weird ending problem

[Jem Moore]

I have a short film that's supposed to cut to black before the final gunshot, but when I export as Quicktime movie, FCP doesn't cut to black at the end, it just does this weird repeating frame of the last clip. The last video clip ends and then the last sound effect comes in a second later, so maybe it's a problem with not having a video clip to go with the sound? Anyone know about this? Thanks...

[R Geoff Baker]

Just put a black slug in the video track and end it with your audio.

Cheers,
GB

[Jem Moore]

I thought that might be the fix, thanks...I know it's probably something super-easy once you've done it, but what's the best way to create a black slug of indeterminate length?

[R Geoff Baker]

The drop-down arrow option in the bottom right corner of the Viewer window includes a 'Slug' option (as well as text et cetera) -- I believe it defaults to black. Drag the created Slug from the Viewer window onto the timeline and drag it to the correct length. Alternatively, you can use the duration window in the top right corner of the Viewer window and create a Slug of a precise length if you know what you need.

Slugs are useful things -- I almost always create a slug with motion control settings to change the opacity from 100% to zero over its length to start a video with a 'fade-in' and end a video with the same reversed for a fade-out.

Cheers,
GB

[Jem Moore]

Excellent technique, thanks for that walk-through...I had found the "slug" option in the 'video generator' menu, but that short-cut is invaluable. Thanks again for the help.