Capture video from camera using imovie.

1. 

  1. Capture: process to get video from camera by connecting it to the computer with a Firewire cable. Imovie does this faster, easier and smoother than Final Cut.

2.  After, capturing your video clips from your tape, you can drag them to browser in Final Cut Pro.

  1. Browser: In Final Cut Pro (FCP), the browser (a window on the upper left corner) is where your video clips, sound files, and/or picture files are stored (referenced).

(Browser in Final Cut Pro)

1.  From the browser, you can copy and paste OR drag your clips to the Timeline.

a.  Clips in the Timeline must be Rendered (Command [Apple] +R keys). This makes the audio and video playable as you edit.

b.  Just select the clips with the cursor then press Command (Apple) +R.

4. Once you have clips in the timeline, they can be more precisely edited by using the Razor Blade tool from the Tool Palette (far right of the Timeline) or by pressing Control+V.

Just place the Razor over the piece of video and audio and click. This will cut both video and audio elements of your clip unless you have separated them. To separate or link audio and video select them with the cursor and go to the menu Modify>Link or press Command (Apple) +L. When clips are de-linked from each other, they can be moved and modified separately. (Also, sound can be turned off in the timeline. Just click the small sound icon at the far left side of your audio clip on the timeline.)

Below, you can see the tool palette with the other tools and functions.

2.  In the timeline video clips can be overlapped, that is, you can place video clips over a lower clip to cut new images over that lower clip. The upper most tier of video that you create is the most visible unless there is a break. In that case, the next lowest clip directly below the break is the most visible. (See image below.) Audio clips do not work the same way. Every clip will be audible even if more than one is placed on the timeline. So, sound should be balanced and edited to create the desired effect.

Audio clips do not work the same way. Every clip will be audible even if more than one is placed on the timeline. So, sound should be balanced and edited to create the desired effect. You can use the Audio Mixer to monitor audio levels for all of your sequence clips, as well as adjust audio levels and pan settings in real time. You can find the audio mixer under the Tools menu. The controls in the Audio Mixer are comparable to those of an automated hardware mixing console. Each audio track in the currently selected sequence (or audio track in the Viewer) is represented by a track strip, complete with solo and mute buttons, a stereo panning slider, a level fader, and an audio meter. (See image below.)

Another way to edit audio is to adjust it in the Viewer window by double clicking the audio clip in the timeline. This will change the video tab (See Image)to an audio tab [Stereo (a1a2)]

(see image). There you can adjust the dB level and panning.

3.  Effects can also be adjusted in the Effects tab of the Viewer window. After selecting the clip you want to modify, double click the clip in the timeline, select the type of effect in the menu (Effects>Video Filters>).

4.  Titles: Titles or text can be done from within the FCP interface or by sending the clip to be titled to Live Type (which is part of the FCP pack but is an other program/application). You can find the titles in the Browser window under the effects tab. Live Type has more options than the titles in FCP interface. For example, Live Type has an animated title option.

[Above: Browser window open to Effects tab]

When you click the text folders in the Browser>Effects window, it opens ‘Sample Text’ in the Viewer window. This shows you how it will play.

To write in your own text, click the Controls tab in the Viewer window.

After you have your text placed, aligned, timed, etc., grab its folder from the Browser and drag it to the timeline over the video clip where you want it (in the tier above).