Aeronautic Primates and Other Delights

The following instructions are kind of untested. I'm using them to submit my vid for absolutedestiny 's themed vidshow this year. We'll see how well it works.

These instructions require the purchase of Compressor, which is an extra $50, but is also the only way to really tweak your export options manually. The program is mostly just a settings generator if you're not running a server farm.

Also, by default, these instructions will only work with NTSC projects. I do not know how well they will work with projects with PAL framerates or dimensions.

( Prep: setting your export presets )

( Export the vid )

Obviously, Llamaenc is an available tool and I encourage its use (especially for widescreen vids for Premieres).

I'm just presenting an alternative (although I think I'm the only Vividcon vidder working out of Final Cut Pro X at the moment)

Vidding in FCPX is frustrating, due to its "helpful" magnetic clips. Basically, if you drag a clip onto the timeline, it will automagically close the gap between itself and the last clip in your timeline.  This is particularly useless for vidders, because how often do we have a clip we *know* goes with the lyric at 1:27 in the song before we put down anything else? If you try to drag that clip down on an empty timeline, FCPX will move it to 0:00 for you. Because that's what you wanted all along, right? I have yet to find a way to turn this "feature" off.

There is a workaround. FCPX has two kinds of clips that are meant to just fill space -- placeholder clips (which have an image on them) and gap clips (which are just blank). If you put down a gap/placeholder on your primary video track that is the length of your entire song, you should be able to place video where-ever the hell you want on the video tracks above.

One point in its favor for Vividcon goodness. It has a native export to DVD function which, when you select your output device as "Hard Drive" will create your demuxed video and audio files for you. The video file is m2v (yay!) but the audio file is ac3, which I don't think Vividcon will support, so you may still have to convert that.

That said, the native export options are severely lacking otherwise. They are all built around the notion of the specific device or website you're exporting to.  You have to buy Compressor to get the extras like determining resolution and stuff.

Next time, I'll do some mucking with the speed options (which look magical) and the effects (there's a transition that I am calling the "Milly transition", because it's comic book panels. Seriously).

I've downloaded the 30 day free trial of Final Cut Pro X.

I'll let you know how it goes