Working with AS Clips in Final Cut

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94253
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Working with AS Clips in Final Cut

Post by 94253 »

I've been animating clips in AS Pro 6, then exporting *.mov files to Final Cut with the intention of customizing the transitions between them and adding multiple soundtrack layers and effects before rendering my final file to share on YouTube. I've run into some problems and would like guidance from any of you who may be using AS clips in Final Cut. I tried Apple's Final Cut forum first but had no luck.

The transitions I add between scenes in Final Cut seem to last only one frame. I cannot seem to get the transitions to last like 1 second or two seconds which is what I would prefer. Video clips from my camcorder can transition longer, but the clips from AS don't seem to behave the same way. Each clip is about 20 seconds in length so that shouldn't be an issue. Perhaps I should be using other settings in AS when creating the file. I use QuickTime movie as the output type and Animation as the compression. Do you use other settings when creating files for use in Final Cut? (In the past I've just used transitions within AS, but I'm working on a much more complex project now and my *.anme file will grow to about 5 GB unless I split them into separate projects!)

When I'm editing in Final Cut, the aspect ratio appears to be fine (16:9, my source clips from AS were 1280x720 resolution). When I export from Final Cut the file plays 4:3 (same result playing in QuickTime, Divx, VLC). I still have not played with all the export options here, so that is probably something I need to fix in Final Cut. Have any of you exported your animations 16:9 from Final Cut? What settings did you use?

I also took the same AS clips into iMovie to see if they would behave differently. In iMovie I was able to add my 2 second transitions between clips and export retaining the 16:9 aspect ratio. Huzzah! iMovie does not allow as many audio tracks, however, and the layered sounds are a big part of this project. I could add more sound effects within AS and export the clips again, I suppose, but then it would be a huge pain if I had to go back to change sounds later in the project (which is often something I need to do). It would be ideal if I could just create the source clips in AS and work on all sounds, transitions, etc. within Final Cut.

Have any of you done something similar? Do you have any suggestions for me as to what settings I should use? I can send you sample files if you cannot seem to recreate the problem I have with transitions in Final Cut. I'm sure I just have something configured incorrectly. Thanks to anyone who responds with some ideas for me! I greatly appreciate your help!
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Nolan Scott
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Post by Nolan Scott »

Well, I don’t have such problems with any of my video files...
Generally, I render all my files to Image-sequences (PSD or PNG)
and compile with QuickTime Pro 7 before importing into Final Cut Express...

But, exporting a QuickTime-Movie with the Animation-codec works in the same way...

I presume you’re familiar with creating “Handles” in Final Cut before applying transitions ?
(setting In- and Out-points for every clip to leave room for the transitions)
(the more one cuts off, the longer the transition can be)

Regarding the resolution, make sure that the project settings in Anime Studio
are matching the sequence settings in Final Cut...
(e.g. exporting from Anime Studio in HDV 720p 1280 x 720 frame-rate 30)
(Easy Setup in Final Cut: HDV-Apple Intermediate Codec 720p30)

Regards
Nolan
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94253
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Post by 94253 »

Thanks for the reply, Nolan. It is good to know you're using AS clips in FC without issues. This confirms the problem must be something I am doing, which is great news.


TRANSITIONS: I still cannot get this to work.

I am actually not familiar with creating "handles" in Final Cut before applying transitions. When I get video clips from my camcorder I simply drag and drop "Cross Dissolve" from the Effects window to the Sequence window and a transition with the defined length (2 seconds in my case) magically appears. When I do the same with clips from AS, my transition lasts only one frame instead of 2 seconds. (When I render the *.mov files in AS I always leave an extra few seconds before and after the action to account for transitions.)

Handles sounded like a good thing to try, so I gave it a shot. I double-clicked a clip in the timeline to open it in the Viewer. I then dragged the In and Out points toward the center. This significantly shortened the length of the clip in the timeline (as I expected it to). I've done this to both clips involved, but when I added my transition it still lasted only one frame. I double-clicked the transition to open it in the Viewer, but when I changed the length from 00:00:00;01 to 00:00:01;00 it simply reset itself back to 00:00:00;01. So frustrating! It sounds like I'm setting up the handles correctly, right? It doesn't seem to have any effect.


EXPORTING: I can get what I need. Yay!

I played with the export settings and found an Animation compression type in Final Cut with all the same settings from AS including custom FPS and dimensions. I exported a file as Animation, 24 FPS, 1280x720 and it played back PERFECTLY...but also filled my entire hard drive. :'(

I tested the Advanced Settings in the Divx export from Final Cut (previously I was using 720 HD Profile). I needed to set the resolution manually to 1280x720 as it was trying to use 960x720 for some reason. I then exported that sequence using the Divx conversion to shrink the final video down to a mere 5% of its size without any noticeable loss of quality. HUZZAH! I now can delete the massive *.mov file to reclaim all that hard disk space.

The Divx export can even customize the FPS to 24. Is that pretty standard for animation? I think 24 FPS was the default in AS. At least I don't know why I would have changed it! If 30 FPS would allow me to avoid problems in the future I can use that for new projects going forward.
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Nolan Scott
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Post by Nolan Scott »

As far as I know, the default transition length in FC is 1 second or 25/30 frames
(25 frames for PAL / 30 frames for NTSC)
e.g. the Cross Dissolve window in the Viewer should indicate “00.00.01.00”

Either change the timing in that window, like “00.00.04.00” or else...
Or, use the Selection Tool (a), mouth over the end of the Transition in the Timeline,
until you see the “double arrow”, then drag the Transition to the Left or Right...
The Cross Dissolve Indicator in the Viewer will update accordingly...

Otherwise, have a look at those links:
http://www.fcpbook.com/Effects1.html
http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.e ... s-handles/

Or check the User Manual (accessible from the Help Menu)
“Having Handles at Edit Points”

Regards
Nolan
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94253
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Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2010 1:29 pm

Post by 94253 »

That did the trick; thanks! I was not using the handles properly. Thanks again! :D
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