Apple Final Cut Pro 7 - Manual (Page 1429)

About Dynamic Real-Time Playback
To maximize the number of effects you can see during real-time playback, you can choose
to have Final Cut Pro automatically adjust the video quality, the frame rate, or both during
playback. This is called dynamic real-time playback.
Dynamic real-time playback continually adjusts video quality on a frame-by-frame basis.
Segments of a sequence that require minimal processor workload are displayed at higher
quality, and more processor-intensive segments are displayed at lower quality. Since
Final Cut Pro automatically adjusts the playback quality as necessary, you always get the
highest-quality playback possible without having to stop playback to make video quality
adjustments.
Playback video quality and frame rate are independent settings, so you can choose to
make one dynamic while keeping the other fixed. For example, if you need to see every
frame during playback, you should set the playback frame rate to Full while setting the
playback video quality to Dynamic. In this case, your sequence video quality may be
reduced during playback, but you will always see every frame. On the other hand, if you
are doing detailed compositing work that depends on high-quality video display, you
can set your sequence playback video quality to High and set your sequence frame rate
to Dynamic.
If neither frame rate nor video quality is critical, you can choose Dynamic for both playback
video quality and frame rate.
Multiclip Playback
This option allows you to watch all angles of multiclip play at once in the Viewer while
you switch or cut in real time. When this option is selected and you choose Open from
the Playhead Sync pop-up menu, multiclips in your sequence are automatically opened
in the Viewer, and all angles play back at the same time while the active angle plays in
the Canvas. For more information, see
“Working with Multiclips.”
Pull-down Pattern
If your sequence has a frame rate (editing timebase) of 23.98 or 24 fps and you want to
output to an NTSC or PAL device via FireWire, you can choose one of five pull-down
insertion patterns. Pull-down insertion is a method of converting film or other progressively
scanned material to an interlaced format playing at a different frame rate. For detailed
information about pull-down patterns, see
“Working with 24p Video.”
The Pull-down Pattern pop-up menu is available in the Playback Control tab of the System
Settings window. Pull-down options appear in the RT pop-up menu only when your
sequence has a frame rate of 23.98 or 24 fps and Final Cut Pro is currently set up to output
to a DV NTSC or PAL FireWire device. Some options may not be available if your computer
does not have sufficient processing power.
1429 Chapter 84 Using RT Extreme