Final Cut Express 2 Editing Workshop - Keyframe Animation

Hello Hello
(Perhaps Tom is reading this)
Well I've spent many many hours using FCE 3.5, and I can honestly say (although I really love it), I still find that Keyframe Animation does not appear as reliable as iMovie's engine for creating good steady Pans and Zooms.
But I won't give up on it if I can just find a way to make it work consistently and accurately.
My work (for my WWII documentary), requires slow and steady pans and zooms .....
Wondering if this particular Tom Wolsky tutorial particularly specializes in working with Keyframe to create pans and zooms?
http://www.fcpbook.com/FCE2%20Editing%20Workshop.html
Most other DVD tutorials lack any concentration specifically relating to Key Framing....
Thank you
Mike

Hello Martin
I've always said that you are a gentleman.
Why do I say that?
Because unlike yourself, (although I'm getting pretty good with FCE), I don't have quite the same number of hours, nor posts, logged in here and as you and Tom Wolsky.
But I've felt for quite some time now, that unfortunately as professional as Final Cut is, 'Keyframe' just does not have the same stability nor reliability as iMovie.
And I'm honored and relieved to hear that you actually agree.
I've put many hours in on this problem. I've also tried other programs like "Photo to Movie" which will smooth out the jagged edges of a zoomed still (another issue), but will take away the crispness and clarity of a still that iMovie offers.
Yes these tips provided by Ken Stone are helpful and I thank you. 'They are really nice'
But I think, for really smooth and steady pans, and zooms I will stick to iMovie (at least for now)
Thanx again Martin
Mike

Similar Messages

I do video productions for a small local TV station. I use Final Cut Express to edit. I need a new video camera but am at a loss as to what to buy. I know I will get a digital camera but do not know the difference between just digital and digital HD.

I do video productions for a small local TV station. I use Final Cut Express to edit. I need a new video camera but am at a loss as to what to buy. I know I will get a digital camera but do not know the difference between just digital and digital HD. Also, I can not afford an expensive camera and need some advice on which of the available cameras would be best and also work well with a Mac. One last issue, I currently use a Panasonic #CCD camera that takes a tape. When I load video to Final Cut the audio and video are out of sinc. Go figure. Can anyone help with these questions. Karen

Hello Karen,
If you are using Final Cut Express, then look for camcorders that are AVCHD camcorders. Look especially for the AVCHD logo and specific mention of AVCHD in the specs. Most of the major manufacturers produce good quality camdcorders - Canon, Sony, etc.
Also, be aware that there are a lot of "not quite AVCHD" camcorders on the market (sometimes they say they record video as MPEG4-H.264/AVC) - buyer beware!
Most everything you are going to find on the market today is HD, which stands for "high-def".
Regarding your question about the Panasonic camcorder, it's best if you post that as a separate question, and please identify the specific model camcorder and the Easy Setup you are using in FCE.

Final Cut Express new edition solves many issues

FCE now supports AVCHD and imports all iMovie projects. This is it: Apple wants us to move to Final Cut.
I do not mind this move. I regret though that the browser in Final Cut is less intuitive than iMovie 7. For the rest you get all the features you ever wanted.
http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/

Will exporting from iMovie 08 to FCE4, then making a DVD from there, solve the problem of poor DVD quality coming from iMovie 08 by itself?
On my Mac Pro, exporting DV video from iMovie '08 ALWAYS reduces the quality of the video, unlike earlier versions of iMovie. This is true whether I export to DV or to some other format. (Some say this doesn't occur exporting with a high-end video card. If that's true, that is really brain-dead of iMovie '08, for every other QuickTime-based application has exported DV just fine for years!)
The video IMPORTED by iMovie '08 is just fine, however. It looks no different than video imported by iMovie 6 or QuickTime Pro.
My FCE order hasn't arrived yet, but my guess is it will import (or directly access) the DV video imported by iMovie '08 without involving iMovie '08 itself. In other words, no EXPORT from iMovie '08 will be required.
If that's true, then the DV video arriving in FCE should be just fine.
It remains to be seen whether FCE will have the same EXPORT flaw as iMovie '08.
Karl

Using Final Cut Express to edit an FCP project?

Is it possible to export FCP projects in a way that they can still be edited with Express?

The project comes from FCP 6.0.1 and I have FCE 4.0. Opening the project file doesn't work, and I tried exporting to XML, and it finds the media, but doesn't know how to create the sequence.
I can send more specific error messages if you need them.
(Also, I notice that iMovie write v1 of the XML, and FCP is up to v4.)

Text for Final Cut Express HD 3.5

I'm hoping that Tom Wolsky will answer this question. I purchased the Final Cut Express 2 Editing Workshop, second edition and learn a great deal about FCE HD workflow. Now that I've upgraded to 3.5 I'm wondering if there is enough new to this upgrade to warrant purchasing the FCE HD 3.5 book by Tom Wolsky. Thanks.

The main improvements in FCE 3.5 are the Dynamic RT and Keyframing of Effects.
Dynamic RT involves virtually no learning, Keyframing does.
However, many users don't even know what Keyframing is, let alone how to use it.
Are you likely to need it?
I would suggest you hang on to the book you have and if the time comes that you feel it can't cope, then think about getting the new one.
I have used FCE 1.0.1, FCE 3.0 and FCP 5.1 and to be honest, the differences between all three are so marginal that you can hardly tell which one you are using.
Tom and others may think differently.
Ian.

Final Cut Express problems galore

It's hard to know where to start with regard to problems relating to Final Cut Express. How about this: the 3 simple steps for importing a project into FCE from iMovie, as set forth in the 'getting started' book, result in nothing more than a message telling me that the File is of the wrong type. And that's that. Not much to go on there. Any suggestions? Most of the other problems with 'getting started' - and there are quite a few - have resulted in masses of 'rendering' issues, complete with hundreds of numerals, decimal points, and acronyms which are entirely meaningless to me. Having spent years on iMovie 06 generating lots of highly edited movies, and enjoying every minutes, I gotta say that FCE is somewhat beyond daunting. Is there, perhaps, a book out there that would be useful to the likes of me? Something that begins: 1. Sit down at computer. 2. Turn computer on. 3. Launch Final Cut Express, and so on?

Hello and welcome to the forum.
FCE is a totally different animal compared to iMovie. It does have a steep learning curve, but there are good resources available and good people here to help you learn it. Once you have the basics down, it gets a lot easier. Here's what I'd recommend for learning FCE:
Tom Wolsky's Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop book and Final Cut Express Made Easy training DVD
Izzy Video's Learn Final Cut Express 4 videos (online, free)

Final cut express HD "fading sound"

Hello anyone who knows,
how do i fade out the sound track or lower volumes and or raise volumes within sound tracks?
thanks,
john

Tom gave you some good advice - spend some time in the FCE Help file.
That said, what you do is toggle Clip Overlays > On . A thin pink line will appear across the middle of each of your audio clips. You can then add keyframes with the Pen tool and then use your mouse drag the levels up or down as you wish between any two keyframes.
Tom was also too modest in his post - you really ought to get a copy of his book Final Cut Express 2 Editing Workshop. Don't worry that it's from the FCE2 era - all the basic material in it is appropriate to FCE-HD and FCE-HD v3.5.

Final Cut Express 4 Book

When i got Final Cut Express 4 year before last I got Diana Weynands book and at the time there was another very popular book i wanted and now can't remember the title or author and i would like to pick it up becuase i found that ms weynands book has holes that need to be filled and this book did it after i got answers i needed from it in this forum can anyone help me remember the book???

I have found Tom Wolsky's book and DVD very helpful. It's called "Final Cut Express 4 editing workshop". Many of the FCE users refer to it a lot. Izzyvideo is good too. I hope this helps you.
Keith

New user of Final Cut Express - recommendation for book, resource, training

I am a new user of Final Cut Express 4. Actually, I'm a new user of Mac too. I mastered Pinnacle on my PC but got fed up with the glitches, freezing etc.
Could use some advice on a good BEGINNER resource.
Anyone???

Hi and welcome to the Apple Discussions!
Since FCE has a relatively steep learning curve, I would recommend getting one of two training books:
1. [Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop|http://www.amazon.com/Final-Cut-Express-Editing-Workshop/dp/0240810775 /ref=sr12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240436986&sr=8-2] by Tom Wolsky. This is how I learned the program and I can assure you that it is a comprehensive guide with everything from basic to more advanced techniques. I highly recommend it. Tom is a frequent contributor to this forum, so if you had any questions about a lesson then he'd be here to help you out.
2. [Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Express 4|http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Pro-Training-Final-Express/dp/0321534670/ref=sr14?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240437118&sr=8-4] by Diana Weynand. Though I can't vouch for it personally, I have heard from many people who were pleased with their experience learning from this book, and I'm sure it is quite good also.
There are also several good sites I've visited with free tutorials that you might like to check out:
[Click here for one site.|http://www.izzyvideo.com/learn-final-cut-express>
[Click here for another!|http://www.rippletraining.com/freetutorials_oldies_butgoodies.html?cms=88e1757dd929cacb053b6d1670b3f45e]
Hope that helps,
Sasha

Importing Quicktime Files to Edit in Final Cut Express

I just bought final cut express to edit quicktime files I receive from work. FCE will not let me import certain files and I get a message saying "Error: File Type Unknown", but what's weird is I CAN import some files that are the EXACT same file type!
I have noticed that one difference in these files is that the icons in Finder are different. The file I CAN import is usually the default quicktime movie icon, while the ones I CANNOT import usually have a video thumbnail for the icon. Does this mean anything?
The files are the same. Same codec, same frame rate, same dimensions, everything but the video length & icon view finder are the same.
Please someone assist me with this or I will have to return FCE and start saving up for FCP I suppose.

I couldn't do this action, I don't have Quicktime Pro. Should I invest in this? What does it mean if the Audio and Video aren't the same settings? Can I change them with Quicktime pro? Thanks!

IMPORTING MEDIA FILES in FINAL CUT EXPRESS PLEASE HELP!!!!

I recently purchased a sony handycam that uses a hard drive instead of DV tapes. I'm trying to use final cut express to edit my footage but when I try to import the files from my camera, the files are unrecognized. I've tried to view them on the quicktime player and that also doesn't recognize them. I believe the files are MPEG2. Im a student and I have to finish this video project by next week and I was hoping to at least have gotten started tonight but have been spending hours just trying to import files. I'm terribly confused!!! If anyone knows what I should do PLEASE HELP. I don't want to have to do my editing on my dell laptop using a windows movie maker.

Those type of files are not directly supported by FCE. You will have to convert them to DV at the Sequence setting you use. eg. PAL 48 kHz.
Software or hardware based solutions are available.
Search this Forum for "Streamclip". This is one software solution.
Al

Out of memory error on Final Cut Express

Hello,
Ok so quite often we have to record into iMovie6 live (on a Macbook Pro) so that we can get all the content being recorded without gaps (tapes don't last long enough). After the project is imported (and transfered to my Powermac with FCE on it) I would rather use Final Cut Express to edit everything. So after saving the iMovie project I start a new project in FCE and import the files from iMovie. When this happens the audio always needs rendered and often when I render these files it really bogs down my PowerMac G5 and eventually gives me an out of memory error. After looking at Activity Monitor during the rendering, the System Memory just starts to become inactive and then eventually active until all the memory is used. That's usually when I get the memory error in FCE. I have 1GB of memory and I've added another Gig but the result is the same. It appears this is a problem with the app. Anyone have a clue or any ideas? I am using Final Cut Express HD 3.0.1 on my PowerMac.
Thanks-
Adam

Thanks for the comments however I currently have a project that I am trying to get done and these comments don't help right now. Anyone have any advice to speed up the process?
I just need to render the audio faster without having to reboot all the time. Any other FCE project works fine when rendering audio, it's just the import from iMovie that for some reason soaks up my memory and causes me to have to reboot to get it back.
Thank you-
Adam

Importing Files into Final Cut Express

I have a technical issue that I hope someone can assist me with...
I recieved 2 harddrives full of video clips that were shot in HD from a video production house. Here is the content on the drives: CARD 1 (folder), inside this folder there are 2 items (CONTENTS & LASTCLIP.txt) in the CONTENT folder are the following folders : AUDIO, CLIP, ICON, PROXY, VIDEO, and VOICE.
My question/dilemma: Can I import these clips into Final Cut Express to edit? I have an older version of Final Cut HD that won't work with these files.
Any and all input will be greatly appreciated.
-Greg

HELP ! Anybody, please help !
As you can probably guess. I've reached the limit of my "expertise" with your files ....... ".XML" sounds familiar but you will have to hang around for someone else to tell you whether and how they can be used.
One thing I am sure about (I think!) is that the latest version of FCE will be no better than the older one you have.

Final Cut Express HD problems.

Hello,
I am using Final Cut Express and edited a video that might have converted to SD from HD. How do I check the pixel size of my clips? Also, when I export this video at 1280 x 720 using Quicktime Compressor, it comes out at 1080 x 720. How do I fix this?
Thank you very much for your help.

Are you using the QuickTime Conversion function? In Options there is a size button where you can specify the size you want.

Final Cut Express Isn't Importing SOME files

Hey guys
I've been using Final Cut Express to edit game footage I record on a Hauppauge HDPVR device. The device (and accompanying software) creates a .m2ts and then converts it to an mpeg4 file.
Now, I record all my footage this way, and 95% of the time I can import to Final Cut Express no problems. However, a few files won't, and I get the "1 file recognised, 1 unknown" error. All of the file types are the same, so its not a case of an incompatible file type.
Also, the file runs happily in Quicktime, but just won't import into FCE.
Any help would be great thanks!

The media needs to be converted into a format that is supported natively in FCE not into MPEG-4. I don't know what you're using to convert, probably Handbrake but that's not the way to do it. You could try ClipWrap but I don't know if it works with that camera.

Final Cut Express 2 Editing Workshop - Keyframe Animation

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for