Edl considerations during editing, Limit the number of edits in your sequence, Only use transitions in track v1 – Apple Final Cut Pro 5 User Manual
Page 1490: Join through edits
Chapter 10
Importing and Exporting EDLs
139
II
EDL Considerations During Editing
While you edit, keep the following guidelines in mind to ensure successful EDL export:
 Limit the number of edits in your sequence.
 Only use transitions in track V1.
 Join through edits wherever they appear.
 Limit the number of audio tracks you use.
 Don’t rely on audio mix levels.
 Avoid nested sequences and nonstandard video transitions.
 Be careful when using still frames and speed settings.
Limit the Number of Edits in Your Sequence
Different EDL formats allow for different numbers of edits in your sequence. If your
sequence has more than the allowed number of edits for the selected EDL format,
Final Cut Pro automatically creates additional EDLs, depending on the number of total
events.
The following are the maximum number of edits, or events, allowed in various
EDL formats.
 CMX 340, CMX 3600, and Sony 5000: 999
 Sony 9100 and GVG 4 Plus: 9999
Only Use Transitions in Track V1
A superimposed video track, or any track other than V1, is called a key track in an EDL.
Only one key track can be in an EDL, so information for V1 and V2 tracks only appears
in an exported EDL. Transitions in V2 are not allowed in EDLs and are ignored. As an
alternative, you can use opacity keyframes in V2 and export Video Level notes in
your EDL.
Opacity keyframes in the Timeline are translated into values and locations and are
listed as the Key Level in notes in the exported EDL. These values are based on the
timecode of the master tape and are used by a video switcher. Some online systems
can translate these values for automatic use by some switchers, but more commonly
the values are only used as notes for the editor to use in an online session.
Join Through Edits
A through edit is defined as two adjacent clips from the same continuous piece of a
media file. The timecode numbers of the first clip’s Out point and the second clip’s In
point are one frame apart. Unless you have a specific reason for keeping these two
clips separate, you should join the through edit to create a single clip. This reduces the
number of events in your EDL and simplifies the process of re-creating your edit with
another editing system. For more information, see Volume II, Chapter 13, “Cutting Clips
and Adjusting Durations.”