Final Cut Pro 6 - Clip Properties

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Name of property

Description

Name

Name of the clip.

During logging, the name property is usually created automatically
from a combination of the Description, Scene, Shot/Take, and Angle
properties, which are entered in the Log and Capture window.

You can change a clip’s name in the Browser or Item Properties
window at any time. However, changing the name of a clip doesn’t
change the name of the clip’s media file on the hard disk, so be
careful when doing this as it may complicate media management
later on in your project.

Alpha

Shows how a clip’s alpha channel is handled—None/Ignore,
Straight, Black, or White.

Graphics or animation files created outside Final Cut Pro may have
an alpha channel. Although Final Cut Pro usually discerns the
correct alpha channel type when you import media files, you can
change the type if necessary.

Anamorphic

A checkmark in this property indicates that the media file’s pixel
data was intended to be displayed, anamorphically (stretched
wide). You can set this property to force a clip with a 4:3 aspect
ratio to be widescreen 16:9.

For clips, this property is originally based on the capture preset
used; for sequences, it’s based on the sequence settings. You can
change this property at any time.

When you reconnect a clip to a media file, the Anamorphic
property in the media file overrides the clip property. However, if
you manually change the clip property, reconnecting to a new
media file no longer updates this property.

Angle

The camera angle number (or letter) of a clip from a multicamera
shoot. When ordering clips during multiclip creation, Final Cut Pro
uses the value in this property when available.

Aud Format

The bit depth of each audio sample (typically 16- or 24-bit integer).

Aud Rate

The audio sample rate of a sequence or a clip’s media file.

Audio

Indicates the number of mono and stereo audio clip items for a clip
and its corresponding media file. To change this property, the clip
must be offline and you must use the Clip Settings command in
the Modify menu.

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Aux TC 1-2

Aux 1 and Aux 2 are additional timecode tracks that can be created
in a QuickTime media file for any clip in your project. These
properties can be useful for synchronizing clips to related media
files without altering the source timecode of your files.

For example, when synchronizing video clips captured from Digital
Betacam with audio clips captured from DAT, the source timecode
of each clip reflects timecode that was captured from each tape.
You can create an Aux timecode track for your audio clips to reflect
the source timecode of the corresponding video clips. By using an
Aux timecode track, you don’t affect the original source timecode,
which is important if you ever need to recapture your clips
from tape.

Changes made to the Aux TC 1 and 2 tracks are written to the
timecode tracks in the media file on disk. For offline clips, these
properties can be modified in the Browser or Item Properties
dialog. However, when clips are connected to media files, you can
only add, delete, or modify Aux timecode using the Modify
Timecode command.

Capture

Displays the capture state of a clip in the Batch Capture queue:
Not Yet, OK (captured already), Queued, or Aborted.

Comment A-B

Comment information that is not shared across each master and
affiliate clip (as opposed to Master Comments 1–4, which are
stored in the master clip and shared with all affiliates).

Composite

Shows the composite mode of a clip, such as Normal, Add, or Travel
Matte. This controls how the pixel values in a clip combine with the
pixel values in clips in underlying video layers, or how the clip
visually interacts with the clip on the track immediately below it.
For more information on composite modes, see Volume III,
Chapter 19, “Compositing and Layering.”

Compressor

Displays the codec used to compress a clip’s media file. For clips,
this property is based on the content stored in the clip’s media file;
for sequences, it’s based on the codec specified in the sequence’s
compressor setting.

Different codecs have different ways of compressing video and
audio clips to reduce storage requirements. When a clip is edited
into a sequence, the clip’s media file must use the same codec as
the sequence, otherwise Final Cut Pro must convert from the
media file codec to the sequence codec, which usually is so
processor intensive that it requires rendering.

Creator

Shows the name of the application that created the clip’s media file.

Data Rate

Shows how much data a clip’s media file requires per second of
playback. This value is displayed in megabytes per second.

The data rate of a media file is determined by its video frame rate,
dimensions, compressor, color sampling method, and audio sample
rate and bit depth. Generally, the higher the data rate, the higher
the quality of the media file. If the data rate of a clip’s media file
exceeds the capabilities of your hard disk, Final Cut Pro warns you if
frames are being dropped during playback.

Name of property

Description

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Description

Displays descriptive text about a clip (from the Description field in
the Logging tab of the Log and Capture window). This is typically
entered when logging, but you can also add to it or change it in
the Browser or Item Properties window.

Duration

Shows the duration between a clip’s In and Out points. Speed
adjustments to a clip affect a clip’s duration.

Field Dominance

For interlaced video, controls whether field 1 or field 2 is played first.

When you reconnect a clip to a media file, the Field Dominance
property in the media file overrides the clip property. However, if
you manually change the clip property, reconnecting to a new
media file no longer updates this property.

Film Safe

Intended for telecined clips being used in a program that will be
matched back to a film negative. When a clip is marked film safe,
the Media Manager trims on four or five frame boundaries
(according to the timecode) to ensure that full film frames are
preserved during the negative cut.

Frame Size

Displays the video image dimensions in pixels. For clips, this
property is based on the dimensions of the clip’s media file or
capture preset selected during logging. For sequences, frame size
is based on the sequence settings (or sequence preset chosen).

Gamma Level

Determines the gamma correction applied to still-image clips when
they are placed in sequences. Video and audio files are not affected
by this property.

Good

Identifies clips that are marked Good (indicating shots you want to
use) in the Logging tab of the Log and Capture window. Clips are
typically marked Good during logging, but you can also mark a clip
in the Browser or Item Properties window.

In

Timecode of the In point of a clip. The In point specifies the
beginning of a section of a clip or sequence used in editing.

Label

You can assign labels to clips, bins, and sequences to categorize
them. Each label has an associated color, so clips, bins, and
sequences with labels are colored by their assigned label color.

Items in the Browser actually have two label properties: Label
(described here) and Label 2. Only the Label property described
here influences the color of an item.

Label 2

You can assign a second label to clips, bins, and sequences to
further categorize them. The Label 2 property does not have an
associated color, but it does have the advantage that it is
completely customizable.

You can type any text you want in the Label 2 field of a clip, bin, or
sequence. If you Control-click on the Label 2 field, a summary of
every unique Label 2 text in your project appears here, allowing
you to conveniently and consistently assign text to a clip’s
Label 2 property.

Name of property

Description

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Last Modified

Indicates the date and time a clip’s media file was modified, or the
last time a sequence was edited. In the case of clips, this
information is read directly from the modification date property of
the clip’s media file, so you can also see this information in the
Finder by selecting the file and then choosing File > Get Info.

Length

Shows the total length of a clip, regardless of clip In and Out
points. This is different from the duration of a clip, which is the
number of frames between a clip’s In and Out points. In most
instances, clip length is the same as its media file length, but there
are some cases where this is not true. For example, a still-image clip
refers to a media file with a single frame, but the clip length has a
default duration of 2 minutes. Speed adjustments to a clip affect a
clip’s length.

Log Note

This field is used for notes about your footage made during
logging. This text can be entered from the Logging tab of the Log
and Capture window, but you can also add to it or change it in the
Browser or Item Properties window.

Master

This property is checked if a clip is a master clip. You cannot modify
this property.

Master Comment 1–4

Comments can be added to clips, bins, or sequences at any time.
The Master comments are stored in a master clip and shared
among all its affiliates, so changing this property in any of the
affiliated clips updates all of them simultaneously.

The name of each Master comment can be customized to represent
a particular property. For example, you can rename “Master
Comments 1” to “Director’s Notes” or “Color Correction Status”.

To customize Master Comment names, do one of the following:

 Choose Edit > Project Properties.
 Control-click on a Master Comment heading in the Browser and

choose Edit Heading from the shortcut menu.

Custom Master Comment names are stored on a per project basis.
You can change the Master comments text in the Browser columns
or Item Properties window.

Media Start

The timecode address that refers to the first frame of the media file,
and thus the first frame captured from a source tape. This timecode
value is different than the In point of the clip.

Media properties are based on the media file, while In and Out
points are adjustable points used for the purposes of editing clips
into the Timeline.

The Media Start and End properties can only be changed in
Final Cut Pro if a clip is offline and the file path in the clip’s Source
property is empty. If a clip’s Source property has a file path, you
cannot modify the Media Start or End properties.

Name of property

Description

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Media End

The timecode address that refers to the last frame of the media file,
and thus the Out point set during capturing from tape in the Log
and Capture window. This timecode value represents the very last
frame of a clip’s media file, not the Out point of the clip.

For more information, see “

Media Start

,” above.

Offline

A checkmark indicates a clip is offline, meaning no media file exists
in the location of the clip’s Source file path, or the clip’s Source file
path is empty. A clip is offline if its media file can’t be located, or if
media has not yet been captured for the clip (thus the clip does
not yet have a file path to point to a media file on disk).

Out

Timecode of the Out point for a clip. The Out point specifies the
end of a section of a clip or sequence used in editing.

Pixel Aspect

Displays the pixel aspect ratio of a clip’s media file.

Computer graphics formats use square pixels, while many SD and
HD video formats use non-square pixel aspect ratios, such as:

 Standard definition (SD) NTSC
 Standard definition (SD) PAL
 HDV and DVCPRO HD
When you reconnect a clip to a media file, the Pixel Aspect
property in the media file overrides the clip property. However, if
you manually change the clip property, reconnecting to a new
media file no longer updates this property.

Reel

Identifies the reel (tape) name a media file was captured from. This is
typically entered when logging in the Log and Capture window, but
you can also change it in the Browser or Item Properties window.

Because the reel property is stored in the media file, changing this
property from within Final Cut Pro modifies this value in the
media file.

Reverse Alpha

This property can be toggled to Yes or No, but only has an effect if
a clip’s media file actually contains an alpha channel. Selecting Yes
displays a checkmark, indicating the alpha channel is inverted. This
is evident when layering this clip on top of others in a sequence or
when viewed independently in the Viewer. Final Cut Pro
interprets black alpha channel values as transparent and white
values as opaque.

The Reverse Alpha property is not shared among affiliated clips, so
each clip has its own individual Reverse Alpha property.

Scene

This property is used to identify the scene number of a clip. You
can enter this when logging a tape in the Log and Capture window
or in the Browser or Item Properties window.

Shot/Take

This property is used to identify the shot or take number of a clip.
You can enter this when logging a tape in the Log and Capture
window or in the Browser or Item Properties window.

Size

Shows the clip’s media file size on the hard disk in megabytes (MB).

Name of property

Description

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Source

Shows the file path of the clip’s media file on disk. For example:

Scratch Disk:Capture Scratch:Dining:Interview Clip.mov

This property is the critical connection between a clip and its
media file. If a media file changes location or name, or if its
modification date changes, the clip will no longer be able to locate
it based on its Source property’s file path, causing the clip to
become offline.

A clip’s Source property may contain a file path (even if the file
cannot be located) or it may be empty (as is the case with a newly
logged clip or a clip made offline using the Make Offline
command). For more information, see Chapter 6, “

Reconnecting

Clips and Offline Media

,” on page 69.

SmoothCam

Shows the current status of SmoothCam motion analysis.

TC

Displays which timecode track in the media file is currently being
used to display timecode for the clip in the Browser, Item
Properties window, the timecode fields of the Viewer, and the
timecode overlays in the Viewer and Canvas. For example, if a
media file has three timecode tracks, the choices would be:

 Source
 Aux 1
 Aux 2
“Source” merely indicates the primary timecode track of the media
file, and is almost always the timecode from the original source
tapes. Since most media files have only one timecode track,
“Source” is often the other choice. However, if you have added an
auxiliary timecode track to a media file (for example, with the
Modify Timecode command), you can choose to view the timecode
values stored in this track instead.

You can adjust the TC value in the Browser, Item Properties
window, or by control-clicking in the Timecode Duration or Current
Timecode field.

Thumbnail

Displays a small, representative frame from the clip’s media file. By
default, the thumbnail is the first frame of the clip, but you can
drag to “scrub” through the clip to choose a more appropriate
representative frame, known as a poster frame.

For more information, see Volume I, Chapter 5, “Browser Basics.”

Tracks

The total number of video and audio tracks in a clip or sequence.

Type

Type of clip: Clip, subclip, multiclip, still.

Also: Sequence, bin, or effect.

Vid Rate

Shows the frame rate (timebase) in frames per second (fps). For
clips, this property is the frame rate of the media file on disk. For
sequences, the frame rate is set in the sequence’s editing timebase
field. If a sequence contains clips, the sequence’s frame rate (editing
timebase) cannot be changed (unless all clips are first removed).

Name of property

Description