Working with High Definition Video

Our 9 iMacs are equipped with, among many other things, Final Cut Pro. If you haven't had the pleasure of working with it, it is one of the most useful, hands-on video-editing suites available. It is also very intricate.

Therefore, as we understand how to better use it, we will be posting primers on video processing and manipulation. We recently acquired a high-definition (HD) camera and are trying to discover it's possibilities. While it's images are stunning, the new technology ads an extra layer of complexity. Below is a guide to capturing footage shot on such a camera.

For Final Cut Pro & the Sony HDV 1080i mini DV camera:

1. Open a new project
2. Go to & click "Final Cut Pro" in the top toolbar
• Choose "Audio/Video Settings" from the drop-down menu
3. When the dialog window pops-up, it shows the Summary tab first.
4. In this tab, under Sequence Preset choose HDV - 1080i60
• under Capture Preset choose HDV
• under Device Control Preset choose HDV Firewire
5. Now go to the Sequence Presets tab and make sure that HDV - 1080i60 has a check-mark
• Go to the Capture Presets tab and make sure that HDV has a check-mark
• Go to the Device Control Presets tab and make sure that HDV Firewire has a check-mark
6. If that is all correct, click OK and select your Sequence 1 by single-clicking on it (you have to do this to be able to access the sequence settings - a must for capturing in this format)
7. Now go to Sequence in the top toolbar and choose Settings
• In the dialog box, the General tab is the 1st to show
• Under Frame Size, choose your desired size (something HD for sure, like 960x720, but make sure that it is in 16:9 Aspect Ration if you shot your footage in Widescreen)
• Then set Pixel Aspect Ratio (to the same as the above choice and definitely HD), check Anamorphic 16:9 if desired
• Then set the Quicktime Video Settings to HDV 1080i60
8. Then Click OK and you should be ready to Log & Capture

If you try to capture video and the program is still not seeing your camera, then one of the settings did not "take". You might have to go back and check to make sure. You might also have a different model. Just play with the settings until you get results that work.

Sometimes it's something as simple (and upsetting) as merely not clicking on your Sequence before you set the preferences (see #6 in the list).