final cut to after effects

[thecrock]

I have captured some footage which I need to edit and add text and effects to.
Should I import the video into Final Cut and edit the movie together then export and load into after effects where I can use the effects from that program.

What I mean is which way round is this sort of thing done, should I use one program or the other? I have basic knowledge of both but have never finished a whole project before.I know I can edit the footage quickly in final cut but have also been looking at tutorials for AE and things like motion blur are really easy to add.

Is there a wise member who can give me some help to avoid the 'pitfalls' as they say?

[guns1inger]

Generally you would only take into After Effects the footage you need to work on in After Effects. That may have been edited before hand, or it may have only been trimmed. It depends on what you need to do.

If you are overlaying text or effects then you may be working on a scene you have already edited.

If you are doing colour correction or timing then you may have to work scene by scene or even cut by cut do ensure everything matches.

You may also find that you need to at least do a rough cut in FCP first, just to get the timing right, then take the footage into AE in pieces to put the effects in, then re-edit in FCP to get the final cut and timing.

Ultimately though, only the scenes that need to go into AE should go into AE. Remember that AE will re-render everything, and you want minimise unnecessary re-encoding wherever possible.

[thecrock]

Thanks for the invaluable advice guns1inger.

I have to sync to a soundtrack, I intend on roughly timing my footage to the soundtrack then animating text much more in sync with the background track. I have been looking into After Effects for a couple of weeks and I'm a little slow but passable with keyframing.

I am a little worried about syncing in FC then going into AE then back again and keeping everything in sync though, sounds like it might be tricky. I am novice with both programs.

Im thinking more and more to drop after effects but it is so powerful, I could really do with the speed and control of AE.

I was thinking about timing everything in After Effects but if you think I should do that in Final Cut then I will give this a try.

Your wisdom is greatly appreciated.

[guns1inger]

You can bring audio into AE, however if you are putting text through the entire piece and timing it to audio then you might as well edit the whole piece first, then come into AE to put the text effects in place.