How To Edit in Dolby Vision with Apple Final Cut Pro for Social Media

  • Jul 12, 2023
  • Knowledge

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How To Edit in Dolby Vision with Apple Final Cut Pro for Social Media
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MichaelH, 7/12/2023 2:38 PM
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Article Content

This article covers the following topics on how to edit Dolby Vision Profile 8.4 content for a Dolby Vision delivery to Vimeo using Apple Final Cut Pro:

 

Apple Final Cut Pro supports import, editing and export of Dolby Vision Profile 8.4 files.  It can also be used to edit other HDR sources and encode the final edit to Dolby Vision.  Dolby Vision encoding support is available when running
  • Apple Final Cut Pro version 10.5.3 or above
  • macOS 11.0 (Big Sur) or above – although some earlier versions feature Dolby Vision playback support only



Apple Final Cut Pro project setup for Dolby Vision


This article provides an example of how to configure Apple Final Cut Pro for Dolby Vision.  While other options and workflows are possible, the options shown in this article cover a commonly used configuration.

* You can view this video in Dolby Vision on selected Apple devices when using the Safari browser. For more details see the Dolby Vision on Vimeo FAQs .



 

Key settings in Apple Final Cut Pro

Color Processing setting in the Library Properties

  • This should be set to ‘Wide Gamut HDR’.  This effectively switches Final Cut Pro into its HDR processing mode.


Picture 1.png

 

Color Space setting in the Project Properties window

  • This should be set to ‘Wide Gamut HDR – Rec. 2020 HLG’.  This is easiest to configure when setting up a new project where you also have the option to ‘Use Automatic Settings’ which will configure this setting based on the first source file you import.  Once you have set up your project this can be accessed from the Project Properties options as shown below

Picture 2.png


 

Monitoring HDR from Apple Final Cut Pro


There are two primary options for monitoring HDR content while editing in Apple Final Cut Pro
  • Monitor on an in-built or other HDR display connected through the standard Apple Mac display connectivity and managed through the display properties in macOS
    • In this case you should select ‘Show HDR as Tone Mapped’ in the View settings
  • Monitor on an Apple Pro Display XDR or an HDR monitor connected via an external i/o interface, such as those available from AJA or Blackmagic Design. 
    • These displays can be selected via the A/V Output option in the Preferences -> Playback settings.

For more information see View HDR video in the Final Cut Pro viewer on the Apple Support website
 



Share Dolby Vision exports directly from Apple Final Cut Pro


There are a range of options for exporting Dolby Vision encodes.  The simplest is to select the ‘HEVC 10-bit (HLG with Dolby Vision 8.4)’ option from the ‘Apple Devices 4K’ sharing settings.  This is accessed by going to ‘File > Share > Apple Devices 4K…’



Picture 3.png
 


Share Dolby Vision exports from Apple Compressor


If you require more control over encoding settings such as data rate or encoding speed it is recommended that Apple Compressor is used. 

 




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