I've recently switched from Premiere Pro to FCP and am trying to figure out how I might switch field dominance, or if I even need to in FCP. For example, Premiere Pro will allow you to step through the opposite field of a frame by holding down the Alt key while stepping (or scrubbing) your video on your timeline. Here is a better explanation of the need for this feature (on a PC anyway, and I would assume it works the same way on a Mac in FCP.

When you scrub the Timeline, pause or stop playback on the timeline, only one field is displayed. If you see a "glitch" in your project when you play it back from the Timeline, but notice that when you scrub on the Timeline to find the glitch, you can't find it, you may need to switch the field your scrubbing over. Another example for needing to view the opposite filed is a frame might be when you're trying to sync a multicam shoot with a flash seen by all cameras during normal playback, but can not detect the flash while scrubbing or stepping through the timeline.

I'm assuming FCP works in the same fashion when you pause, scrub, or step though your video. However the only reference I can find to any procedure similar to this if FCP is where it talks about Using the Shift Fields filter. This is what it says: In most cases, the Shift Fields filter is applied automatically, so you rarely need to apply this filter yourself. However, you can modify, add, or delete the Shift Fields filter just as you can any other filter. The Shift Fields filter is located in the Effects tab and Effects menu within the video filters Video category.

So, any ideas? I haven't actually found myself in this situation in FCP yet, but I'm just waiting for the problem to raise it's ugly head some day when I'm trying to sync two different angles using a photographers flash.

I know that FCP will display the interlaced video if the viewer or canvas is at 100%. If you zoom to anything other than 100% it shows only one field. I recall a preference somewhere that allows you to set the field dominance. I have never heard of stepping through the fields, but I haven't had to use it either.

I am afraid I don't know how to do this with Final Cut Pro. Just in case you also have Shake, though, you can do it there, by setting your increment to 0.5 frames.

- Martin

Ron,

I'm not sure of any method for scrubbing in-between fields however the field-related glitches you're referring to can really only be seen when viewed on an external interlaced NTSC monitor, not a computer LCD. This is why KONA, BlackMagic, Matrox and now MOTU have created methods for viewing HD content in real-time.

If you're editing in SD you can output to an NTSC monitor - or even TV set easily out firewire for less than $200 with any DV deck that gives FW input and component output. Many JVC and Sony decks have this capability and a very affordable.