Final Cut Pro 7 XML Export [VE 21.1 OG]

For various use cases handing over a timeline from VidiEditor into a 3rd party application (e.g.: Adobe Premiere) an export into a Final Cut Pro 7 XML can be configured to VidiEditor Publish option.

VidiEditor uses VidiCore to transform a sequence into a Final Cut Pro XML it needs to be mentioned that not all options of the VidiEditor timeline are supported to be transformed into a Final Cut Pro 7 XML. For a detailed listing of supported functionalities please see VidiCore Sequences Export of the VidiCore version used in your installation.

By default this option is disabled. To enable the feature use the VidiCore API setting configuration parameters for it under:

VidiCore API → group → me_user → metadata → ME_ExportFinalCutXml

For additional information how to use the VidiCore user API kindly investigate https://apidoc.vidispine.com/latest/ref/group.html

A sample configuration is given with following JSON configuring 2 presets for the Final Cut Pro 7 XML export:

[
  {
    "FCP_XML_Download_Preset_Name": "FCP XML 4 Timeline No Format",
    "FCP_XML_Download_Preset_Label": "Timeline AVC No Format",
    "FCP_XML_Shape_Tag": "original",
    "FCP_XML_Storages": [
      "STORAGE-VX-7"
    ],
    "Format_Tag": null,
    "Audio_Options": "Timeline"
  },
  {
    "FCP_XML_Download_Preset_Name": "FCP XML 1 XDCAMHD Direct Out",
    "FCP_XML_Download_Preset_Label": "XDCAMHD Direct Out",
    "FCP_XML_Shape_Tag": "original",
    "FCP_XML_Storages": [
      "STORAGE-VX-7"
    ],
    "Format_Tag": "<format><samplecharacteristics><width>1280</width><height>720</height><anamorphic>FALSE</anamorphic><pixelaspectratio>Square</pixelaspectratio><fielddominance>none</fielddominance><rate><ntsc>FALSE</ntsc><timebase>50</timebase></rate><colordepth>24</colordepth><codec><name>Apple XDCAM HD422 720p50 (50 Mb/s CBR)</name><appspecificdata><appname>Final Cut Pro</appname><appmanufacturer>Apple Inc.</appmanufacturer><appversion>7.0</appversion><data><qtcodec><codecname>Apple XDCAM HD422 720p50 (50 Mb/s CBR)</codecname><codectypename>XDCAM HD422 720p50 (50 Mb/s)</codectypename><codectypecode>xd5a</codectypecode><codecvendorcode>appl</codecvendorcode><spatialquality>1023</spatialquality><temporalquality>0</temporalquality><keyframerate>0</keyframerate><datarate>0</datarate></qtcodec></data></appspecificdata></codec></samplecharacteristics><appspecificdata><appname>Final Cut Pro</appname><appmanufacturer>Apple Inc.</appmanufacturer><appversion>7.0</appversion><data><fcpimageprocessing><useyuv>TRUE</useyuv><usesuperwhite>FALSE</usesuperwhite><rendermode>YUV8BPP</rendermode></fcpimageprocessing></data></appspecificdata></format>",
    "Audio_Options": "DirectOut"
  }
]

This allows to set different parameters depending on the hand over use case and 3rd party system you want to interact with. Each preset allows following configuration options:

FCP_XML_Download_Preset_Name: Just a name give to it to help organizing the presets.

FCP_XML_Download_Preset_Label: The name that will be displayed to the user in VidiEditor Publish option for the user.

FCP_XML_Shape_Tag: The name of the shapes that should be referenced into the XML. Must be an available shape, for example “original“ to point to the first version of a media file.

FCP_XML_Storages: A list of storage ID’s that defines on what storages of the system those shapes can exist. The storages must have a storage method of type “FINALCUTXMLEXPORT” set. This config is optional and can be used to create client usable paths. If no storage is selected VidiCore will create the paths in the XML based on the 1st shape found and the existing storage methods.

Format_Tag: Can be used to overwrite the format tag of the Final Cut Pro 7 XML. This is usable on some 3rd party applications to define the technical definition of the media so it is interpreted correctly.

Audio_Options: Selects if the timeline stereo channels are outputted or the direct out option with all source channels of the media (see https://vidispine.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/IES/pages/1252753510?focusedCommentId=1750602611#comment-1750602611) should be outputted to the XML. Possible values are “Timeline” and “DirectOut”.

Path modification option:

It is essential to understand that this features depends a lot on where files to be referenced in the XML are located and how they can be accessed by a 3rd party application using the generated Final Cut XML. For example if the files should be opened in Adobe Premiere often a file path to a SMB storage is required to access the files from Adobe Premiere.

Usually the system design in VidiCore defines what storages hold the relevant files of the defined shape and what storage methods can be used to address those files. Those storage methods might not be usable directly from a client computer as they are often needed as file mount usable from a server infrastructure.

To ensure a client usable path is generated in the XML a dedicated storage method can be set that is used for generating those paths. This is possible while setting a storage method of type “FINALCUTXMLEXPORT“. Following example shows as possible setting:

 <method>
            <id>STORAGEMETHOD-VX-38</id>
            <uri>file://nas01.s4m.de/DMM-Video/MediaEditor/watchfolder/</uri>
            <bandwidth>0</bandwidth>
            <read>true</read>
            <write>true</write>
            <browse>false</browse>
            <type>FINALCUTXMLEXPORT</type>
            <metadata>
                <field>
                    <key>V3_DisplayName</key>
                    <value>Final Cut XML</value>
                </field>
            </metadata>
        </method>

Please see VidiCore API documentation to learn about how to set up storage configurations: https://apidoc.vidispine.com/latest/storage/storage.html#storage-methods

Ensure a full qualified path for the wanted files is configured like in above example. On the export a client usable path for Windows and Mac clients will be generated inside the XML in following format:

Windows:

<pathurl>file://nas01.s4m.de/DMM-Video/MediaEditor/proxy/DEMO%_FILE-VX-3894.mp4</pathurl>

MAC:

<pathurl>file://Volumes/DMM-Video/MediaEditor/proxy/DEMO%_FILE-VX-3894.mp4</pathurl>

The given path modification makes a lot of sense for storages accessible by a file path. Anyhow it might be the different kind of paths are required in a cloud scenario or that middleware is used between the client PC and the physical files. Please get in contact with Vidispine product management if you installation requires such a scenario.

Supported Features:

As said in the introduction, the VidiEditor uses VidiCore to transform a sequence document into a Final Cut Pro 7 XML. Therefore supported features depend on this transformation and on the VidiEditor implementation itself. For an overview about most relevant scenarios and tested functionalities see following listing: