Appendix 1

Finishing on Digital Video, the Online Edit
Figure 6.1 One of Brook Institute’s DVC Pro HD edit rooms. All DV formats and Pro Res 422 can be
edited in their native format requiring no online edit
The Color application can be accessed at any time by sending the clip or entire project to Color from
the Final Cut Pro fi le menu just as sound is sent to Sound Track Pro. Perhaps the only down side to
having such a powerful color-correcting application in Final Cut Studio 2 is that the input from the
skilled colorist is removed from the workfl ow. While many users never would have taken their project
in for color correction, it’s unlikely that high-end projects will be color corrected by the editor directly
in the Final Cut Pro workfl ow. But, for the one-person shop or even smaller independent projects,
Color allows for deep control of the look and feel, and provides many preset looks for the editor
who knows little about color correction yet needs to be able to optimize the look without going out
of house.
To import the Pro Tools mix, simply create a new sequence—make sure it’s in the same DV format
as your project—and drag the icon for your fi nished sequence into it. Now delete all of the audio
tracks. Import the bounced audio track and drag it into the sequence. The two on the countdown
leader should match the pop on the audio mix. (For more information on the audio mix, see Chapter
7 on sound edit workfl ows using Pro Tools.)
Finishing on Digital Video with an Online Edit
So far, we have been working in a lower resolution, either from DVCam, DVC Pro 50, or even DVC
Pro HD, or in photo JPEG. If you are fi nishing in Digi Beta, D5, or HD Cam, you will need to online.
Online is simple; however, it needs to be done in a facility that supports your fi nishing format. Some
facilities still perform online from a CMX system going tape-to-tape. While this workfl ow is very
outdated, a surprising number of postproduction houses still use it. In 1968, only months before
NASA launched the fi rst manned fl ight to the moon, narrow gauge steam locomotives were still used
in daily freight service. Sometimes outdated technology hangs around well past its prime. Pardon
the digression here, but this is the proper way to think of EDLs for CMX: a steam locomotive in a
world of spaceships.
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