Focal Easy Guide to Final Cut Express: For new users and professionals

This highly illustrated, full color book tells you all you need to know to get up and running quickly using Apple's new digital video editing application - Final Cut Express. Rick Young shares his professional insight to ensure you get the most out of all the pro-level tools, offered at a very affordable price by Express. All the essential areas are covered: set-up; capture; editing; multi-channel sound mixing; effects creation and print to video, web or DVD, enhanced throughout by important workflow tips. This is an ideal first read, whatever you want to edit in Final Cut Express, at whatever level, as this powerful package is the answer to all your digital video needs, presenting a complete, easy to use digital laboratory for your movie creation. Rick Young (www.digitalproduction.net) is Director and Founding Member of the UK Final Cut Pro User Group and an Apple Solutions Expert. A freelance television director and editor with many years of broadcast experience, including work for the BBC, Sky, ITN, CNBC and Reuters. Also a Final Cut Pro Consultant, Rick has attended numerous UK and US exhibitions, is a liaison to the US FCP user groups, and author of the best-selling, 'The Easy Guide to Final Cut Pro'.

Table of Contents:
* Author's Preface * For new users * The Old and the New The Digital Laboratory Inside Your Mac Hardware and Software Requirements How Much Hard Drive Space? Decks and Cameras Firewire A World of Different Standards Television Aspect Ratio * Hands on Loading the Software Initial Set-up * The Interface The Interface Arranging the Interface Learning a Custom Layout Building a Film Structure Important Details About the Interface Saving Projects * Setup and Capture DV Audio Easy Setup Setting Scratch Discs Working with Formats other than DV Methods of Capturing DV Footage Deck Control The Capture Window Capture Clip Capture Now Working Around the Lack of Batch Capture Getting the Most out of the Capture Process Dealing with Timecode Breaks Importing Music from CD Converting Audio Sample Rates * Sorting Through Your Footage Viewing Clips Playing Video Through Firewire Setting Poster Frames DV Start/Stop Detection Working With Bins Working in List Mode Searching For Clips * The Cutting Room Insert and Overwrite Editing Getting Started With Editing Distinguishing Between Insert/Overwrite Three Point Editing Other Editing Options Modifying "in" and "out" Points Directing the Flow of Audio/Video Locking Tracks Adding and Deleting Tracks Essential Editing tools Undo/Redo Linked/Unlinked Selection Moving Edits in the Timeline Selecting Multiple Items in the Timeline Edit Like Using a Wordprocessor Snapping and Skipping Between Shots The Razorblade Tool Magnifier Tool Bringing Clips back into Sync Creating New Sequences Slow/Fast Motion Rendering Using the Realtime Effects Subclips Freeze Frame Match Frame Editing Split Edits Drag and Drop Editing Extending/Reducing Clips by Dragging * Effects Single and Multi-Layered Effects The Concept of media Limit (handles) Applying Transitions Changing Transition Durations Applying Filters Compositing Methods of Creating Multiple Tracks The Motion Tab Image and Wireframe Titlesafe Working With Multi-Layers Keyframing Images Multi-Layered Dissolves Copy and Pasting Attributes Titling * Working With Audio Setting Correct Audio Levels Getting the Most Out of Your Audio Converting Clips into Stereo Pairs Adjusting Audio Levels Adding Sound Fades Adding Audio Cross Fades Adding Audio Tracks Mixdown Audio * Output Playing it Safe Print to Video Other Forms of Distribution * Final Cut Pro 4 Final Cut Pro v/s Final Cut Express * Epilog

About the Author :
Director and Founding Member of the UK Final Cut Pro User Group and an Apple Solutions Expert. A freelance television director and editor with many years of broadcast experience, including work for the BBC, Sky, ITN, CNBC and Reuters. Also a Final Cut Pro Consultant, Rick has attended numerous UK and US exhibitions, is a liaison to the US FCP user groups, and author of the best-selling series The Focal Easy Guides to Final Cut Pro.