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Cycle Three
Post-Production
Review and Log Footage
Review and Log all footage that you have shot.
Refer to Cycle 2 Post-Production about Logging and Digitizing your footage
The more you become familiar with your footage the better prepared you will be to make editing decisions in post-production.
This sample Log Sheet can be downloaded to use when you are logging your footage.
Mark the clips that you will want to digitize.
Capture and Name Video Clips
After you have reviewed and logged your footage, digitize all your marked clips.
Refer to Cycle 2 Post-Production for information on Digitizing Video.
When saving your video clips, name them so that you will recall what the clip is about. You have 32 characters to name the clips. Clips named "video clip 02" for example can become confusing during a complicated editing session.
Create a Project and a Sequence
Create a Project in FCP (File > New Project, or Apple-e). Name it and save it.
A Project is a specific file that contains all your edit decisions and time line constructions. The Project file refers to your media files (Video, Audio, Stills) but does not contain any media files. The combination of your Project file and your media files (there can be many) is needed to edit video.
A Sequence is a timeline. You can have many Sequences in a Project. You can rename a sequence in the Browser window by clicking on it. New Sequences can be created (File > New > Sequence, or Apple-n)
Import Clips – Browser window
Media Files are imported into the Browser window in FCP, they can be Video, Audio, or Stills. (File > Import > Files... , or Apple-i) See Cycle 2
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Assemble Editing
The first and most basic mode of editing is Assemble Editing.
Assemble Editing consists of:
Defining an In-point: 
Defining an Out-point:
Drag and drop clip into Timeline:
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Insert Editing
Insert Editing is when you replace audio or video (or both) in a sequence that already has been assembled.
To Insert a clip:
Snapping - to edit precisely the "Snapping" function snaps any movement in the Timeline to the nearest edit point or to where the Playhead is located.
To toggle Snapping on and off you can do one of three things:
Often an insert edit will only replace the video and not the audio (such as is the case with a "cut-away" during an interview)
To insert video and
not audio you must first "Lock" the audio tracks:
Following the Insert Edit procedure above with the audio tracks locked results in a "video only insert edit."
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Editing Using Audio
When editing video it is often an advantage to be able to see the audio waveform to give cues about where In or Out points should be placed.
For example you may want an in-point to go at the beginning of a phrase of dialog that comes after a quiet pause. This would be easier to find using the audio waveform as a guide.
To see the audio waveform of a clip select the "Audio" tab in the top left of the Viewer window.
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Transitions
Up to this point all changes between one video clip and the next have been "Cuts" or instant jumps.
Transitions allow the change from one video clip to the next to be controlled.
There are many types of transitions but the most commonly used is the "Cross Dissolve" or cross-fade, where the first video clip gradually fades into the next.
Note: The many types of Transitions are tempting to use but nothing ages your production quicker then a "flavor of the month" transition. The cross dissolve is a time honored "classic" transition.
To create a Transition,
select the region between two adjacent clips in the Timeline: 
Note: For a Transition to work their must be enough video after the out-point of the first clip and before the in-point of the next clip to allow for the duration of the Transition.
With the adjacent region
selected go to the menu item Effects > Default - Cross Dissolve: 
This will place a Cross
Dissolve Transition between the two clips. The transition can be edited by double
clicking on it, which brings it into the Viewer window. 
Once the Transition has been put in place it must be rendered in order to see it. The red bar in the Timeline window indicates that that section must be rendered.
To render your transition
go to the menu Sequence > Render All: 
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Titles
On-screen text is an important part of video production. It can provide a lot of information as well as name and date your production for future reference.
To create a title:
- In the Browser window select the Effects tab
- Expand the Video Generators folder
- Expand the Text folder
- Double click on the Text generator icon (this will bring it up in the Viewer window)
In the Viewer window the Text generator can be edited by clicking on the Controls tab and changing the parameters (such as the text, font, colour, position, etc.)
By clicking back to the Video tab in the Viewer window the Text generator can be dragged into the Timeline.
The text can be placed over existing video in the Timeline which will superimpose it over that video, or if it is placed in the Timeline where there is no video it will appear with a black background.
Note: Text, as with Transitions, must be rendered to be viewed. Placing the Playhead over a non-rendered section will give a single frame rendered into the Canvas window.
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Finishing
Once all your edits and titles have been made, and the entire project has been rendered (and saved!) it is a good idea to put the production into a final mastered form.
One way of doing this is to record the output of the Timeline onto a digital video camera through the FireWire connection.
Another way is to export the project as a self-contained digital video file which can be burnt to CD or DVD, put on the Web for distribution, or kept to be imported into another project.
To export a self-contained
digital video file go to the menu File > Export > QuickTime: 
Set the Options to the settings that are appropriate for your application.
For Example:
Exporting full quality DV Video file for re-importing into another project use these settings:
Exporting for Web based distribution has many variations but an example would be:
The trade off is Quality vs. File Size
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