Quickly find slo-mo clips

fox_m wrote:

The problem with Final Cut and high frame rates: FCP only supports up to 60.0 frames per second. Anything higher, and it's going to assign a lower rate. I don't personally know if they all get reassigned to the slowest fps FCP supports or if there is some algorithm involved that might determine a different, but "legal" frame rate.

I think I need to clarify the above statement.

FCP only allows projects up to 60fps.

For clips having 120fps or 240fps, weirdly it shows 60p in the Inspector.

But it DOES recognize the frame rate in a Smart Collection:

And, in the timeline, if you do Automatic Speed for a 120 or 240fps clip, it will use all the available frames.

I have my clips sorted by frame rates with Smart Collections, for example:

You don't have to supply the entire decimal, they will all be 23.****** whatever (and shouldn't exist at all because Fractional Frame Rates are OBSOLETE. [Sorry for the rant... no I'm not...]) Some cameras may report 23.98 while others may report 23.976 or even something else.

Another thing you can do is create a Keyword collection in your Project [I have all "B-roll" clips applied to a project labelled "Stockfootage" for example] — you can name it SloMo clips or whatever — then command or shift - select all the clips in the Finder and drag them directly ONTO the keyword to have that keyword automatically applied to all the clips, at once! This action works just the same as Import but bypasses all the nonsense. Your clips will be in the project you set up and available from the keyword collection if that keyword is selected. Any Smart Collections you set up will automatically "filter" your clips based on the criteria you supplied, so don't drop anything onto a smart collection.

If you also have the Smart Collection set up, then if some of the imported clips are NOT 23.xxxfps, they won't appear when you have the Smart Collection selected.

PS - my "B-roll project" is basically a repository for nearly all the clips in the Library. I have Smart Collections that automatically separate out clips by display format (480, 720, 1080, etc.) as well as Aspect Ratio (2.44:1, 2:1, 1.89:1 etc.) as well as keywords to mark sources (Pond5, Mixkit, etc...)

HTH

A number of Sony cameras shoot slomo in a 23.976 recording or other standard frame rates. There’s no way to search for these unless you keyword them or add a note.

Slo mo clips are really just clips that have a high frame rate.

You can make a smart collection with clips say, of 120fps or 240fps frame rate:

As I wrote in the other thread, you may now have to go through your library, identify those clips and assign them a meaningful keyword; and for the future do it on import already.

Can you open the clip in Quicktime Player, press Command-I to open the Movie Inspector, and post a screenshot? Or perhaps even better, open in MediaInfo and post a screenshot?

The problem with Final Cut and high frame rates: FCP only supports up to 60.0 frames per second. Anything higher, and it's going to assign a lower rate. I don't personally know if they all get reassigned to the slowest fps FCP supports or if there is some algorithm involved that might determine a different, but "legal" frame rate.

Somewhere in your workflow, you're just going to have to preview your incoming clips. You can do that directly in the Finder by selecting the clip and tapping the spacebar. The video will pop up and play.

Now, if you set up Finder Tags to mark which clips you have are slow motion, you can quickly and easily tag the clips in the finder. Then, when you drag the clips into your project, AUTOMAGICALLY, there will be a Keyword collection created with the name of the Finder Tag.

For Speed, you will want to move the finder tag into the "Favorites" list when you create the Tag.

You can shortcut a Finder Tag assignment by typing Control-1 thru 7 to correspond with the Favorites order.

To create a tag, go to Finder > Settings (or Preferences depending on OS version) and select the Tags panel. You can Add a new tag, give it a name and a color, then drag it into the Favorite Tags section (it will replace one of the 7 available).

You can still drag and drop clips onto any of your other pre-prepared keywords, but they will also be available from the Finder Tag Keyword...

HTH

bayoyong2 wrote:

I had hope for a sec. Because that totally makes sense. But for some reason, it's only pulling up four titles.

Maybe that was because the clips have an audio track, but it's silent.

You can confirm that if you open one in the Inspector.

PS - there are two options in Final Cut Pro > Preferences > Import:

Keywords : from Finder Tags and

from Folders (this is another option you have available)

I'm not sure if these are on by default or not, so one or both should be checked before importing your footage.

Maybe you shot at 120 but recorded as if it were 23.98.

Apps such as Filmic Pro on the iPhone let you do that (well, 24, I think; why don't fractional frame rates just die already...)

Select the library and create a search parameter for Media Type.