FCP to AE workflow question

[crot0019]

Hey guys I have cut together a music video and have now thought about doing sky replacement in AE. Now is it possible to use the capture scratch from FCP and do the AE work and then get it back to FCP with my cuts restored?

I know it probably would have been easier to do it first but sky replacement was an after thought. Would appreciate any help you guys could give me

 

[handsome pete]

I'm not sure what you mean about the "capture scratch" part of your question.

How many shots need the sky replacement? If it's only a few, then I would set in/out points on your sequence around an area where you need to do the effect. Then export as a quicktime movie (not quicktime conversion). Import that exported clip into AE, do your sky replacement, render, then import that shot back into you FCP project and replace the original clip in your timeline. Repeat as necessary for any remaining shots.

There are tools like Automatic Duck that will help bring in FCP timelines to AE, but if there are only a few shots needed, then I would stick to the method outlined above.

You could also bring in your original footage into AE, do your effects, then render out copies with your effects and use the "reconnect media" option in FCP to basically replace your original clips with the new effects clips. In order to not mess up your timeline, you'd have to make sure everything you rendered from AE matched the settings of your original footage (time, format, etc.). But that might not be optimal if you're working with really long clips where you only need to apply the effect to a sample of it.