Apple Final Cut Pro 6 - Manual (Page 20)

Chapter 1 About the Post-Production Workflow 19
I
Step 4: Editing
The editing process involves taking the video and audio you’ve captured, along with
any music or graphics you’ve imported, and arranging these raw materials into a final
edited sequence of clips. Most editors start with a rough cut, where they quickly
arrange all of the clips for a movie in sequence. Once that’s finished, they work on
fine-tuning, subtly adjusting the edit points between clips and refining the pacing of
each cut. Basic audio editing and synchronizing are also part of this process, as well as
adding transitions, such as fades and dissolves.
Often, the type of project you’re working on determines your method of editing. For
example, documentary editing, in which the script often evolves in parallel with the
editing, is quite different from commercial television and film editing, in which there is
already a finished script to provide an order for clips.
Step 5: Mixing audio
Once your movie is edited and the picture is “locked,” meaning the duration of the
movie is fixed and you no longer intend to change any of the edits, you can begin
working more extensively on your audio. This involves:
 Cleaning up the dialogue with more detailed audio editing, balancing audio levels,
and applying equalization
 Adding sound effects, music, and voiceover on additional audio tracks in the
sequence
 Mixing the levels of all the different clips together to create a balanced sound mix
You can use Final Cut Pro for each of these processes. For more information, see
Volume III, Part I, “Audio Mixing.”
Note: You can also sweeten your audio with another audio application, perhaps even
at another facility. To export your movie audio, see Volume IV, Chapter 11, “Exporting
Audio for Mixing in Other Applications.”