HD

Chapter 14 Capturing Your Footage to Disk 181
IV
Round off 4320 MB to 4.5 GB to be on the safe side. This is the amount of disk space
you’ll need to allow just for this one project. If you plan to work on multiple projects at
the same time, estimate the amount for each project and add these numbers together.
To check the available hard disk space:
m Choose File > Capture (or press Command-8).
At the top of the Capture window, Final Cut Express HD displays the amount of
available space on the current scratch disk. If you need to specify another scratch disk,
see “Determining Your Hard Disk Storage Options” on page 153.
If you are batch capturing clips, make sure you have enough disk space for the selected
clips you want to capture.
Important: For best performance, use a nonstartup disk for capture, render, and final
output to tape, and try to anticipate how much disk space you need before you
begin capturing.
Capturing Individual Clips in the Capture Window
With this approach to capturing, you capture small sections of tape, one at a time. If
you want to meticulously define each clip before you capture it, you can set In and Out
points and add any logging information in the Capture window, and then press the
Capture Clip button. If you just want to capture a section of tape but you aren’t worried
about precise start and end times, you can use the Capture Now button instead. For
more information, see “Using Capture Now” on page 185.
Some editors prefer to capture clips one at a time because this method avoids any
pitfalls that may occur with automated capturing. If your tapes have a lot of
unexpected timecode breaks, or if you simply want to capture one or two clips from a
tape, you may want to use this method.
To capture individual clips:
1 Choose a scratch disk in the Scratch Disks tab of System Settings.
For more information, see “Specifying Scratch Disks for Capturing Video
and Storing Render Files” on page 148.
2 Make sure your video device is connected and that you have chosen an Easy Setup that
matches the format of your tape.
For more information, see “Choosing an Easy Setup” on page 147.
3 Create or open a project to store your captured clips.
For more information, see “Creating and Saving Projects” on page 44.
4 Choose File > Capture (or press Command-8).