2009

Remote Review Methods
Final Cut Studio provides many ways of delivering clips and edited sequences to remote
reviewers. The methods that are appropriate for your project depend on the formats
preferred by your client and the level of quality required to get useful feedback.
For example, if you’re getting feedback on how the editing of a program is working, color
accuracy and high resolution may not be important, so web delivery is a convenient
option. However, if you’re getting feedback on how a program looks and sounds, it may
be better to deliver a higher-quality review format such as a DVD or Blu-ray disc.
Use the Share command
The Share command in Final Cut Pro and Motion provides a fast and convenient way to
output your program for remote review in a variety of formats, without the need to use
any other applications. The Share command can output either a single clip or a sequence,
or you can create a single output from a group of selected clips and sequences, which
can be useful for reviewing dailies.
• If you require a “living room” preview using a disc-based consumer format, the Blu-ray
and DVD options let you quickly encode and output discs in either format in one step.
This is a great way to see how your program looks and sounds in a typical consumer
viewing environment. It’s also an excellent way of creating media that’s suitable for
audience test screenings in venues that lack videotape playback.
• If you or your client has fast Internet access and a MobileMe or FTP account for remote
uploading and downloading of media, it may be preferable to use one of the highly
compressed QuickTime-based options for delivery, such as Apple TV, iPhone, iPod, or
QuickTime H.264. If you need to further customize the compression settings being used
(for example, if you want to add a timecode window burn using Compressor), you can
click the Send to Compressor button to open a Share preset in Compressor. Although
QuickTime playback is convenient for reviewing editorial decisions, remember that
computer displays have a completely different color space than consumer television
monitors, making it difficult to evaluate picture quality in a meaningful way.
• There are also options for automatic encoding and uploading to MobileMe and YouTube
for video hosting (you must have a MobileMe or YouTube account).
• If your client requests high-resolution QuickTime files, there is an Apple ProRes 422
option (which yields excellent quality for SD programs and good offline quality for HD
programs) as well as an Apple ProRes with Alpha option (which uses Apple ProRes
4444, a high-bandwidth codec for high-quality HD, 2K, and 4K RGB-encoded programs).
For a list of all available Share options and more information about using them, see the
Final Cut Pro and Motion documentation.
63Chapter 4 Client Review