␡
- About Easy Setups, Presets, Settings, and Preferences
- Using Easy Setups
- Using Audio/Video Presets
- Specifying Sequence Settings
- Specifying Capture Settings
- Specifying Device Control Settings
- Using Video and Audio Playback Settings
- Specifying Audio/Video Output Settings
- Specifying User Preferences and System Settings
- Setting Editing Preferences
- Setting Label Preferences
- Customizing the Timeline Display
- Specifying Render Control Settings
- Specifying Audio Output Settings
- Setting Scratch Disk Preferences
- Specifying Memory & Cache Settings
- Specifying Playback Control Settings
- Setting External Editors Preferences
- Specifying Effects-Handling Preferences
- Customizing Final Cut Pro
- Creating Custom Screen Layouts
- Creating Custom Keyboard Layouts
- Creating Custom Shortcut Buttons
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Specifying Playback Control Settings
FCP 4 lets you change the settings that determine the image quality of real-time playback. The options help you strike a balance between the number of effects you can see in real time versus the visual quality of the playback. An overview of these settings follows; for more information, see Chapter 18, "Real Time and Rendering."
Tip
- As you shift from basic assembly to multi-layer effects and finishing work, your playback quality needs may change frequently. You can modify these Playback Control settings directly in the Timeline's RT pop-up menu and save yourself a trip to the System Settings window.
To specify Playback Control settings
- Choose Final Cut Pro HD> System Settings.
- Click the Playback Control tab. On the Playback Control tab (
Figure 3.44
), modify the default settings for any of the following, and then click OK:
-
RT:
Choose a default image quality level for the playback of real-time effects.
- Safe: Final Cut Pro limits real-time effects processing to a level that can be sustained without dropping frames during playback.
- Unlimited: Final Cut Pro allows real-time effects processing to exceed the level that your computer can handle without dropping frames during playback. Unlimited playback is useful if quick previewing is more important than image quality or playback integrity.
-
Video Quality:
This option is available for DV and other codecs that support playback at multiple quality levels. Choose one of three image-quality levels:
- High: Full-frame, full-resolution playback, which preserves video interlacing.
- Medium: High-quality, quarter-frame-resolution playback of noninterlaced video.
- Low: Low-quality, quarter-frame-resolution playback of noninterlaced video.
- Pulldown Pattern: Pulldown allows the output of 23.98 fps sequences to be converted to the NTSC standard 29.97 fps timebase in real time. This setting applies only to the 23.98 fps timebase. For more information, see Apple's Cinema Tools documentation.
- Play Base Layer Only (if Render Needed): Check this box to play only the base tracks (V1 and all audio tracks up to the real-time audio mixing track limit you set in General preferences) and cuts. Cuts will be substituted for unrendered or non-real-time transitions. Motion will not be applied to clips or sequences when played back in the Viewer. Play Base Layer Only is optimized to allow playback with minimal rendering. Unrendered sections will display the red render status indicator.
-
Record:
Choose a default image quality level for output during Edit to Tape or Print to Video.
- Full Quality: FCP's output will always be recorded to tape at the highest image quality, but it could require rendering before output.
- Use Playback Settings: FCP's output will be recorded to tape at the same image quality you've selected for real-time playback.
Figure 3.44 The Playback Control tab of the System Settings window.
-
RT:
Choose a default image quality level for the playback of real-time effects.
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