Capturing (Digitizing – if it from analog)
I was working with Alycia Cooper, and she had her friend edited a webisode for her. However, she wants it shorter. So, she came to me, with all the FCP projects, but no video project. I’m guessing she doesn’t know where are the video files.
On FCP, and other NLE programs, the video you see on the program is a link to something else. If you Blog or do Website, you can understand this a little better. After, you idle for a while, when you start working on FCP again, it takes a while to load up a video, that because FCP is reading the directory of the file and trying to view it for you.
Anyway, to understand where is your video goes, here is a step how to capture a video on FCP. It starts with the scratch disk. This instruction is to capture tape.
1. Open Final Cut Pro from Applications.
2. If you are missing a scratch disk or this is the first time you open FCP, this window will show up at your screen:

3. For the purpose of this tutorial, click Reset Scratch Disks.
4. It will show this window, this is where you setup the video files go:

5. Click on Set:
6. Choose a folder where you want your Video file to be capture (Capture Scratch folder) and all the render files later to be stored (Audio Render Files and Render Files folders).

7. When you are done choosing the folder for the basic stuffs, click choose and you are going back to this window:

8. You can pick where all the other Caches and Autosave Vault would go. I would recommend to a different Folder, so if you lost the drive, you have the Autosave Vault.
9. I put Minimum Allowable Free Space On Scratch Disks as whatever the FCP decide. I uncheck Limit Capture/Export File, cause an hour of DV footage takes about 13 GB, and I don’t want to limit it. You need to limit it if you don’t have enough space on your drive. I uncheck Limit Capture Now To, cause I capture usually HDV/DV, so it will stop automatically when the tape has ended. Unless, you are going to use capture now, on mostly analog signal, the computer can understand when the tape is over. Now, click OK.
10. We are back to beginning of the program again, now Click Continue:

11. If you’re FCP open right away,

to set where your video folder will go click on Final Cut Pro -> System Settings…

12. It will bring you back to step 4
13. If you are using FCP version lower than FCP 6, you need to do the following to prepare Final Cut Pro of what kind of video format you are going to edit. Click Final Cut Pro -> Easy Setup…


14. This is will avoid editing NTSC format on PAL timeline, where it will require renders. Click OK when you have picked your video format.
15. Time to capture your video. Go to File->Log and Capture


16. My screen maybe a little different of what you seeing on your screen. This is a screen shot of the HDV format capturing. It’s basically the same, with a little differences. If you want to change where your video files going to be save, go to Scratch Disks on Capture Settings and go back to step 4.
17. Click on Now, if you are going to capture your whole video non-stop.
I will talk more detail about capturing on another forum.
Good Luck!
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