From PiTiViWiKi

These are some of the notes I made while reading tutorials for Final Cut Pro, version 6. I have only done some minor editing, and they appear in nearly their original form. These are just my observations from viewing screenshots: It is very possible that I have mis-interpreted or missed some important details altogether.

-Brandon

The Notes

there are three kinds of tasks

• acquisition
• editing
• mastering/output

timeline clips only have name and single thumbnail. single playback head decends from timeline ruler across entire timeline video and audio tracks are separated from each other in separate panes.

each track (audio/video) conatins: enable/disable button, label, lock, two other unidentified markings. tracks appear slightly translucent, with 3d beveled edges.

zoom control appears to be logarithmic scale, and is a horizontal slider. rather unsightly mix of aqua, carbon, and custom widgets.

when you import the first clip, final cut asks you if you want to conform the project/sequence settings to the clip.

smoothcam filter (wow)

filters can be applied to clips in the browser or in the timeline

some filters need to "analyze" the clip before being used. this data is saved separately from the clip.

you can normalize audio clips to a peak decibel

you can make realtime adjustments to filters applied to a clip, but there is also a keyframe editor.

audio volume is adjustable by manipulating keyframes overlayed on top of the waveform (rendered into the audio clip)

portions of the timeline can be sent to other studio applications. when you save the project in another studio application, the relevant portion of the final cut timeline is updated in place.

in general apple seems to have broken off pieces of the post production workflow into separate applications that all understand finalcut's file format (and possibly use other mechanisms to communicate)...this might be a UI design choice -- to emphasize the application scope, or it might simply be to help maximize revenues.

do we have a codec alternative for ProRes 422?

effects are edited with the "canvas" window, which presents a clip viewer on top, and an editing timeline on the bottom for setting keyframes.

FCP has stock objects, like colour mattes which can help create title keys, frames, and backdrops.

FCP allows the use of external title applications

transitions seem to come before the clips they modify, in line with them on the same track. not yet clear to me whether the visual size of the transition has anything to do with its duration, or whether the visual width of the modified clip changes (shrinks) in response to the transition's presence.