When we're shooting at the studio in such a close proximity to our editing supermachine, it only makes sense to capture straight to our main hard drive. While you may not be able to boast of a such a beast, it's not a bad idea to capture straight to your computer if you have the Hard Drive space since it saves you at least one step of the tedious logging phase. Connecting the camera to your computer is fairly straightforward, requiring the connection of some type of cable (usb, firewire 400 or, in our case, firewire 800) to both the camera and your computer's tower. Make sure your mic is connected to your camera and double check that you can hear audio coming from the headphones connected to your camera.

Step 1: Setting the Capture Scratch

    Once the camera and computer are connected, open Final Cut Pro. Once loaded, go to Final Cut Pro ---> System Settings ---> Set Scratch. You need to make a new folder for your scratch disk. Once this new folder has been created, highlight it then select "choose."

        *it is important that you do not set the capture scratch to the folder already named capture scratch. You need to use your parent folder (the new one you just created) to set as your capture scratch.

Step 2: Video Settings

    Now it is time to make sure you are properly capturing video from your camera into final cut. Go to Final Cut Pro ---> Easy Setup. The format you choose is going to be dependent upon the camera you will be using. For the Sketchup Show we're using a Standard Definition Panasonic DVX-100p, so for us the correct format is NTSC, DV NTSC Advanced Pulldown.

    *We also shoot in High Definition on our Sony V1U, and when we do, we change this to format HDV, HD-1080p 24

    When you've selected the proper video format, delete any old sequences from the Final Cut Project window in the top left, then  create a new sequence by going to File ---> New Project. If an empty sequence is already there you don't need to create a new one. Go to Window ---> Arrange ---> Standard Layout to set the display windows to the standard format. 

    Once completed, save your project in the new folder you created in Step 1.

Step 3: Final Prep Before Capture

    It's time to begin capturing footage, so go to File ---> Log and Capture. This should bring up 2 new windows in the upper right quartile of the screen. If you've set your video settings correctly, you should see what your camera is capturing in the left window. If you don't see anything, adjust your video settings a la Step 2.  Before you capture, in the Sequence Window click the tab Capture Settings and click on Device Control and select Non-Controllable Device. Select the Clip Settings and make sure the audio and video boxes are checked, then click back on the Logging tab. 

    You need to name your reel and a description of what it is you'll be capturing. What we like to do is make sure the date is contained in the reel (with no backslashes, dashes, or underscores; simply put the numbers in, i.e. 121107)  with the show title in front. For description I like to:

    1) Put the name of what is being shot (person's name, location, a one word useful descriptor, or scene # if i've got them already laid out in my script).

    2) What kind of shot it is (med, close, wide, xclose, ect.)

    3) The take number (if you start with "1" it'll automatically change this to "2" once you stop and begin a new capture)

 Here's an example of how it might look:

 Reel: TSS_121107

Description:Tadros_med_1       

Now that you've named what you're about to capture, you can click on capture now and start rolling. Hit escape to cut and you'll notice that the description field has anticipated your next shot as another take. If this is so, you're ready to capture again. If you're shooting a new scence, make the proper changes in the description field and click the capture now button to resume shooting.

Step 4: Screen Capture?

        For the Sketchup Show we run both a live capture to our main drive and a screen capture of what our host's computer is doing. This allows for a dynamic 2 camera shoot while only using one camera. Though this has been our modus operandi since our humble beginnings, we still at times forget to turn on our screen capture. It's worth mentioning for thoroughness that once you begin to capture from Final Cut, make sure you have also begun your screen capture as well (if your intention is on using the screen capture).