So I bought final cut, and some HD screen recording software.
Once I had edited my video, I went to export, but it came out very low resolution, even though the original was 1080p.
I thought it was how I was exporting, until I realised upon importing into final cut, the clip was suddenly SD.
What am I doing wrong here?
Final cut express 4 HD
iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)
FCE defaults to NTSC DV so it needs changing to whatever the incoming footage is.
Set the correct Easy Setup and Save the Project before you start capturing.
Right click the Sequence icon in the Browser and select Item Properties to confirm your selection.
FCE does not support 1080p but does like 1080i.
You will have to transcode Progressive footage before import.
Al
some HD screen recording software
What software? What export settings, specifically codec, frame size & frame rate.
The more specific you can be about your setup the more likely we will be able to help you.
Final Cut Express is designed to work natively with QuickTime DV (NTSC/29.97 or PAL/25) and QuickTime AIC (Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i50/60 or 720p25/30). Your video clips need to conform to one of these selections. FCE does not support 1080p or 24fps footage although there are some workarounds for 1080p. If you search the FCE discussions you will find previous posts about dealing with 1080p footage.
When you import DV, HDV or AVCHD video directly from a camcorder, FCE takes care of saving the video in the proper format/codec provided you have first selected the appropriate FCE Easy Setup (see FCE > Easy Setup.) This is not the case when you import video from other sources - usually you have to convert or transcode those clips yourself first. The default FCE Easy Setup is DV NTSC - that's why you got 4:3 standard def output. If you have other types of video, you need to change your Easy Setup before creating a sequence, importing clips and editing.
Because FCE is based on QuickTime it is possible to import all sorts of video but that doesn't mean that FCE can actually work with it, work with it well, or produce acceptable results. The best approach is to make sure your clips match what FCE is capable of editing natively.
Final Cut Express HD: Importing
