Video Editing Tutorials

Creating your new video project

1. To begin your new video project, you first need to be sure the computer and digital video (DV) tape deck have been powered on, and that your external hard drive has its firewire and power cables attached.

All video capture is now done from digital video (DV) tapes. If you have other video mediums such as Hi8 or VHS, the Media Services office in Quad 443 can transfer them to DV or provide suitable playback equipment.

2. Once the computer has finished loading, click the black and white Final Cut Pro icon located in the dock at the bottom of the screen. This will open Final Cut Pro.

Final Cut Pro HD is the primary video editing software now used in the editing suites. Less experienced users also have the option of using iMovie, a rudimentary video editing program from Apple 

3. When Final Cut Pro is loading, you may receive one of these common error messages:

a. A message stating that the computer is unable to locate "Apple FireWire NTSC (720 x 480)." If this occurs, it most likely means that the DV tape deck needs to be powered on. Be sure the deck is running and click "Check Again."

b. A message stating that "'Media Firewire Drive/…' is missing." This simply means that the computer is searching for a directory located on a previous user's hard drive. If this occurs, click the "Reset Scratch Disks" button. The "Scratch Disks" window will then display, and you'll need to click the first "Set…" button that displays after a single line of check boxes. From here, you'll want to select a directory in your Firewire drive, or simply the drive itself, and click choose. Click OK in the Scratch Disks window, then click the "Continue" button in the Missing Disks window.

4. When Final Cut Pro has finished loading, select New Project under the File menu. You can now begin your video project. To exit Final Cut Pro, select "Quit Final Cut Pro HD" under the Final Cut Pro HD menu.

Capturing Video in Final Cut Pro

1. Insert the DV tape that includes the clips you want to capture. If the Log and Capture window isn't already open, choose Log and Capture from the File menu.

2. Before capturing the clip, you'll need to set your "Capture Scratch." This is the location on your hard drive where your captured clips will be stored.

a.  Click the "Capture Settings" tab on the right side of the Log and Capture window.

b. Click the "Scratch Disks" button.

c. Click the "Set" button and select your FireWire hard drive using the file browser. Be sure there is enough space on your hard drive for the media you want to capture. Five minutes of raw captured video takes roughly 1 GB of drive space.

d. Click "OK" when finished.

3. Click the "Logging" tab. In the text field next to "Reel," you may wish to enter a name to identify the clip you are about to capture.

4. Now you'll locate the footage you want to capture by using the DV deck's play controls, or using the controls located below the preview screen in the Log and Capture window. This will allow you to control the DV deck through the computer.

5. You are now ready to capture video.

a. Using the DV deck or on-screen controls, rewind the tape to a point that's about seven to ten seconds before the place where you want the video capture to begin. Press the play button on the deck or on screen.

b. Three to five seconds before the first frame of the clip is shown, click the "Now" button in the lower right corner of the Log and Capture window.

c. The capture window will now display and show a low frame rate view of the video being captured. To stop recording, press the Esc key on your keyboard, then press the Stop button on the DV deck or in the Log and Capture window.

6. The captured video has now been saved to your hard drive in a folder called "Capture Scratch." You may exit the project without saving or edit the video within Final Cut Pro, but the original footage there will remain unmodified unless edited in QuickTime Pro or moved to the Trash bin.

Using the Final Cut Pro Browser Window

Video, images, audio, and other files in your Final Cut Pro project in addition to captured video and audio are located in the Browser, which is a window usually located on the upper left side of your right monitor.

To add files to your browser window:

1. First, select the browser window by clicking it. Then, choose Import > Files from the File menu.

2. Using the file browser window, you can then select the file you would like to import. This may be a video clip, audio, image, or other Final Cut Pro compatible file. You may also hold down the shift button and click to select multiple files in a folder. Once you have selected all of your files, click the "Choose" button.

3. The files you have imported should now be located in the Browser window. They can now be opened in Final Cut Pro or dragged into your timeline.

In addition to imported files, the edited timeline you have created is also saved here as an object called a "sequence." Multiple sequences can be created, edited, and stored within the same project while using the same imported resources files.

To create a new sequence, simply click New > Sequence under the File menu. The new sequence will then appear in the browser window where you can type a name for it.

Creating a DVD with your finished video project

The editing stations have two DVD publishing programs installed. The first, DVD Studio Pro, is an advanced program that allows users to create professional quality DVDs with complete design flexibility. If you wish to use this program, comprehensive manuals are available in the editing facilities.

The other, iDVD, is an Apple program that allows users to choose from high quality pre-made menu templates and add their own movie files and audio tracks. This tutorial will discuss how to publish your video project using iDVD.

1. Upon completing your project, select "Save all" under the File menu to ensure that none of your work will be lost. Be sure that you have finished making all edits, since after this point the only way to change your published video will be to restart at this step.

2. Select Export > Quicktime Movie under the File menu. A window will appear allowing you to choose the folder and to type a file name for your exported movie. You will then need to make sure Setting is set to Current Settings, Include is set to Audio and Video, and the box next to "Make Movie Self-Contained" is checked. You may then click save. This process will export your current timeline to a single Quicktime file. Export may take a significant amount of time, depending on the length of the movie. When export is complete, you may exit Final Cut Pro.

3. Open iDVD by clicking its icon in the dock located at the bottom of the screen. iDVD will now open, and may immediately prompt you to type a name and specify the location for your new project. You will want to be sure that the location of the file is set to your firewire drive. If iDVD instead begins by opening a pre-existing project, go to New Project under the File menu and then specify your file name and location.

4. iDVD should now display an empty DVD menu template. To choose a new template, click the Customize button at the bottom of the window to reveal iDVD's list of themes. You may select any of the listed themes for your project by clicking on it.

5. You may now add movies to your DVD project.

a. First, double-click the drive icon on the desktop that contains your exported movie. Images and audio files can also be added, but this tutorial will only cover video. Find the folder your file is open it.

b. Select your movie and, holding down the mouse button, drag and drop it into an empty area in your DVD menu. You may continue to add files until your DVD is full. Clicking the Status button to the left of your menu will show you how much space is remaining. Additionally, most menus have an area labeled "Drag photos or movies here." You may drag and drop one of your files into this area to display a video preview in your menu. This will not burn two copies of the same file on the DVD, it will simply show a short segment when the menu is loaded.

6. Once you are finished, click the Settings button to the left of your menu. Here, you may adjust the duration of your video preview, change fonts, apply transitions between menus and movies, change button and text size, etc. Changing anything in this area is optional.

7. When you have completed your project, click the Preview button at the bottom of the window. Here, you can check to see that all of your movies and menus load and display properly.

8. After you have finished previewing, click the Burn button in the lower right corner of the window once, and then again. You will then be prompted to insert a blank DVD if you have not already, and the CD/DVD drive tray will open. Insert your DVD and choose to proceed if prompted by the computer.

The computer will then compress your video into DVD format and write the project to your disk. Depending on how much video your project contains, this process may take up to 30 minutes or more. Once finished, an alert message will display and the computer will dispense the CD/DVD tray.