| Unlike some turnkey solutions, Final Cut Pro provides a flexible software environment and is able to support a wide variety of hardware solutions and accommodate a diverse range of tasks. In order to create the optimum conditions for your specific workflow, you need to set up FCP to take the best advantage of your system's resources. In this section of the lesson, you'll learn how to set scratch disks, manage the way memory is allocated, adjust real-time performance, and configure audio outputs. Assigning Scratch Disks Scratch disk is a generic term used to identify space on a hard drive for temporary, rather than permanent, data storage. When you're working with Final Cut Pro, media files, caches, and the Autosave Vault are all considered transientyou work with them on individual projects and then clear space ready for the next. You can create a scratch disk on a separate physical drive, a partition, or a combination of both. Usually, when you're setting up a high-end system, you should use different locations to optimize performance. All you need to do is tell FCP exactly where to put your files. Setting the Primary Scratch Disk You can't actually run Final Cut Pro without a designated scratch diskyou're prompted to choose the default location when you launch the application for the very first time. Once you set your scratch disks, that information is stored in your FCP preference files. Whenever you trash the preference files everything will be reset to the initial settings the next time you launch FCP. Tip To prevent problems during capture, use distinctive names for your drivesuse dissimilar combinations such as Alpha and Beta, Artoo and Threepio, or Murch and Schoonmaker rather than Media and Media 1. Unless you're working with Xsan and shared storage, you should be able to change the names of your partitions or disks without reformatting. You can also assign names in Disk Utility when you initially set up your drives. Refer to Apple's Web site for further details: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=36726. 1. | In the Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder (Cmd-Shift-G). | 2. | Enter the path /Users/(username)/Library/Preferences/ and click the Go button. | 3. | Drag the Final Cut Pro User Data folder to the Desktop.
If you've already been working with FCP on your system and want to preserve your setup, switch to a separate user account or take other steps to back up your Final Cut Pro preferences. The next time you launch FCP, it will be as though you are doing so for the first time. Quit Final Cut Pro and drag the folder back into your Preferences folder once you've completed the exercises. Note You could use an application like FCP Rescue 5 (www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/video/fcprescue.html) to first back up and then trash your existing preferences. | 4. | Launch FCP. | 5. | Choose the format you work with from the Setup For pop-up menu to assign default project settings.
| 6. | Click OK. By default, FCP 5 creates the primary scratch disk directory in the User Documents folder. Note If your deck is not connected, and you see the External A/V window, click Continue. | 7. | Open your Scratch Disk folder in the Finder.
Inside you should see a Final Cut Pro Documents folder, and inside that several more subdirectories. This is how FCP separates and structures your files. |
Resetting Scratch Disks Unless you're working on a system with a single local hard drive, you'll need to change the default location of your scratch disks to specific media directories. Occasionally, you might also encounter a Missing Disk alert, which means at least one of your scratch disks is offline and needs to be reconnected or reset. The process of setting scratch disks in both cases is identical. Note Select an area on your media drives, or designate an area on your startup disk if no other drives are available. If you are working with a SAN solution, do not create the scratch disk at the root level of your network drive. Refer to the Xsan lesson in this book for further details This exercise involves deleting your Scratch Disk folder, after which you will not be able to retrieve its contents. 1. | Choose Final Cut Pro > Quit (Cmd-Q). | 2. | Drag your Scratch Disk folder to the Trash and choose Finder > Empty Trash. | 3. | Launch FCP again. The Missing Disks window will open to alert you to the lost scratch disk. | 4. | Click the Reset Scratch Disks button. | 5. | Click the Set button next to the missing disk. | 6. | Create a new folder to use as your scratch disk, and click Choose. | 7. | Click OK to confirm your selection. | 8. | Click Continue to open FCP. |
Assigning Separate Media Scratch Disks Unless you're working with low-resolution media, or editing on a PowerBook G4, when you're creating and optimizing a high-end system the optimal place to store media is on a fast, dedicated hard drive. (Refer to Lesson 9 and Lesson 15 to review the different options for storage and Xsan implementation, respectively.) You can set up to 12 separate scratch disks for your media files at once, and separate video from audio and captured files from rendered files. FCP always uses the disk with the most space first and moves onto the next one only when the original is full. 1. | In FCP, choose Final Cut Pro > System Settings (Shift-Q). | 2. | Click the first unassigned Set button under the Scratch Disks tab. | 3. | Create a new folder and click Choose. | 4. | Select the check boxes under Video Render and Audio Render for the new scratch disk. | 5. | Click to deselect the Video Render and Audio Render check boxes under the previous scratch disk. Note One disk must always be active, so you need to activate the second scratch disk before you disable the first. Tip With local drives, you can set scratch disks based on performance. Slower, smaller drives might be sufficiently powerful for audio files, which means your faster, larger drives can focus on video files. Individual drives have two basic operationsread and writeand with some configurations, you can optimize performance by using separate drives for capturing and rendering media. When you are rendering, the computer must read captured media and write the render files. If you divide these tasks between drives, you reduce seek time and improve data flow. | 6. | Enter a value appropriate for your hard drives in the Minimum Allowable Free Space On Scratch Disks field. Note Performance decreases when disks are more than two-thirds full. | 7. | Click OK to save your changes and close the System Settings window. |
Managing Waveforms and Thumbnails By using cache folders, FCP doesn't need to redraw waveforms and create thumbnails. Without the Waveform Cache, FCP would constantly need to analyze audio files and create a new picture of the sound. Similarly, without the Thumbnail Cache, FCP would access video files and create preview images all the time. Storing and reusing the images files in this way is much more efficient because FCP is relieved from the task of re-creating a waveform or thumbnail whenever they are required. As with media files, your Waveform and Thumbnail Caches need a home. Storing the data on a fast media drive may mean that your system can access them quicker, but it also means that your dedicated drive is no longer focused on its primary task, which may slow performance. In a later lesson on Xsan integration, you will learn that you should not store your cache folders on Xsan volumes. Storing the cache files on a local drive, including your startup disk, will not trouble most systems, but because the cache files are not project specific, nor is there need to back up the data, you should not store them in your projects directory. 1. | In the System Settings window (Shift-Q), click the Set button for the Waveform Cache. | 2. | Select an area to create your cache and click Choose. | 3. | Click the Set button for the Thumbnail Cache. | 4. | Select an area to create the cache and click Choose. | 5. | Click OK to save your changes. |
In the event that either your Waveform or Thumbnail Cache becomes corrupt, simply delete the individual directories in the Finder. The next time you launch Final Cut Pro, the cache folders will be re-created. Note Because FCP uses the Waveform and Thumbnail Caches to keep track of data, their sudden absence can cause unpredictable behavior. You should always quit the application before you delete them. The way data is stored in the two cache folders is quite different. There are only two files in the Thumbnail Cache: a Cache file and Data file, which contain the current information about all open projects and sequences. In the Waveform Cache, each clip acquires a unique file, and the cache folder may contain many hundreds of files, including some from projects that are no longer current. One way to improve all-around performance is to reduce the number of thumbnails and waveforms you're working with. 1. | Open the Lesson 11 Project.fcp file. | 2. | In the Browser, double-click the RT Video Performance sequence. | 3. | Choose Sequence > Settings (Cmd-0) and click the Timeline Options tab. | 4. | Choose Name from the Thumbnail Display pop-up menu to remove thumbnails from your clips in the Timeline and maximize performance. Name Plus Thumbnail is the standard setting used to display a single thumbnail image at the head of each clip. The Filmstrip setting transforms the appearance of each clip into thumbnails. The number of thumbnails is determined by the current zoom setting. At maximum zoom, you'll be able inspect each frame in the Timeline, but the extra processing required to create and manage thumbnails for every frame will reduce performance.
| 5. | Click OK to apply your change to the open sequence. | 6. | Open the RT Audio Performance Sequence. | 7. | Choose Show Audio Waveforms from the Timeline Display pop-up to toggle waveform display on and off. Remember to turn off waveforms to maximize performance. Tip You can also activate filmstrip display by using the Timeline Display pop-up. However, when you use this method to select Show Video Filmstrips in the Timeline window, you'll revert to default Name Plus Thumbnail setting. | 8. | Click the Timeline Track Height (Shift-T) buttons to view the waveform at different sizes. | 9. | Use the zoom controls to enlarge details of the waveform. Note You can create new default settings that will be applied to all new sequences under the Timeline Options tab in User Preferences (Option-Q). |
Create the Autosave Vault Folder The Autosave feature of Final Cut Pro provides a level of protection for your project files. By default, once you've saved and named a project, FCP will automatically save a copy of the project at predefined intervals. What this means is that should something untoward happen to your project file, and it is rendered unusable, you have the option of reverting to a version in the Autosave Vault. Each file in the Autosave Vault is an exact copy of your project, with a change to the filename, which is appended with a timestamp to indicate the moment the backup was created. By naming files sequentially in this way, FCP can store multiple versions of your project and give you the option of recovering different stages in your edit. Note Despite all its benefits and functionality, you should use the Autosave Vault to augment your manual backup routine rather than replace it. Setting up your Autosave Vault is a two-step process: specifying the location and setting the interval between each save and the number of iterations to be kept. 1. | Choose Final Cut Pro > System Settings (Shift-Q). | 2. | On the Scratch Disks tab, click the Autosave Vault Set button. | 3. | Navigate to an appropriate location on your system to create the Autosave Vault directory, and click the Choose button. Note As with the cache folders, the Autosave Vault should not be stored on a SAN volume. | 4. | Click OK to save your changes and close the System Settings window. | 5. | Choose Final Cut Pro > User Preferences (Option-Q). | 6. | Make sure the Autosave check box is selected. | 7. | Enter a value in the Save A Copy Every field to specify how often your project should be saved to the Autosave Vault. The default value of 30 minutes is usually appropriate; it provides enough time for the project to have changed significantly. You'll notice a brief interruption every time your project is saved. Increase the space between saves if this feels invasive. | 8. | Enter a value in the Keep At Most field. This value determines how many copies of an individual project will be archived at any one time in the Autosave Vaultthe maximum is 99. Once the limit has been reached, FCP simply moves the oldest project to the Trash to create room for new files. | 9. | Enter a value in the Maximum Of text field to specify how many individual projects you want keep backups for at any one time. How many you'll find useful depends on your workflow. The default value of 25 may be too high for single-user systems, but may not be enough if the system is shared between several editors. As the Autosave Vault fills up, FCP will manage the space by removing the oldest projects to make way for new ones. | 10. | Click OK to save your changes and close the User Preferences window. Tip Even with Autosave enabled, you should continue to manually save your project at regular intervals. |
Now that you have created the Autosave Vault, you need to be able to retrieve your projects. In Lesson 12, you'll learn how to use the Restore feature to select and open archived projects. Managing Memory Resources One way to maximize performance in FCP is to limit the use of virtual memory by Mac OS X. The first step is to make sure that you have enough RAM installed in your system to support your workflow. Then you can use memory management features in Final Cut Pro to allocate memory, as it is required. Memory and Cache Settings Memory resources are configured using the Memory & Cache tab of the System Settings window. When you change the settings, you should choose values based on the needs of your workflow and customize settings for specific tasksevery time you assign more RAM to one feature, you'll reduce the amount allocated to other areas. 1. | In the System Settings (Shift-Q) window, click the Memory & Cache tab. | 2. | Drag the Application slider under Memory Usage to set the percentage of available RAM Final Cut Pro should use. How much RAM is available to FCP is determined by the amount Mac OS X and other applications are using. The minimum amount is 125 MB. If the amount of available RAM dips below that threshold, you will be unable to select the Application slider. Reduce the number of active applications or install more RAM to increase the amount you can assign. Note If you have more than 4 GB of RAM installed in your system, you might wonder why you cannot assign more RAM to FCP. The current version is not able to address as much as that yet. However, you should experience increased performance when you're engaged in round-trip workflows where you have additional applications open at the same time as FCP; they will be able to make use of the additional RAM. | 3. | Drag the Still Cache control to set how much of the available RAM should be allocated to real-time playback of still images. The more RAM you make available to the cache, the more still frames your system will be able to play in real-time. This means that you can adjust the way FCP manages still image performance based on your workflow, increasing real-time playback for some projects and reducing for others to make more memory available for other tasks. | 4. | Enter a value in the Disk field under Thumbnail Cache to set the maximum size of the cache. Increase the size if you like to work with large icons in the Browser, or if your project contains lots of clips and you want to display thumbnails. | 5. | Type a value in the RAM field to set the amount of RAM you want to allocate to thumbnail images. Increase the amount if you scrub through thumbnails a lot and need to improve performance. | 6. | Click OK to save your changes and close the System Settings window. |
Levels of Undo Final Cut Pro can support up to 99 levels of undo; the default is 10. The ability to undo actions is definitely usefulit's great to experiment and try things outbut working with a lot of levels can quickly become unwieldy. Final Cut Pro also needs to store each change you make to your project in case you want to step back; too many levels of undo will begin to affect system performance. Zero levels of undo would make the least demands on your system, but it's likely to interfere with your ability to work effectively. To optimize performance, limit the number of undo levels to something practicala setting that you actually use regularlyand integrate other tools, such as Revert and Restore, or techniques, such as incremental saves. At a certain point, creating new versions of your sequences becomes more efficient than testing ideas and undoing a multiple series of steps. The Autosave Vault and the Revert featureboth of which are covered in the next lessoncan also help you recover earlier versions of your project. Recent Clips The List Recent Clips preference controls the number of clips that appear in the Viewer's Recent Clips pop-up menu. The default value is 10 clips, and the maximum is 20. As with levels of undo, the way you work should guide your choice. FCP stores information in order to track each clip, so for optimum performance, you need to find a balance between what's practical and the allocation of system resources. The only way to reset the Recent Clips pop-up without quitting FCP is to use the List Recent Clips setting in the User Preferences window. 1. | Click the disclosure triangle next to the Video Clips bin in Lesson 11 Project.fcp. | 2. | Open the DV-NTSC bin and double-click one of the clips to open it in the Viewer. | 3. | Double-click another clip to open it in the Viewer and then repeat to open two more clips. | 4. | Click the Recent Clips pop-up menu, which is already populated with your first two clips.
| 5. | Choose one of the clips to load it back into the Viewer. | 6. | Load more clips into the Viewer to further populate the list until you have at least five entries. | 7. | Choose Final Cut Pro > User Preferences. | 8. | Enter a value of 1 in the List Recent Clips field. | 9. | Click OK to apply your change and close the User Preferences window. | 10. | Click the Recent Clips pop-up menu to confirm that it has been reset. | 11. | Open User Preferences and assign a new value to the List Recent Clips setting. |
Establishing Real-Time Performance Levels Though real-time performance is ultimately determined by your system configuration, the filters you're working with, and the amount of memory currently assigned to Final Cut Pro, a number of tools and strategies can help you make the most of your existing hardware. Optimizing RT Video Performance The technology that drives real-time performance in Final Cut Pro is called RT Extreme; it's intended to remove the need to render effects while you edit. There are a range of RT Extreme settings that modify the way FCP will handle video performance. Exactly how you should set up your system depends very much on your hardware and the needs of your particular workflow. If your system is fast enough, you'll be able to play several streams of high-resolution video, or apply a series of high-quality filters, effects, titles, and transitions without affecting your ability to play back your video in real-time. On smaller systems, such as a PowerBook G4, you'll be able to make use of the different quality settings to preview complex edits and effects. You need to understand the different options, and you should test real-time performance to develop a complete profile of the full capabilities of your system. In the following exercise, you'll configure FCP to display the highest-quality video. Once you've established the extent of your system's capabilities, you can begin to modify each setting to increase real-time performance. More Info Not all codecs support playback by RT Extreme. Refer to the Supported RT Extreme Playback Codecs section of the FCP user's manual for additional details. 1. | Choose Final Cut Pro > System Settings (Shift-Q), and click the Playback Control tab. | 2. | Choose Safe from the RT pop-up menu. The Safe setting guarantees that video will only play at the quality and frame rate you set. If FCP cannot play the video at this setting, you will either have to render or change modes. With the Unlimited setting, you'll increase real-time performance, but FCP may reduce quality and drop frames to play back your video. | 3. | Choose the High option from the Video Quality pop-up menu. The differences between the four quality settings are based on discarded pixels and compression algorithms. High quality images are full frame, full resolution; use them if you need to view the best image. Medium and Low quality offer quarter frame resolutionthey display only every second pixel and scan line. The difference between Low and Medium is based on different decompression techniques; Low is faster, but Medium looks better. The Dynamic setting is new to Final Cut Pro 5; it enables the application to adjust playback quality between High, Medium, and Low as required to sustain real-time performance. Note Some codecs may only support High and Low settings. | 4. | Choose the Full option from the Frame Rate pop-up menu. Use the Full option to play your sequences at the setting you have assigned. The Half and Quarter settings give you the option to reduce the frame rate by half and a quarter, respectively, to increase real-time performance. The Dynamic setting allows FCP to shift between each of the settings to maintain real-time performance as required. | 5. | Choose Accurate from the Gamma Correction pop-up menu, if it is active. The Gamma Correction menu is only available if your graphics card does not support gamma correction and the CPU handles the work. The Accurate setting will yield the best picture, but it requires more processing and may reduce real-time performance. Use the Approximate option to increase real-time performance, and use Accurate if you need to see the best picture. | 6. | Click OK to save your changes and close the System Settings window. Note You can also access many of the playback control settings by using the RT pop-up menu in the Timeline window. More Info See the "Settings and Options in the RT Pop-Up Menu and Playback Control Tab" section of the FCP user's manual for further details on the playback control settings and how they relate to particular workflows. | 7. | Choose Final Cut Pro > User Preferences (Option-Q). | 8. | Make sure that the Limit Real-Time Video To check box is not selected. In some situations, you may want to manage real-time performance by restricting the data rate of video streamsperhaps you're working in a SAN environment or using a PowerBook G4 with a slower hard drive. You can assign a value to place a cap on the data rate using the Limit Real-Time Video option. For the purposes of this exercise, it's important not to impose any limits in order to understand the full capabilities of your system. | 9. | Confirm that the Report Dropped Frames During Playback check box is selected. | 10. | Click OK to save your changes and close the User Preferences window. | 11. | Close any active projects and open Lesson 11 Project.fcp. | 12. | In the Browser, double-click the RT Video Performance sequence. The sequence contains nine overlapping tracks of DV-NTSC video. The first six tracks are visible; the last three are not. | 13. | Choose View > Loop Playback (Ctrl-L) to toggle on loop playback. | 14. | Press the spacebar to play the sequence. If you see a red render bar above your sequence, your system cannot play and scale the six simultaneous streams of DV in real-time. Turn off the visibility of the tracks until the render bar turns dark gray. Tip Position the pointer over a colored area of the render bar to see information about the real-time or render status of that section. If your system can play the tracks without dropping frames, let the sequence play for a minute or more until you are satisfied that your system can play the video for a sustained period. Turn on the visibility of other tracks in the sequence until you see the red render bar. |
Once you've established how many real-time video tracks your system can support at the highest quality settings, you can repeat the test using different configurations to create a complete profile of your system's real-time performance. Testing Video Filters The performance of real-time effects is based on your hardware configuration, including CPU speed, RAM, third-party video acceleration, and external playback. It also depends on the video format you're working with, your current RT settings, and which filters you're using. Some video filters require more processing power than others. RT Extreme can also be used to increase real-time performance when you're working with filters to reduce the amount of rendering you need to do. When you do need to render, there are some steps that limit the time you spend rendering. 1. | Close any open sequences in the Lesson 11 Project. | 2. | Make sure that all of your RT options are set to display the highest quality settings. (Refer to the previous exercise if you're unsure about which options to modify.) | 3. | Choose Final Cut Pro > User Preferences (Option-Q), and click the Render Control tab. | 4. | Ensure that the Filters, Frame Blending For Speed, and Motion Blur check boxes are all selected. Turning off these options will lower processor-intensive operations through reductions in the quality of the image, which increases real-time performance. If you deselect Filters, FCP will ignore all filters in your sequences. You can also prevent FCP from synthesizing in-between frames on speed adjustments by deselecting Frame Blending For Speed. Deselect the Motion Blur check box to stop FCP from creating motion blur in your video. Note Unless you're doing an offline edit and require quick renders, set both the Frame Rate and Resolution pop-up menus to 100% to maximize quality. Lowering the frame rate or resolution of your render files will reduce render times but lower the quality of your images. | 5. | Click OK to close the User Preferences window. | 6. | In the Browser, double-click the Video Filter Performance sequence. | 7. | Select the clip in the Timeline. | 8. | Choose Effects > Video Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur. If you scroll through various submenus, you'll see that some filters are displayed with a bold typeface, but others are not. Only bold filters will play in real-time at the current settings and configuration. | 9. | Check that Loop Playback is selected, and press the spacebar to play your sequence. | 10. | If your sequence plays without dropping frames, repeat steps 7 through 9 until you see the dropped frames warning. |
Once you've established how many Gaussian Blur filters you can apply to a clip and still play back a high-quality image in real time, you can duplicate the test with different RT settings and other filters to fully understand how your system performs. Note When you do need to render, you can use Final Cut Pro's Auto Render feature (located under the General tab in the System Preferences window) to make the most efficient use of your time. With the Auto Render options turned on, your computer will render sequences while you're away from your computer. Hardware Accelerators As an alternative to the software-based RT Extreme engine, you can also improve real-time performance by using third-party hardware accelerators. (Refer to the PCI cards section of the hardware and interfaces lesson for details on individual cards.) 1. | Choose Final Cut Pro > System Settings (Shift-Q), and click the Effect Handling tab. | 2. | Review the list of available codecs and assign a device to the relevant formats using the individual pop-up menus.
Note The list of codecs will vary depending on your specific card. | 3. | Click OK to save your changes. |
Optimizing RT Audio Performance The Real-time Audio Mixing preference enables you to set the maximum number of individual tracks you can mix in real-timegiven the necessary hardware support. Once that limit has been exceeded, you'll need to render your audio before you can play it. By working with this setting judiciously, you'll be able to control the way audio is handled in FCP and reduce or increase performance as your workflow requires. More Info See the "Real-Time Audio and Video Options" section of the Final Cut Pro user's manual for specific information about differences between the Audio Playback Quality settings. As with video performance, simply adding tracks to the Real-time Audio Mixing preference doesn't override the fundamental fact that real-time performance is determined by your hardware and the complexity of your work. Before you embark on a project, you should run some performance tests to fully appreciate how your system performs. 1. | In FCP, choose Final Cut Pro > User Preferences (Option-Q). | 2. | Enter a value of 32 in the Real-time Audio Mixing field. Note The Audio Playback Quality pop-up menu is used to control the way files of different sample rates are converted to match your sequence settings. If all of your audio files conform, audio playback quality should not be an issue. If there is a mismatch, converting the files will use extra processing power and reduce performance in other areas. The Audio Playback Quality setting determines how much work will be required. Refer to the "Mixing Sample Rates" and "Using Real-Time Sample Rate Conversion" sections in the Final Cut Pro user's manual for more information. | 3. | Ensure that the Report Dropped Frames During Playback check box is selected. | 4. | Click OK to close the User Preferences window. | 5. | Choose View > Loop Playback (Ctrl-L). | 6. | Open Lesson 11 Project.fcp. | 7. | In the Browser, double-click the RT Audio Performance sequence. The sequence contains NTSC bars and tone and 32 tracks of 48 kHz 16-bit audio.
| 8. | Press the spacebar to play the sequence. If you see the dropped frames warning, your current system configuration does not support real-time playback of this many high-quality audio tracks. Delete a track from the sequence, or click the visibility control to make the track inaudible, and repeat step 8. If the sequence plays successfully without dropping frames, you know that your system supports at least 32 tracks of high-quality, real-time audio. Insert more audio tracks and add clips from the Audio Clips bin. Adjust the Real-time Audio Mixing setting in User Preferences and play to test the sequence until you see the dropped frames warning. |
As with video performance, once you've determined how many real-time audio tracks your system can support at the High setting, you should repeat the test at different Audio Playback Quality options to develop a profile of your system performance. Testing Audio Filters As you begin to apply filters and transitions, real-time performance will be affected by the additional demands they place on your system. You'll see the red audio render bar and hear a series of beeps when FCP needs to render your audio. The Beep When Playing Unrendered Audio check box in the Playback Control tab of System Settings toggles the beeps on and off. Tip Render video effects and audio filters, or use the Mixdown command, to further optimize real-time performance. Like video filters, different audio filters require varying amounts of processing power, and they'll affect your system's real-time performance when you work with them. In terms of CPU usage and your system configuration, individual filters can sometimes occupy the equivalent of several real-time tracks. 1. | Close any open sequences. | 2. | Choose Final Cut Pro > User Preferences (Option-Q). | 3. | Enter a value of 2 in the Real-Time Audio Mixing field. This is the lowest value you can assign. | 4. | Choose High from the Audio Playback Quality pop-up menu. | 5. | Click OK to save your changes. | 6. | In the Browser, double-click the Audio Filter Performance sequence. The sequence contains a DV-NTSC video clip with mono audio | 7. | Select the clip, and choose Effects > Audio Filters > Apple > AUBandpass to apply the filter. The render bar over the clip should turn red to indicate that the audio needs to be rendered before it can be played. | 8. | Choose Final Cut Pro > User Preferences (Option-Q). | 9. | Increase the Real-Time Audio Mixing value to 3, and click OK. | 10. | Repeat steps 8 and 9 until the render bar changes to dark gray and you can play the clip. |
The exact number of real-time tracks the filter requires varies from system to system. Remove the filter and repeat the test with other individual filters to see the demands that they will place on your system and how they will affect real-time performance. Note If FCP is performing high quality conversions on your audio clips, it will also increase the demands on your system and reduce RT performance. Use a low quality setting or standardize your files using QuickTime Conversion. Audio Outputs Depending on your hardware configuration, you may need to customize FCP's Audio Output settings to match your setup and workflow. If you have the appropriate hardware, FCP can output up to 24 discrete tracks of audio. Once you have connected your output device, you assign outputs in either User Preferences (to create universal settings) or Sequence Settings (to define outputs for individual sequences). Note Your audio device must support Core Audio or have a compatible Core Audio driver. 1. | Make sure your audio device is connected to your system. (Refer to the hardware and interfaces lesson for information on audio standards, and review Lesson 10 for details on how to set up audio equipment in Mac OS X.) | 2. | Choose Final Cut Pro > User Preferences (Option-Q), and click the Audio Outputs tab. | 3. | Click the Duplicate button to create a new preset. | 4. | Choose the required number of audio channels from the Output pop-up menu. | 5. | Use the Grouping controls to create discrete or stereo outputs for each pair. | 6. | Choose a value from the Downmix pop-up menu appropriate to your workflow. More Info Refer to the "Downmixing Multiple Audio Channels to a Stereo Mix" section in the FCP user's manual for further details. | 7. | Assign this new preset a name in the Name field before clicking OK to create the preset.. | 8. | Confirm that your new preset is selected under the Audio Outputs tab. | 9. | Click OK to apply your changes and close the window. |
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