Importing stills into FCP 5
 

What is the best way to import stills into FCP 5? I'm editing in an HDV timeline and need to add stills from old archive photos. I've scanned them VERY large and use AE7 to perform camera moves on them (Using the HDV preset in AE7). If it doesn't need a camera move, I re-frame them and use "SAVE AS STILL" in AE7. I usually leave it as a Photoshop file (PSD) but there are other options such as TIFF, JPEG etc.

When I import the still .psd into FCP, it can't play it at real time and it needs rendering. I thought if it was the right size and pixel aspect ratio (Which it is thanks to the HDV preset in AE7), it would play OK in real time.

Is this even possible with still images in FCP? I'm a relatively new user to the program.

I'm also new to FCP 5 (about 2 months), but so far every still image I've inserted still requires rendering. I've only tried PSD, JPG, and TIFF with no luck on either. I just gave up and accepted it, hopefully someone can help us with a solution. I'm using Photoshop 7... maybe the new "CS" versions have some new compatiable output?

By the way, I'm only editing SD.

Nick,

I've had FCP for about 4 months now. This is the first project I've wanted to import stills in. I hate to say it but in Premiere I could import a still as a PSD and extend it, shorten it, dissolve w/it and it would play out real time no prob!

Oh Well....most things about FCP I really like, but there are these little things that make one miss the "old" days.

I also came from Premiere, and for a few of the features I'm having some trouble adjusting, but overall, I like the Final Cut Studio package better. I will try some other image formats and see if I can come up with a solution that works.