Final Cut Pro: January 2009 Archives
There is an easy way to turn the visibility off on all but one track, or lock all tracks but one, or even isolate a single auto select. Any of these actions can be performed by holding down everyones favorite Final Cut Pro key, the option key. By option clicking on the track visibility control, FCP will turn off the visibility of all tracks but the one you selected. By option clicking on a track lock, FCP will lock all but the track you selected. By option clicking on an auto select control, FCP will turn off all but the track you selected.Â
This process can be reversed by option clicking on the same track again, or option clicking on any track twice. You can also switch to a different solo track by option clicking on a different track. This is a great tool when attempting to cut and paste to different tracks. It is also a great way to start when you need to select a number of tracks less than half of the total number of tracks. This function works separately in video and audio tracks.
The Track tool is a great way to select an entire track or tracks. There are 5 different combinations of the T key to activate the 5 different states of the Track selection tool. Hitting the T key once thru five times will toggle thru the five tools.
I tend to use the Select All Tracks Forward (pressing the T key four times) most often. Recently I discovered that by activating the Select Track Forward tool, and holding down the shift key, it will do the same thing. This works the same way with the Select Track Backward tool, and is a very useful modifier key to know.
In Final Cut -- in a lot of different video applications, for that matter -- you may have wondered about Import/Export functions based on XML. In fact, Apple made a big deal about Final Cut's XML Interchange Format when it first released, and for good reason.
As studios and production houses and newsrooms shift to a digital workflow, more and more pieces of the production process have to "talk about" the same footage. At one broadcast network where we recently conducted training, the entire workflow -- from ingest to scriptwriting, roughing, package editing, promos, and output -- relied on a central media repository.
Needless to say, that's a whole lot of pieces of software that need to talk to each other -- and making a separate copy of the source media for every step in the process is inefficient (imagine the extra disk space to hold 6 different copies of the same full HD footage for a 24/7 broadcast), not to mention confusing.
As studios and production houses and newsrooms shift to a digital workflow, more and more pieces of the production process have to "talk about" the same footage. At one broadcast network where we recently conducted training, the entire workflow -- from ingest to scriptwriting, roughing, package editing, promos, and output -- relied on a central media repository.
Needless to say, that's a whole lot of pieces of software that need to talk to each other -- and making a separate copy of the source media for every step in the process is inefficient (imagine the extra disk space to hold 6 different copies of the same full HD footage for a 24/7 broadcast), not to mention confusing.
Continue reading What is XML? And why is it in Final Cut Pro?.
Using a FTP site as your destination from Apple Compressor is very easy to do. This process can be a big help in terms of efficiency. The old adage killing two birds with one stone comes to mind. With the big difference being you don't have to wait an hour to throw a stone. This process will compress and upload to your FTP location in one move. We have all sat around waiting for an export, so we could upload the exported file. This Compresor function keeps us from having to do that anymore.
It is very similar to uploading to your iDisc. When are in Compressor and want to have the compression automatically upload to a FTP site. First you must choose to add a new destination, and choose remote. Once you choose to add a new remote destination, the inspector will open and you will be able to add your FTP information. This is where you could also choose to upload to an iDisc. Make sure the file path represents the folder you are loading to.
It is very similar to uploading to your iDisc. When are in Compressor and want to have the compression automatically upload to a FTP site. First you must choose to add a new destination, and choose remote. Once you choose to add a new remote destination, the inspector will open and you will be able to add your FTP information. This is where you could also choose to upload to an iDisc. Make sure the file path represents the folder you are loading to.
