Book Image

Final Cut Pro Efficient Editing

By : Iain Anderson
Book Image

Final Cut Pro Efficient Editing

By: Iain Anderson

Overview of this book

Final Cut Pro (also known as FCP, previously Final Cut Pro X) is Apple’s efficient and accessible video editing software for everyone, offering powerful features that experienced editors and novices will find useful. FCP is the quickest way to transform your raw clips into a finished piece, so if speed is important, make this a key tool in your editing arsenal. Final Cut Pro Efficient Editing is a comprehensive best practice guide for all editors. You’ll not only learn how to use the features but also find out which ones are the most important and when you should use them. With the help of practical examples, the book will show you how typical footage can be assembled, trimmed, colored, and finessed to produce a finished edit, exploring a variety of techniques. As you progress through the book, you’ll follow a standard editing workflow to get the feel of working on real-world projects and answer self-assessment questions to make sure that you’re on track. By the end of this Final Cut Pro book, you’ll be well versed with the key features of this app and have all the tools you need to create impressive edits.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
1
Section 1: Importing and Organizing
7
Section 2: Rough Cut to Fine Cut
13
Section 3: Finishing and Exporting

Understanding original, optimized, and proxy footage

You will recall from Chapter 2, Before the Edit: Production Tips, that different cameras record in different codecs and at different data rates. A few typical cameras with their resolutions, codecs, and data rates, respectively, are as follows:

  • iPhone — 1080p, HEVC, 30 fps: 8 Mbps or 1 MB/s
  • iPhone — UHD 4K, HEVC, 24 fps: 18 Mbps or 2.25 MB/s
  • iPhone — UHD 4K, H.264, 24 fps: 36 Mbps or 4.5 MB/s
  • GH5 — UHD 4K, H.264, 24/25/30 fps 8-bit: 100 Mbps or 12.5 MB/s
  • GH5 — UHD 4K, H.264, 24/25/30 fps 10-bit: 150 Mbps or 18.75 MB/s
  • GH5 — 4992x3744, HEVC, 24/25/30 fps: 200 Mbps or 25 MB/s
  • Canon EOS C200 — H.264, UHD 4K, 24/25/30 fps 8-bit: 150 Mbps or 18.75 MB/s
  • Canon EOS C200 — Canon Cinema RAW Light, DCI 4K, 24/25/30 fps 12-bit: 1,000 Mbps or 125 MB/s

As you can see, data rates vary widely, even on a single camera. The iPhone data rates are pretty...