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Retired Document

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Document Export and Import

Documents in the Final Cut Pro XML Interchange Format are stored on disk as plain text documents that you can view, parse, and edit on any platform.

You can validate an interchange format document using an interchange format DTD. (See DTD for the Interchange Format)

You can export an interchange format document from Final Cut Pro, or import an interchange format document into Final Cut Pro, using either the Final Cut Pro user interface or, alternatively, Apple Events from an independent application. This chapter describes importing and exporting with the user interface. For information about using Apple Events see Apple Events and Final Cut Pro

Exporting Documents

To export an interchange format document from Final Cut Pro:

Select an item in the Browser that you want to describe in an interchange format document. (If nothing is selected, a description of the entire contents of the Browser is exported.)
Choose File > Export > XML.
Check the Export XML dialog to make sure that the source for the interchange format document is correct. In Figure 2-1 the source is a single sequence.
Choose the version of the XML Interchange Format for the document.
If clips in your source have master clips, you can select the option to Include Master Clips Outside Selection.
Select or deselect the option “Save project with latest clip metadata.“ Since XML Export may make changes that affect project metadata (such as itemhistory), saving the project at the time you export ensures that this metadata is persistent. On the other hand, not saving the project can ensure the user’s ability to undo changes.
Click OK.
Enter a title for the interchange format document and choose a location. (You may want to use .xml as a suffix.)

Interchange format documents you export from Final Cut Pro have the Final Cut Pro XML file icon.

Importing Documents

There are several ways you can import an interchange format document into Final Cut Pro.

You can use the Import menu to import any interchange format document:

Choose File > Import > XML.
Navigate to the document, select it, and then click Choose.

If the document file has a Final Cut Pro XML file icon, you can do any of the following:

Double-click the document.
Drag the document to the Final Cut Pro icon on the desktop or in the Dock.
Use the Import menu.

When you import an interchange format document, the Import XML dialog appears.

The settings in this dialog are:

Destination: Select an existing project as the destination of the import, or create a new project for the import.
Sequence Settings: Select the sequence settings for the import. The default setting is (auto). This means that Final Cut Pro conforms the sequence settings of the imported XML to the settings specified in the XML. (If the XML doesn't specify sequence settings, Final Cut uses the settings of the first edited clipitem in each sequence. If no settings are available, Final Cut uses the default Sequence Preset.)
Reconnect to Media Files: Select this option to tell Final Cut Pro to reconnect browser and sequence clips encoded in the file with associated media when possible. If you do not select this option, all imported clips are offline.
Include Markers: Select this option to import any clip or sequence marker information encoded in the file.
Include Audio/Video Effects: Select this option to import any encoded audio or video filters for Browser or sequence clips. This setting does not affect encoded audio or video transitions.

Errors During Import

When you import an interchange format document, Final Cut Pro first checks to make sure the document is well-formed and that all required elements are present. It then translates the interchange format document into Final Cut Pro components.

If Final Cut Pro finds critical errors during import, the interchange format document is not imported. If noncritical errors occur, the document is imported, though the components constructed from the document may differ from your expectations.

Information about noncritical errors appears in an Final Cut Pro XML Error Log Window. (Note that you can suppress the reporting of noncritical errors by setting displaynoncriticalerrors to FALSE. See Import Options

In general, you should study error information about a document you are attempting to import, modify the document, and then reimport it, continuing this process until you can import the document without errors.

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