Digital Commons at Penn State

The very first thing you should do when starting a Final Cut Pro project is to create a single folder on your desktop (for transferring to the storage server) or on your external Hard Drive.

Then you should save your project. From the options at the top of the screen choose “File”, then “Save Project As…”

Click the blue button with the arrow next to the “Save As” text field and choose the folder you previously created. Feel free to name the project anything you would like. When you’ve finished, click on the “Save” button. Make sure you save often by going to “File” and choosing “Save Project.”

Now set the Capture Scratch. Navigate to the options at the top and click on “Final Cut Pro” and scroll down to and click on “System Settings…”

This is where we set what is called the “Capture Scratch.” The Capture Scratch stores all of the video footage that has been captured on to the computer for use in your project. Because you need to save and backup your project you need to set the Capture Scratch the the folder you Created at the beginning of this tutorial. Do this by clicking on the first “Set…” button in the System Settings window.

Choose the Previously Created Folder and, if you would like to save the Capture Scratch in a particular folder, choose it as well. By default, setting the Capture Scratch will automatically create a folder named “Final Cut Pro Documents.” Within this folder will be created the three main Capture Scratch folders: Audio Render Files, Capture Scratch, and Render Files. Click “Choose” when you have made your selection on where the Capture Scratch should be saved.

Make sure to repeat the process for the options labeled Waveform Cache, Thumbnail Cache, and Autosave Vault. These should all be set where the Capture Scratch was saved, either in the “Final Cut Pro Documents” folder, or in the folder that you specified. Additionally, make sure that “Limit Capture Now To: 30 Minutes” is unchecked. Click “OK.”

Please refer to the media-specific Capturing tutorial that best suits your needs for the next step. You only need to do this if you are capturing footage from a Mini DV, DVD, or VHS.