fixing dumb, dumb, DUMB mistake!! : Adobe After Effects

I have a serious grain/noise problem in some footage that I can't reshoot and tried to fix in FCP (my usual editing software).

AE seems to do a fantastic job of cleaning it up...much better than any FCP plug-ins or native filters I've tried.

If I want to edit in FCP, is the best workflow:

1. Finish editing in FCP.
2. Export complete QT file.
3. Apply grain/noise filter and any color correction in AE.

Or is there some reason to fix the noise in the raw QT files using AE, and then import them into FCP? (Obviously, this would take a long time, as I have about 10x more footage than I'll use.)

Thanks!

You should be able to send a clip from within the FCP timeline to AE, if AE is set as your default editor in FCP, then you can save time by only fixing those clips that are used, and not have to export them the long way.

Set AE as your External Editor for Video files under Final Cut Pro menu>System Settings...>External Editors, then select and Ctrl+Click a clip in the timeline of FCP and choose Open in Editor from the context menu. I haven't done this personally, but it should work. I'm not sure if AE needs an "FCP" plugin to support communicating back and forth with FCP, i.e., sending the edits back to FCP via a save or export operation, or something, but FCP can send files to AE this way. Check FCP help for specifics.

Photoshop CS3 Extended can also edit video, but I hear PS CS4 has much more ability.

Philip_Fass@adobeforums.com wrote:
> I have a serious grain/noise problem in some footage that I can't reshoot and tried to fix in FCP (my usual editing software).
>
> AE seems to do a fantastic job of cleaning it up...much better than any FCP plug-ins or native filters I've tried.
>
> If I want to edit in FCP, is the best workflow:
>
> 1. Finish editing in FCP.
> 2. Export complete QT file.
> 3. Apply grain/noise filter and any color correction in AE.
>
> Or is there some reason to fix the noise in the raw QT files using AE, and then import them into FCP? (Obviously, this would take a long time, as I have about 10x more footage than I'll use.)
>
> Thanks!

I would think that as long as your exporting a lossless QT format out of
FCP, that doing your cutting in FCP before shuffling off to AE will not
give you cause for regret.