Appendix 1

The Filmmaker’s Guide to Final Cut Pro Workfl ow
The following chart shows several popular video formats and the sizes that should be used to create
graphics in a pixel-based system like Photoshop. Several need to be scaled to a new size before
importing into Final Cut Pro.
Video Format: Design Graphics at: Scale Image to:
4 × 3 Web Video 640 × 480 Scale to fi nal output in FCP
DigiBeta MPEG IMX 720 × 486 No need to scale
DigiBeta at 16 × 9 853 × 486 720 × 486
SD DV formats at 4 × 3 1280 × 960 720 × 480
SD DV formats at 16 × 9 852 × 480 720 × 480
HD 720 P 16 × 9 1280 × 720 No need to scale
HD 1080 i or p 16 × 9 1920 × 1080 No need to scale
2 K Full Frame 2048 × 1556 Mask to fi nal aspect ratio
4 K Full Frame 4096 × 3112 Mask to fi nal aspect ratio
Table 8.1 Video Format Size Chart
To create a title or graphic in Photoshop, select New in the File menu. In the dialogue window, enter
the horizontal and vertical size from the Video Format Size Chart in pixels. To scale the fi nished
title, select Image Size in the Image menu. In the dialogue, enter the scaled size in the horizontal
and vertical in pixels.
HD images use square pixels and so do not have these problems or require rescaling. They can be
created in their native resolution and will have the proper proportions on the computer monitor. The
HD image uses either 720 or 1,080 horizontal lines, and 1,280 × 720 or 1,920 × 1,080 pixels. It can
be either progressive or interlaced and its standard aspect ratio is 16 × 9.
Alpha Channel
An alpha channel is a fourth channel in the image-defi ning areas of the image that are transparent.
This is essential if you want to superimpose titles over picture. It is also a great way to reduce contrast
to improve the look of the titles (more on this later in this chapter).
Some titling systems automatically create this alpha channel. The Final Cut Pro titler creates an alpha
channel. Any title with an alpha channel can be simply placed in video 2 with the background video
in video 1 and the title will automatically be superimposed over the video.
When creating titles in Photoshop you must set up your own alpha channel. When creating a new
title, set the background to transparent as shown in Figure 8-3. Photoshop will now show as a gray
checkerboard background. Lay out the title and save it as a Photoshop fi le. This will import directly
into Final Cut Pro with an alpha channel that will allow the title to be superimposed over video, and
you can control its opacity to control the contrast.
Colors are a problem as well. The computer uses RGB colors, NTSC uses a different “color space”
called YUV. NTSC cannot reproduce many of the colors that can be displayed on the computer
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