Apple Final Cut Pro 5 - Manual (Page 1520)

Chapter 12 Importing and Exporting Final Cut Pro XML 169
II
Example: Creating an XML file and Importing It Into Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro always exports verbose XML, which means that every element and
subelement is included. However, when you import XML, Final Cut Pro accepts sparse
XML, which means that you only need to provide a limited number of required
elements. This means you can create fairly terse XML and Final Cut Pro fills in missing
information with default information.
You can use the sample XML code on page 168 to create an XML file and import it into
a Final Cut Pro project.
1 Launch a text editing application such as TextEdit.
Note: This example assumes you are using TextEdit, the built-in text editing application
that comes with Mac OS X. TextEdit is located in the /Applications folder on your hard
disk.
2 If a new window doesn’t already exist, choose File > New (or press Command-N).
3 Type or copy and paste the sample XML code on page 168 into the new TextEdit
window.
Errors in XML code will result in errors during import. Make sure you type carefully and
check your work.
4 Choose Format > Make Plain Text (or press Command-Shift-T).
This ensures that your file is saved as a plain text file, not a Rich Text Format (RTF) file.
The file extension should become .txt.
5 Choose File > Save.
6 In the Save window, navigate to the Desktop.
7 Name the file “example.xml”, then click OK.
If you receive a message about appending .txt to the end of the file name, click Don’t
Append.
8 Launch Final Cut Pro.
9 Close any open projects, then choose File > New Project (or press Shift-Command-N).
10 Choose File > Import > XML, navigate to “example.xml,” and click Choose.
The Import XML window appears.
11 Choose the current project name in the Destination pop-up menu.
12 Leave all other settings as they are currently set, then click OK.
A new offline clip named “Coffee house wide shot” appears in the Browser.