Using PowerPoint and Keynote in Final Cut Pro

Posted on by Larry

[ This article was first published in the June, 2009, issue of
Larry’s Final Cut Pro Newsletter. Click here to subscribe. ]


Barry Drennan asks:

Could you please tell me whether it is possible to add a PowerPoint presentation into a FCP sequence?

Larry replies: Yup!

Whether you use PowerPoint or Keynote, you can bring that info into FCP by exporting it as a QuickTime movie, then import that QuickTime movie into Final Cut.

However, people design for PowerPoint differently than for video, and you’ll have problems if you don’t take a few extra points into consideration:

UPDATE – June 18, 2009

Cal Deal writes:

I’m away on vacation, but I saw your newsletter. I think you’re in error about exporting one Keynote slide frame. As long as the timings are programmed in, I believe they will export and play normally.

Sharon Sobel adds:

Just to follow up from your most recent newsletter. Larry, I import powerpoints all the time into FCP. The only thing that gets sacrificed with my method is animated transitions.

 

Here’s how I do it:

 

  1. Open powerpoint, and open the file.
  2. Click “View slideshow”
  3. Wait for a few seconds until the slide transition icon in the bottom corner disappears.
  4. Click Shift + Command + 3 on the slide—you’re doing a screen capture. Do this with each slide in the file. If there is a “build” on the page, do a screen capture between the “builds” on the page, and add dissolve transitions through Final Cut.
  5. You’ll end up with a bunch of .jpgs on your desktop.
  6. Make a new folder to put them all in, and then move the folder to your project’s folder to stay organized.
  7. Import the folder into Final Cut. All of the slides will be in this folder. You shouldn’t have to do any re-sizing of the images in a 4:3 project.

Still need to bring movies in separately, as you indicated, but this process works for 95% of the powerpoint presentations I get, and is a pretty fast method.

Larry replies: Thanks, Cal and Sharon, for writing. I appreciate the update.

 


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One Response to Using PowerPoint and Keynote in Final Cut Pro

  1. Roel says:

    Saving the slides as a png instead of jpg will give them higher quality in FCP.

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