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DECEMBER 09, 2002 Automatic Composition Import FCP Suite In the last Final Cut Pro Quick Tip, I discussed how to import a single clip from the Final Cut Pro Timeline to After Effects for special effects work. The problem with that solution is it only brings in one track. If you have multiple layers, and need to make adjustments to all of them at the same time, you are going to run into issues. The solution? Get the duck... Automatic Duck that is. You’ve probably already heard about Automatic Duck from many of the user forum and communities on the web. Headed by Wes Plate, Automatic Duck has been providing NLE and After Effects users with the plug-ins necessary to transfer entire timelines directly into After Effects. Currently Automatic Duck offers three flavors of their NLE to AE programs. [an error occurred while processing this directive]Automatic Composition Import is designed for Avid users who need to move their OMF files and sequences into After Effects. OMF files are not read natively by After Effects, but with this plug-in you just point After Effects to a compliant OMF sequence and everything imports wonderfully. If you are not on the fancy pants Avid systems, but rather on the lower (and more affordable) Xpress DV system, then you should check out Automatic Composition Import DV designed specifically for the Xpress systems. This works the same way as Automatic Composition Import. For the Final Cut Pro user (and the focus of this review), Automatic Duck offers Automatic Composition Import Final Cut Pro Suite. In what seems to be less than a blink of an eye, the program will export the sequence in a compliant file that can then be opened in After Effects. In a nutshell here is how it works: Once your Final Cut Pro sequence is complete and you are ready to do motion graphics magic, select File>Export>Automatic Duck. This will generate a file that contains all of the In/Out Points and pointers to the original media files.  You then open After Effects and select File>Import>OMF as Comp from the menu. When you have selected the sequence, After Effects then begins importing all the necessary files and builds an After Effects Timeline.  The results will look slightly different than your original FCP sequence, as After Effects and Automatic Composition Import FCP Suite brings every edit in a separate layer. While this gives you the greatest flexibility in tweaking your sequence, it can create a huge Timeline for you to scroll through.
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