- is to place the "Converted to RGB" folder in your Documents folder and then drag it into the Finder's window sidebar. Then, drag the app you've made into the top of a Finder window for easy access. That's just one idea, there are myriad ways to organize this.

Another option is to make it a Folder Action or a Service rather than an Application, but I'll leave that for you to explore :)

Renders need Re-rendering

Do your renders in FCP's Timeline suddenly seem to un-render themselves? A friend called me a few moments ago in a panic saying that FCP was freaking out and un-rendering, seeming at random.

To make a long story short: he didn't realize that a previous project's test Render Files folder was still being used by FCP...while it was in the Trash.

Solution: Drag it out of the Trash or tell FCP to use another folder (stay organized, though).

Shooting and Editing on an iPad without using iTunes

An interesting question was posted the other day on this post.

Basically, the question is if there is a way to shoot footage and edit it on an iPad without having to use iTunes to sync or in fact, any computer at all: just cameras and an iPad with iMovie.

Now, I don't have all the stuff on-hand to test this but this is what I would try first:

1. Set up your iPad with iMovie.
2. Buy the Camera Connection Kit from Apple.

"The iPad Camera Connection Kit gives you two ways to import photos and videos from a digital camera: using your camera’s USB cable or directly from an SD card. iPad and the Camera Connection Kit support standard photo formats, including JPEG and RAW, along with SD and HD video formats, including H.264 and MPEG-4."

3. Buy or find a camera that shoots H.264 or MPEG-4 to SD cards. Something like the Kodak Zi8 perhaps (just guessing here)?

4. Shoot, then pop the SD card out of the camera and into the Camera Connection Kit that's plugged into your iPad.

I don't know for sure but you may have to reduce the quality (bit rate) or size of the video you shoot so the iPad can handle it. Again, I can't test this at the moment.

5. Ingest with iMovie? (I don't have the stuff here to test this, just thinking aloud)
6. Edit in iMovie

As for output I just don't know if the Camera Connection Kit is something iMovie can export to. The new iPad2 can easily plug into a TV, monitors and projectors via an HDMI cable apparently so there is a way to show videos to groups.

And there are some App Store apps that let you monkey around with video, meaning copy it to SD cards and the like but I've never tried them.

Another option would be to use AirPlay but I that requires an AppleTV or display that supports AirPlay.

Or you could use DropBox, perhaps, to upload your videos to where ever you need them. DropBox needs to be installed on the iPad at least.

Apple has a Knowledge Base article on iPad file sharing here.

And some clever people have noticed that the new version of iMovie can run on the iPad1.

Unfortunately I don't have the hardware here to test this out. Let me know how far off I am :)

UPDATE:

Apparently file names need to be formatted in a certain way (to import images and video clips into iMovie in some cases) and in a certain folder in most cases. More info is here.

Changing the Capture Scratch Folder's Name in FCP After Ingesting

When you're in a hurry and are loading in footage into FCP you may have forgotten to save the project before ingesting footage.

If you do, the folder in your Capture Scratch Folder will be called something like "Untitled Project" and if you keep loading in footage like this -saving after the fact- you'll end up with a pile of folders called "Untitled Project 1", "Untitled Project 2", etc…

The key is to remember to name and save your project BEFORE you ingest footage.

But what can you do if you've ingested footage, then saved the project but haven't quit Final Cut Pro yet?

You can -while at this point- go into the Finder and drill down to your Capture Scratch Folder and rename the folder containing the project's footage without the problem of FCP making you reconnect footage later on when you reopen the project, nor will it suddenly loose all connections to the footage.

Final Cut seems to get confused sometimes though; sometimes if you change the name of the footage's folder after quitting and reopening the project it'll find the footage, but sometimes it won't.

What I've noticed is that if you have saved the project after you ingested footage, but haven't quit Final Cut yet, it generally won't "loose" the footage when you return to it from the Finder.

Re-save the project and you should be go to go.

Uploading to Vimeo

I use Vimeo a lot for client previews since videos can be password protected.

The problem is knowing how to export your video so it displays properly on Vimeo. Files like native 1280x720 DVCPRO HD won't always work. I was having trouble with one particular which kept (after uploading and encoding at Vimeo) was VERY choppy and squeezed.

The most reliable way I've found to upload something to Vimeo is to convert it to H.264 first. Specifically I'll either use Export Using Quicktime Conversion… right in FCP or just Export as Quicktime Movie from FCP and then encode that to H.264 using QuickTime (since Compressor is kinda slow).

If you need to do this a lot, go ahead and make a droplet for H.264 conversion via Compressor.

Vimeo really seems to like H.264 as it's upload format. Make sure the aspect ratio is correct and you should be okay. If I get a chance I'll post some more detailed instructions when I (finally) get back home.

Unfortunately you may notice a Gamma Shift with your uploaded videos. That's mostly like caused by the compression tool you used. You'll never get it exactly right but you can get closer using something like x264Encoder from here. Test test and test again, that's becoming my motto it seems.

QuickTime has (and has had) an Gamma Issue for years now. It will force a Gamma of 1.8 on videos and fixing it is a mess and probably good fodder for another long post.

Bottom line for Vimeo, if you have an issue with your uploaded file, try H.264 and re-upload. Keep in mind that if it's not in HD when you upload it, it won't be in HD (or have the toggle option) when you play it on Vimeo.