Log tapes and Export an EDL in Final Cut Pro4

by Benjamin M. Clock

Figure 1: Final Cut Pro Keyboard Commands

A note on editing of video footage. It is our practice in editing footage for the Macaulay Library Video Collection to try and preserve as much of the integrity of the original footage as possible irrespective of image quality. This comes in to play most often at the beginning of a clip where it is common to find camera pans, focus checks, aperture adjustments, camera bobs and other handling "noise" which often detracts from the quality of the shot.

Here are a couple of guidelines to follow:

• Edit out the roughest of the noisy footage, especially if there are fast, abrupt pans, jars, or long sections of out of focus footage.
• If the subject is out of frame, i.e. the camera is panning towards a subject, but hasn't yet brought it into frame, edit that noisy footage out of the clip.
• If the subject is in the frame and exhibiting behavior, yet the camera is still panning and/or focus and aperture settings are not yet sharp, include the noisy footage in the clip.

Final Cut Pro's User Interface is organized into four panels: Viewer, Canvas, Browser and Timeline which are referred to below in the directions.

1. Insert the tape to be logged into the deck.
2. Boot Final Cut Pro 4.
3. Click File: New Project.
4. Click on New Project's Browser window.
5. Click File: New Bin.
6. Click File: Set Logging Bin (make sure the Bin you just created is highlighted when you do this). A movie slate icon will pop up next to the Bin to indicate it as the Logging Bin.
7. Click File: Log and Capture.
8. Log and Capture window will appear (This window is additional to 4 pictured above and covers the Viewer and Canvas).
9. Name the Reel in the Log and Capture window. Use the exact same name as the tape you are working on.
10. Put a #1 in the Shot/Take field. Make sure that the X box at the end of the field is checked. This will assure that each clip is numbered in sequence, beginning with whatever number you place in this field as you log them (in most cases, begin with the #1).
11. Note: If Final Cut Pro is connecting correctly with the external video device, and reading the media successfully, it will read VTR OK under the preview window.
12. You can play video using the JKL keys (See Figure 1 below).
13. Name the first clip in the Description field, e.g. Attwater's Prairie-Chicken It should then show up as Attwater's Prairie-Chicken­_1 in the Name field.
14. The Screen should then look like this:

15. Mark In Points by hitting the letter I key, Out Points with the letter O key (or using the buttons in the Log and Capture window).
16. Log the new clip by hitting the F2 key. A Log Clip window will appear, allowing you to double-check the name and number of the clip, fill in a Note field and click the Mark Good box if appropriate.
17. Click OK or hit Return.
18. The clip should then appear in the Logging Bin in the Browser (There is a small triangle toggle next to the Bin icon in the Browser, click this to open the Bin if the contents are not visible).
19. Log all of the clips on the tape.
20. Occasionally save your project as you log.
21. When logging is complete, select all of the clips, drag them over to the Canvas window where a series of colored boxes will appear on the Right side of the Canvas, drop them on the RED box marked Overwrite (Not Overwrite with transition). This will drop them into the Timeline bar below the Canvas.
22. The screen should then look like this:

23. Click File: Export: EDL (If the EDL option is grayed out in the File pull-down, go back to the Timeline, click on the sequence just created and try again).
24. Fill in EDL Export Options as you see here:
    Note: Drop Frame box must be checked for MiniDV, DVCam (sometimes), BetaSP. Drop Frame box must NOT be checked for Digibeta logging projects.

25. Click OK.
26. Save EDL (Name it the same as the Tape name and Reel Name, it will export as a .edl file, e.g. Tape26.edl).