Clips Blurry in Final Cut Express 4.0

Okay i tried putting in some of my screen capture clips that worked perfectly clear in iMovie 08 into Final Cut Express 4.0, and they come out blurry. I then tried to put in a clip recorded from my sony camera a while back and that was also blurry... then i made a livetype title and exported it as a movie, and then put that into Final Cut Express 4.0 and that too was blurry, any ideas?
Is there a format i must change my screen capturing program to, to be clear in Final Cut, or are there any settings in Final Cut 4.0 to make it compatible with my current clips?

You're looking for settings to use with your current clips, but you don't actually say what your clips are. Without precise information it's just guessing. What are the screen captures? Format? Size? Codec? What Sony camera? Format?
FCE is a resolution specific editing application. It only works in DV or HD using the Apple Intermediate Codec.

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Slowing clips down in final cut express hd

how do you slow clips down in final cut express hd. i can't figure this out and i can't find anything online to help me, so please explain how i do that.
thanks.

yeah and if the mouse is tired and sleeping or asleep or whatever, you can invoke the command j (command=apple key) keyborad shortcut - dont forget to select (click on) the clip you want to work on first.
(heck, that probably means waking up the mouse...)
...work is the curse of the drinking classes...

How to use You Tube clips in Final Cut Express?

I'm trying to use some You Tube clips in a Final Cut Express project - purely personal.
What I'm doing is this:
Play You Tube Video
Capture it as a Movie using ScreenSnapz Pro.
Saving it as a DV / NTSC quicktime movie - w/ 48 hz audio under Screensnapz options.
When I put it into the Final Cut Express timeline, it does not require rendering (I have loaded the DV/48hz sequence preset). But... the audio seems slower than it should be and the video is VERY much slower than it should be. The audio and video are not synched).
Other clips imported from other sources (such as video taken from a DVD using DVDxDV) is working fine.
What am I missing here?

Don't use ScreenSnapz Pro, anything you get from that is not going to be as good quality as simply downloading it directly from the source.
1. Use [MPEG Streamclip|http://www.squared5.com/|click here to download] to get the file from YouTube using its "Open URL (Cmd-U)" function.
2. Export to Quicktime (Cmd-E) using these settings:
Compression: Apple DV/DVCPRO - NTSC
Frame Size: 720x480
Frame Rate: 29.97
Quality: 100%
Sound: Uncompressed Stereo 48kHz
Use a DV-NTSC sequence within FCE.
Message was edited by: skalicki`

Xacti HD and Final Cut Express -- It used to work great! How do I go back?

I have a Sanyo Xacti HD700. It gives me 1280x720 MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 files, which my Mac just loves. I used to be able to quickly edit the clips together in Final Cut Express, export using complementary QuickTime settings (specifically, those recommended by Vimeo for HD playback), and get beautiful MP4 files, relatively quickly.
Then, one day, a friend needed me to edit a quick video using a DV camcorder. It was confusing as heck getting the footage into FCE, and not particularly elegant getting it out. But, the project was done overnight, I washed my hands of it, and wanted to get back to making beautiful MP4 files again, relatively quickly.
Except I can't! Now, for one, encoding takes hours. Hours! My source videos and export videos are very similar, yet I sit and watch as the estimate for completion actually goes up for an hour before slowly coming back down.
And frankly, that would be fine, except now my exported videos are the wrong size. They include letterboxes, and the video itself is squished, stretched. So I wait four times as long for a ghastly video. The best I could do is use the Quicktime export settings to "crop off" the letterboxing, but there's still some black bars and it's just not the same.
Here's how my videos used to look:
http://vimeo.com/1067235
Here's how an exported video looks now:
http://vimeo.com/1655414?pg=embed&sec=1655414
What happened? Out of the box, everything worked perfectly. Now, tainted with actual tape, Final Cut Express seems like it's running my videos through six extra wringers and giving me clips worse than I'd get just cut-and-paste editing the Xacti files in QuickTime Pro!
I Googled my brains out, and all I've learned is, if I had Final Cut Pro, "Project Settings" would have all the switches I need. Well, I don't have FCP, just FCE.
Somewhere, something was set that I want to unset. Can anyone help? Do I have to delete every trace of FCE and just reinstall?
Mahalo for any advice!

It sounds like you didn't change the settings after you made the DV video. Did you switch it back to 1280x720 and make a new sequence in that format? Check item properties for the sequence you edited. What does it say? Also check item properties for any media you captured since working in DV.

Final Cut Express: No audio when capturing from camcorder

When capturing video from my "Sony TRV 18" digital camcorder and a Canon ZR500 digital camcorder
into Final Cut Express 4.0.1 via fire wire to my scratch disk - a LaCie external hard drive -
I get the video in my browser but it has no accompanying audio.
When I move a captured clip from the browser to the viewer and time line, the video shows up, but (1) there is no accompanying audio shown in the audio time line, (2) no audio can be heard and (3) the audio meters show no action.
My Easy Setup settings for audio match my camera audio settings.
I've used different firewires between the camera and the scratch disk. Still the same.
This has been a problem for about a month. Everything worked fine before. To make project deadlines, I have worked around this anomaly by capturing clips in IMovie 4 on my older Mac laptop than transferring the media clips to my Final Cut Express scratch disk. That works, but it is time consuming and requires rendering of all the audio.
I use an IMac with OSX 10.6.5 with 266 GHz intel Core i5.
Thank you in advance for any tips that could help.

Hi Sid
I get the video in my browser but it has no accompanying audio.
YES - This is the way FinalCut Express AND Pro works !
If You need the audio - Then You connect a small set of speakers to Your miniDV Camera
(headphone out)
alt. if no phono-out on Camera is to connect a small TV to the Camera analog way
and here You can both see and hear during Capture
(BTW - Connecting a small TV (or if §§§§§ is no problem a reference monitor
§5-10,000 or even more) is a Very good way of keeping Quality control during
editing process. Eg Transitions, audio levels, color fidelity etc. I do and the
ref monitor are well compared to my final DVDs.)
There are NO WAY that You can monitor audio during Capture in any FinalCut versions !
Yours (been there and done that - or as said in Sweden "butted Your head at it") Bengt W

Will Final Cut Express help with...

I am considering purchasing Final Cut Express for a video project I am working on for my company. I have been using iMovie for a while and have not found a way to overlay a graphic (in this case, our company logo) on top of video. Will Final Cut Express allow me to do this?
Also, I just shot some video of clients giving testimonials that I would like to turn into marketing pieces. Unfortunately there is a lot of background noise in several of the clips. Does Final Cut Express have any audio tuning features that will help me reduce or remove the background noise?
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Will Final Cut Express allow me to do this?
Yes, easily.
Does Final Cut Express have any audio tuning features that will help me reduce or remove the background noise?
Not really. You could try using a noise reduction tool like SoundSaop, but you're best bet is to re-shoot using proper mics and placement.
-DH

Final output of Final Cut Express HD 3.5 is blurry and out of focus.

Using clear/sharp '.mov' files as clips. Doing simple editing, nothing fancy. When I finally output the project using 'Export/Using QuickTime Conversion,' the final is blurry and out of focus. I've tried every compression type (H264, Animation, etc.). Same problem. Anyone know why this is happening?
Although the specs for my computer are well within the Final Cut Express guidelines (I've even upgraded my graphics card to a Radeon 9800 Pro 256 MB), I'm still thinking that perhaps the G4 I'm using doesn't have enough juice to run the FCE software. By the way, I don't have any other programs active when using FCE. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
G4 (Mirror Drive Doors)/1.25 GHz/2.0 GB Memory/Radeon 9800XT (256 MB) Mac OS X (10.4.9) 2 Internal 120 GB Hard Drives (RAID)/2 CD-DVD Drives: Super Drive & Combo Drive
G4 (Mirror Drive Doors)/1.25 GHz/2.0 GB Memory/Radeon 9800XT (256 MB) Mac OS X (10.4.9) 2 Internal 120 GB Hard Drives (RAID)/2 CD-DVD Drives: Super Drive & Combo Drive

Thanks for your response.
Here's what I'm (trying) to do:
I'm creating short 5 minute tutorial movies that will be distributed as QuickTime movies (burned to disk) for short run distribution (college).
Here's the process: the movie itself is a recording of monitor screen actions recorded (audio and video) using Snapz Pro movie mode. The recorded size is 800 x 600. There might be 5 such 1 or 2 minute clips. The quality is excellent. I bring them in to FCE, drop all the clips on the same track, and add simple transitions. That's it.
Now I need to somehow get a final QuickTime movie, with close to the same quality I had in the clips.
So... I take the FCE file, output it using 'Export>QuickTime Conversion,' using the same size I originally recorded in, 800 x 600. Tried every codec available. Every time, the end result is a very blurred version of the original Snapz Pro recordings.
I've even tried outputting the FCE file as 'Export>QuickTime Move' (not using the conversion method). Opened that up in QuickTime Pro with the same result: blurred and out of focus.
I'm viewing the exported file in QuickTime Pro, with the 'Movie Properties' setting of 'High Quality.'
Any clue? This is driving me crazy. But I'm determined to get this right.
G4 (Mirror Drive Doors)/1.25 GHz/2.0 GB Memory/Radeon 9800XT (256 MB) Mac OS X (10.4.9) 2 Internal 120 GB Hard Drives (RAID)/2 CD-DVD Drives: Super Drive & Combo Drive

Made a 2 minute edit on Final Cut Express but at the 30 seconds (after I exported), there's a clip showing up that is not in my project, a clip i don't want in there, a glitch, how can I correct this problem? I don't want to start over again :(

Basically, I have 2 problems:
1) When I export it shows this clip that's not in my normal project and it ruins my project by having this clip in there; it's like a glitch. I tried to change the clip, and and still doesn't make the project normal again. Tried a new sequence and dragging the project into HD Mode and to no avail.
My camera:
HD: 1080p
Settings: At Hd
2)
Also, it's only displaying black bars above my project, even after exporting at 720p. I just don't want this random clip in my project or the black bars. I'm using Final Cut Express. Does anyone have any possible idea what this could be? Any help woud be much appreciated! I'm clueless on this.
IS ANYBODY OUT THERE? : )

1) Is it a video clip? Something you recognize? To be clear, it's displaying at a point in your exported movie but doesn't appear at all in the sequence?
2) What are your sequence settings? Right-click your sequence and choose "Item Properties" to verify.

My current os x is 10.9.5, using final cut express vers. 4.0.1. I have imported .mov clips created with a older mac os x (lion) and converted them to import into fce. after doing this as well as putting clips on the fce timeline when playing back t.h

My current os x is 10.9.5, using final cut express vers. 4.0.1. I have imported .mov clips created on a older mac os x (lion) and when I wanted to import them into fce, a quicktime conversion window opened up and converted them (I haven't experienced this in the past). I then imported the converted quicktime clips into my fce project. After doing this I took selected clips and put those edited clips on the fce timeline. When playing the video back in the fce timeline,I noticed
1) the video wasn't playing back smoothly like the original content
2) when looking at the timecode reading of the timeline, the timecode was sputtering as well as the video and audio. I exported to quicktime just to see if that was consistent, it was.
When I play the converted quicktime content independently of fce, it plays normally (no sputtering of timecode, video and audio. Need help to resolve the sputtering playback of converted video content in the fce timeline. I've never experienced this before. Any suggestions?

When you say you converted the clips before importing them into FCE, did you convert to AIC or DV and do the converted clips match your FCE Sequence settings exactly? If not, go back and convert the original files again, using the intended Sequence settings as a guide.
-DH

How do I add a title to a video clip w/ LiveType 2 and Final Cut Express 4

I have Final Cut Express 4 & LiveType 2.1.4, I'm not sure how to add titles or test to a video clip, and the tutorials for Final Cut Express 4 don't say how to get started in LiveType. How do I simply add text? The tutorials say how to add effects to the text they just don't say how to add it to the clip or how to get the clip into LiveType.

Well, you don't actually _add text_ to a video clip, you _create a text clip_ and add that clip to your timeline, either adjacent to an existing clip or on the next higher track if you want to layer the text with an existing video clip.
The very simplest way to add text is to use one of the *text generators* built into FCE. Lower Third, Text, Scrolling Text, etc. allow you to create various text clips and give you basic controls over fonts, positioning, size, color, etc. You can find the text generators in the Effects tab in the FCE Browser.
LiveType is a separate and more sophisticated application that enables you to do all sorts of things with text (much more than can be done with the FCE text generators). The basic process is - create your title in a LiveType project. Save the LiveType project. Then in FCE, import the LiveType project; from there, you can treat it just the same as any other clip.

I am using final cut express. It seems that any clip over a certain length, say 5 min, does not fully transfer! All shorter clips are perfectly fine. Is there some reason why longer clips are not fully transferred? (a half blue circle shows up on the tran

I am using final cut express 4. It seems that any clip over a certain length, say 5 min, does not fully transfer! All shorter clips are perfectly fine. Is there some reason why longer clips are not fully transferred? (a half blue circle shows up on the transfer list, indicating that the clip was not fully transferred. When I check in the capture scratch folder, sure enough the whole clip is not there!
Is there some glitch in final cut express that only allows short clips to be transferred in full?

Thanks for the reply. I'll try to answer all the questions (I am a relative novice). Your help is appreciated.
By the way, the other reply I received suggested the following:
In Final Cut Express>System Settings>Scratch Discs make sure the Limit Capture/Export File Segement Size To: is not checked.
I did this and it was already unchecked. So this is not the answer...
The strange thing is, I have been logging and transferring with FCE for 2 yrs without any problems at all with shorter clips, but have come up against the problem with long clips (over 5 or so min) the whole time. I got around it by simply making sure I stopped recording after less than 5 min while shooting footage. OR if I accidentally got a long clip, I import into imovie and then import into FCE. Not very streamline and I worry about compressions altering quality!
I am now trying to import a 20 min and a 17 min clip and it only transfers around 3 minutes of each, I have re-tried several times and it happens repeatedly. The blue circle in the transfer list shows up as a half blue circle instead of full. Clip cuts off after 3 or so minutes.
ANSWERS
how you are ingesting the files
From external flash drive connected directly to mac using FCE.
the format of the source footage
digital via ext flash memory. Frame size :1929X1080 / 25fps
what camera shot the footage
SONY HXR NX5
how you are connecting to the computer
from flash memory directly via usb
what version of FCE you are using
4
what OS your computer is running
10.6.8
what model Mac
macbook Pro intel Core i7
what drive you are using for Capture Scratch
3TB external drive (plenty of room left)

Can you explain when using keywords and addding them to various clips pressing ctrl and a number eg. 1 or 2 it simply closes down FCPX. Just to the dock as would th yellow -sign. As you gather I am new to this program having only used Final Cut Express 4

Can you explain when using keywords and addding them to various clips pressing ctrl and a number eg. 1 or 2 it simply closes down FCPX. Just to the dock as would the yellow -sign. I am new to this program having only used Final Cut Express 4 previously.
iMac (early 2009) 24in 2.93GHz 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM (To be upgraded ot 8GB in the nextfew days) os x 10.7.2 Lion
Re: Why don't my arrows on the time line operate and allow me to move to the start and end of the timeline. Iam using the trial version

Check System Preferences. I think Control-1 is used by something in the OS now. Switch it off. It's a major p[ain the way the OS is taking over more and more of the keyboard, allowing less options for application use.

Does Final Cut Express 4 Read Clips From an External NAS Drive?

After upgrading from iMovie 08 to 09 I have found out through these pages that iMovie no longer supports reading clips from and writing them to my external wireless drive (via the Events library). The question for this forum - does Final Cut Express 4 have the same issue?
Just to anticipate a couple of points - I do not intend to use my external hard drive for 'in line' editing, it is merely a repository for excess clips that my hard drive cannot accommodate. I understand this kind of arrangement is slower than Firewire 800 but it is what I have and I want it to work.
Message was edited by: Plutonian

FCE has nothing to do with how you archive your media as long as it's not used for playback within the application. The only issue might be how the drive is formatted. For large media files it really needs to be formatted in Mac OS Extended.

When using Final Cut Express, the video in the Viewer window looks fine, but when I insert the video into the Canvas Timeline it appears to lose resolution, and look fuzzy and blurry. Are there preferences or settings for the Timeline that cause this?

When using Final Cut Express, the video in the Viewer window looks fine, but when I insert the video into the Canvas Timeline it appears to lose resolution, and look fuzzy and blurry. Are there preferences or settings for the Timeline that cause this?

Thanks David. I had to convert the mts file to Quick Time (using AunSoft Conversion software) before I could import it into Final Cut Express. And I made sure I kept the size of movie (720 X 480 with letterbox) to compliment what I set my Panaconic AVCCAM video recorder at (720/60). Even after I fully render it, it still looks fuzzy in the Canvas window at the right that plays what I have editing down in the Timeline. A friend that edits some using Final Cut Pro helped me to narrow things down to this problem. This is also wierd. If my Viewer window at the left is set to 200% to get the person's head the same size in the Canvas window at the right we needed to put it to 400%. Does this make any sense. We think we need to control the Time line resolution somehow but cannot find any options from my manual, or the help, or in the various drop down menus. Do you have any clue? What is going on?

I'm trying to make "Stop motion videos" in Final Cut EXPRESS by using 100's of still photos and setting them to music. They are coming out blurry if viewed larger than 4x6 in size

I'm trying to make "Stop motion videos" in Final Cut EXPRESS by using 100's of still photos and setting them to music. They are coming out blurry if viewed larger than 4x6 in size.
I don't understand why this is happening.

Quick follow up, since I was on my phone earlier and am back to a real keyboard.
To access Easy Setup, hit Control Q.
If you click on the blue discosure triangles, a dropdown menu with about a dozen different presets will be displayed. Select the one you want, (Here, I've selected 720P.)
Whatever you select for a preset will not be applied until you make a new sequence. (I don't like to have sequences with different properties in the same project so I prefer to make a new project if I change the Easy Setup.)
Because photo aspect ratios are different than video, I typically put a solid generator of some compatible color on the first track (v1) and put my photos on the track above (v2). Looks better, IMO, than black bars. There are other creative ways to display them. And of course, you could scale them up to fill the frame…but then you probably would have to re-position them.
Good luck.
Russ

Clips Blurry in Final Cut Express 4.0

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