Apple Cinema Tools 4 - Manual (Page 239)

Stage 7: Editing the Video and Audio
You can now edit the project using Final Cut Pro. For the most part, you edit your film
project the same as any video project. If you captured the audio separately from the
video, you can synchronize the video and audio in Final Cut Pro.
Any effects you use, such as dissolves, wipes, speed changes, or titles, are not used directly
by the film. These must be created on film at a facility specializing in film opticals.
It can be helpful for the negative cutter if you output a videotape of the final project edit.
Although the cut list provides all the information required to match the film to the video
edit, it helps to visually see the cuts.
Stage 8: Exporting the Film Lists
After you’ve finished editing, you export a film list that can contain a variety of film-related
lists, including the cut list, which the negative cutter uses to match the original camera
negative to the edited video. Additional lists can also be generated, such as a duplicate
list, which indicates when any source material is used more than once.
Stage 9: Creating a Test Cut on a Workprint
Before the original camera negative is conformed, it is strongly suggested that you conform
a workprint to the cut list to make sure the cut list is accurate (some negative cutters
insist on having a conformed workprint to work from). There are a number of things that
can cause inaccuracies in a cut list:
• Damaged or misread key numbers entered during the telecine transfer process
• Incorrect timecode values
• Timecode errors introduced during the capture process
• With NTSC video, 3:2 pull-down problems
In addition to verifying the cut list, other issues, such as the pacing of a scene, are often
hard to get a feel for until you see the film projected on a large screen. This also gives
you a chance to ensure that the selected shots do not have unexpected problems.
If your production process involves workprint screenings and modifications, you can also
export a change list that describes what needs to be done to a workprint to make it match
a new version of the sequence edited in Final Cut Pro.
Stage 10: Conforming the Negative
The negative cutter uses the cut list, the edited workprint, and the edited video (if
available) as a guide to make edits to the original camera negative. Because there is only
one negative, it is crucial that no mistakes are made at this point. As opposed to the
cutting and splicing methods used when working with the workprint, the cutting and
splicing methods used for conforming the negative destroy frames on each end of the
edit. This makes extending an edit virtually impossible and is one of the reasons you must
be absolutely sure of your edit points before beginning the conform process.
239 Appendix A Film Background Basics