Apple Final Cut Express 4 - Manual (Page 922)

922 Part X Real Time and Rendering
Working with Mixed-Format Sequences
This section describes timesaving features for working with mixed-format sequences
and discusses how Final Cut Express handles settings that don’t match, such as image
dimensions, field dominance, and frame rate.
Conforming Sequence Settings to Match a Clip’s Settings
Although Final Cut Express can play back mixed-format sequences, you should still try
to match clip and sequence settings so that less rendering is required before output.
The first time you add a clip to a sequence, Final Cut Express can automatically conform
your sequence video settings to match the settings of the clip.
Enabling Automatic Sequence Conform Options
In the Editing tab of the User Preferences window, the “Auto conform sequence”
pop-up menu allows you to choose one of three automatic conform options for when
the first clip is added to sequence:
 Ask: Final Cut Express presents a dialog asking if you want to conform your sequence
settings to those of the first clip you add. Clicking Yes in this dialog conforms the
sequence settings to the current clip settings. Clicking No does not change the
sequence settings, but the clip is still added. This option is chosen by default.
 Always: The sequence settings are automatically conformed to the settings of the
first clip added. No dialog appears.
 Never: Sequence settings are never affected by the first clip added.
Rules for Automatic Sequence Conforming
When automatic sequence conforming is enabled, the following rules apply when you
add a clip to an empty sequence:
 Only sequence video settings are conformed to the clip settings; audio sequence
settings are never conformed.
 If the clip settings do not match any sequence presets, Final Cut Express warns you
that your new sequence settings will be conformed to custom settings that may not
be compatible with your input and output devices.
 If the edited clip uses a codec that is not supported by Final Cut Express or is not
available on your system, the sequence is not conformed to the clip settings.
 Clips copied from the Browser and pasted into a sequence can also trigger automatic
sequence conforming.
 Nesting a sequence into an empty sequence triggers automatic sequence conforming.
 Editing multiple clips into an empty sequence can trigger automatic sequence
conforming, but only when all of the edited clips have matching settings.