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From documentaries to wedding videos, as an editor, you can just about count on having to incorporate still images into your Final Cut Pro project at one time or another.  But the default duration when importing a still image is 10 seconds, and you may want the image to play for a longer or shorter duration.  There are several ways to manipulate the length of a still image:
  • To change the default duration, go to the Final Cut Pro menu > User Preferences and click the Editing Tab
  • Type in a new value in the Still/Freeze Duration field
editing_preferences.pngRemember, that changing the default duration will only affect images you import after you've changed the setting; not images you've imported before you made the change.

Continue reading for more ways to change the duration of your still images...


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After Effects CS5 can read and write native MXF and OMF video media essence, as used in Avid MXF and OMF essence files. You can import MXF and OMF files as you would other footage types. When you import an AAF file that references an OMF file, the OMF footage also imports. The audio files are not imported at the same time. You can import them later to sync up with your OMF file but if you are going to export the file back into Avid Media Composer this is not necessary. The great feature that I use everyday is the export to MXF or OMF. This not only saves space on your hard-drive but it also helps to preserve quality. Just remember the audio that is associated with the MXF and OMF will not export. This is a great new feature of After Effects for Avid Media Composer users! One of the many things you will learn in our up and coming After Effects Classes! 
If you have a particular frame or image in your Final Cut Pro video that you'd like to make into a still image or jpeg, it's a relatively simple process.  Maybe you want to use the still image as a promotional item, or as a background picture for your DVD menu, or maybe you need to email it to someone for approval, or use on a website, or you just really like the picture to put into a frame; whatever the use you have for it, it's super easy to do.

  • In the Timeline, park your playhead over the frame where you want to make a still image from.
  • Go to the File Menu and choose Export > Using QuickTime Conversion
export_quicktime_conversion.png


Poster frames in Final Cut Pro are basically the pictures that represent a clip in icon view in the Browser.  When you look at clips in the Browser in Large Icon View or when you show the Thumbnail Column in List View, the icon or thumbnail picture you see reflects the first frame of the clip in the Browser, or the In Point for that clip.  I find using Poster Frames advantageous when I want to identify a clip visually in the Browser by using a specific image.  Sometimes the Poster Frame of the clips are not accurate depictions of the action that occurs within the clip.  Any frame of a clip can be used as it's Poster Frame, and you can set or change those Poster Frames in the Browser or in the Viewer.

To set the Poster Frame of a clip in the Viewer:
  • Double-click on a clip in the Browser in order to open it up in the Viewer
  • In the Viewer, navigate to the frame you want to use as the Poster Frame for that clip
  • Go to Mark > Set Poster Frame, or you can use the keyboard shortcut CTRL+P
mark_set_posterframe.pngTo set the Poster Frame in the Browser in Large Icon View:
  • Scrub through a clip until you get to the frame you want, press and hold down the CTRL key, then release the mouse button
set_poster_frames_browser.pngNow your Poster Frames are set, and you have a much easier time defining what is in each of your clips!

Check out our upcoming class schedule for Final Cut Pro, and learn how to be a more efficient editor!



With the recent addition of Media Composer 5.0, I've realized there have been some nice shortcuts implemented into the Avid software.

As a user of Media Composer software for almost 20 years, I've grown accustomed to the standard Media Composer shortcuts.  Keep in mind, most of my editing experience comes from editing on a Macintosh.

Previous versions of Media Composer had limited right click functionality on a MAC.  This is because the older Macintosh systems only had a one button mouse.  After right click functionality was introduced into the Media Composer software, it required a strange keyboard combination or (CTRL + SHIFT + mouse click)  to bring forward the shortcut menu.

New to me, are the (right click) shortcuts for individual tracks within Avid Media Composer.  In particular, the ability to perform a 'match frame edit' from a specific track.

sequence_track_shorcuts.png

In the past, you had to de-select all the tracks, then turn on a single track in order to perform a match frame edit.  Now, you can right click on a specific track.  Other 'right click' functions include 'Locking / Unlocking' a track.  Also, the ability to delete a specific track without having to 'de-select all the other tracks'.

Continue reading.....

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