Apple Final Cut Pro 7 - Manual (Page 246)

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.
Capture entire tapes, then create subclips and log in the Browser
This method is increasingly popular because hard disk space is no longer prohibitively
expensive. Instead of choosing selected footage to transfer to your hard disk, you capture
entire tapes. Once on disk, you can break the footage into smaller subclips, add logging
information in the Browser, and delete unnecessary media from your hard disk.
• Capturing: Capture entire tapes using the Capture Now button in the Log and Capture
window.
• Logging: In the Browser, break the clip representing each tape into smaller subclips
and add logging information.
• Media management: After you create subclips, you can break large media files into
smaller media files, one for each subclip, and delete any media you don’t need for your
project. The result is that you only have media files for clips you want to use.
There are several advantages to this method:
• Capturing entire tapes causes less wear on the tapes than traditional logging because
you only have to play them back once, straight through, to transfer media files to the
hard disk.
246 Chapter 15 Overview of Capturing Tape-Based Media