Apple Final Cut Pro 7 - Manual (Page 1714)

• Photo JPEG: An extremely popular file format because it can create highly compressed
yet good-looking graphics files. You can choose grayscale or color as well as the amount
of compression.
• Photoshop (PSD): You can import files created or saved in the Photoshop format, along
with multilayered Photoshop files. (For more information, see “Compositing and
Layering.” )
• PICS: A file format used on Mac OS computers for animation sequences. The format is
no longer used, in favor of QuickTime.
• PICT: A common image format used on Mac OS computers. PICT files can use any of
the standard QuickTime codecs for compression in color or grayscale.
• PNG: Portable Network Graphics. A file format for bitmapped graphic images designed
as the successor to GIF.
• QuickTime Image File (QTIF): A QuickTime container file that contains an image using
a supported QuickTime codec.
• SGI: Silicon Graphics Image file format.
• TARGA (TGA): The Targa file format. An uncompressed file format that stores images
with millions of colors. Targa files are supported by nearly every platform and media
application.
• TIFF: Common on Mac OS and Windows computers. TIFF files allow color depths from
dithered black and white to millions of colors and one form of compression.
Note: Almost all of these file formats can contain an alpha channel.
Audio File Formats
The following is a list of common audio file formats:
• AAC or .mp4: Advanced audio coding. This format is a continuation of the MP3 audio
format, improving quality while reducing file size. This audio format is commonly used
in MPEG-4 multimedia files, and can support features such as surround sound.
• AIFF/AIFC: Audio Interchange File Format. An audio format for Mac computers commonly
used for storing uncompressed, CD-quality sound (similar to WAVE files for
Windows-based PCs).
• Audio CD Data (.cdda): Compact Disc Digital Audio. Audio files stored on CD.
• MP3: Short for MPEG-1, layer 3 audio. This is a very popular format for online music
distribution.
• Sound Designer II: Sound Designer II, sometimes seen abbreviated as SD2. A monophonic
and stereophonic audio file format, originally developed by Digidesign for Mac
computers.
• System 7 Sound: An older sound format developed by Apple.
1714 Chapter 103 Learning About QuickTime