Several Pro Audio Questions re FCPX

Question

I'm a composer and music producer who uses Logic and Pro Tools.
I'm wondering how I would deal with the following scenario:
Footage is captured into FCX and edited. At this point I would like to export the audio (only on location sound from the footage) to PT with video.
In Pro Tools or Logic I would score and mix the final soundtrack.
My questions are....
1 What frame rate would be correct to use in that this footage will be captured via Firewire from an amateur Sony handcam?
2  What would be the suggested settings from exporting the audio from FCX for use in a 44.1/24 bit Pro Tools session? Or should that PT session be set to 48?
And should I assume Pro Tools would be set to the same frame rate as the video capture was done in FCX?
3 A reference video would need to be output from FCX  for use in PT during mixing/scoring....what would be the best way to do this?
4 Finally, once the mix was done in Pro Tools, I assume I would create a master stereo file (at 48K?) and that this would easily be able to be imported back into FCX and used in place of the original source audio for the final output.
Thanks and sorry for all the questions..but if you don't ask....
Tom

Answer 1

Tom Wolsky wrote:
3. There is no reference output function in FCP.
There should be.
Apple ignores the fact that there are other ouput formats that customers demand besides Apple formats.  Yet FCPX and Compressor only output formats compatible with Apple products.  The "walled garden" approach of Apple overall is fine, but for "professional" apps like FCPX, it limits the capability of the professionals using the app.  That's just plain stupid.
This is supposed to be a PROFESSIONAL product, right?  So why doesn't it offer output options that professionals would need?
The best way to do this is to allow for QUICK TIME REFERENCE files, so editors can bring the reference file into a third-party encoding app (like Sorenson Squeeze, to name one) that will allow the editor output to a variety of non-Apple formats (Windows Media, for example).  (And for what it's worth, Squeeze is also much, much, much faster at encoding than Apple Compressor.)
Yeah, you can output a self-contained Quick Time file and than re-encode that.  But to use a self-contained QT file as an intermediate file from which you'd encode another file, the best bet is to output the highest quality possible QT file.  So you're going to output an ENORMOUS file (what if the sequence is an hour or longer?  It could be tens of GBs.)  All this, just to create an intermediate file from which to encode the final output.  An enormous waste of time and hard drive space.  Whereas a QT Reference file is usually only KBs in size, as it's only a pointer file.
Apple needs to pull their head out of their azz on this and make Quick Time Reference as an available output option.  To not allow it is to prevent FCPX from being a "professional" app.  And every pro editor knows it.