Indiana University

Student Technology Centers

Capture Video

Using Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro is an application for Macintosh computers that allows you to create a movie and perform a wide range of postproduction tasks. These steps will guide you through capturing/importing video clips and saving a movie using Final Cut Pro. Movie files can be used within a PowerPoint presentation, placed on a web page, or burned to a DVD when imported into DVD Studio Pro or another DVD authoring application..

Attention: The computers in the lab are rebuilt regularly; any files saved to the computer will be erased.  Please save your files to your space within Oncourse or other removable media.

Before you begin, please take a moment to locate each piece of equipment that you will be using to complete this task.

  • Kramer Input Selector
  • The Input Source you wish to use (VCR, DV, CD, DVD, etc…)
  • If you will be using a camera, locate the inputs on the front of the MiniDV/VCR. 
    • You will need to use your RCA cables to connect to this equipment.
      *STC does NOT provide cameras or cables* 
    • You can NOT use the firewire connection on the CPU to capture (your audio will not be available). 
    • In addition, you will need to change the channel to F1 by turning the front dial (channel L1 is used when playing VCR tapes). 
  1. Determine and select your source. The source selected on the Kramer Input Selector should represent the device from which the signal will originate (For example: if you wanted to use iMovie to capture a few minutes of video from a VHS tape (be sure the channel is set to L1), you would depress the button for VHS/MiniDV).

  2. Launch Final Cut Pro . Final Cut Pro is located in the Multimedia Applications folder.

  3. Prepare to Capture Your Video. Play and cue your video to the segment you wish to capture, then press pause.

    If your video clips have already been captured, you can simply drag the clips into the clips pane to import them into your project. Within the Final Cut Pro window, go to the File menu and select Log and Capture. The Log and Capture window should open. If the window displays “Preview Disabled” press the space bar, the video should display in the Log and Capture window.



  4. Verify Your Capture Location . To be certain you are capturing to the Scratch Disk, select the “Capture Settings” tab and verify the Free Space on the Scratch Disk.



  5. Capture Your Video . Locate the “Capture” box in the lower right corner of the Log and Capture window. When you are ready to capture your video, select the “Now” button and press the play button for your video source (i.e. DVD, MiniDV/VHS, etc…). A video window will open and indicate “Now Capturing”. Press the “esc” key to stop recording.



    Your captured clip will appear in your logging bin within the Browser window to the left. To review the clip, double click on the clip. The video clip will appear in the Viewer window; press the play arrow to review your recording. Continue the above process to capture additional clips.



  6. Build Your Movie. Drag clips to the tracks in the Timeline window to build a movie. See Help for other features and available options. Multimedia files can become very large; please see the Help menu for compression options



  7. Export Your Movie. Several options are available, one option is to go to File menu and select Export and QuickTime Movie. In the Save window select “Where” you wish to save your file. Under “Setting” select “Current Settings” and under “Include” be sure to select “Audio and Video” if you have both. The “Make Movie Self Contained” box should be checked. When you are ready to export click Save.

  8. Record your project to VHS tape. Set the Recording Source on the Kramer Input Selector to Computer AV. Make sure the VHS player is set to L-1 using the remote or by ejecting any VHS tape in the player and using the jog dial to change the setting. Re-insert your VHS tape and press the record button. Begin playing your project in Premiere by selecting the sequence you want to record in the timeline and clicking the play button in the applications monitor window. Once you are done and would like to verify the capture and view the VHS tape, set the VHS player back to F-1 using the remote or by ejecting the tape set the VHS player and using the jog dial on the player. Change the Kramer Input Selector to VHS and insert your tape. Select play and view the tape in the sony monitor that sits on top of the equipment rack.