Skills audit: Livetype & Sound.

Following up the tutorial we had on Final Cut Pro, we were given addition lessons on how to use the other software's in the Final Cut Studio 3 suite - Livetype and Soundtrack Pro.

Livetype is a program used to create and customise different title sequences which can be implemented within your clips on Final Cut Pro. When you first open the program, you are faced with a complicated looking layout with many tabs and buttons involved.

We were first taught how to add text onto the screen; - this was quite simple. You just have to click on the box, on the right hand side (1st panel - A), and begin typing. You should start seeing text appear on the big checkered screen to the right. If not, you can simply press the 'Apply' button on the bottom right corner of the 2nd panel - B, above the timeline. To change the fonts of the chosen text, on panel B, click on the LiveFonts tab and you should see a list of different fonts. There will be a preview of what the text looks like in the box above. Alternatively, if the font you are looking for isn't there, you can choose from categories of text, at the drop down menu. Correspondingly, to add different effects to the text, click the effects tab on panel B, and choose from the different options and categories available. Click on the 'Apply' button when your happy with what you have selected and you should see that there is a purple bar added to your time line. To play the whole sequence together, drag the cursor on the timeline to the front, and press play (or press space bar). At first the playback will be slow because the different effects and text will have to render. After that it should play smoothly.


Soundtrack Pro is another program used in conjunction with Final Cut Pro and Livetype. The combination of the 3 all work together to produce a professionally polished sequence. First time users of Soundtrack Pro will find that this is one of the most complicated layouts out of the 3 different programs. Making a track on Soundtrack Pro consists of you building up a sequence using the different sounds and instrumentals available. The layout of Soundtrack Pro varies from time to time depending on who was on the Mac's beforehand: - may have altered it.

However, to begin, try to locate the 'Search' panel, usually situated at the bottom left of the screen. When found, there will be different categories accessible to you, and within the categories there are different genre's to choose from to narrow down the search results. From the list generated below, click through the different sounds and press play to hear a preview. When you have found one that you like, drag it onto the time line. and it should appear as a bar with the wavelength inside. If you want to add more tracks onto the time line to build up the sequence, you simply, drag other sounds onto the timeline underneath the sound you previously placed earlier.
Unlike LiveType, you can import your sequence made on Final Cut Pro, onto Soundtrack Pro, so that you can alter the different sounds to go with the sequence. When imported, the sequence will be played in the Video panel at the top left hand side of the screen.