Apple Final Cut Pro 6 - Manual (Page 237)

236 Part IV Logging, Capturing, and Importing
Ways to Log and Capture Footage in Final Cut Pro
In the early days of nonlinear editing systems, there was only one log and capture
workflow: log first to create clips, then batch capture selected clips’ media. This
workflow was necessary because hard disk capacity was limited, so editors had to be
selective about what they captured. Although this is still a good workflow for some
projects, it is no longer necessary to log your footage first and then batch capture.
Today, inexpensive, high-capacity hard disks allow editors to capture entire tapes and
log afterward. Once your footage is on the hard disk, you can review it more efficiently
than when it is on tape, which makes logging go faster.
In Final Cut Pro, most logging and capturing is done in the Log and Capture window,
but you can also use the Browser to add logging information to clips after you capture.
The most common logging and capturing workflows are described below.
Log your tapes, then batch capture using the Log and Capture window
This is the traditional method of logging and capturing. In this case, you watch your
footage by playing videotapes in a deck or camcorder connected to Final Cut Pro. You
can set In and Out points using the timecode information coming into Final Cut Pro,
and create clips that represent portions of your original videotape. After you finish
logging, you capture media for only the clips you think are necessary for your project.
Capturing the media files for many clips at once is called batch capturing.
 Logging: Use the Log Clip button in the Log and Capture window.
 Capturing: Batch capture selected clips that you think are useful for your project.
Log and capture clips one at a time, using the Log and Capture window
With this method, you log clips using a deck connected to Final Cut Pro, but you capture
each clip immediately after you log it. This is probably the most time-consuming of all the
methods because, unlike batch capturing, which is a semi-automated task, you oversee
the capture of each clip immediately after you log it.
Despite being more inefficient, this method is the most thorough and avoids any
pitfalls that may occur with automated batch capturing. If your tapes have a lot of
unexpected timecode breaks, or if you simply want to log and capture one or two clips
from a tape, you may prefer this method.
 Logging and Capturing: Use the Capture Clip button in the Log and Capture window
to log a clip to your project and capture its media file immediately afterward.