Final Cut Pro X User Guide
KKApple Inc. Copyright © 2012 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Your rights to the software are governed by the accompanying software license agreement. The owner or authorized user of a valid copy of Final Cut Pro software may reproduce this publication for the purpose of learning to use such software. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes, such as selling copies of this publication or for providing paid for support services.
Contents 13 13 14 Chapter 1: What’s new in Final Cut Pro? 15 15 16 18 21 22 Chapter 2: Final Cut Pro basics 24 24 25 25 25 30 33 34 35 37 38 38 39 40 40 40 42 45 46 48 49 Chapter 3: Import media What’s new in Final Cut Pro 10.0.3? What’s new in Final Cut Pro 10.0.
51 51 51 53 53 55 Chapter 4: Analyze media 57 57 58 58 58 59 60 60 62 63 64 64 68 70 72 74 76 76 79 81 Chapter 5: Organize your media 82 82 83 85 87 88 88 89 90 91 91 Chapter 6: Play back and skim media 4 Analyzing media overview Video and still-image analysis options Audio analysis options Analyze your media View analysis keywords on clips Events and clips overview Organize Events Create a new Event Rename an Event Merge or split Events Copy or move clips between Events Copy or move Events Sort
92 92 94 94 98 101 Chapter 7: Create and manage projects 102 102 102 102 103 105 108 108 109 110 110 113 117 118 121 122 123 124 126 126 134 134 134 138 145 147 151 154 155 155 157 159 161 162 Chapter 8: Edit your project Create a new project Preview and open a project Modify a project’s name and properties Organize projects in the Project Library Save projects Editing overview Select clips and ranges About selections and filmstrips Select one or more clips Select a range Add and remove clips Adding c
166 Add and remove markers 166 Markers overview 167 Add and remove markers 168 Edit and move markers 170 Jump between markers 170 Correct excessive shake and rolling shutter issues 172 172 173 173 174 175 175 177 181 192 192 194 197 201 204 205 206 206 206 208 208 210 213 214 216 Chapter 9: Add and adjust audio Audio overview Add audio Add music and sound Record audio Add and adjust audio effects Add audio effects Adjust audio effects Adjust audio effects using keyframes Adjust and enhance audio Adjust vo
224 227 228 229 229 229 230 232 234 235 236 236 236 238 240 241 243 244 250 250 251 252 255 257 257 258 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 264 264 265 270 270 271 281 Adjust transitions in the Timeline Adjust transitions in the Transition inspector and Viewer Adjust transitions with multiple images Create specialized versions of transitions in Motion Add and adjust titles Titles overview Add titles to your project Adjust titles Remove titles from your project Find and replace text in your project Adjust built-in
285 285 285 286 291 294 298 302 308 308 311 317 317 318 320 322 326 326 326 332 334 335 336 336 339 339 340 344 347 350 350 351 351 352 354 354 355 361 371 379 381 8 Chapter 11: Advanced editing Group clips with compound clips Compound clips overview Create and break apart compound clips Manage compound clips Add storylines Fine-tune edits with the Precision Editor Create split edits Make three-point edits Three-point editing overview Three-point edit examples Try out clips using auditions Auditions ov
382 Chapter 12: Keying and compositing 382 Keying 382 Keying overview 383 Use chroma keys 394 Use luma keys 401 Finalize the key 405 Compositing 405 Compositing overview 405 Use alpha channels 407 Use Compositing settings 409 409 410 410 410 412 412 414 414 414 417 419 422 423 424 425 426 426 426 427 428 431 432 Chapter 13: Color correction Color correction overview Analyze and balance color automatically Color balance overview Analyze a clip for color balance Balance a clip’s colors Match color between
440 444 444 445 446 447 448 448 454 454 455 456 459 459 461 462 462 Burn your project to a disc or create a disk image Share on the web Publish your project to YouTube Publish your project to Facebook Publish your project to Vimeo Publish your project to CNN iReport Export your project Export your project as media files Export an image from your project Export your project as an image sequence Export your project for web streaming Export your project using Compressor Status of shared projects Shared projec
496 Chapter 16: Preferences and metadata 496 Preferences and metadata overview 496 Final Cut Pro preferences 496 Change preference settings 497 Editing preferences 498 Playback preferences 500 Import preferences 502 Work with metadata 502 Display and change metadata 504 Modify metadata views 506 Batch rename clips 509 509 509 526 526 526 530 531 Chapter 17: Keyboard shortcuts and gestures 532 Chapter 18: Glossary Keyboard shortcuts and Multi-Touch gestures overview Keyboard shortcuts Multi-Touch gest
What’s new in Final Cut Pro? 1 What’s new in Final Cut Pro 10.0.3? Final Cut Pro 10.0.3 includes major new features and enhancements, detailed below. Multicam editing You can now use multicam clips to edit footage from multicamera shoots or other synchronized footage in real time. Working with multicam clips in Final Cut Pro is a flexible and fluid process.
Other notable features ÂÂ Layered graphics files, such as Adobe Photoshop (PSD) files, can now be edited so that each layer appears as a connected clip in the Timeline. ÂÂ Advanced Keyer controls are now available. ÂÂ Keyframing controls are improved in the Video and Audio Animation Editors. What’s new in Final Cut Pro 10.0.1? Final Cut Pro 10.0.1 includes a number of new features, enhancements, and changes. The most significant features are introduced below.
Final Cut Pro basics 2 What is Final Cut Pro? Final Cut Pro X is a revolutionary application for creating, editing, and producing the highest-quality video. Final Cut Pro combines high-performance digital editing and native support for virtually any video format with easy-to-use and time-saving features that let you focus on storytelling.
ÂÂ Have Final Cut Pro analyze your video and nondestructively fix common problems such as camera shake, excess hum, or loudness. You can also have Final Cut Pro detect the presence of people or the shot type, and automatically apply keywords such as One Person or Wide Shot. ÂÂ Organize your media using Keyword Collections, which automatically group clips based on keywords, and Smart Collections, which automatically group clips based on criteria you specify.
Organize your media Final Cut Pro automatically organizes your imported media into Events. An Event is like a folder that contains all the media recorded on a certain date. In Final Cut Pro, your media appears as clips, which link to the media files stored on a disk. You can reorganize your clips by creating or renaming Events and moving clips between Events. For example, you could create an Event for all the media shot for a specific client.
Final Cut Pro interface overview The Final Cut Pro window has three main areas: Event Browser: Access all the source media you import. Magnetic Timeline: Edit your movie in this area. 18 Chapter 2 Final Cut Pro basics Viewer: Play back clips and projects.
Organize media in the Event Library and Event Browser All your imported media is available in the Event Library. (An Event is like a folder that contains clips.) When you select an Event in the Event Library, its clips appear in the Event Browser on the right. Event Library: Select an Event to view its media on the right. Event Browser: View and sort the clips in the selected Event.
Play back clips and projects in the Viewer The Viewer is where you play back your video, including clips and projects with up to 4K resolution. You can play back Events, projects, or individual clips in full-screen view or on a second display. For information about ways to play media, see “Play back media” on page 83. Resolution-independent playback: Play back video files up to 4K. Onscreen controls: Adjust effects such as Transform, Crop, and Distort.
Edit your project in the Magnetic Timeline The bottom portion of the Final Cut Pro window contains the Timeline, where you create your movie by adding and arranging clips and making all your edits. The Timeline in Final Cut Pro “magnetically” adjusts clips to fit around clips that you drag into place. If you drag clips out of place, the surrounding clips close up to fill the space.
Clips represent your media, but they are not the media files themselves. The clips in a project simply point to (link to) the source media files on your hard disk. When you modify a clip, you are not modifying the media file, just the clip’s information in the project. This is known as nondestructive editing, because all of the changes and effects you apply to clips in Final Cut Pro never affect the media itself.
The illustration below shows the relationship between Events and projects: Final Cut Pro X keeps track of the links between project clips and their source Event clips, but projects and Events remain independent.
Import media 3 Importing overview Importing media into Final Cut Pro is the first step toward making your movie. With Final Cut Pro, you can: ÂÂ Import from a file-based (tapeless) camera or device ÂÂ Import from iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch ÂÂ Import from a tape-based camcorder or device ÂÂ Import from iMovie ÂÂ Import from iPhoto and Aperture ÂÂ Import from iTunes ÂÂ Import from a hard disk ÂÂ Import from a camera archive During import, you assign your media to an Event.
If it’s your first import The first time you open Final Cut Pro, it contains no media, no projects, and a single Event. Buttons appear in the Event Browser to help you quickly import Events from iMovie, media from your hard disk or a connected external storage device, or media directly from a connected camera. Import media into an empty Event Do one of the following: mm To import Events from iMovie: Click the Import iMovie Events button and follow the instructions for importing iMovie Events.
If your file-based device provides a clip-spanning feature, you can import all of the media as one spanned clip. To check whether your camera is compatible with Final Cut Pro, go to the Final Cut Pro X Supported Cameras webpage at http://help.apple.com/finalcutpro/cameras. Import from a file-based camcorder, camera, or device 1 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Connect your camcorder, camera, or device to your computer, using the cable that came with the device, and turn it on.
The media on the device appears at the bottom of the Camera Import window. You can preview the media by either playing it using the playback controls or skimming it by moving the pointer forward or backward over a filmstrip. Playback controls The media on the device appears here. Change the way clips appear using these controls. 4 Do one of the following: ÂÂ To import all clips: Click Import All.
5 In the window that appears, choose how you want to organize the imported media in your Event Library: ÂÂ To add the imported clips to an existing Event: Select “Add to existing Event,” and choose it from the pop-up menu. ÂÂ To create a new Event: Select “Create new Event” and type a name (for example, “Chris and Kim Wedding”) in the text field; then choose the disk where you want to store the Event from the “Save to” pop-up menu. To learn more about Events, see “Events and clips overview” on page 57.
To play a clip with a Camera icon, Final Cut Pro locates the media on either a connected camera or in a connected, available camera archive. (See “Access media on an archive or disk image” on page 42 for more information.) If Final Cut Pro can’t locate the media in one of those locations, the clip will go offline and display the Missing Camera alert icon.
Import spanned clips Some file-based camcorders or devices that have more than one memory card slot can record one shot over multiple memory cards. The resulting shot is called a spanned clip. A good way to import a spanned clip into Final Cut Pro is to attach your camera or card reader to your local system and create a camera archive for each memory card. You can store the camera archives on your local system or on an external storage device until you are ready to import the spanned clip.
Import a spanned clip 1 If your camera archives are stored on an external storage device, make sure that it is connected to your local system. 2 Choose File > Import from Camera. The Camera Import window appears, showing all camera archives on your local system (and on any connected external storage devices) in the Camera Archives section on the left. 3 Select each camera archive that makes up the spanned clip. Final Cut Pro mounts all of the camera archives.
If one or more camera archives is missing, an icon appears on the camera archive to indicate which part of the spanned clip is available—the beginning, middle, or end. You can select each camera archive to see the different icons. Indicates that all portions of the spanned clip are available. Indicates that the beginning portion of the spanned clip is available. Indicates that the middle portion of the spanned clip is available. Indicates that the end portion of the spanned clip is available.
8 To begin working with your clips, close the Camera Import window so you can access the Event Browser. Import from iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch Importing media from iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is the same as importing it from a file-based camcorder, camera, or device. Import from iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch 1 Connect your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your computer using the Dock Connector to USB cable that came with it. (If another application opens, close it.) Then turn on your device and unlock it.
3 Do one of the following: ÂÂ To import all clips: Click Import All. ÂÂ To import only some of the clips: Select each clip you want to import by Command- clicking each thumbnail, or dragging to select a group of clips, and click Import Selected (the Import button changes its name). ÂÂ To import a portion of one clip: Drag inside the clip to select the range that you want, and click Import Selected.
Import still-image clips and video clips from a digital still camera 1 Connect your camera to your computer using the cable that came with the camera, and turn it on. If your camera doesn’t appear in the Finder, remove the camera’s memory card and insert it into the card slot on your Mac (if it has one) or into an external card reader. 2 In the Finder, locate the DCIM folder inside the camera folder, and then locate the stillimage or video files.
3 In Final Cut Pro, choose File > Import from Camera. The Camera Import window appears. If you have multiple devices connected to your computer, choose the device you want to import from in the list of cameras on the left. The Camera Import window displays the image from the current position of the tape. 4 Use the playback controls (or use the J, K, and L keys) to set your tape to the point where you want to begin importing, and click Import.
7 Click Import. Final Cut Pro begins importing immediately from the current location on the tape. It will continue to import (and save the resulting media file to the Event you specified) until one of the following occurs: ÂÂ It reaches the end of the tape. ÂÂ The hard disk you are importing to is full. ÂÂ You stop the import session by clicking Stop Import or Close (to close the Camera Import window). The video plays as it’s being imported.
ÂÂ If you’re importing video clips from a still camera or other flash memory device, make sure the file format of your video is MPEG-2, MPEG-4, or AVCHD, all of which are compatible with Final Cut Pro. ÂÂ If your still camera is not supported by Final Cut Pro, try importing the media as files, using a card slot on your Mac computer or an external card reader. See “Import from a hard disk” on page 40 for more information.
Import an iMovie project 1 In Final Cut Pro, choose File > Import > iMovie Project and locate your existing iMovie project, typically found in the Movies folder on your hard disk. 2 Click Import. The project opens in the Timeline and any associated Events appear in the Event Library. Import your iMovie Event Library 1 In Final Cut Pro, choose File > Import > iMovie Event Library. 2 Read the message that appears and click OK. The Events in your iMovie Event Library appear in the Final Cut Pro Event Library.
3 To use one or more photos or video clips in your project, drag the items from the Photos Browser to an Event icon in the Event Library or a project in the Timeline. You can also drag photos and video clips from iPhoto or Aperture directly to an Event in the Event Library or a project in the Timeline, without using the Photos Browser. Import from iTunes You can import music and sound from your existing iTunes library into Final Cut Pro.
When you drag media from the Finder into Final Cut Pro, the media is imported using the organize, transcode, and analysis settings you set in the Final Cut Pro preferences. If you don’t want to use the Import Files window to manage your import, and if you want to always use the same organize, transcode, and analysis settings, importing by dragging files into Final Cut Pro is a good option. See “Import preferences” on page 500 for information on the Import preferences.
4 To have Final Cut Pro copy your media files and add them to the Final Cut Pro Event folder that you specified, select the checkbox. 5 If you want to organize your media, transcode your media, analyze the video, or analyze the audio, select the relevant checkboxes. If you don’t set Final Cut Pro to analyze your media during the import process, you can analyze it later (if necessary) in the Event Browser. 6 Click Import. Final Cut Pro imports your media in the background.
Note: Some file-based devices allow you to copy the recorded media (with its original directory structure) to a folder on your computer’s hard disk via the Finder. To import media copied in this way, follow the instructions in “Import media from an archive or disk image,” below. Mount and unmount a camera archive 1 In Final Cut Pro, choose File > Import from Camera. The Camera Import window appears, showing all camera archives in the Camera Archives section on the left.
2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Under the list of Camera Archives on the left, select the archive you want to import. ÂÂ Click Open Archive, navigate to the folder of the archive you want to import, and click Open. 3 To select which clips you want to import, do one of the following: ÂÂ To import all clips: Click Import All. ÂÂ To import only some of the clips: Select each clip you want to import by Command-clicking each thumbnail, or dragging to select a group of clips, and click Import Selected.
Organize files while importing You have organizing options when you import files into Final Cut Pro. ÂÂ Copy files to Final Cut Events folder: This option duplicates the media files and places the copy in the Final Cut Events folder on your computer. If you’re importing media from a different disk or volume, or if you want to keep a copy of all the media files that have been imported into Final Cut Pro in the same location, select this checkbox.
4 If you want to transcode your media, analyze the video, or analyze the audio, select the relevant checkboxes. If you don’t set Final Cut Pro to analyze your media during the import process, you can analyze it later (if necessary) in the Event Browser. 5 Click Import. Final Cut Pro imports your media in the background. If you selected any options in the previous step, Final Cut Pro transcodes and optimizes the files after the import process is complete.
2 In the Cameras list on the left side of the Camera Import window, select the camera you want to import from. A live video image from the camera appears in the Camera Import window. 3 Click Import. The Event Settings window appears. 4 Choose how you want to organize the imported media in your Event Library: ÂÂ To add the imported media to an existing Event: Select “Add to existing Event,” and choose it from the pop-up menu.
About memory cards and cables To import media from your recording device to your computer, you need to remove the memory card from your device and insert it into either your computer or a memory card reader. You can also connect your device directly to your computer using the appropriate cable. Then you can import the media on the memory card or device using the Import Files window. For more information, see “Import from a hard disk” on page 40 and “Import from file-based devices” on page 25.
ÂÂ FireWire device: For most camcorders that record to tape, you use a FireWire cable with a 6-pin connector on one end that plugs into your Mac (at the top in the illustration below) and a 4-pin connector on the other end that plugs into your camcorder (on the bottom in the illustration below). Or you might have a FireWire 800 cable, with a different end that plugs into your camcorder or computer.
ÂÂ Apple ProRes (all versions) ÂÂ AVC-Intra ÂÂ AVCHD (including AVCCAM, AVCHD Lite, and NXCAM) ÂÂ DV (including DVCAM, DVCPRO, and DVCPRO50) ÂÂ DVCPRO HD ÂÂ H.
Analyze media 4 Analyzing media overview You can have Final Cut Pro analyze your media and automatically correct common problems it may find in your video, still images, and audio. For example, you can analyze your media to stabilize shaky video, to balance color, and to remove excess hum or loudness. You can also analyze clips and still images to identify their contents. Analysis can detect the number of people in a shot and identify if the shot is a close up, medium, or wide shot.
Final Cut Pro provides these video and still-image analysis options: ÂÂ Analyze for stabilization and rolling shutter: Analyzes video clips and adds analysis keywords to clips with excessive shake, rolling shutter, or both. If a clip has an Excessive Shake keyword, you can fix the shaking after you add the clip to the Timeline by turning on Stabilization and Rolling Shutter corrections. See “Correct excessive shake and rolling shutter issues” on page 170.
When you drag a media file from the Finder to a Final Cut Pro Event or the Timeline, the import begins automatically, without displaying a window of import options. You can set automatic import options in the Final Cut Pro Import preferences pane. Audio analysis options Final Cut Pro provides automatic analysis that can fix common audio problems, analyze and group audio channels, and remove silent channels.
ÂÂ To import a file from a memory card: Insert the memory card into the card slot on your Mac or into a card reader that’s connected to your computer. Then choose File > Import > Files (or press Command-I). ÂÂ To import a file located on your hard disk or a connected external storage device: Choose File > Import > File and navigate to the file you want to import.
Automatically analyze media files when they are dragged directly to a Final Cut Pro Event or Timeline 1 To configure the Final Cut Pro analysis options: a Choose Final Cut Pro > Preferences. b In the Preferences window that appears, click Import. c Select each of the video and audio analysis options that you want to apply. d When you’re finished, close the Preferences window. 2 To import one or more files, select a file (or Command-click multiple files) in the Finder and drag it to an Event or Timeline.
2 To see a clip’s keywords, click the disclosure triangle next to the clip. The keywords are listed next to the blue key. View the contents of a Smart Collection If you chose to create Smart Collections after analysis, clips that have analysis keywords are automatically grouped in Smart Collections. The Smart Collections are grouped in folders titled People and Shot. mm In the Event Library, locate and select a Smart Collection. The clips that contain analysis keywords appear in the Event Browser.
5 Organize your media Events and clips overview When you import video, audio, and still images, or record directly into Final Cut Pro, the source media files (your raw footage) appear as clips in one or more Events in the Event Library. An Event is similar to a folder that can hold dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of video clips, audio clips, and still images.
When you import video into a new Event, you name the Event. By giving your Events meaningful names, such as “Smith Wedding 2011,” you can organize all of your media so that it’s readily accessible. By default, Final Cut Pro lists the Events in the Event Library by the date they were recorded. You can organize the Event Library in other ways, and you can also hide the Event Library to give yourself more room to work.
1 In the Event Library, select the Event whose name you want to change. 2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Click the Event’s name and type a new name. ÂÂ Press Return and type a new name. Important: Renaming an Event also renames the Event’s folder on the hard disk where your source media is located. Merge or split Events You can merge (combine) two or more Events in the Event Library (for example, if the media they contain is very closely related).
Copy or move clips between Events You can copy and move clips from one Event to another. When you copy a clip from one Event to another, its source media files are duplicated on disk. When you move a clip from one Event to another, its source media files are moved from one Event folder to the other on disk. Copy clips from one Event to another 1 In the Event Library, select the Event that contains the clips you want to copy. 2 In the Event Browser, select the clip or clips you want to copy.
4 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose File > Duplicate Event (or press Command-D). ÂÂ Drag the Event to the external drive’s icon. 5 In the Duplicate Event window, type a name for the new Event. 6 To store your files in a second location, choose it from the Location pop-up menu. 7 Click OK. Final Cut Pro makes a copy of the Event at the location you chose. It also makes copies of the source media files and places them in a new Event folder.
6 Click OK. Final Cut Pro moves the Event to the location you chose. It also moves the Event folder which contains the source media files. Keep in mind that moving an Event with large source media files can take several minutes. Important: If you disconnect the disk containing the Event you moved, you will no longer have access to the Event or its source media files from within Final Cut Pro until you reconnect the disk.
Show Event date ranges Final Cut Pro can display the date ranges for the source media files within each Event. mm Choose Show Date Ranges in Event Library from the Action pop-up menu Sort Events by most recent mm Choose Arrange Events by Most Recent from the Action pop-up menu . . Delete clips or Events You can delete unwanted clips from an Event, and you can delete an entire Event in order to free up space on your hard disk.
Organize clips View and sort clips You can display your clips in the Event Browser in two views: ÂÂ Filmstrip view: Displays the clips in the selected Event as a connected series of thumbnail images. Filmstrip view is useful when you want to visually locate your clips. ÂÂ List view: Displays a list of your clips with associated file information. Use this view when you want to view or sort clips by data such as duration, creation date, rating, keyword, and so on.
Switch between filmstrip and list views Do one of the following: mm Click the Filmstrip View button in the bottom-left corner of the Event Browser. mm Click the List View button in the bottom-left corner of the Event Browser. Customize filmstrip view mm To adjust the time represented by each thumbnail in a clip’s filmstrip: At the bottom-right corner of the Event Browser, drag the Duration slider.
mm To adjust the filmstrip height: At the bottom-right corner of the Event Browser, click the Clip Appearance button and drag the Clip Height slider.
mm To turn audio waveforms on and off: At the bottom-right corner of the Event Browser, click the Clip Appearance button and deselect the Show Waveforms checkbox in the window that appears. When audio waveforms are on, they appear at the bottom of each clip’s filmstrip, increasing the height of all clips in the Event Browser.
If a disclosure triangle appears to the left of a clip in list view, it means a rating, keyword, or both have been applied to that clip. Sort clips in the Event Browser You can sort clips in the Event Browser into an order that makes it easier to visually locate them. 1 In the Event Library, select the Event whose clips you want to sort.
Rename a clip in the Timeline Index 1 To open the Timeline Index, click the Timeline Index button in the lower-left corner of the Final Cut Pro main window (or press Command-Shift-2). 2 Click the Clips button at the top of the Timeline Index. Clips button 3 Click the Name field for a clip, and type a new name. Rename a clip in the Info inspector 1 Select a clip in the Event Browser or the Timeline.
Rate clips as Favorite or Rejected If your clips contain sections that you don’t like or that you might never want to use in a project—because they’re blurry, for example—you can mark them as Rejected. You can easily rate the clips you like and the clips you don’t like as you review them. When you’re ready to make a project or play your clip for your client, you can focus on your best footage by choosing to display only those clips you marked as Favorite.
A red line appears at the top of frames you’ve marked as Rejected. Note: If you chose Hide Rejected from the Filter pop-up menu at the top of the Event Browser, clips marked as Rejected disappear from view. Remove ratings from clips 1 Make sure the clips you want to work with appear in the Event Browser. You might need to choose a new option, such as All Clips, from the Filter pop-up menu at the top-left corner of the Event Browser so that all the clips you need to access are visible.
Add keywords to clips Applying keywords to your clips helps you quickly locate the clips you need to compose your movie. Analysis keywords are also automatically added to clips that have been analyzed for common video and audio issues. When a keyword is applied to a clip or a section of a clip, a Keyword Collection appears in the Event Library. A Keyword Collection contains pointers (aliases) to clips tagged with a specific keyword.
4 Repeat step 3 for each keyword or keyword phrase you want added to the selection. A blue line appears at the top of the selection in the Event Browser, indicating that keywords have been applied to it. 5 When you’re finished adding keywords, close the Keyword Editor. Assign keywords using keyboard shortcuts To add keyword phrases to your clips using keyboard shortcuts, you must first assign keywords and keyword phrases to the keyboard shortcuts.
Remove all keywords from a clip 1 In the Event Browser, select a range or one or more clips from which you want to remove keywords. A blue bar at the top of the clips indicates the portions of the clips that have keywords applied to them. 2 Choose Mark > Remove All Keywords (or press Control-0). Remove a subset of keywords from a clip You use the Keyword Editor to remove a subset of keywords from a clip.
Add or edit clip notes in the Event Browser 1 Click the List View button in the bottom-left corner of the Event Browser. 2 Select the clip for which you want to add or edit notes. Note: Notes are applied to the whole clip, not to range selections. 3 Click the Notes field for the clip, and type or edit the notes for that clip.
3 If the Notes column is not visible in the Clips pane, Control-click a column heading and choose Notes from the shortcut menu. 4 Click the Notes field for the clip, and type or edit the notes for that clip. Enter notes for a clip here. Organize clips by roles You can organize clips by roles, which are metadata text labels assigned to clips.
Filter clips quickly by rating Use the Filter pop-up menu in the Event Browser to quickly find clips by rating. 1 In the Event Library, select one or more Events you want to search. 2 Choose an option from the Filter pop-up menu at the top of the Event Browser. ÂÂ All Clips: Shows all clips in the Event. ÂÂ Hide Rejected: Shows all clips or range selections except those you’ve rated Reject. ÂÂ No Ratings or Keywords: Shows only the clips or range selections without ratings or keywords.
ÂÂ Text: Find clips by their name or any notes applied to them in list view using text. You can add multiple Text rules to search by more than one word or phrase, as well as eliminate specific words and phrases from the search. ÂÂ Ratings: Find clips based on the rating (Favorite or Reject) assigned to them. ÂÂ Media Type: Find clips whose source media files are of a specific type, such as video, audio, or stills.
Clear a weighted search mm Click the Reset button to the right of the search status icons in the upper-right corner of the Event Browser. ∏∏ Tip: If clips still appear to be missing from view, make sure to choose either All Clips or Hide Rejected from the Filter pop-up menu in the upper-left corner of the Event Browser. Search for clips by clip name and notes You can use the search field to quickly find clips by name and any notes (applied in list view) without having to open the Filter window.
Create a Smart Collection based on search criteria 1 In the Event Library, select an Event. 2 Use the Filter window to search for clips based on specified criteria. 3 In the Filter window, click the New Smart Collection button. A new, untitled Smart Collection appears in the Event Library. 4 Type a name for the Smart Collection, and press Return. When you add clips to the Event that match the Smart Collection’s search criteria, they’re automatically added to the Smart Collection.
Organize Keyword and Smart Collections You can organize Keyword Collections and Smart Collections in the Event Library with folders. Organize collections with folders 1 In the Event Library, select the Event containing the collections you want to organize, and choose File > New Folder. 2 Type a name for the new folder that appears within the Event. 3 Select the Smart Collections and Keyword Collections you want to organize, and drag them into the new folder.
Play back and skim media 6 Playback and skimming overview Final Cut Pro makes it easy to view and listen your media, whether it’s located in the Event Browser, the Project Library, or the Timeline. Its dynamic previewing capabilities let you find what you need quickly without being distracted from the task at hand. You use two tools to preview and play back media in Final Cut Pro: ÂÂ The playhead marks your project’s current position in the Timeline or the Event Browser.
The skimmer appears as a pink vertical line as you move the pointer over the area you’re skimming. If you have snapping turned on, the skimmer turns orange when it snaps to a position. Playhead Playhead Skimmer Skimmer When skimming is turned on, you can skim to see what’s in other clips, but still keep your playhead position in the Timeline. If both the playhead and skimmer are present in the same clip, the skimmer becomes the default position for playback or editing.
Play back video and audio clips mm To play a project or clip from the beginning: Select the project or clip and choose View > Playback > Play from Beginning (or press Shift-Control-I). mm To play a section of a project, selected clips, or a frame range from the beginning: Select the project, clips, or all or part of a clip, and choose View > Playback > Play Selection, or press the Slash (/) key. When you select a clip or a portion of a clip or project, the selected area is marked with a yellow border.
Skim media You can quickly skim your video and audio to preview it, search for a particular shot, or make an edit. When skimming is turned on and you move the pointer forward or backward over a clip in the Event Browser or the Timeline, the content under the pointer plays in the Viewer. You can also use the Blade, Trim, and Range Selection editing tools to skim clips in the Timeline or in the Precision Editor.
Skim clips with editing tools You can skim clips when you use the Blade, Trim, and Range Selection tools in the Timeline or in the Precision Editor. The tools behave as skimmers as you move the pointer over a clip. 1 Select a clip in the Timeline or open the Precision Editor. 2 Select either the Blade, Trim, or Range Selection tool from the Tools pop-up menu in the toolbar. 3 Move the tool forward or backward over a clip.
Use the J, K, and L keys You can use the J, K, and L keys on your keyboard to play through a project or clip. Playback begins at the location of the playhead (on a project) or the skimmer (on a clip). You can also use the J, K, and L keys to control a video playback device. {�Moves through reverse speeds Pause “�Moves through forward speeds You can use these keys to speed playback up to 32x normal speed. Use the J, K, and L keys for playback mm To begin forward playback at normal (1x) speed: Press L.
Play back media in a loop You can turn on looping so that a project (or any portion of it) plays in a continuous loop. Turn looping on or off Do one of the following: mm Choose View > Playback > Loop Playback (or press Command-L). mm Click the Loop Playback button below the Viewer. Loop your entire project mm With looping turned on, press the Space bar to play the project. Loop a portion of your project 1 Select a range in the Timeline. 2 Choose View > Playback > Selection, or press the Slash (/) key.
View playback on a second display If you have a second display connected to your computer, you can show the Viewer on the second display to play video, or the Event Browser on the second display to view clips in an Event, thereby expanding your workspace in the Final Cut Pro main window. Show the Viewer on a second display 1 Connect a second display (a second computer monitor connected to the PCI video card), and make sure it is connected to power and turned on.
View playback on an external video monitor Final Cut Pro includes an A/V Output option to send video and audio from your computer to an external video monitor. In addition to showing you how video and audio look and sound on an NTSC/PAL or HD broadcast monitor, this feature also allows you to test output with more sophisticated devices such as vectorscopes and waveform monitors. A/V output is available only with OS X Lion v10.7.
Playback and background rendering When you add effects, transitions, generators, titles, and other items that require rendering, the background render indicator (an orange bar) appears below the timecode in the Timeline. Background render indicator By default, background rendering begins 5 seconds after you stop working and moving the pointer in Final Cut Pro. Background rendering continues while you work in a different application. You can change this setting in the Final Cut Pro preferences.
Create and manage projects 7 Create a new project To create a movie in Final Cut Pro, you first create a project, which provides a record of your editing decisions and the media you use. Then you add clips to the project Timeline and edit them. When you create a new Final Cut Pro project, you do the following: ÂÂ Name the project. ÂÂ Specify a default Event for the project. The default Event stores media that’s dragged to the project from the Finder or a Final Cut Pro media browser.
3 Choose a default Event for the project. If you drag any media files from the Finder directly to the project’s Timeline, or add media to the project from one of the media browsers, that media is automatically added to the project’s default Event. 4 If you want to further customize settings for your project, click Use Custom Settings. Note: Final Cut Pro shows the Automatic Settings by default, but it will remember the settings you used last, so this step may be unnecessary.
Preview and open a project If you want to see the contents of a project, you can preview the project before opening it. Preview a project 1 If the Project Library is not already open, click the Project Library button at the bottom-left corner of the Final Cut Pro main window. 2 Select a project in the Project Library. 3 To preview a project in the Viewer, select it and do one of the following: ÂÂ To skim the project: Move the pointer over the filmstrip (to the right of the project’s name).
In most cases, Final Cut Pro manages project properties automatically based on the properties of the first clip you add to a project, but you can change a project’s properties at any time. If you must modify the project properties, choose video and audio project properties based on how you intend to share your final movie with your audience. 1 Open the Project Library and select a project. 2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose File > Project Properties (or press Command-J).
Name ÂÂ Name: Type a name for the project. Default Event ÂÂ Default Event: Choose the default Event for the project. Starting Timecode ÂÂ Starting Timecode: If you want your project’s timecode to start at a value other than 00:00:00:00, type a starting timecode value. Drop Frame Timecode ÂÂ Drop Frame: Select the checkbox to turn on drop frame timecode (this option appears only for 29.97 and 59.94 fps media).
2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose File > Project Properties (or press Command-J). ÂÂ If the Inspector pane is hidden, click the Inspector button in the toolbar. Then click the Properties button at the top of the pane. Properties button 3 Click the Modify Event References button in the Referenced Events section. 4 In the window that appears, drag the Events to set the order in which Final Cut Pro will look for clips. 5 When you’ve set the order, click OK.
Organize projects in the Project Library All your Final Cut Pro video projects are listed in the Project Library. You can start organizing your projects by connecting additional hard disks, creating folders to hold projects, and giving your projects clear and specific names. As your Project Library grows, you can rename, copy, move, and delete your projects as necessary.
Copy a project Copying a project is useful if you want to work on a new version of a project or transfer a copy to another computer. 1 Open the Project Library and select a project. 2 Choose File > Duplicate Project. 3 In the window that appears, choose a location for the duplicated file from the Location pop-up menu. 4 Select an option to specify what is duplicated: ÂÂ Duplicate Project Only: Duplicates only the project file.
Move a project You can easily move a project to a connected hard disk or another computer. Moving a project file is useful if you want to work on a project using another computer that has Final Cut Pro installed, or if you want to free up space on your computer’s hard disk. Important: You cannot undo a file move. 1 Open the Project Library and select a project. 2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose File > Move Project.
Delete a project or project folder Deleting a project folder deletes the folder and all of the projects it contains. Your media is not deleted because media is stored in Events. 1 Open the Project Library and select a project. 2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ To delete a project: Select the project and choose File > Move Project to Trash (or press Command-Delete). ÂÂ To delete a folder and any projects the folder contains: Select the folder and choose File > Move Folder to Trash (or press Command-Delete).
Edit your project 8 Editing overview The term video editing refers both to broader stages of a project workflow and to very specific manual tasks that you do with clips in a project Timeline. ÂÂ Make selections and add clips to the Timeline: Adding and arranging clips in your project is the fundamental step in creating a movie with Final Cut Pro. You move and reorder clips in the Timeline.
When you add clips from the Event Browser to a project in the Timeline, you can add one or more whole clips, or you can add a range within a clip. Then you can fine-tune the clips individually in the Timeline, adding video effects to them, for example, or inserting transitions between them. You can adjust the appearance of filmstrips in the Event Browser and the Timeline so that it’s easier to make selections.
Selecting multiple clips allows you to move them as a group within your project, or from one Event to another. It’s also useful if you’ve made adjustments to a clip and you want to paste the same adjustments onto several other clips. Select an entire clip Do one of the following: mm Click the clip once. mm In the Timeline, move the skimmer (or the playhead if skimming is turned off) over the clip you want to select and press C. This method selects the clip in the primary storyline.
mm To select multiple clips by dragging: Drag a selection rectangle by dragging over the Timeline or Event clips you want to select. ∏∏ Tip: To prevent the playhead from moving while you select a clip in the Timeline, press Option as you click. Deselect clips in the Event Browser or the Timeline mm To deselect a single selected clip: Select a different clip, or click outside the clip. mm To deselect multiple selected clips: Hold down the Command key and click the clips you don’t want selected.
Select a range Do one of the following: mm In the Event Browser, drag across any clip (filmstrip). A yellow border with handles appears around the range you’ve selected. If the filmstrip wraps onto two lines, you can select a frame range extending over the break simply by continuing to drag across the break. When you reach the edge, the pointer jumps to the next line. mm In the Timeline, choose Range Selection from the Tools pop-up menu in the toolbar (or press R).
mm Use the I and O keys to set the selection start and end points. For more information, see the instructions below. mm In the Event Browser or the Timeline, move the skimmer (or the playhead) over a clip and press X. Final Cut Pro sets the range selection start and end points at the clip start and end points. Note: To use this X key method with connected clips or clips in a connected storyline, move the pointer directly over the clip and press X.
Deselect a range mm Click outside of the range or select a different range. Add and remove clips Adding clips overview You build a movie project by adding clips to the Timeline in a chronological arrangement. To suit your particular editing style or need, you can choose from a wide variety of tools and techniques for adding clips. You can change the arrangement of the clips in the Timeline at any time.
Drag clips to the Timeline You can add clips to the Timeline by dragging them from the Event Browser, from a Final Cut Pro media browser (such as the Photos Browser or the Generators Browser), or from the Finder. Drag clips from the Event Browser or a media browser 1 Do one of the following: ÂÂ In the Event Library, select an Event containing the clips you want to add to your project. ÂÂ Open the media browser containing the media you want to add to your project.
Append clips to your project A simple way to add a clip to your project is an append edit, in which you add one or more clips to the end of a project or storyline. Append clips to your project in the Timeline 1 Select one or more clips in the Event Browser. 2 To add the clips to the Timeline, do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose Edit > Append to End (or press E). ÂÂ Click the Append button in the toolbar. If there is no selection, the clip appears at the end of the primary storyline in the Timeline.
3 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose Edit > Insert (or press W). Note: If you use the keyboard shortcut and the skimmer is present in the Timeline, the edit will occur at the skimmer position. ÂÂ Click the Insert button in the toolbar. The clip appears in the Timeline and all clips after the insertion point are rippled forward. If the skimmer is not present, the clips are inserted at the playhead position.
Final Cut Pro inserts a blank clip (containing blank video and silent audio) that you can adjust to any duration. (The film industry term for this is slug.) Gap clip Note: Gap clip color is determined by the current background color in Final Cut Pro. To adjust the background color, choose a Player Background option in the Playback pane of the Final Cut Pro Preferences window. If you want a different color, consider using a solid generator.
Connect clips to add cutaway shots, titles, and synchronized sound effects You can attach clips to other clips in the Timeline. Connected clips remain attached and synchronized until you explicitly move or remove them. D A B C Before edit D A B C After edit Some uses for connected clips include: ÂÂ Cutaway shots: Add a cutaway shot by connecting it to a video clip in the Timeline. ÂÂ Superimpose titles: Add a title or a lower third to a video clip or range.
Note: You can use three-point editing to make connect edits. For more information, see “Three-point editing overview” on page 308. Connect clips in the Timeline 1 If your project is empty, add clips to the dark gray primary storyline area in the Timeline to build your initial sequence. The clips in the primary storyline serve as a foundation on which you connect (attach) clips to further build your project.
4 To connect the selected clips to the clips in the primary storyline, do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose Edit > Connect to Primary Storyline (or press Q). Note: If you use the keyboard shortcut and the skimmer is present in the Timeline, the clip will be connected at the skimmer position. ÂÂ Click the Connect button in the toolbar. ÂÂ Drag the clips to the gray area above or below the primary storyline.
When you rearrange, move, ripple, or remove clips in the primary storyline, any clips connected to them will move (or be deleted) along with the primary storyline clips. When you connect clips by dragging them, you have the option to put video clips below the primary storyline or put audio clips above the primary storyline.
Note: In Final Cut Pro, if you connect clips, the topmost video clips block out any video clips below them. Exceptions to this rule are clips with some type of transparency, keying, or compositing settings. For more information, see “Compositing overview” on page 405. Audio clips never affect video output, even when they are placed above video clips in the Timeline.
Overwriting media is different from replacing it. Overwriting works with range selections only, not entire clips, and it is not constrained by clip boundaries. Use an overwrite edit when you want to edit media for a specific span of time, rather than specific shots. Note: You can use three-point editing to make overwrite edits. For more information, see “Three-point editing overview” on page 308.
Replace options include using the start or end of the source clip, as well as automatically creating or adding to auditions. Replace a clip in the Timeline with one or more clips by dragging 1 Do one of the following to make a source selection: ÂÂ Select a clip or range in the Event Browser. ÂÂ Select a media item in one of the Final Cut Pro media browsers or in the Finder. 2 Drag the source selection over the clip in the Timeline you want to replace.
ÂÂ Replace and add to Audition: The target clip is replaced with an audition that has the source clip selection as the pick and the target clip as an alternate. The duration is determined by the source clip selection. If the source clip and the target clip have different durations, the subsequent clips ripple. ÂÂ Add to Audition: The target clip is replaced with an audition that has the target clip as the pick and the source clip selection as an alternate. ÂÂ Cancel: The replace edit is canceled.
Note: In the case of Replace from Start, if the source clip selection is a range selection with a shorter duration than that of the target clip and there is sufficient extra media, Final Cut Pro extends the source selection to match the target clip duration. The resulting storyline duration does not change. The source clip selection appears in the Timeline, in place of the original clip.
Each layer appears in the Timeline as a connected clip that you can edit as you would any other clip. For example, you can animate layers by fading them in or out. Layered graphics image in the Viewer Clips representing individual layers Edit a still image with an external image editing application You can modify a still image with an external image editing application, and the changes appear automatically in the clip in Final Cut Pro. 1 To add a still-image clip to the Timeline, follow the steps above.
Make video-only or audio-only edits 1 To set the edit mode, do one of the following: ÂÂ To add just the video from your selection to the Timeline: Choose Video Only from the Edit pop-up menu in the toolbar (or press Shift-2). ÂÂ To add just the audio from your selection to the Timeline: Choose Audio Only from the Edit pop-up menu in the toolbar (or press Shift-3).
Note: If you select an entire Timeline clip (for example, with the C key) or a range over an entire clip (for example, with the X key) and delete it, any connected clips or storylines are also deleted. If you select a partial range of a clip that includes a connected clip or storyline, the connected clip will not be deleted. Instead, the connected items are shifted to the closest primary storyline clip.
Solo selected items When you want to focus on a subset of clips in the Timeline in isolation, you can select the clips and solo them. 1 In the Timeline, select the clips you want to isolate. 2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose Clip > Solo (or press Option-S). ÂÂ Click the Solo button in the upper-right corner of the Timeline. When solo is turned on, the Solo button turns yellow, and nonsoloed clips are shown in black and white, making the soloed clips outlined in yellow easy to identify.
Find a Timeline clip’s source clip You can quickly find the source Event clip for any clip you’re using in your project in the Timeline. This is particularly useful if you want to duplicate a clip in your project or add the same clip to a different project. Find and reveal the source Event clip for a Timeline clip 1 In the Timeline, select the clip whose source Event clip you want to locate. 2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose Clip > Reveal in Event Browser (or press Shift-F).
As you drag your clips, you see an outline of your selection at the new position in the Timeline. When you release the mouse button, the repositioned clip (or clips) appears at the new location. Final Cut Pro ripples clips (and any connected clips) in the Timeline to make room for the repositioned clips and to close the gap left by the clips that were repositioned. You can also drag clips vertically in and out of the primary storyline.
The timecode entry field (with blue numbers) appears in the Dashboard in the toolbar as you type. Timecode entry field in the Dashboard 3 Press Return. The clips move forward or back by the duration you entered and overwrite any clips at the new location. If the selected clips are in a storyline, a gap clip fills in vacated parts of the storyline. The clip moves forward or back by the duration you entered. A gap clip fills the vacated part of the storyline.
3 If you want to nudge connected audio clips by one or more subframes, do any of the following: ÂÂ To move the selection left by one subframe: Press Option-Comma (,). ÂÂ To move the selection left by 10 subframes: Press Shift-Option-Comma (,). ÂÂ To move the selection right by one subframe: Press Option-Period (.). ÂÂ To move the selection right by 10 subframes: Press Shift-Option-Period (.). For more information about subframes, see “View audio waveforms at the audio sample level” on page 208.
2 Select the clip you want to move. 3 Drag the clip to a new position in the Timeline. The moved clip overwrites any clips at the new position. A gap clip fills in the vacated part of the Timeline. Note: If you prefer to move clips left or right in the Timeline without leaving a gap, you may want to perform a slide edit. To return to the Select tool (the default), choose it from the Tools pop-up menu in the toolbar (or press A).
1 If the Select tool is not the active tool, choose it from the Tools pop-up menu in the toolbar (or press A). 2 Select one or more clips (either clips in the primary storyline or connected clips). 3 Do either of the following: ÂÂ To move clips out of the primary storyline: Drag the clips from the primary storyline to their new position as connected clips (above or below the primary storyline). The subsequent clips in the primary storyline ripple left to close the gap left by the clips you moved.
ÂÂ To move clips to the primary storyline: Drag the clips from their position as connected clips to an edit point between two clips in the primary storyline. The result is effectively an insert edit: the former connected clips are inserted in the primary storyline and subsequent clips ripple right to make room for the new clips. Note: You can drag clips from and to the primary storyline as long as there are no clips connected to them.
2 Do either of the following: ÂÂ To move selected clips from the primary storyline to connected clips at the same Timeline position: Choose Edit > Lift from Primary Storyline (or press CommandOption-Up Arrow). New connected clip at the same Timeline position A gap clip fills in the vacated part of the primary storyline. Gap clips fill in the vacated parts of the primary storyline, as needed.
Cut and trim clips Trimming overview After you’ve roughly assembled your clips in chronological order in the Timeline, you begin to fine-tune the cut point (or edit point) between each pair of contiguous clips. Any time you make a clip in a project longer or shorter, you’re trimming that clip. However, trimming generally refers to precision adjustments of anywhere from one frame to several seconds.
Cut a clip in the Timeline 1 Choose the Blade tool from the Tools pop-up menu in the toolbar (or press B). The pointer changes to the Blade tool icon . ∏∏ Tip: To switch to the Blade tool temporarily, hold down the B key. When you release the B key, the tool reverts to the previously active tool. 2 Move the skimmer to the frame in the clip where you want to cut, and click. Blade tool ∏∏ Tip: You can also cut clips while playing back your project.
An edit point appears where you clicked, and the clip is divided into two clips. New edit point Cut multiple clips at once You can use the Blade command to cut primary storyline clips and connected clips simultaneously. 1 In the Timeline, select the clips you want to cut. 2 Move the skimmer to the frame where you want to cut. 3 Choose Edit > Blade (or press Command-B).
The selected clips are cut at the skimmer position. Note: If you don’t make a selection, this command acts only on the clip in the primary storyline.
Extend or shorten a clip You can trim a clip in your project by adjusting the start point or end point of the clip. The default type of trim in Final Cut Pro is a ripple trim, which adjusts a clip’s start point or end point without leaving a gap in the Timeline. The change in the clip’s duration ripples outward, moving all subsequent clips earlier or later in the Timeline.
2 Drag the start point or the end point in the direction you want to trim the clip. As you drag, the clip shortens or lengthens. A numerical timecode field indicates the amount of time you are moving the edit point. Any clips to the right of the edit point are rippled accordingly. When you extend a clip to its maximum length in either direction, the clip edge turns red.
3 Enter a new duration for the selected clip. Final Cut Pro moves the end point of the clip to the duration you entered, and any subsequent Timeline clips ripple accordingly. For more information about entering timecode values, see “Navigate using timecode” on page 161. Note: If you enter a duration longer than the available media in the clip, Final Cut Pro extends the duration to the maximum length of the clip. Trim to a selection 1 In the Timeline, select the part of a clip that you want to keep.
Nudge edit points with keyboard shortcuts You can fine-tune the start or end point of a clip using keyboard shortcuts. You can move the edit point by one or more video frames, and you can also move the edit points of connected audio clips (those not in the primary storyline) by subframes. 1 In the Timeline, select the start or end point of the clip you want to trim. 2 To move the edit point, do any of the following: ÂÂ To move the edit point left by one frame: Press Comma (,).
Move edit points to the playhead You can adjust selected edit points in the Timeline, either as a ripple edit or a roll edit, using keyboard shortcuts. 1 In the Timeline, select the edit point you want to adjust. Selected end point Note: For a roll edit, select both sides of the edit point with the Trim tool. 2 Position the playhead or the skimmer at the point in the Timeline to which you want to move the edit point. Skimmer 3 Choose Edit > Extend Edit (or press Shift-X).
Trim edit points using timecode You can trim clips numerically by entering timecode values. 1 If the Select tool is not the active tool, choose it from the Tools pop-up menu in the toolbar (or press A). 2 In the Timeline, select the start point or the end point of the clip you want to trim. 3 To trim the edit point, do one of the following: ÂÂ To move the edit point forward: Press the Plus Sign (+) key, type a timecode duration for the trim, and press Enter.
For more information and tips on entering timecode, see “Navigate using timecode” on page 161. Cut the start or end of a clip at the playhead Some of your video clips may have sections at the beginning or the end that you don’t want to include in your project. You can easily trim off these ranges with a single command, even while playing back the project. No selections are required. This type of edit is sometimes called a top and tail edit.
The clip is trimmed to the playhead (or skimmer) position, and the Timeline updates accordingly. New end point of the trimmed clip Trimmed clip In the case of connected clips or storylines, Final Cut Pro trims the selected clip. If there is no selection, Final Cut Pro trims the topmost clip. Make roll edits with the Trim tool A roll edit adjusts the start point and the end point of two adjacent clips simultaneously.
Roll an edit point 1 Choose the Trim tool from the Tools pop-up menu in the toolbar (or press T). The pointer changes to the Trim tool icon . ∏∏ Tip: To switch to the Trim tool temporarily, hold down the T key. When you release the T key, the tool reverts to the previously active tool. 2 In the Timeline, click the center of the edit point you want to roll so that both sides of the edit point are selected. 3 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Drag the edit point left or right.
The edit point is rolled to the new location. The combined duration of the two clips stays the same. If you can’t roll the edit point any farther and one side of the edit point appears red, you’ve reached the end of the media for one of the two clips. Make slip edits with the Trim tool Performing a slip edit doesn’t change a clip’s position or duration in the Timeline, but instead changes what portion of the clip’s media appears in the Timeline.
The portion of the clip seen in the project changes, but its position in the Timeline stays the same. Surrounding clips are not affected, and the overall duration of your project doesn’t change. 00:00:10:00 A 00:00:30:00 B C Before edit 00:00:17:00 A 00:00:37:00 B C After edit In the example above, the slip edit changes the start and end points of clip B, but not its duration or position in the Timeline. When the project plays back, a different portion of clip B’s media is shown.
Slip a clip in the Timeline 1 Choose the Trim tool from the Tools pop-up menu in the toolbar (or press T). The pointer changes to the Trim tool icon . ∏∏ Tip: To switch to the Trim tool temporarily, hold down the T key. When you release the T key, the tool reverts to the previously active tool.
2 Drag a clip left or right. As you drag, a timecode field indicates the amount of time you’re moving the start point and the end point. Yellow edge selections on the start point and end point indicate a slip edit. Yellow edge selections on the start point and end point indicate a slip edit. Original position of frame New position of frame When you release the mouse button, the slipped clip appears in the Timeline with a new start point and a new end point.
Note: If either the start point or the end point turns red as you drag, you’ve reached the end of the available media for that side of the clip. Make slide edits with the Trim tool Performing a slide edit allows you to move a clip’s position in the Timeline between two other clips without creating a gap. The clip’s content and duration remain the same; only its position in the Timeline changes.
Slide a clip in the Timeline 1 Choose the Trim tool from the Tools pop-up menu in the toolbar (or press T). The pointer changes to the Trim tool icon . ∏∏ Tip: To switch to the Trim tool temporarily, hold down the T key. When you release the T key, the tool reverts to the previously active tool. 2 Option-click a clip, and drag it left or right. Yellow selections on the neighboring clips indicate a slide edit. Yellow selections on the neighboring clips indicate a slide edit.
As you drag, a timecode field indicates the amount of time you’re moving the clip in the Timeline. This clip is longer. This clip is shorter. New Timeline position This clip’s duration is the same. When you release the mouse button, the slide clip appears at the new position in the Timeline. The adjacent clips are trimmed to accommodate the change in the clip’s position.
Show detailed trimming feedback For more accurate visual feedback on edits involving contiguous or connected clips, you can turn on “Show detailed trimming feedback” in Final Cut Pro preferences. For example, for a simple ripple trim, this “two-up” display in the Viewer shows the end point of the left clip and the start point of the right clip. This display is available for ripple, roll, slip, and slide edits as well as for trimming in the Precision Editor.
View and navigate Zoom and scroll in the Timeline Being able to see and get to any point in your project is critical to efficient editing and storytelling. There are many ways to adjust the view of the Timeline. Learning keyboard shortcuts can save you time.
Zoom in to and out of the Timeline using the Zoom slider mm To zoom in to the Timeline: Drag the Zoom slider to the right, or press Command–Plus Sign (+). mm To zoom out of the Timeline: Drag the Zoom slider to the left, or press Command–Minus Sign (–). Zoom in to and out of the Timeline using the Zoom tool 1 Choose the Zoom tool from the Tools pop-up menu in the toolbar (or press Z). The pointer changes to the Zoom tool icon . ∏∏ Tip: To switch to the Zoom tool temporarily, hold down the Z key.
Scroll horizontally through a zoomed-in Timeline 1 Zoom in to the Timeline until you see a portion of the project only. 2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Drag the slider at the bottom of the Timeline to the left or the right. ÂÂ Choose the Hand tool from the Tools pop-up menu in the toolbar (or press H), and drag left or right in the Timeline. ∏∏ Tip: To switch to the Hand tool temporarily, hold down the H key. When you release the H key, the tool reverts to the previously active tool.
Snapping affects the functions of many of the editing tools in Final Cut Pro, including the Select tool, the Trim tool, the Position tool, the Range Selection tool, and the Blade tool. Several elements trigger snapping in the Timeline: ÂÂ Clip boundaries (start and end points) ÂÂ The playhead and the skimmer ÂÂ Markers ÂÂ Keyframes ÂÂ Range selections Adjust clip appearance and height 1 Click the Clip Appearance button in the lower-right corner of the Timeline.
Do one of the following: mm Choose View > Snapping (or press N). A checkmark indicates that snapping is on. You can press N to turn snapping on or off while you’re dragging a clip. mm Click the Snapping button in the upper-right corner of the Timeline. When snapping is on, the Snapping button appears blue. ∏∏ Tip: To turn snapping on or off temporarily, hold down the N key. When you release the N key, snapping reverts to the previous state.
Navigate frame by frame To make it easier to find specific frames in a clip, you can step through the filmstrip frame by frame, rather than skimming it. 1 In the Timeline or the Event Browser, move your pointer over a filmstrip and click. 2 Do either of the following: ÂÂ To move backward in one-frame increments: Choose Mark > Previous > Frame (or press the Left Arrow key), or click the Previous Frame button below the Viewer.
Navigate using timecode Timecode is a signal recorded with your video that uniquely identifies each video frame. When you play a clip from the Event Browser, its timecode signal appears in the Dashboard, in the center of the Final Cut Pro toolbar, using this format: Timecode 01:32:15:28 Hours Seconds Minutes Frames Timecode supports a variety of functions in Final Cut Pro, including Timeline playback, synchronizing video and audio clip items, and adding, trimming, and moving clips.
Here are some tips for entering timecode values: ÂÂ You don’t have to enter the separator characters (colons). Final Cut Pro adds them automatically after each set of two digits. For example, if you enter “01221419,” Final Cut Pro interprets it as 01:22:14:19 (1 hour, 22 minutes, 14 seconds, and 19 frames). ÂÂ If the leftmost fields are zeroes, you don’t have to enter them. For example, if you enter “1419,” Final Cut Pro interprets it as 00:00:14:19.
The Timeline Index appears in the lower-left corner of the Final Cut Pro window. Timeline playhead The Timeline Index playhead moves in tandem with the Timeline playhead. View a list of items in the Timeline Index 1 If the Timeline Index is not already open, click the Timeline Index button in the lowerleft corner of the Final Cut Pro main window (or press Command-Shift-2).
You can specify which columns are displayed by Control-clicking a column heading and choosing an option from the shortcut menu. You can specify which items are displayed by clicking the All, Video, Audio, or Titles button at the bottom of the Timeline Index. ÂÂ To view a list of all the tags on the clips in the Timeline, ordered chronologically: Click the Tags button at the top. Keyword Incomplete to-do item Completed to-do item Marker tag All of the tags are shown by default.
ÂÂ To view a list of clips in the Timeline, organized by role: Click the Roles button at the top. Select a role name in the list to highlight all clips in the Timeline with that role assigned. Select or deselect the checkboxes next to the roles you want to turn on or off in the Timeline. When a checkbox is deselected, you can’t see or hear clips with that assigned role when you play back your project. For more information, see “View clips by role in the Timeline” on page 347.
Search for items in the Timeline Index 1 If the Timeline Index is not already open, click the Timeline Index button in the lower-left corner of the Final Cut Pro main window (or press Command-Shift-2). 2 Click Clips to search for clips, or click Tags to search for tags. 3 Enter a term in the search field at the top of the Timeline Index. You can search for clips, keywords, and markers (including to-do items). ∏∏ Tip: With the Timeline active, choose Edit > Find (or press Command-F).
Add and remove markers It’s easy to add and remove markers. If you add markers to clips in the Event Browser, they are visible in both filmstrip view and list view. When you add clips with markers to the Timeline, the markers are visible in both the Timeline and the Timeline Index. Add a marker to a clip in the Event Browser or in the Timeline 1 To specify where you want to add a marker, do one of the following: ÂÂ Skim to the location.
Note: Event clip markers also appear in the list view filmstrip and text list. Remove a marker Do any of the following: mm Navigate to a marker and choose Mark > Markers > Delete Marker (or press Control-M). mm Select one or more clips, then choose Mark > Markers > Delete Markers in Selection. mm Double-click a marker to open the Marker window, and click the Delete button. Edit and move markers You can view and edit marker information and you can move markers within a clip or to different clips.
2 To change the marker’s information, do any of the following: ÂÂ To change the descriptive text for the marker: Type the new text in the text field. (The text is automatically selected when the Marker window appears, so you don’t need to select it.) ÂÂ To make the marker a to-do item: Click the Make To Do Item button. The marker turns red. ÂÂ To indicate that a to-do item is completed: Select the Completed checkbox. The marker turns green. 3 Click Done.
Jump between markers You can move quickly from marker to marker in the Timeline or the Event Browser. Move between markers Do either of the following: mm To go to the next marker: Choose Mark > Next > Marker, or press Control-Apostrophe (’). mm To go to the previous marker: Choose Mark > Previous > Marker, or press ControlSemicolon (;). Correct excessive shake and rolling shutter issues You can smooth a clip’s shaky footage by correcting the stabilization, rolling shutter, or both.
3 In the Video inspector, do either of the following: ÂÂ To reduce the shake: Select the Stabilization checkbox. ÂÂ To reduce rolling shutter distortion: Select the Rolling Shutter checkbox. When you turn on Stabilization or Rolling Shutter, its checkbox turns blue. 4 To view the fix, play the clip in the Timeline. You can refine the corrections by adjusting the Stabilization controls or changing the Rolling Shutter Amount setting.
Add and adjust audio 9 Audio overview Final Cut Pro has many features designed to make processing and editing audio easier. For example, you can use Final Cut Pro to analyze and automatically enhance audio to address problems such as noise or hum, add effects to your clips, synchronize video and audio clips automatically, and match audio between two clips.
ÂÂ Use compound clips: Compound clips let you combine any video or audio clips into a single compound clip. From an audio standpoint, compound clips let you apply the same audio effect or enhancement to a group of clips, similar to applying an effect or adjustment to the overall mix. See “Compound clips overview” on page 285. ÂÂ Export audio: You can export your project as an audio file in either mono, stereo, or surround sound. You can also export media by role.
Record audio You can record audio directly in Final Cut Pro from input sources such as built-in and external microphones. The recorded audio file appears both in the Event Browser and as a connected clip in the Timeline. This function is particularly useful for recording voiceover narration. Record live audio 1 Position the playhead where you want to start recording in the Timeline. 2 Choose Window > Record Audio. Click the Record button to start or stop recording.
5 To start recording, click the Record button. 6 To stop recording, click the Record button again (or press the Space bar). Your audio recordings are attached to the primary storyline at the playhead position. Add and adjust audio effects Add audio effects In addition to the built-in audio enhancement features of Final Cut Pro, you can take advantage of 64-bit Mac OS X built-in and third-party Audio Units (AU) effects for your audio processing tasks.
Add audio effects to a clip 1 Click the Effects button in the toolbar. 2 In the Effects Browser, select an audio effect, and do any of the following to help you make the selection: ÂÂ To preview what the effect sounds like using the audio from the currently selected Timeline clip: Move the pointer over the audio effect thumbnails. ÂÂ To preview changing the effect’s primary control: Hold down the Option key while moving the pointer over an audio effect thumbnail.
Change the order of effects After you apply audio effects to a clip, you can change the order in which they appear in the Audio inspector or the Audio Animation Editor. 1 In the Timeline, select a clip for which you’ve added effects. 2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ In the Effects section of the Audio inspector, drag an effect up or down. ÂÂ In the Audio Animation Editor, drag an effect up or down. Transfer effects to another clip You can transfer effects and their settings from one clip to another.
Adjust an audio effect 1 In the Timeline, select the clip with the effect you want to adjust. 2 Locate the effect in the Effects section of the Audio inspector. Controls button 3 To see an effect’s parameters, do one of the following: ÂÂ Click the Controls button (to the right of the effect’s name) to show a larger window with advanced controls. ÂÂ Click the disclosure triangle next to Parameters to show controls in the Audio inspector.
1 Locate the effect in the Effects section of the Audio inspector. 2 Choose a preset from the Preset pop-up menu. You can preview your presets by using the skimmer or playing the clip in the Timeline. To return the effect to its default settings, choose Default from the Preset pop-up menu. Edit and save custom presets You can edit preset parameters by adjusting the effect’s controls. If you want to keep your changes, you can save them as as a custom preset.
4 Select effect parameters and adjust their settings as needed. You can preview your adjustments by using the skimmer or playing the clip in the Timeline. When you adjust a preset’s parameters, the Preset pop-up menu indicates that the preset has been edited. Edited preset 5 To save an edited preset, choose Save Preset from the Preset pop-up menu, and type a name for the new preset. Saved presets appear in the Preset pop-up menu.
Delete custom presets 1 Locate the effect in the Effects section of the Audio inspector. 2 Choose Reveal User Presets in Finder from the Preset pop-up menu. 3 Select the preset or presets you want to delete in the Finder window, and drag them to the Trash. After a custom preset has been deleted, it no longer appears in the Preset pop-up menu.
2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose Clip > Show Audio Animation (or press Control-A). ÂÂ Click the upper-left corner of a clip to open the Adjustments pop-up menu, and choose Show Audio Animation. Each effect in the Audio Animation Editor has a separate area for adding keyframes. Some effects have more than one parameter and allow you to add keyframes to individual parameters separately.
4 Do one of the following: ÂÂ To see expanded parameters in the Audio Animation Editor: Click the triangle to choose an individual parameter from the pop-up menu, or choose All to see all keyframes. ÂÂ To see expanded parameters in the Audio inspector: Click the disclosure triangle next to Parameters for the effect.
Keyframes appear as white diamonds for all parameters when you choose All from the effect pop-up menu. Double diamonds indicate that you added a keyframe for more than one parameter at that point. ÂÂ In the Audio inspector: Position the playhead in the Timeline at the point where you want to add a keyframe, and click the Keyframe button (or press Option-K). Keyframe button Once you add a keyframe, the Keyframe button changes to yellow, indicating that the playhead currently sits on this keyframe.
6 Add keyframes as needed. ∏∏ Tip: After you’ve added one keyframe, you can add another automatically by moving the playhead in the Timeline and then adjusting the effect parameter (or the Volume slider when keyframing volume) in the Audio inspector. Add keyframes automatically across a selected area For volume adjustments to a clip in the Timeline, you can use the Range Selection tool to add keyframes automatically across a selected range.
4 In the Timeline, do one of the following: ÂÂ If you’re adjusting volume only: Choose Range Selection from the Tools pop-up menu in the toolbar (or press R). The pointer changes to the Range Selection tool icon . ÂÂ If you’re adjusting an effect in the Audio Animation Editor: Choose either Select or Range Selection from the Tools pop-up menu in the toolbar (or press A for Select, or R for Range Selection). 5 Drag across the area where you want to adjust the volume or effect.
6 Adjust the volume or effect within the range by dragging the effect’s horizontal control up or down. Keyframes are automatically created along the adjustment points within the range.
Adjust keyframes in the Audio Animation Editor You can move keyframes left or right in the Audio Animation Editor. If an effect appears with a disclosure button, you can expand the effect view and move keyframes up or down to change the parameter value. 1 Select a keyframe. 2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ To change its position in the Audio Animation Editor, drag a keyframe left or right. As you drag, the timecode value appears.
∏∏ Tip: To adjust values with greater precision, hold down the Command key while dragging the keyframe up or down. To add another keyframe, Option-click (or press Option-K) at a point on the effect control where you want to add the keyframe. To add a keyframe and change the effect’s parameter value at the same time, Option-click while dragging the effect control up or down.
All keyframes are adjusted by the same amount, preserving the original shape created by any keyframe adjustments. Before After View only one effect at a time in the Audio Animation Editor You can collapse the Audio Animation Editor to view only one effect at a time. This can be useful if you have multiple effects applied to a clip and want to preserve screen space. 1 Choose Clip > Solo Animation (or press Shift-Control-V).
Delete keyframes Do one of the following: mm Select a keyframe in the Audio Animation Editor, and press the Delete key. mm Navigate to a keyframe in the Audio inspector, and click the Keyframe button. Keyframe button Hide audio animation 1 Select the clip in the Timeline. 2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose Clip > Hide Audio Animation (or press Control-A). ÂÂ Click the close button in the upper-left corner of the Audio Animation Editor.
Adjust and enhance audio Adjust volume You can adjust the volume levels of audio clips from the Event Browser, the Timeline, the Audio inspector, or the Modify menu. Volume adjustments you make in the Audio inspector or from the Modify menu are applied to the entire selection. To make more precise adjustments, you can create keyframes in the clip, and then make adjustments to points between keyframes. See “Adjust audio effects using keyframes” on page 181.
2 In the Audio inspector, do one of the following: ÂÂ Enter a value in the Volume field. If multiple clips are selected, the volume for all clips is set to the value you entered. ÂÂ Drag the Volume slider right to increase the volume, or left to decrease it. If multiple clips are selected, the volume for all clips is adjusted relative to each clip’s original volume.
Reset all volume adjustments 1 Select an audio clip or video clip with audio in the Event Browser or the Timeline. 2 Click the Reset button in the Volume and Pan section of the Audio inspector. Enhance audio Final Cut Pro includes several powerful tools for both analyzing and enhancing the audio portion of clips, including: ÂÂ Loudness: Improves the main audio signal and makes it more uniform. ÂÂ Background Noise Removal: Reduces background noise.
ÂÂ In the Audio inspector, click the Audio Enhancements Inspector button next to Audio Analysis in the Audio Enhancements section. (The button changes color if any adjustments have been made.) The Audio Enhancements inspector appears. After analysis, indicators appear next to each enhancement to show results: ÂÂ A red sign indicates severe problems. ÂÂ A yellow warning triangle indicates potential problems. ÂÂ A green checkmark indicates OK.
Apply enhancements manually After you analyze audio, you can adjust the enhancements manually. 1 Select an audio clip or video clip with audio in the Timeline. 2 To show the Audio Enhancements inspector, do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose Window > Show Audio Enhancements (or press Command-8). ÂÂ Click the upper-left corner of a clip to open the Adjustments pop-up menu, and choose Audio Enhancement. ÂÂ Choose Show Audio Enhancements from the Enhancements pop-up menu in the toolbar.
5 To close the Audio Enhancements inspector, click the back button . Adjust equalization 1 Select the clip in the Timeline. 2 In the Audio Enhancements section of the Audio inspector, choose an Equalization preset from the Equalization pop-up menu, or click the Controls button to make manual adjustments. Choose a preset from this pop-up menu. Controls button If you want a clip to sound like another clip, you can match the audio.
Create a fade using fade handles mm Drag the fade handle to the point in the clip where you want the fade to begin or end. Fade handles from the beginning of a clip create a fade-in, while fade handles at the end of a clip create a fade-out. Fade-in Fade-out Fades complement any volume adjustments you’ve already made to a clip. For example, if you previously adjusted the volume lower at the beginning of a clip, the fade-in increases the volume from silence (–∞ dB) to the level you’ve already specified.
2 Drag the end point of the first clip to the right and the start point of the second clip to the left so that the audio portions of the clips overlap. Note: Make sure to adjust the audio overlap to the length you want. 3 Drag the fade handles of each clip to the points where you want the fade to begin and end. Crossfade Fade handle To change the fade shape for each clip, follow the instructions immediately below.
Change the fade shape when using fade handles mm Control-click a fade handle, and choose a fade option from the shortcut menu: ÂÂ Linear: Maintains a constant rate of change over the length of the fade. ÂÂ S-curve: Eases in and out of the fade with the midpoint at 0 dB. ÂÂ +3dB: Starts quickly and then slowly tapers off toward the end. This is the most useful setting for quick fades. ÂÂ -3dB: Starts slowly and then moves quickly toward the end.
ÂÂ -3dB: Starts slowly and then moves quickly toward the end. This is the default setting and is best for maintaining a natural volume when crossfading between two adjacent clips. Pan audio Panning audio lets you distribute sound across the stereo or surround spectrum to create balance or a special effect. For example, you can place more sound in the right channel of a stereo clip or less sound in the center channel of a surround clip.
ÂÂ Ambience: Pans across the surround spectrum with more signal toward the surround channels and less signal to the front and center channels. This setting is useful for effects such as crowd noise or other outdoor environments. The Pan Amount slider setting can be adjusted from 0 (no effect) to 100 (total surround field). ÂÂ Circle: Pans the sound in a circle around the surround spectrum like a bee buzzing around the listener’s head.
3 Do either of the following: ÂÂ To make adjustments in the Surround Panner: Drag the control within the surround field to pan toward or away from any of the surround channels (left, center, right, left surround, or right surround) represented by the speaker icons. Click a speaker icon to turn it on or off. Drag to move the sound source. To move the control back to the center position, double-click it.
Configure audio channels Final Cut Pro assigns a default channel configuration for audio clips when they are imported or added to a project. You can change the channel configuration if, for example, you want to convert a stereo dialogue clip to two mono channels. The number of channel options you can configure depends upon how many channels are in your source clip or compound clip. You can configure channels in several formats, including: ÂÂ Mono: Single channel.
ÂÂ To assign a mono channel to a specific surround channel: Select the mono channel waveform, and choose a surround channel from the Channels pop-up menu. Skim to preview. Select to turn on or off. To reset a configuration, click the Reset button . You can also choose a channel configuration when exporting roles as audio stems for mixing or post-production. See “Export your project as media files” on page 448.
3 Click to select the clip whose sound you want to match. 4 Click Apply Match. Once you match a clip, you can make adjustments to settings in the Audio Enhancements section of the Audio inspector. Remove audio matching 1 Select the clip in the Timeline. 2 In the Audio Enhancements section of the Audio inspector, choose a different equalization setting from the Equalization pop-up menu. To remove all equalization, choose the Flat setting.
To avoid having clip volume exceed peak levels, adjust the volume. Although the proper level for a clip depends upon the overall mix you want, it’s important to make sure that the combined level for all concurrent clips does not exceed 0 dB during the loudest sections. Final Cut Pro includes two meters, a small Audio Meter icon in the Dashboard in the toolbar and a larger Audio Meters pane. Show or hide the Audio meters To show the Audio meters, do one of the following: mm Choose Window > Show Audio Meters.
About audio waveforms Audio waveforms are visual representations of the actual sound. Audio waveforms appear in clips in the following ways: ÂÂ As the bottom portion of a video clip, colored blue ÂÂ As a detached or an audio-only clip, colored green Audio portion of a video clip Audio-only clip An audio waveform’s amplitude and length change according to the underlying sound’s volume and duration.
∏∏ Tip: For reference when working with video, you can view subframes (1/80 the duration of a video frame) in the timecode display of the Dashboard. In the Editing pane of Final Cut Pro preferences, choose the subframe option in the Time Display pop-up menu. Zoom to audio samples 1 Choose View > Zoom to Samples (or press Option-Z). 2 Select the clip in the Timeline. 3 Zoom in until the clip shows the waveform within the borders of a video frame.
Navigate by subframe 1 In the Timeline or the Event Browser, move your pointer over a clip and click. 2 Do either of the following: ÂÂ To move backward in one-subframe increments: Press Command-Left Arrow. ÂÂ To move forward in one-subframe increments: Press Command-Right Arrow. Ways to view audio clips When you work with audio waveforms in the Timeline, you can zoom in or out or change the clip appearance to make the waveform taller or shorter.
mm To expand all clips in the Timeline: Choose View > Expand Audio/Video Clips, and choose for all clips or for split clips. Normal clip view Clip with expanded audio When you show expanded audio, the audio and video portions of the clip remain attached to each other. To create a separate connected audio clip, detach the audio. You can also use the Precision Editor to see a detached view of the video and audio portions of the clip.
Collapse audio and video You can collapse the expanded audio/video view for a single clip, multiple clips, or all clips in the Timeline. mm To collapse a single clip: Double-click the audio waveform of the clip. mm To collapse a clip or clips you’ve selected in the Timeline: Choose Clip > Collapse Audio/Video (or press Control-S). mm To collapse all expanded clips in the Timeline: Choose View > Collapse All Clips.
Show or hide reference waveforms A reference waveform shows the maximum visual resolution possible for the actual audio waveform. By factoring out loudness changes, reference waveforms let you see the details of the sound more clearly. 1 Choose Final Cut Pro > Preferences, and click Editing. 2 Select the “Show reference waveforms” checkbox.
The soloed clip appears highlighted, while other clips appear dimmed. Soloed clip To turn off solo, click the Solo button, or choose Clip > Solo (or press Option-S) again. Disable clips 1 Select one or more clips in the Timeline. 2 Choose Clip > Disable (or press V). Disabled clips are silent and appear dimmed in the Timeline. 3 To reenable the disabled clips, select them in the Timeline and choose Clip > Disable (or press V). You can solo video clips in Final Cut Pro.
Final Cut Pro analyzes the clips for sync points such as markers you’ve added, timecode, file creation date, and audio content. If no sync points can be found, the clips are synced at their respective starting points.
Auto-synchronize clips 1 Select the audio and video clips you want to sync in the Event Browser. 2 Choose Clip > Synchronize Clips (or press Command-Option-G). Synced compound clips are labeled “Synchronized clip” in the Event Browser. The original clips are not affected. If your synchronized clip contains audio channels that aren’t being used, you can turn them off. See “Configure audio channels” on page 204.
Add transitions, titles, effects, and generators 10 Transitions, titles, effects, and generators overview You can easily add special effects to video, audio, and photos in your projects. Final Cut Pro provides several kinds of effects and controls: ÂÂ Transitions: Add an effect between clips to control how they change from one to the next. See “Transitions overview” on page 218. ÂÂ Titles: Use to add text at any point in your project. See “Titles overview” on page 229.
Effects can be added to any clips in the Timeline. Once they have been added (or in the case of built-in effects, adjusted), you can customize the effects using controls in an inspector, onscreen controls in the Viewer, and controls in the Video Animation Editor and Audio Animation Editor. You can also try out multiple versions of an effect using auditions.
How transitions are created Transitions require overlapping video from the clips on each side of the edit point. A one-second transition requires one second of video from the end of the left clip and one second of video from the start of the right clip. When you apply a transition to an edit point, Final Cut Pro attempts to use additional video from each of the clips to create the overlap. These additional (unused) sections of clips are known as media handles.
The illustration below shows how transitions are created when the clips on either side of the edit point have media handles. The transition is placed so that it spans the clips; one half of the transition overlaps each clip. Unused media from the end of each clip is added to fill out the transition. The total duration of your project is unchanged.
Add transitions to your project There are several methods you can use to add transitions to your project. Once a transition is added, you can adjust its parameters. You can also modify the transition effect in Motion. Add a cross dissolve 1 Choose the Select tool from the Tools pop-up menu in the toolbar (shown below), and click the edge of a clip (an edit point) in the Timeline. One or both clip edges are highlighted.
2 Choose Edit > Add Cross Dissolve (or press Command-T). The cross dissolve is inserted using the “Apply transitions using” setting. For more information, see “Set the default duration for transitions” on page 220. If the video clip has attached audio, a crossfade transition is applied to the audio. Add or change a transition using the Transitions Browser 1 Click the Transitions button in the toolbar. 2 Select a transition.
Add an automatic audio crossfade When a video clip has attached audio, the audio automatically has a crossfade transition applied when a video transition is applied. If the audio is detached or expanded from the video, the audio is not affected by the video transition. Follow these steps to add an audio crossfade between detached audio clips that are in a connected storyline. 1 Create an audio-only storyline that is connected to the primary storyline.
Delete transitions from your project You can easily delete a transition, restoring the edit point to a simple cut. Delete a transition 1 Select one or more transitions in the Timeline. 2 Press Delete. The selected transitions are removed and their edit points are converted to simple cuts. Important: If a transition you deleted used Full Overlap, the edit point is now at the center point of the transition that was removed, not at its original location before the transition was applied.
Move the transition Moving a transition actually rolls the edit under the transition, adding content to one underlying clip while removing content from the other clip. The overall duration of the project is not affected. Additionally, you can only move the transition as long as sufficient media handles are available for the clip that is being extended.
Trim a clip under a transition The transition includes icons that make it easy to trim the left or right clip without affecting the transition. 1 Select a transition in the Timeline. 2 Drag one of the trim icons in the upper-left or upper-right area of the transition. Drag to trim the start point of the clip on the right. Drag to trim the end point of the clip on the left.
Adjust transitions in the Transition inspector and Viewer You can adjust a transition using the controls in the Transition inspector and Viewer. Adjust a transition using the Transition inspector and Viewer 1 If the Transition inspector is not already visible, choose Window > Show Inspector (or press Command-4). 2 In the Timeline, select the transition to adjust. For this example, use the Circle transition. The Viewer shows any onscreen adjustments you can make by dragging the handles.
Adjust transitions with multiple images Several transitions include areas that are filled with still images from the clips on either side of the transition. For example, this is the Pan Far Right transition (one of the Bulletin Board transitions). This image is set by handle number 3 in the Timeline. The areas are numbered and correlate to numbered points around the transition in the Timeline. Adjust transitions with numbered points 1 Select the transition with numbered points in the Timeline.
Create specialized versions of transitions in Motion Many of the transitions were created using Motion, an Apple application designed to work with Final Cut Pro. You can open these transitions in Motion, make modifications, and save the changes as a new transition file that appears in the Transitions Browser. Important: The following steps require you to have Motion 5 installed on your computer. Modify a transition in Motion 1 Click the Transitions button in the toolbar.
Add titles to your project You add titles to clips in your project using the Titles Browser. Once you have added text, you can modify the title’s text style. Add a title to a project clip 1 Drag the playhead in the Timeline to the point where you want to add the title. 2 Click the Titles button in the toolbar (or press Command-5). 3 Do any of the following: ÂÂ To add a title from the Titles Browser: Double-click the title. The title is added at the playhead location.
Add a title as a clip in the Timeline There are two ways to add a title as a clip in the Timeline. You can either insert a title at the edit point between two clips or replace an existing clip in the Timeline with a title. mm To add a title between clips in the Timeline: Drag a title from the Titles Browser to the edit point between the clips where you want it to appear.
Adjust titles You can adjust a title’s text appearance using the Title and Video inspectors. For example, you can adjust a title’s opacity or modify the text’s font, alignment, color, glow, and drop shadow. Adjust a title’s position onscreen 1 Select a title in the Timeline. 2 In the Viewer, double-click the title text. 3 Click the position button and drag the title’s text box to the new position. Click the position button (the small circle) and drag the title to the new position.
2 Choose Window > Show Inspector (or press Command-4), and click the Video button at the top of the pane that appears. Opacity slider 3 In the Compositing section, adjust the opacity settings. Note: You can also keyframe a title’s opacity setting. Adjust a title’s settings You can modify a title’s default settings in the Title inspector. 1 Select a title in the Timeline. 2 Choose Window > Show Inspector (or press Command-4), and click the Title button at the top of the pane that appears.
Modify a title’s text style You can modify the text style for a title. 1 Select a title in the Timeline. 2 Choose Window > Show Inspector (or press Command-4), and click the Text button at the top of the pane that appears. 3 Adjust the available settings as needed. Note: You can also keyframe many of the settings in both the Title and Text inspectors. Remove titles from your project You can remove a title from your project at any time.
Find and replace text in your project If your project contains multiple instances of a particular word or phrase displayed in multiple title clips, such as names, company names, or job titles, you can find the specific word or phrase and quickly change each instance of it. Find and replace title text 1 Choose Edit > Find and Replace Title Text. 2 In the Find and Replace Title Text window that appears, type the text you want to search for in the Find field.
Adjust built-in effects Built-in effects overview Final Cut Pro includes several video effects that are part of each Timeline clip and directly accessible from the Viewer—all you need to do is select them and start making adjustments.
3 To adjust the effect using the onscreen controls: ÂÂ Blue handles at each corner: Drag these to adjust the image’s size while maintaining its current aspect ratio. ÂÂ Blue handles in the middle of each side: Drag these to independently adjust the vertical and horizontal image size, changing the aspect ratio of the image. Note: These controls aren’t available in the Video inspector. ÂÂ White circle in the center: Shows the rotation anchor point.
4 Use the Transform controls in the Video inspector as follows: ÂÂ Position X and Y: Use these to move the image left and right (X) and up and down (Y). ÂÂ Rotation: Use this to rotate the image around its anchor point. ÂÂ Scale: Use this to change the image’s size. ÂÂ Anchor X and Y: Use these to move the image’s center point. This defines the point that the image rotates around. Note: This control isn’t available in the onscreen controls.
4 To adjust the effect using the onscreen controls: ÂÂ Blue handles at each corner: Drag these to adjust the position of two trim window sides at the same time. ÂÂ Blue handles in the middle of each side: Drag these to independently adjust the position of each side. ÂÂ Anywhere inside the window: Drag anywhere inside the window to adjust its position. Drag a handle in the middle of a side to change only one side. Drag a corner handle to change two sides at once.
Crop clips The Crop effect makes it easy to remove unwanted areas of the image. It automatically expands the cropped image so that it fills the screen. Adjust the Crop effect 1 Select a clip in the Timeline. 2 To access the Crop controls, do one of the following: ÂÂ Click the Crop button in the lower-left corner of the Viewer (or press Shift-C). ÂÂ Control-click in the Viewer and choose Crop from the shortcut menu. 3 Click Crop in the upper-left corner of the Viewer.
5 To individually adjust each edge using the Crop area of the Video inspector, use the Crop controls. Note: While you can use these controls to change the crop window’s aspect ratio, the final image still matches the original image’s aspect ratio, with additional content being cropped out so that the final image fits the original aspect ratio. 6 Click Done to have the crop applied and see the image zoomed to fill the screen.
3 Click the Ken Burns button in the upper-left corner of the Viewer. Two rectangles appear in the Viewer: a green one that defines the position and size for the start of the clip and a red one that defines the position and size for the end of the clip. An arrow is superimposed to show the direction the image travels when the clip is played. Click the Swap button to exchange the Start and End positions. Click the Play Loop button to play the clip in a loop.
Skew a clip’s perspective The Distort effect is similar to the Transform effect, except that you can drag each of the corners independently of the others, allowing you to create a skewed look or add a 3D perspective to the image. Note: The Distort effect alters the shape of the video but does not actually move the video. To move the video to a different position, use the Transform effect. Adjust the Distort effect 1 Select a clip in the Timeline.
4 To individually adjust each corner using the Video inspector, use the Distort controls. 5 When you are finished adjusting the effect and no longer need the onscreen controls, click Done. You can animate the effect and have it appear over a background. For details on working with built-in effects, see “Work with built-in effects” on page 244. Work with built-in effects Following are ways you can work with built-in effects. Turn off or reset the effect 1 Select the clip with the effect in the Timeline.
ÂÂ To return all values for that effect to their default state: Click the Reset button . ÂÂ To turn off the effect in the Video Animation Editor: Open the Video Animation Editor by choosing Clip > Show Video Animation (or pressing Control-V), and click the checkbox next to the effect you want to turn off. Click an effect’s checkbox to turn the effect on or off. Animate built-in effects Use keyframes to have the effect’s settings change as the clip plays.
5 Click the Add Keyframe button in the upper part of the Viewer. Click the Add Keyframe button to add the first keyframe to the animation. 6 Move the playhead to the end of the clip. 7 Adjust the effect’s controls to set the end position. A keyframe is automatically added. Additionally, for Transform effects, a line showing the image’s path appears. Click Done when you are finished creating the animation. Click the Left Arrow button to jump back to the first keyframe.
8 To finish, click Done in the upper-right corner of the Viewer. When you play the clip, the video moves smoothly between the keyframes, creating an animated effect. You can actually add multiple keyframes by moving the playhead to a new position and changing the effect’s controls. For more information on working with keyframes, see “Video animation overview” on page 270.
8 To jump between the keyframes, click the white squares along the red line. The first and last keyframes have white arrows. By default, the red line indicates a smooth path (indicated by how it curves). 9 To control the curve of the path, click the starting or middle keyframe and drag the curve handles. The starting keyframe The ending keyframe Drag these handles on a middle keyframe to adjust the path’s curve.
Composite effects over a background Often, Transform, Trim, and Distort effects result in the image being less than full size, with the empty areas filled with black. You can replace the black with a background by placing the transformed clip over a background clip, known as compositing. Do one of the following: mm Add a clip to the Timeline as a connected clip and then add the effect to that clip. This places the clip above the primary storyline clip, which automatically becomes the effect’s background.
For more information about working with connected clips, see “Add storylines” on page 294. For more information about compositing clips, see “Compositing overview” on page 405. Copy a clip’s effects to another clip 1 In the Timeline, select the clip you want to copy the effects from, and choose Edit > Copy (or press Command-C). 2 Select the clip you want to apply the effects to, and choose Edit > Paste Effects (or press Command-Option-V). All the first clip’s effects are applied to the second clip.
Add effects to your project You add effects to clips in your project using the Effects Browser. Add an effect to a project clip 1 Select a clip in the Timeline and click the Effects button in the toolbar. 2 In the Effects Browser, select an effect, using any of the following to help you make the selection: ÂÂ To preview what the effect looks like using the video from the currently selected Timeline clip: Move the pointer over the video effect thumbnails.
Adjust effects in Final Cut Pro Most effects have one or more parameters that you can adjust using the Video inspector or Audio inspector, the Viewer, or the Video Animation Editor or Audio Animation Editor. You can also control how the effect is applied to the clip, either gradually or constantly. Adjust an effect in the Video inspector and Viewer 1 In the Timeline, select the clip with the effect you want to adjust. 2 Locate the effect in the Video inspector or Audio inspector.
Adjust an effect in the Video Animation Editor Many effect parameters can be adjusted in the Video Animation Editor. Additionally, you can set these parameters to fade in and out, allowing you to gradually apply the effect’s settings. 1 Select the clip with the video effect in the Timeline. 2 Choose Clip > Show Video Animation (or press Control-V). The effect appears as one of the animations in the Video Animation Editor above the clip. You can click its checkbox to turn the effect off and on.
3 To vertically expand the effect’s adjustment area, choose a specific effect adjustment from the pop-up menu (if present) and double-click it. This applies only to effect adjustments that have a single value. An icon appears on the right side of the effect’s section if the adjustment can be expanded. 4 To have the effect’s setting fade in and out of the clip, drag the handles on either end of the effect. Drag the fade handles to gradually apply the effect. Drag this line to adjust the selected value.
Show the audio effects applied to a clip 1 Select the clip with the audio effect in the Timeline. 2 Choose Clip > Show Audio Animation (or press Control-A). The audio effect appears as one of the animations in the Audio Animation Editor. You can click its green checkbox to turn the effect off and on. Change clip effect order You can apply multiple clip effects to a Timeline clip. The order that you apply them can affect the final output.
2 In the Video inspector or Audio inspector, drag the effects to change their order. Drag clip effects to rearrange their order. Built-in effects and color correction cannot be rearranged. Change video and audio clip effect order using the Video Animation or Audio Animation Editor 1 Select a clip in the Timeline that has multiple video or audio clip effects applied, and do one of the following: ÂÂ To see the video effects: Choose Clip > Show Video Animation (or press Control-V).
Turn off or remove an effect from a clip When you apply an effect to a clip, you can either turn off the effect (but retain its settings) or remove the effect from the clip. Turn off a clip effect 1 Select the clip with the effect in the Timeline. 2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose Clip > Show Video Animation (or press Control-V) to see video effects or choose Clip > Show Audio Animation (or press Control-A) to see audio effects, select the effect, and click its checkbox.
3 Modify the effect’s project. See Motion Help for information on using Motion. 4 Choose File > Save As (or press Command-Shift-S), enter a name for this new effect (referred to as a Template in Motion), assign it to a category (or create a new category), choose a theme (if needed), and click Publish. Note: If you choose File > Save, the effect is saved using the same name with “copy” appended to its end.
Use a placeholder Generated placeholders are useful in many situations where you want to fill a gap in the project with something that provides a hint about what the final content will include. You can configure placeholder clips to represent a wide variety of standard shots, such as close-ups, groups, wide shots, and so on. Insert and configure a placeholder clip 1 Drag the playhead in the Timeline to the point where you want to add the placeholder clip.
Use a timecode counter When sending your project for review, it can be useful to superimpose timecode over it, making it easier for the reviewer to precisely specify sections when providing feedback. Insert and configure a timecode counter 1 Open the Generators Browser by clicking the Generators button in the toolbar. 2 Drag the Timecode generator above the primary storyline.
Use a shape You can configure the Shapes generator to be any of a number of shapes, such as a star, a diamond, an arrow, and a heart. These are most often used above the primary storyline to add a graphical element to your project that you can animate. Insert and configure a shape 1 Open the Generators Browser by clicking the Generators button in the toolbar. 2 Drag the Shapes generator above the primary storyline so that it is over the video clip you want the shape to appear over.
Use a background Many of the generators provide a general background over which you can place builtin effects, titles, keys, and clips with an alpha channel. Some are solid colors while others are textures such as wood or stone. Some generators even have animated movement, providing a more interesting background. Insert and configure a background clip 1 Drag the playhead in the Timeline to the point where you want to add the background clip.
Create specialized versions of the generators in Motion Many of the generators were created using Motion, an Apple application designed to work with Final Cut Pro. To further customize the generators, you can open them in Motion, make modifications, and save the changes as a new file that appears in the Generators Browser. Important: The following steps require you to have Motion 5 installed on your computer.
Use onscreen controls Onscreen controls overview Many effects, transitions, and other items use onscreen controls, superimposed over the video in the Viewer, to make it easier to adjust a variety of parameters. In many cases, these onscreen controls duplicate controls in the inspectors, although in some cases the controls are unique and provide the only way to adjust a particular parameter.
Onscreen control examples Following are a few examples of the onscreen controls you might use while working with clip effects and transitions. Many other clip effects and transitions use these same or similar controls—the examples are intended to provide general information about using the onscreen controls. Keep the following in mind while going through these examples: ÂÂ These examples assume you are familiar with applying clip effects to clips in the Timeline.
Example: Use onscreen controls to apply a Droplet effect 1 Open the Effects Browser and drag the Droplet effect to a clip in the Timeline. 2 To adjust the effect’s onscreen controls, do any of the following: ÂÂ To position the effect: Drag the center circle. ÂÂ To set the effect’s outer limit: Drag the outer circle. ÂÂ To set the effect’s inner limit: Drag the inner circle. ÂÂ To set the effect’s overall size: Drag any area in between the inner and outer circles.
Example: Use onscreen controls to apply a Prism effect 1 Open the Effects Browser and drag the Prism effect to a clip in the Timeline. 2 To adjust the direction of the effect, drag the arrow. Because the effect has no center setting, the circle in the center cannot be dragged. This center circle cannot be dragged since the effect has no center setting. Drag the arrow to set the effect’s direction.
Example: Use onscreen controls to apply a Center transition 1 Open the Transitions Browser and drag the Center transition to an edit point in the Timeline. 2 To adjust the transition’s onscreen controls, do any of the following: ÂÂ To position the transition: Drag the center circle. ÂÂ To set the transition’s direction: Drag the arrow. ÂÂ To set the transition’s border width (softness in this case): Drag the outer handle toward or away from the center circle.
Example: Use onscreen controls to apply a Star transition 1 Open the Transitions Browser and drag the Star transition to an edit point in the Timeline. 2 To adjust the transition’s onscreen controls, do any of the following: ÂÂ To position the transition: Drag the center circle. ÂÂ To set the number of points on the star: Drag the longer handle. ÂÂ To rotate the star: Drag the shorter handle. Drag this center circle to set the transition’s position. Drag this handle to set the number of points on the star.
Example: Use onscreen controls to apply a Zoom & Pan transition 1 Open the Transitions Browser and drag the Zoom & Pan transition to an edit point in the Timeline. 2 To adjust the transition’s onscreen controls, do either of the following: ÂÂ To set the transition’s start point: Drag the green circle. ÂÂ To set the transition’s end point: Drag the red circle. Drag the red circle to set the end point. Drag the green circle to set the start point.
The word keyframe comes from the traditional workflow in the animation industry, where only important (key) frames of an animated sequence were drawn to sketch a character’s motion over time. Once the keyframes were determined, an in-between artist drew all the frames between the keyframes.
Add keyframes 1 Select the clip in the Timeline, and do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose Clip > Show Video Animation (or press Control-V). ÂÂ Click the upper-left corner of a clip to open the Adjustments pop-up menu, and choose Show Video Animation. Each effect in the Video Animation Editor has a separate area for adding keyframes. Some effects have more than one parameter and allow you to add keyframes to individual parameters separately.
2 Select the effect for which you want to add keyframes in either the Video Animation Editor or the Effects section of the Video inspector. 3 Do one of the following: ÂÂ To see expanded parameters in the Video Animation Editor: Click the triangle to choose an individual parameter from the pop-up menu, or choose All to add keyframes for all parameters. ÂÂ To see expanded parameters in the Video inspector: Click Show when you position the pointer over the effect.
When you move the playhead in the Timeline, arrows appear next to the Keyframe button in the Video inspector to indicate which side of the playhead has keyframes. To go to the previous keyframe, click the left arrow or press Option-Semicolon (;). To go to the next keyframe, click the right arrow or press Option-Apostrophe (’). Arrows 5 Add keyframes as needed.
2 Select an effect, and click the disclosure button to expand it in the Video Animation Editor. Disclosure button 3 In the Timeline, choose either Select or Range Selection from the Tools pop-up menu in the toolbar (or press A for Select, or R for Range Selection). 4 Drag across the area in the Video Animation Editor where you want to adjust the effect.
5 Adjust the effect within the range by dragging the effect’s horizontal control up or down. Keyframes are automatically created along the adjustment points within the range.
Adjust keyframes in the Video Animation Editor You can move keyframes left or right in the Video Animation Editor. If an effect appears with a disclosure button, you can expand the effect view and move keyframes up or down to change the parameter value. 1 Select a keyframe. 2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ To change its position in the Video Animation Editor, drag a keyframe left or right. As you drag, the timecode value appears. Drag the keyframe left or right.
∏∏ Tip: To adjust values with greater precision, hold down the Command key while dragging the keyframe up or down. Drag the keyframe up or down. To add another keyframe, Option-click (or press Option-K) at a point on the effect control where you want to add the keyframe. To add a keyframe and change the effect’s parameter value at the same time, Option-click while dragging the effect control up or down.
View only one effect at a time in the Video Animation Editor You can collapse the Video Animation Editor to view only one effect at a time. This can be useful if you have multiple effects applied to a clip and want to preserve screen space. 1 Choose Clip > Solo Animation (or press Shift-Control-V). 2 In the Video Animation Editor, click the triangle next to the displayed effect’s name to choose an effect from the pop-up menu.
Hide video animation 1 Select the clip in the Timeline. 2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose Clip > Hide Video Animation (or press Control-V). ÂÂ Click the close button in the upper-left corner of the Video Animation Editor. ÂÂ Click the upper-left corner of a clip to open the Adjustments pop-up menu, and choose Hide Video Animation.
Adjust effect curves using fade handles or keyframe animation Some effects in the Video Animation Editor include fade handles. These allow you to fade the effect in or out. You can also move keyframes up or down to create a curve for the effect parameter and change the curve shape (interpolation) between keyframes. Creating a fade or an effect curve smooths the transition so the effect changes appear more natural when the clip plays.
Change an effect using keyframes mm Click the disclosure button to expand the effect in the Video Animation Editor, and do either of the following: Disclosure button Note: If an effect doesn’t have a disclosure button, you can’t move keyframes up or down. ÂÂ To add a keyframe: Option-click (or press Option-K) at a point on the effect control where you want to add the keyframe.
Change the curve shape (interpolation) between keyframes Do one of the following: mm Drag the line horizontally between the keyframes to create a curve. To adjust the curve with greater precision, hold down the Command key while dragging. mm Control-click the line between keyframes, and choose a curve option from the shortcut menu. ÂÂ Linear: Maintains a constant rate of change over the duration of the fade. ÂÂ Ease: Eases in and out of the fade with the midpoint set between the beginning and end values.
Adjust all keyframes on a curve mm Hold down the Command and Option keys, and drag either a keyframe or the curve up or down. All keyframes are adjusted by the same amount, preserving the original shape of the curve.
Advanced editing 11 Group clips with compound clips Compound clips overview With Final Cut Pro, you can create compound clips, which allow you to group any combination of clips in the Timeline or the Event Browser and nest clips within other clips. Compound clips can contain video and audio clip components, clips, and other compound clips. Effectively, each compound clip can be considered a mini project, with its own distinct project properties.
ÂÂ Quickly create a compound clip containing the clips in an Event, based on the Event Browser sort order. ÂÂ Use a compound clip to create a section of a project with settings different from those of the main project.
2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose File > New Compound Clip (or press Option-G). ÂÂ Control-click the selection and choose New Compound Clip from the shortcut menu.
ÂÂ If you selected clips in the Timeline: Final Cut Pro places the selected clips in the new compound clip exactly as they are laid out in the Timeline. The new compound clip inherits the frame size and frame rate of the current Timeline.
Create an empty compound clip You can create new, empty compound clips and then add clips to them. Each compound clip can be considered a mini project, with its own distinct project properties. 1 In the Event Library, select an Event to which you want to add the compound clip. 2 Choose File > New Compound Clip. In the window that appears, type a name for the compound clip in the Name field. 3 Click Use Custom Settings to further customize settings for your compound clip.
Edit the contents of a standard clip in the Timeline You can edit the contents of a standard clip. When you add clips to the contents of a standard clip, you automatically create a compound clip. mm Select a clip in the Event Browser or the Timeline, and choose Clip > Open in Timeline. The Timeline displays the contents of the clip. Most standard clips include a video component, an audio component, or both. You cannot edit the contents of these video and audio components.
Manage compound clips There are many ways to manage and edit compound clips. For example, you can open up compound clips (and edit their component parts) in a separate Timeline. You can easily navigate up and down a series of compound clip levels. And you can open and edit a compound clip from within an Event. Open a compound clip for editing Do one of the following in the Timeline or the Event Browser: mm Select a compound clip in the Timeline or the Event Browser, and choose Clip > Open in Timeline.
Navigate compound clip levels using menu commands and keyboard shortcuts To navigate up or down one or more levels of a compound clip, do one of the following: mm To move forward (down one level): Choose View > Go Forward in Timeline History, or press Command-Right Bracket (]). mm To move back (up one level): Choose View > Go Back in Timeline History, or press Command-Left Bracket ([).
Make sure all contents of a compound clip appear in your movie When you’re editing the contents of a compound clip, Final Cut Pro indicates the boundary of the compound clip with a dark gray, cross-hatched area to the left of the start point of the clip and to the right of the end point of the clip. If you add clips to the contents of the compound clip, any parts of any clips that extend into the dark gray area do not appear in your project.
Add storylines Storylines are sequences of clips connected to the primary storyline. They combine the convenience of connected clips with the precision editing capabilities of the primary storyline. You can use storylines for the same purposes as connected clips (such as creating cutaways, compositing titles and other graphics, and adding sound effects and music). The unique advantage of storylines is the ability to edit a sequence of connected clips within the context of the other clips in the Timeline.
ÂÂ Trim clips: Use any of the standard trim edits in a storyline, including ripple, roll, slip, and slide. You can also trim or move clips within storylines by entering timecode values. ÂÂ Create split edits: Set separate video and audio start and end points in an individual clip to create split edits (L-cuts and J-cuts) in a storyline. Create or break apart storylines You can quickly create storylines from existing connected clips. 1 In the Timeline, select two or more connected clips.
You can also create a storyline by holding down the G key as you drag a clip to a connected clip so that their edges touch: Hold down the G key as you drag a clip to a connected clip. 3 To convert a storyline back to its component clips, do one of the following: ÂÂ Select the storyline (by clicking the gray border), and choose Clip > Break Apart Clip Items (or press Command-Shift-G). ÂÂ Drag the storyline into the primary storyline.
Select and move storylines You can select or move entire storylines as if they were standard clips or compound clips. They have the connection properties of connected clips. mm To select an entire storyline: Click the gray border of the storyline. mm To move a storyline by dragging it: Click the gray border of the storyline, and drag it left or right to connect it to a different point along the primary storyline. Drag the storyline left or right.
Fine-tune edits with the Precision Editor You can fine-tune the edit point between two clips in the Timeline using the Precision Editor, which provides an expanded view of the clips on either side of the edit point as well as the unused portions of each clip. You can trim or extend the end of one clip and the beginning of the next, either separately or together. As you make changes, you can instantly see how your edits affect the cut or transition from one clip to the next.
2 To adjust the edit point, do any of the following: ÂÂ Move the edit line in the center of the Precision Editor by dragging its handle left or right. Edit line handle Moving the entire edit line performs a roll edit.
ÂÂ Drag the end point of the outgoing clip or the start point of the incoming clip. This performs a ripple edit. Note: You can drag the edit line or individual edit points to the extent that there are media handles available. When you extend a clip to its maximum length in either direction, the clip edge turns red. Drag the edit line handle. ÂÂ Skim over and click the outgoing clip or the incoming clip at any point. Click either clip at any point.
The clip’s edit point is adjusted to the frame you click. This is the equivalent of a ripple edit. The clip's edit point moves to the frame that was clicked. You can also enter a timecode value to adjust the edit point numerically. If you select either the end point of the outgoing clip or the start point of the incoming clip, a ripple edit is performed. Otherwise, a roll edit is performed.
Create split edits Final Cut Pro allows you to set separate video and audio start and end points in an individual clip. These edits, known as split edits, can be used in many different situations—in dialogue scenes, when cutting to illustrative B-roll footage during an interview, or when transitioning from one scene to another. You can use a split edit to introduce the sound of a new shot or scene before cutting to the video of that shot or scene.
The audio and video portions of the clip appear as discrete components that you can change individually. They are still attached and will remain in sync. 3 Drag the start point (left edge) of the video portion of the clip to the right, effectively trimming it with a ripple edit. The example below shows the video start point of the close-up of the man being dragged to the right. This creates a J-shaped split edit, with the start point of the audio overlapping the preceding clip.
4 To complete the split edit, show separate audio for the preceding clip, and do one of the following: ÂÂ Drag the preceding clip’s end point to the left so that the two audio clips no longer overlap. ÂÂ Adjust the audio (fade) level of either clip so that the audio overlap sounds natural.
5 If you want to turn off the separate audio view to “clean up” the affected clips, do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose View > Collapse All Clips. ÂÂ Select the clip in the Timeline, and choose Clip > Collapse Audio/Video (or press Control-S). ÂÂ Double-click the clip’s audio waveform. When you play back this section of the Timeline, you hear the man begin to speak before the video cuts to the close-up of him. In this way, you can use split edits to create seamless edits from one shot to the next.
Create a split edit using keyboard shortcuts You can create split edits quickly using keyboard shortcuts. In this example, the audio from the close-up of the man is extended over the close-up of the woman to create a J-cut. 1 Confirm that the two adjacent clips have sufficient media handles. If not, trim the clips (shorter) to create the media handles.
3 Move the playhead to the edit point between the two clips. Playhead at edit point To ensure accurate playhead placement, use keyboard shortcuts: ÂÂ To move the playhead to the previous edit point: Press Semicolon (;) or the Up Arrow key. ÂÂ To move the playhead to the next edit point: Press Apostrophe (’) or the Down Arrow key. 4 Do one of the following: ÂÂ To select both sides of the audio edit point: Press Shift-Backslash (\). ÂÂ To select both sides of the video edit point: Press Backslash (\).
5 To roll the audio edit point or the video edit point, do any of the following: ÂÂ To nudge the edit point left or right: Press Comma (,) or Period (.), respectively. ÂÂ To nudge the edit point 10 frames left or right: Press Shift-Comma (,) or Shift-Period (.), respectively. ÂÂ To add or subtract from the current edit using timecode: Press Plus Sign (+) or Minus Sign (–) followed by the timecode duration, and press Return.
You can use three-point editing with the following types of edits: ÂÂ Insert ÂÂ Connect ÂÂ Overwrite With each of these edit types, you can also perform backtimed three-point edits, in which the end point (rather than the start point) is aligned with the skimmer or playhead position in either the Event Browser or the Timeline. You can also make two-point edits in which start and end points are inferred from the skimmer position and the clip duration.
Stage 3: Add the source clip or selection to the Timeline Choose to either insert, connect, or overwrite. Important: Timeline start and end points always take precedence over start and end points set in the Event Browser. This means that if you set both a start point and an end point in the Timeline, the Timeline start and end points determine the duration of the edit, regardless of the start and end points in the Event Browser. This allows you to limit your edit to a specific section of the Timeline.
Three-point edit examples In Final Cut Pro, you can make precise edits using a combination of three (or sometimes two) edit points set in the Event Browser and the Timeline. For more information, see “Three-point editing overview” on page 308. Here are a few examples of ways to make three-point edits.
3 To add the source selection to the project using an overwrite edit, press D. The new clip starts where the skimmer was positioned. The portion of your source selection between the start and end points appears in the Timeline, starting at the skimmer position. By defining only three points—the source selection start and end points in the Event Browser and the destination start point in the Timeline—you have total control of the edit.
2 In the Timeline, position the skimmer (or the playhead, if the skimmer is not present) at the location in your project where you want the clip to end. Position the skimmer at the location where you want the clip to end. 3 Do either of the following: ÂÂ To backtime the selection using a connect edit: Press Shift-Q. ÂÂ To backtime the selection using an overwrite edit: Press Shift-D.
Example: Make a three-point edit with multiple clips You can make three-point edits with multiple clips at a time. 1 In the Event Browser, select two or more clips. (Don’t select a range within a single clip.) For information about selecting multiple clips, see “Select one or more clips” on page 103. Three clips are selected to be placed in the storyline. No range selection is set.
The entire group of clips selected in the Event Browser has been edited into the project. Note: The clips are added in the order in which you selected them. Because you used an overwrite edit, any clip items already in the project are overwritten by the clips selected in the Event Browser for the duration of the Event Browser clips. You can also make a three-point edit involving multiple clips in the Timeline.
2 To specify a destination start point in the Timeline, move the skimmer or playhead to the location where you want the edit to start (but don’t make any selections). The skimmer position in the Timeline is the destination start point. 3 To add the clip to the project using an overwrite edit, press D. The new clip starts where the skimmer was positioned. The new clip starts where the skimmer was positioned.
Try out clips using auditions Auditions overview In Final Cut Pro you can organize related clips into sets, called auditions, from which you can choose one clip to use. You can create an audition composed of different clips to try out multiple takes, or you can create an audition composed of multiple versions of the same clip to preview different effects. Auditions appear in the Event Browser and Timeline as clips with an Audition icon in the upper-left corner.
Auditions allow you to preserve your alternate edits without affecting the other clips in the Timeline. When you’re not auditioning the clips in an audition, the audition functions like an individual clip. You can trim an audition, apply transitions between auditions and other clips, and add keywords and markers. You can keep your audition containing your alternate clips for as long as is necessary.
Create auditions in the Timeline mm To create an audition with related clips: Drag a clip or a group of clips from the Event Browser onto a clip in the Timeline, and choose an audition option from the shortcut menu. Choosing Add to Audition creates an audition with the current Timeline clip as the pick. Choosing Replace and Add to Audition makes the clip you’re dragging the pick.
Add and remove clips in auditions When building auditions to try out different clips or versions of a clip with different effects, you can add and remove clips at any time. In the Event Browser and the Timeline, you can add new clips to the audition as well as duplicate clips within an audition. When an audition in the Timeline contains the clips you want to try out, you can use the audition to preview the clips or effects in your project.
Add new clips to an audition in the Timeline mm To add a new clip to an audition and maintain the current clip in the Timeline as the pick: Drag a clip from the Event Browser to the audition in the Timeline, and choose Add to Audition from the shortcut menu. mm To add a new clip to an audition and make the clip you’re adding the pick: Drag a clip from the Event Browser to the audition in the Timeline, and choose Replace and Add to Audition from the shortcut menu.
Use auditions to try out clips in your project You create an audition to try out the clips within it and find the one that works best for your project. Although the auditioning workflow may differ from project to project, the general process is the same. You create an audition that contains a set of alternate takes, effects, or text treatments, and then you choose the best clip for the edit by making it the pick.
3 To play an alternate clip in the Viewer, select a clip to the right or left of the pick (or press the Right Arrow or Left Arrow key). The alternate becomes the new pick and plays back in the Viewer. The star icon indicates the previous pick. ∏∏ Tip: To quickly move through and play alternate clips, select a closed audition in the Timeline, press the Space bar, and press Control-Left Arrow to play clips to the left of the current pick, or Control-Right Arrow to play clips to the right.
Try out multiple effects on a clip in the Timeline You can try out effects on a clip in the Timeline by creating an audition and adding individual effects to duplicates of the same clip. This technique allows you to view each effect in relation to the clips that precede and follow the audition in the Timeline. 1 In the Timeline, select the clip you want to try different effects on. 2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose Clip > Audition > Duplicate as Audition (or press Option-Y).
8 Repeat steps 6 and 7 until you’ve applied all the effects you want to audition. 9 Review each effect’s impact on the clip in the Timeline by selecting a clip to the right or left of the pick. Click an alternate clip to play it in the Viewer. ∏∏ Tip: To quickly move through and play alternate clips, press Control-Left Arrow to play clips to the left of the current pick, or Control-Right Arrow to play clips to the right.
Retime clips to create speed effects Retiming clips overview You can adjust a clip’s speed settings to create fast-motion or slow-motion effects. You can also reverse a clip, rewind a segment of a clip, apply variable speed effects (also called speed ramping) to a clip selection, and create instant replays. By default, Final Cut Pro maintains the audio pitch of any speed adjustment, but you can turn this feature off to accentuate the speed effect.
Constant speed changes also alter the duration of a clip. If a constant speed change causes the duration of a clip in your project to become longer or shorter, all clips coming after it ripple forward or backward. If you change the speed to 50 percent, your clip is twice as long; if you change the speed to 200 percent, the clip is half as long.
1 In the Timeline, select a range, a whole clip, or a group of clips whose speed you want to change. 2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ To apply a preset speed setting: Choose Slow or Fast from the Retime pop-up menu in the toolbar (shown below), and choose a speed from the submenu. ÂÂ To apply a custom speed setting: Choose Show Retime Editor from the Retime pop-up menu (or press Command-R) to display the Retime Editor above the selection in the Timeline, and drag the retiming handle.
If you drag the retiming handle to the left, the speed of the selection increases, the duration of the selection decreases, and the bar above the Timeline selection turns blue. Drag the retiming handle to the left to create a fast-motion effect. Apply a variable speed change To alter the speed of a clip over time, in forward or reverse motion, you can apply a variable speed change (also called speed ramping).
The selection is segmented into four parts with different speed percentages, creating the ramp effect. If more precision is required, you can manually drag any one of the four retiming handles to set the speed you want. Drag a retiming handle to modify the speed percentage of a speed ramp segment. Preserve audio pitch in retimed clips By default, Final Cut Pro is set to preserve the audio pitch of a clip that has been retimed.
2 To display the Retime Editor above the clip in the Timeline, choose Show Retime Editor from the Retime pop-up menu in the toolbar (or press Command-R). 3 Click the triangle next to the speed percentage for a speed segment, and choose Change End Source Frame from the pop-up menu. A filmstrip icon appears over the end frame of the speed segment. 4 To change the end frame, drag the filmstrip icon left or right. Filmstrip icon As you drag, the Viewer displays the current end frame.
Smooth out a slow-motion clip with video quality presets To smooth out the apparent motion of a clip playing back in slow motion, you can apply frame blending or optical flow analysis to the retimed clip. 1 In the Timeline, select a range, a whole clip, or a group of clips whose video quality you want to change. 2 Choose a Video Quality setting from the Retime pop-up menu in the toolbar. ÂÂ Normal: The default setting. Frames are duplicated, and no frame blending is applied to the slow-motion clip.
3 If you want to adjust the speed of the reversed clip, drag the retiming handle to the left to increase the speed or to the right to decrease it. Drag the retiming handle to change the speed of the reversed clip. Reversed segment 4 To see the reverse effect, play back the reversed clip or selection. Rewind a range selection or clip 1 In the Timeline, select a range, a whole clip, or a group of clips whose contents you want to rewind.
3 If you want to adjust the speed of the rewound section or the sections that precede and follow the rewound section, drag the section’s retiming handle to the left to increase the speed or to the right to decrease it. Drag a retiming handle to change the speed. 4 Play the clip back to review the rewind effect. Create instant replays You can apply an instant replay to a range selection within a clip or a whole clip.
3 If you want to adjust the speed of the instant replay segment, drag the retiming handle to the left to increase the speed or to the right to decrease it. Original clip (now a segment) Instant replay segment set to a manual slow-motion setting Drag the retiming handle to change the speed of the instant replay segment. 4 To see the instant replay effect, play back the original selection and the instant replay segment.
If you selected a range, a Hold segment is created for the duration of the range. The frame used as the freeze frame is the first (leftmost) frame in the range. 3 If you want to adjust the duration of the freeze frame, drag the Hold segment’s retiming handle to the right to increase the duration, or to the left to decrease it. Drag the retiming handle to change the duration of the Hold segment. 4 To see the freeze frame effect, play back the clip in the Timeline.
You can modify the project’s settings at any time, and you can control, on a clip-byclip basis, how Final Cut Pro conforms an individual clip’s frame rate and frame size to match the project settings. Note: Compound clips can be thought of mini projects, each with its own distinct project settings. All of the project information in this section applies equally to compound clips.
4 Choose a method of conforming frame size from the Type pop-up menu in the Spatial Conform section of the Video inspector. ÂÂ Fit: The default setting. Fits the clip within the project’s frame size setting without cropping the clip’s video. Black bars appear on the sides of the frames that don’t match the project’s frame size (resolution). In the case of a standard-definition (SD) clip in a high-definition (HD) project, Final Cut Pro scales up the SD clip to fit the HD project’s frame size.
4 Choose a method of conforming frame rate from the Frame Sampling pop-up menu in the Rate Conform section of the Video inspector. ÂÂ Floor: The default setting. Final Cut Pro truncates down to the nearest integer during its calculation to match the clip’s frame rate to the project’s frame rate. ÂÂ Nearest Neighbor: Final Cut Pro rounds to the nearest integer during its calculation to match the clip’s frame rate to the project’s frame rate.
You can use roles for the following workflows: ÂÂ Reassign roles: You can view and reassign clip roles in the Timeline Index, the Event Browser, the Info inspector, or the Modify menu. See “View and reassign roles” on page 340. You can also create custom roles and subroles to further organize your clips. ÂÂ View clips by role: In the Timeline Index, you can organize clips by role, turn roles on or off, and highlight or minimize clips for viewing in the Timeline.
View and reassign roles in the Event Browser 1 In the Event Browser in list view, select one or more clips. Note: If the Roles column isn’t visible in the Event Browser, Control-click a column heading and choose Roles from the shortcut menu. 2 In the Roles column, click the assigned role for a clip to see a shortcut menu listing the available roles. 3 To change the role assignments for the selected clips, choose different roles from the shortcut menu.
View and reassign roles in the Timeline Index 1 To open the Timeline Index, click the Timeline Index button in the lower-left corner of the Final Cut Pro main window (or press Command-Shift-2). 2 To open the Clips pane, click the Clips button at the top of the Timeline Index. 3 If the Roles column is not visible in the Clips pane, Control-click a column heading and choose Roles from the shortcut menu. 4 Select one or more clips in the Clips pane.
View and reassign roles in compound clips Compound clips reflect the roles of the original clips that make up the compound clip. You can view and reassign the roles of clips inside a compound clip, but you cannot assign roles to the compound clip itself. 1 Select a compound clip in the Event Browser or the Timeline.
Create custom roles and subroles You can create custom roles and subroles in addition to the five default roles (Video, Titles, Dialogue, Music, and Effects). Important: Create custom roles and subroles with care. Custom roles (and the names of custom roles) cannot be edited or removed from the roles list. However, you can change the role assignments of clips at any time. Create custom roles 1 To open the Role Editor, do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose Modify > Edit Roles.
The new role appears at the bottom of the Role column. 3 Type a name for the new role. Once you have created a new role, it appears in the roles list so that you can assign it to any clip.
Create subroles Subroles allow you to organize roles within a role; for example, you could create a Foley Effect subrole within the Effects role, or a Spanish Subtitles subrole within the Titles role. 1 To open the Role Editor, do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose Modify > Edit Roles. ÂÂ In the Event Browser in list view or the Clips pane of the Timeline Index, click a role in the Roles column and choose Edit Roles from the shortcut menu.
3 Type a name for the subrole. The new subrole remains in the Subrole list and appears below its parent role in roles lists elsewhere in Final Cut Pro. When you assign subroles to clips in the Timeline, the subroles also appear in the Timeline Index. Subroles View clips by role in the Timeline You can use the Roles pane of the Timeline Index to view and play back clips by role in the Timeline.
Turn roles on or off 1 In the Timeline Index, click the Roles button. 2 In the Roles pane, select the checkboxes next to the roles or subroles you want to turn on. Deselect the checkboxes next to the roles or subroles you want to turn off. Active roles appear in color in the Timeline, and inactive roles appear gray. If you turn off all video or all audio roles, the respective portion of audio-video clips also appears gray. Active roles Clips assigned an active role appear in color.
The clips with this role assigned are highlighted in the Timeline. This includes both active (color) clips and inactive (gray) clips. Selected role Clips assigned a selected role appear highlighted. ∏∏ Tip: To highlight more than one role at a time, Shift-click to select contiguous items and Command-click to select noncontiguous items. Minimize clips by role To make more space to view and work with clips in the Timeline, you can minimize clips with a particular role assigned.
Use roles to export media stems When you export your work, you can use roles to define the details of your output media files. This process is often used when delivering files to match broadcast specifications or when handing off media stems for mixing or post-production. You can export roles in a combined, multitrack QuickTime file, or as separate audio or video files. During the export process you can assign mono, stereo, or surround output for your audio channels.
Edit with multicam clips Multicam editing overview You can use Final Cut Pro to edit footage from multicamera shoots or other synchronized footage in real time. For example, if you shot a live concert or a wedding with four different cameras, you can synchronize the footage from each camera angle into a single multicam clip and cut between the angles in real time.
ÂÂ When you add a multicam clip to the Timeline, you create a direct and active relationship between the “parent” multicam clip in the Event Browser and the “child” multicam clip in the Timeline. Event clips Parent multicam clip Project 1 Child clip Project 2 Child clips Project 3 Child clip ÂÂ When you open any multicam clip in the Angle Editor (whether from the Event Browser or the Timeline) you are in fact opening the parent multicam clip from the Event Browser.
Because you can use the sophisticated automatic audio sync feature in Final Cut Pro to help ensure multicam synchronization accuracy, it makes sense to record audio on every camcorder and recording device in your multicam production. (Clear audio recordings provide the best results.) Import media for a multicam edit Although importing media for multicam projects is the same as importing for any other project, there are steps you can take during importing to help streamline the multicam workflow.
Import media for a multicam edit When you import media for a multicam project, you can give the camcorder or file-based recording device a name. Final Cut Pro uses this Camera Name tag to sort the source clips within a multicam clip during the automatic multicam clip creation process. If you anticipate having multicam clips with numerous angles, select “Use proxy media” in Playback preferences to maintain top performance during your multicam edit.
Final Cut Pro allows you to create multicam clips automatically or manually. If you use the automatic method for creating angles in the multicam clip, Final Cut Pro looks for metadata in the selected clips in the following order: ÂÂ Camera Angle metadata ÂÂ Camera Name metadata ÂÂ Camera ID metadata Note: The Camera ID tag is generated by most modern camcorders and recording devices (including all iOS devices).
If you know what kind of metadata your multicam media has, you can create multicam clips using manual methods faster than with the automatic methods. The automatic methods use sophisticated automatic audio sync technology to ensure synchronization accuracy (but at the expense of processing time). It’s best to turn off the “Use audio for synchronization” feature when it’s not needed.
Final Cut Pro creates a new multicam clip in the Event and places duplicates of the selected clips in the new multicam clip. Multicam clip icon Create a multicam clip with custom settings 1 In the Event Browser, select the clips you want to include in the multicam clip. 2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose File > New Multicam Clip. ÂÂ Control-click the selection and choose New Multicam Clip from the shortcut menu. 3 In the window that appears, type a name for the multicam clip in the Name field.
ÂÂ Camera Name: Final Cut Pro creates angles in the multicam clip based on the Camera Name property of the selected clips. ÂÂ Clips: Final Cut Pro creates a separate angle for each selected clip, using the Name property in each clip to name the angle. 6 In the Angle Clip Ordering pop-up menu, choose how angles are ordered within the multicam clip: ÂÂ Automatic: Final Cut Pro orders the clips within each angle automatically.
ÂÂ Content Created: Final Cut Pro synchronizes the angles based on the date and time information recorded by your camcorder or video recording device. Note: At any time, you can change the Content Created date and time of your source clips in the Event Browser. Just select one or more clips and choose Modify > Adjust Content Created Date and Time. Sync point 12:59 PM 12:59 PM 12:59 PM 12:59 PM ÂÂ Start of First Clip: Final Cut Pro uses the first frame in each angle as the sync point.
8 To sync angles automatically using audio waveform data, select “Use audio for synchronization.” This option makes precision sync adjustments using audio waveforms in each angle. This is the same audio sync technology that you can use to automatically sync clips together into a compound clip. Sync point Note: Some audio recordings are not suited for use with this feature. Selecting this option may result in long processing times during which Final Cut Pro is not available for editing.
Cut and switch angles in the Angle Viewer After you create a multicam clip, you can watch all angles simultaneously in the Angle Viewer while switching or cutting to different angles in real time. This allows you to cut an entire movie as if it were live, and then fine-tune your edits in the Timeline just as you would for any other project. The Angle Viewer is both a display and an interactive interface for making quick cut and switch decisions as you play back your multicam clips and projects.
The Angle Viewer appears in the upper part of the Final Cut Pro window, in the space normally occupied by the Viewer. Play back a multicam clip in the Event Browser or the Timeline. Active angle The multicam clip’s angles appear in the Angle Viewer. Cut and switch angles in the Angle Viewer You can cut and switch angles “on the fly” (while playing back your project), or you can skim to specific points in the Timeline and then cut and switch. You can also use a combination of those two methods.
As you move the pointer over the angles in the Angle Viewer, the pointer changes to the Blade tool, indicating that a cut (and switch) will occur when you click. The active angle is highlighted. The pointer changes to the Blade tool. 5 Do one of the following: ÂÂ To cut and switch: Click the angle you want to switch to. (Or press any number key to cut and switch to the corresponding angle of the current bank. For example, press 5 to cut and switch to angle 5 of the current bank.
Switch video or audio separately By default, Final Cut Pro switches the video and audio of a multicam clip at the same time. But you can set Final Cut Pro to switch the video and audio separately. 1 To open the Angle Viewer, choose Window > Show Angle Viewer (or press Command-Shift-7). 2 To change the switch mode, do one of the following: ÂÂ To enable video and audio switching: Click the left switch mode button in the upper-left corner of the Angle Viewer. This is the default setting.
3 Do one of the following: ÂÂ To cut and switch: Click an angle in the Angle Viewer. ÂÂ To switch: Option-click an angle in the Angle Viewer. If you selected the video-only or audio-only switch mode, blue highlighting indicates the active video angle and green highlighting indicates the active audio angle. Switch Video Only button Switch Audio Only button The active video angle is highlighted in blue. The active audio angle is highlighted in green. The bank switcher shows the active angles.
The bank switcher appears as a grid of squares at the bottom of the Angle Viewer. Yellow, blue, or green highlighting indicates the currently active angle. The bank switcher shows the number of angles and which is active. 3 In the Settings pop-up menu (in the upper-right corner of the Angle Viewer), choose the number of angles you want to display in each bank.
If the number of angles in your multicam clip exceeds the current Angle Viewer display setting, Final Cut Pro creates additional banks and displays them as separate grids of squares.
Show overlays in the Angle Viewer For each angle that appears in the Angle Viewer, you can display video overlays showing timecode and either the clip name or the angle name. Angle name Timecode 1 To open the Angle Viewer, choose Window > Show Angle Viewer (or press Command-Shift-7). 2 To choose a display option, do one of the following: ÂÂ To display timecode for the clips in each angle: Choose Timecode from the Settings pop-up menu in the upper-right corner of the Angle Viewer.
Adjust the Angle Viewer display You can adjust the Angle Viewer display to suit your needs. Do any of the following: mm To adjust the number of angles in the Angle Viewer: In the Settings pop-up menu in the upper-right corner of the Angle Viewer, choose either 2 Angles, 4 Angles, 9 Angles, or 16 Angles.
mm To adjust the size of the Angle Viewer and the Viewer: Drag the boundary between them. Drag the boundary to the right. Drag the boundary to the left.
mm To make the Angle Viewer a vertical column: Drag the boundary to the left, and drag the Final Cut Protoolbar downward to expand the Viewer quadrant vertically. (This vertical column view is available only in the 2 Angles and 4 Angles views.) Drag the boundary to the left. Drag the toolbar down.
Open a multicam clip in the Angle Editor Do one of the following: mm Double-click a multicam clip in the Event Browser. mm Control-click a multicam clip in the Event Browser or the Timeline, and choose Open in Angle Editor from the shortcut menu. The Angle Editor opens in the Timeline area at the bottom of the Final Cut Pro window. Although similar to the Timeline, the Angle Editor provides a separate interface dedicated to editing angles and clips inside multicam clips.
1 To open the Angle Editor, do one of the following: ÂÂ Double-click a multicam clip in the Event Browser. ÂÂ Control-click a multicam clip in the Event Browser or the Timeline and choose Open in Angle Editor from the shortcut menu. 2 To set an angle as the monitoring angle, do any of the following: ÂÂ Click the Video Monitor icon at the left side of the angle. ÂÂ Choose Set Monitoring Angle from the pop-up menu next to the angle name. ÂÂ Press Shift-V while skimming the angle.
3 To turn on audio monitoring for an angle, do one of the following: ÂÂ Click the Audio Monitor icon once. (To turn off audio monitoring, click the icon again.) ÂÂ Choose Monitor Audio from the pop-up menu next to the angle name. (To turn off audio monitoring, choose Monitor Audio again.) ÂÂ Press Shift-A while skimming the angle. (To turn off audio monitoring, press Shift-A again.) Audio monitoring on Audio monitoring off The monitoring settings do not affect any of your active angles.
Manually adjust the synchronization of a multicam clip A primary function of the Angle Editor is to provide an easy way to correct out-of-sync angles in your multicam clips. The instructions below describe how to synchronize angles by locating sync points and then manually dragging them into alignment. 1 To open the Angle Editor, do one of the following: ÂÂ Double-click a multicam clip in the Event Browser.
If an angle contains more than one clip, you can easily select all clips in the angle so that you can move them all at once. To do this, choose Select Clips in Angle from the pop-up menu next to the angle name. To select all clips in an angle, choose Select Clips in Angle from the pop-up menu. You can then drag the clips left or right to move them all by the same amount. When all clips in the angle are selected, you can drag them all at once.
Automatically adjust the synchronization of a multicam clip The instructions below describe two automatic methods for synchronizing angles in a multicam clip. 1 To open the Angle Editor, do one of the following: ÂÂ Double-click a multicam clip in the Event Browser. ÂÂ Control-click a multicam clip in the Event Browser or the Timeline and choose Open in Angle Editor from the shortcut menu.
2 At the right side of the Angle Editor, use the drag handles to drag the angle rows up or down to reorder them. Use the drag handles to reorder the angles. The angles in the Angle Editor and the Angle Viewer change to the new order. Add, delete, or rename angles in a multicam clip 1 To open the Angle Editor, do one of the following: ÂÂ Double-click a multicam clip in the Event Browser.
The new name appears in the Angle Editor and (if overlays are turned on) in the Angle Viewer. Edit multicam clips in the Timeline and the Inspector You can switch multicam clip angles directly in the Timeline or the Info Inspector, without having to open the Angle Viewer. Multicam clips generally function in the Timeline like any standard clips. You can add video and audio effects, transitions, and markers; attach connected clips; and apply retiming effects.
Switch angles in the Timeline 1 In the Timeline, Control-click the multicam clip you want to switch. 2 Do one of the following: ÂÂ To switch the video angle: Choose Active Video Angle from the shortcut menu, and choose the angle you want to switch to from the submenu. ÂÂ To switch the audio angle: Choose Active Audio Angle from the shortcut menu, and choose the angle you want to switch to from the submenu. The clip switches to the video or audio angle you chose.
Multicam editing tips and tricks The following tips can help you streamline your multicam workflow: ÂÂ Set the date, the time, and the time zone on your camcorder or recording device before you shoot footage for your multicam project. This provides useful information to Final Cut Pro during the automatic multicam clip creation process. Note: At any time, you can change the Content Created date and time of your source clips in the Event Browser.
Keying and compositing 12 Keying Keying overview There are times when you need to combine two clips to create an image with bits of both. A common way to combine two clips is to use a keying process, where the video of the top, or foreground, clip is processed to eliminate either a color or luma value in areas of the video and then is combined with the bottom, or background, clip.
Use chroma keys A challenging part of creating a good chroma key is shooting the chroma key video, and in particular, using a good, well-lit background that provides a uniform color to remove. A wide variety of specialized chroma key background options are available, from chroma key paint that includes highly reflective additives to chroma key cloth or paper sheets. Additionally, it is important to use the best camera you can access and avoid using a highly compressed video format such as DV or MPEG-2.
For more information about connected clips, see “Connect clips to add cutaway shots, titles, and synchronized sound effects” on page 113. 3 Select the foreground clip in the Timeline, and click the Effects button in the toolbar. ∏∏ Tip: For best results, also position the playhead at a point within the foreground clip that shows the maximum amount of the color to be keyed. 4 In the Effects Browser, select the Keyer effect.
3 To improve the key using controls in the Viewer, use the Refine Key and Strength controls to do any of the following: ÂÂ To identify areas of the foreground clip that might still have some of the chroma key color showing: Click the Sample Color thumbnail image in the Video inspector and draw a rectangle in the Viewer over the area where the chroma key color needs to be removed. Drag over an area where the chroma key color is not being removed.
ÂÂ To refine any difficult areas, such as hair and reflections: Click the Edges thumbnail image in the Video inspector, draw a line across the difficult area in the Viewer (with one end in the area to keep and the other in the area to remove), and drag the line’s handle to adjust the edge softness. Drag to set the edge softness. You can use the following keyboard shortcuts to work directly in the Viewer: ÂÂ To make a Sample Color adjustment: Draw a rectangle while holding down the Shift key.
4 To help fine-tune the key, use the View options: Composite (foreground combined with background) Original (unprocessed foreground) The name of the currently selected View button Matte (foreground-based alpha signal created by the keyer) ÂÂ Composite: Shows the final composited image, with the keyed foreground subject over the background clip. This is the default view. ÂÂ Matte: Shows the grayscale matte, or alpha channel, that’s being generated by the keying operation.
7 To reverse the keying operation, retaining the background color and removing the foreground image, select Invert. 8 To mix the keyed effect with the unkeyed effect, adjust the Mix control. For information about making advanced chroma key adjustments, see the following instructions.
2 Click Color Selection to reveal the following controls: ÂÂ Graph: Provides two options to set how the adjustable graphs in the Chroma and Luma controls are used to fine-tune a key: ÂÂ Scrub Boxes: Select to limit the Chroma and Luma controls to adjusting softness (edge transparency) in the matte you are creating.
ÂÂ Chroma: Drag the two graphs in this color wheel control to adjust the isolated range of hue and saturation that help define the keyed matte. The selected mode governs which graphs in the color wheel are adjustable. The outer graph controls the softness (edge transparency) of the matte you’re creating, and can be adjusted in either Scrub Boxes or Manual mode. The inner graph controls tolerance (core transparency), and is only adjustable when in Manual mode.
ÂÂ Luma Rolloff: Use this slider to adjust the linearity of the luma rolloff slope (the ends of the bell-shaped luma curve displayed in the Luma control). Luma rolloff modifies the softness of the matte around the edges of regions that are affected most by the Luma control. Lowering this value makes the slope between the upper and lower handles in the Luma control more linear, which increases edge softness in the matte.
ÂÂ Soften: Use this slider to blur the keyed matte, feathering the edges by a uniform amount. ÂÂ Erode: Drag this slider right to gradually increase transparency from the edge of the solid portion of the key inward. 4 Click Spill Suppression to reveal the following controls: ÂÂ Spill Contrast: Use this grayscale gradient to adjust the contrast of the color being suppressed, using Black and White point handles (and corresponding sliders).
5 Click Light Wrap to reveal the following controls: ÂÂ Amount: Use this slider to control the overall light wrap effect, setting how far into the foreground the light wrap extends. ÂÂ Intensity: Use this slider to adjust gamma levels to lighten or darken the interaction of wrapped edge values with the keyed foreground subject. ÂÂ Opacity: Use this slider to fade the light wrap effect up or down.
Animate the chroma key effect To compensate for changing conditions in the foreground clip, you can make Sample Color and Edges adjustments at multiple points in the clip. The following steps assume you have applied the chroma key effect. 1 Place the Timeline’s playhead at the start of the clip. 2 Use Sample Color and Edges (described above) to create a good chroma key.
For the following examples, this speedometer image will be keyed over an outdoor car scene, creating a reflected look. Apply the luma key effect 1 In the Timeline, move the playhead to the point in the background clip (the clip you want to superimpose the luma key clip over) where you want the key to start.
3 Select the foreground clip in the Timeline and click the Effects button in the toolbar. 4 In the Effects Browser, select the Luma Keyer effect. ∏∏ Tip: Type “keyer” in the Effects Browser’s search field to quickly find the Luma Keyer effect. 5 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Drag the effect to the Timeline foreground clip to which you want to apply it. ÂÂ Double-click the effect thumbnail to apply it to the selected clip. The Luma Keyer effect automatically configures itself to remove black video.
4 To adjust the white and black clip values, drag the handles at either end of the gradient thumbnail image. By default, these handles are set to provide a linear key where the luma level linearly controls the transparency of the foreground—100% white is fully opaque, 0% black is completely transparent, and 25% gray retains 25% of the foreground image. Dragging the white and black controls changes the values that result in fully opaque or fully transparent foreground video.
Make advanced luma key adjustments The following controls are available for use in difficult keying situations or for fine-tuning specific problems: ÂÂ Matte Tools: These controls are for refining the transparency matte generated by the previous sets of parameters. These parameters don’t alter the range of values sampled to create the keyed matte.
3 Click Matte Tools to reveal the following controls: ÂÂ Fill Holes: Increasing this parameter value adds solidity to regions of marginal transparency within a key. This control is useful when you’re satisfied with the edges of your key, but you have unwanted holes in the interior that you can’t eliminate via the Luma Rolloff parameter without ruining your edges. ÂÂ Edge Distance: Lets you adjust how close to the edge of your keyed subject the effect of the Fill Holes parameter gets.
ÂÂ Soften: Use this slider to blur the keyed matte, feathering the edges by a uniform amount. ÂÂ Erode: Drag this slider right to gradually increase transparency from the edge of the solid portion of the key inward. 4 Click Light Wrap to reveal the following controls: ÂÂ Amount: Use this slider to control the overall light wrap effect, setting how far into the foreground the light wrap extends.
Finalize the key Quite often your foreground image will have objects that you don’t want to appear in the composited output. These could be production items like microphone booms and light stands or the edges of the chroma key backdrop. Additionally, you might need to resize or reposition the foreground object to better fit with the background. As a final step, you can use the color corrector to adjust the foreground so that it matches the look of the background.
3 Select the foreground clip. In the above example, the light stands need to be removed. 4 Click the Effects button in the toolbar. 5 In the Effects Browser, double-click the Mask effect to apply it to the selected foreground clip. ∏∏ Tip: Type “mask” in the Effects Browser’s search field to quickly find the mask effect.
6 Adjust the four corners of the mask to crop out the objects you want to remove, in this case, the light stands. When adjusting the mask, be sure to leave shadows and other details that can help make the key more realistic later. 7 Apply the appropriate keyer effect to the foreground clip. The foreground is composited over the background.
Use Transform to position the foreground image The following steps assume you have already configured a key but need to reposition the foreground image. 1 Select the foreground clip in the Timeline. 2 In the Viewer, click the Transform button and move the image to the position you want. In the above example, you might want to move the woman to the left. You can also resize the image. 3 Click Done in the Viewer when you are finished repositioning the foreground image.
Compositing Compositing overview Compositing refers to combining parts of two or more video clips into a single image. There are a number of ways to combine video images in Final Cut Pro: ÂÂ Transitions: All video transitions involve combining the end of one clip with the start of a second clip, which results in a combination of the two clips appearing at the same time during the transition. ÂÂ Keying: All keys involve compositing a foreground image over a background image.
Below is the alpha channel image—the white areas define the video areas that are composited over the background. The gray areas (which define the shadow in this example) define parts of the image that are partially transparent. This is what the final composite looks like over a background clip. Use a clip with an alpha channel 1 Position the playhead in the Timeline where you want to add the alpha channel clip.
3 To see the composited clips, position the playhead within the clip that was just added above the primary storyline. Connected clip (composite foreground) Primary storyline clip (composite background) The clip is composited over the primary storyline video clip, with the alpha channel controlling the opacity of its clip. You can also use the Opacity adjustment’s fade handles to dissolve the foreground clip on and off.
4 To make the new clip partially transparent, select it in the Timeline and adjust the Opacity control in the Compositing section of the Video inspector. The closer you set Opacity to 0 percent, the more transparent the clip above the primary storyline becomes. Additionally, you can use the Opacity fade handles in the Video Animation Editor to have the composited clip dissolve on and off, or add keyframes to have the opacity value change at specified points.
Color correction 13 Color correction overview In any post-production workflow, color correction is generally one of the last steps in finishing an edited program.
Although these features are independent of one another—you can turn any of the features off and on to see its effect—the order in which you use them matters. In general, you should use these features in the order of Balance Color, Match Color, and (if necessary) manual color correction. Final Cut Pro also includes several video scopes you can use when manually color correcting your video. The scopes make it possible to precisely monitor the luma and chroma levels of your video clips.
Analyzing a clip for color balance can take from a few seconds for shorter clips to a minute or more for longer clips. The analysis process takes longer if you also analyze for people and stabilization issues. After a clip has been analyzed for color balance, you can turn the color balance correction on or off at any time. By default, color balance correction is off for clips in the Event Browser and on for clips in the Timeline, if they have been analyzed.
Balance a clip’s colors Clips in Final Cut Pro have a Balance setting that turns automatic color balance correction on and off, whether the clip is in the Event Browser or the Timeline. The frame used as the reference frame is either a frame chosen during color balance analysis, the frame the playhead is on in the Timeline, or the middle frame. For more information, see “Color balance overview” on page 410.
ÂÂ In the Color section of the Video inspector, click the Choose button next to Match Color. The Viewer changes to display the Timeline playhead’s frame on the right and the frame the pointer is over on the left. The clip that the pointer is over is the color match source. Click to preview the color match. The selected Timeline clip is the color match target.
Adjust color manually Manual color correction overview Final Cut Pro includes a powerful manual color correction tool that you can use to accomplish a wide variety of color correction or enhancement effects: ÂÂ Apply a color correction to the whole image: Adjust the color tint, color saturation, and exposure for the whole clip image. See “Color correct the whole image” on page 414.
ÂÂ Click the Color Board button in the Color section of the Video inspector. (After you make any Color Board adjustments, the button changes color.) ÂÂ Click the upper-left corner of a clip in the Timeline and choose Color Adjustment from the pop-up menu. Click to return to the Video inspector. Choose the correction to work with. Click the Reset button to remove the adjustments in this pane. Drag the controls to change the values. Use the Action pop-up menu to create or choose a color correction preset.
4 To adjust the clip’s chroma level, click Saturation (or press Command-Control-S), and drag the controls in the Saturation pane. ÂÂ To adjust saturation for the whole image: Drag the Global control on the left. ÂÂ To adjust saturation in the darker areas of the image: Drag the Shadows control. ÂÂ To adjust saturation in the midtones: Drag the Midtones control. ÂÂ To adjust saturation in the brighter areas of the image: Drag the Highlights control.
ÂÂ To reset all three Color Board panes back to their neutral state: In the Color section of the Video inspector, click the Reset button Click here to turn the correction on or off. to the right of the Correction setting. Color Board Reset button ÂÂ To turn Color Board corrections off without resetting them: In the Color section of the Video inspector, deselect the checkbox for the correction. Turning the corrections off and on makes it easy to quickly see the effect of your adjustments.
The Color Mask section appears. When the button is highlighted, use the eyedropper to select the mask color in the Viewer. Selected mask color Sets edge softness 3 In the Viewer, position the eyedropper on a color in the image that you want to isolate, and drag to select the color. Drag to select the color to mask. As you drag, two concentric circles appear. The size of the outer circle determines the range of variations in the selected color that are included in the color mask.
6 To adjust the color correction settings for this color mask, click the Color Board button in the Video inspector. (After you make any Color Board adjustments, the button color changes.) 7 Do one of the following: ÂÂ To apply a color correction to the selected color: Click Inside Mask. ÂÂ To apply a color correction to everything except the selected color: Click Outside Mask.
A Shape Mask area appears. Click here to show or hide the shape mask onscreen controls. 3 To adjust the default shape that appears in the Viewer, do any of the following: Drag this handle to make the shape rectangular. Drag the outer edge to control the softness. Drag the center circle to move the shape. Drag this handle to rotate the shape. Drag any of these handles to change the shape’s width or height. ÂÂ To position the shape: Drag the center.
5 Do one of the following: ÂÂ To apply a color correction to the shape area: Click Inside Mask. ÂÂ To apply a color correction to everything except the shape area: Click Outside Mask. You can make corrections to both the inside and outside areas of the mask—each area effectively has its own complete set of Color Board controls. For example, you could select Inside Mask and enhance the shape’s area, and then select Outside Mask to darken everything else.
4 In the Video inspector, click the Keyframe button. Click here to add a keyframe. A keyframe is added at the position of the playhead. You can see it in the Timeline by pressing Control-V to open the Video Animation Editor. The keyframe appears in the Color section as a diamond at the playhead position. Keyframe indicator 5 Move the playhead to the next point in the clip where you want to define the shape mask’s position, reposition the shape mask, and add the second keyframe.
3 In the Video inspector, click the Add Shape Mask button in the correction that has the color mask. Click here to add a shape mask to the correction. 4 Adjust the shape mask so that it overlaps the part of the color mask you want to use. 5 To adjust the color correction settings, click the Color Board button in the Video inspector. (After you make any Color Board adjustments, the button color changes.
By default, the Color section contains the first manual color correction item (Correction 1) along with the Balance and Match Color items. Color correction items that you add are named Correction 2, Correction 3, and so on. Each correction item has its own Color Board button—clicking one of these opens the Color Board with that correction’s settings. You can also choose a correction in the Color Board using the pop-up menu in the upper-right corner.
Configure a clip to change transitions 1 Temporarily switch to the Blade tool by holding down the B key. 2 In the Timeline, click a video clip at the point where you want to change between color corrections. The clip splits into two clips. 3 Apply a different color correction to each clip. You can also leave one clip uncorrected and apply a color correction to the other. The color correction could be an exaggerated tint, an exposure change, or any other noticeable adjustment.
Turn iMovie adjustments on or off When editing a project in iMovie, you can adjust several video attributes, such as exposure, brightness, and saturation, in the Project Browser. If you import an iMovie project that has these adjustments into Final Cut Pro, the adjustments are retained and appear in the Color area of the Video inspector as an iMovie item. Although you cannot modify the adjustments added in iMovie, you can choose whether they are applied to the clip or not.
Even if your project is not intended for broadcast, using the video scopes is an important part of your workflow. If the monitors you’re using don’t display color accurately or you’ve been working with the same clips for a while, you can easily get used to seeing a color cast or blacks that are not quite right. The scopes provide exact measurements of the luma and chroma levels of your clips so that you can make more informed decisions about adjusting Final Cut Pro color correction settings.
Waveform Monitor display options The Waveform Monitor shows the relative levels of luma and chroma in the clip currently being examined. These values are displayed from left to right, mirroring the relative distribution of luma and chroma levels from left to right in the image. Spikes and dips in the displayed waveforms correspond to light and dark areas in your picture. The waveforms are also tinted to match the color of items in the video.
The RGB Parade view is useful for comparing the relative levels of red, green, and blue between two clips. If one clip has more blue than another, the Waveform Monitor displays an elevated blue waveform for the clip with more blue and a depressed blue waveform for the other clip. ÂÂ RGB Overlay: Combines waveforms for the red, green, and blue color components in one display. ÂÂ Red: Shows only the red color channel. ÂÂ Green: Shows only the green color channel. ÂÂ Blue: Shows only the blue color channel.
ÂÂ Y'CbCr Parade: Presents three side-by-side waveform displays for the separate luma, Cb (the blue color difference channel), and Cr (the red color difference channel) components. The waveforms are tinted white (for luma), magenta (for Cb), and yellow (for Cr) so that you can easily identify the waveform for each component. ÂÂ IRE: Displays the video range in IRE units. ÂÂ Millivolts: Displays the video range in millivolts. ÂÂ Show Guides: Turns the Waveform Monitor’s grid and numeric values on or off.
Vectorscope display options The Vectorscope shows the distribution of color in your image on a circular scale. The color in your video is represented by a series of connected points that fall somewhere within this scale. The angle around the scale represents the hue displayed, with targets indicating the primary colors of red, green, and blue and the secondary colors of yellow, cyan, and magenta.
Histogram display options The Histogram provides a statistical analysis of the image by calculating the total number of pixels of each color or luma level and creating a graph that shows the number of pixels at each percentage of luma or color. Each increment of the scale from left to right represents a percentage of luma or color, and the height of each segment of the Histogram graph shows the number of pixels that correspond to that percentage.
ÂÂ Equal levels of red and blue appear as magenta. ÂÂ Equal levels of red, green, and blue appear as gray. ÂÂ RGB Parade: Presents three graphs that display your video as separate red, green, and blue components. The waveforms are tinted red, green, and blue so that you can easily identify them. You can use the RGB Parade view to compare the relative distribution of each color channel across the tonal range of the image.
14 Share your project Sharing projects overview The Final Cut Pro Share menu provides a variety of options designed to make it easy for you to distribute your project. Most of the options have a specific target, such as an Apple device connected to iTunes, a Blu-ray disc, or a specific website. You can also use export options in the Share menu to create an output file that you can then distribute manually.
Share menu item Use to Burn to a disc DVD Burn your project to a standard-definition DVD or create a disk image (.img) file you can copy to an external drive or burn to disc later. Blu-ray Burn your project to a Blu-ray–compatible disc or create a disk image (.img) file you can copy to an external drive or burn to disc later. Publish to a website YouTube Facebook Publish your project to your account on any of these websites.
Share with other applications Use the Media Browser to share your project with iLife and iWork If you want to use a finished Final Cut Pro project in another Apple application—such as GarageBand, iPhoto, or Keynote—you can send your movie to the Media Browser. The Media Browser is accessible in all iLife and iWork applications. Note: If the Media Browser item is dimmed, update your version of Mac OS X. Send your project to the Media Browser 1 Select the project and choose Share > Media Browser.
View your project in the Media Browser 1 Open an application that uses the Media Browser. 2 Click Media (or choose View > Show Media Browser) to open the Media Browser, click Movies, and select Final Cut Pro to see your projects. Play your project in iTunes, on mobile devices, or with Apple TV To sync your project to a device such as iPhone, iPad, or iPod, or play your project on your home theater system using Apple TV, you need to send the project to iTunes.
5 To see details about the files that will be output, click Summary. 6 To take advantage of distributed processing or to send your project to Compressor, click Advanced. For information on the Advanced options, see “Export your project using Compressor” on page 456. 7 Click Share. Rendering the files can take up to several minutes depending on the size of your movie and whether you’re rendering more than one movie size at once. You can monitor the render progress using Share Monitor.
Publish your project to Podcast Producer Podcast Producer is a component of Mac OS X Server that you can use to create and publish podcasts. For more information, go to http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/features/podcast-producer.html. Note: Before you can publish to Podcast Producer, you or your server administrator must first set up a podcast server. Publish a project to Podcast Producer for the first time 1 Select the project and choose Share > Podcast Producer. 2 Click Configure.
Final Cut Pro renders your movie and uploads it to Podcast Producer where the selected workflow is applied to it. You can monitor the render progress using Share Monitor. For information about working with the project after it has been published, see “Shared projects overview” on page 459. Burn your project to a disc or create a disk image You can burn your project to either a standard-definition DVD or a Blu-ray–compatible disc.
Important: If a progress indicator appears next to the output device you selected, wait a moment for the list of available devices to update and for the Burn button at the bottom of the window to become active. This can happen when you eject or insert a disc or when you turn an optical drive on or off. 3 Choose a disc option from the Layers pop-up menu. ÂÂ Automatic: Use this to have the type of disc you insert be automatically detected.
9 To take advantage of distributed processing or to send your project to Compressor, click Advanced. For information on the Advanced options, see “Export your project using Compressor” on page 456. 10 Do one of the following: ÂÂ If you’re burning to a disc (instead of creating a disk image): Insert a blank disc into your disc-burning device and click Burn. ÂÂ If you’re creating a disk image file: Click Next, type a name and choose a location for the file, and click Save.
4 Choose a template from the “Disc template” pop-up menu. 5 Type the name of the disc in the Title field. By default, the name of the disc is the project name. 6 To specify the Blu-ray player’s action when the disc is inserted, choose an item from the “When disc loads” pop-up menu. Choose Show Menu to have the main menu appear or Play Movie to begin playing the movie immediately. 7 Do any of the following: ÂÂ To add a loop icon to the menu: Select “Include loop movie button.
Share on the web Publish your project to YouTube If you have a YouTube account, you can publish a project to YouTube directly from Final Cut Pro. To create a free YouTube account, visit the YouTube website. Publish your project to YouTube 1 Select the project and choose Share > YouTube. 2 If you don’t see your account in the Account pop-up menu, do one of the following: ÂÂ If this is your first time using Final Cut Pro to publish to YouTube: Click Add to add your YouTube account.
9 Click Next, read the terms of service, and click Publish. Final Cut Pro renders your movie and uploads it to YouTube. The length of time it takes for your movie to appear depends on website traffic. You can monitor the render progress using Share Monitor. For information about working with the project after it has been published, see “Shared projects overview” on page 459. Publish your project to Facebook If you have a Facebook account, you can publish a project to Facebook directly from Final Cut Pro.
8 Click Next, read the terms of service, and click Publish. Final Cut Pro renders your movie and uploads it to Facebook. The length of time it takes for your movie to appear depends on website traffic. You can monitor the render progress using Share Monitor. For information about working with the project after it has been published, see “Shared projects overview” on page 459. Publish your project to Vimeo If you have a Vimeo account, you can publish a project to Vimeo directly from Final Cut Pro.
7 To take advantage of distributed processing or to send your project to Compressor, click Advanced. For information on the Advanced options, see “Export your project using Compressor” on page 456. 8 Click Next, read the terms of service, and click Publish. Final Cut Pro renders your movie and uploads it to Vimeo. The length of time it takes for your movie to appear depends on website traffic. You can monitor the render progress using Share Monitor.
7 To take advantage of distributed processing or to send your project to Compressor, click Advanced. For information on the Advanced options, see “Export your project using Compressor” on page 456. 8 Click Next, read the terms of service, and click Publish. Final Cut Pro renders your movie and uploads it to CNN iReport. The length of time it takes for your movie to appear depends on website traffic. You can monitor the render progress using Share Monitor.
ÂÂ Compressor: Choose this option to open the exported file in Compressor. The exported file will be the source in a new batch, making it easy for you to continue to process the project’s movie. For example, you could create the compressed versions needed for distribution, without involving Final Cut Pro. Note: This option is available only if Compressor is installed on the same computer as Final Cut Pro.
Export your project as an audio file (with no video) 1 Select the project and choose Share > Export Media (or press Command-E). 2 Choose Audio Only from the Export pop-up menu. 3 Choose a format for the exported audio from the “Audio file format” pop-up menu. You can choose AAC, AC3, AIFF, CAF, MP3 or WAVE. 4 Choose what to do after the movie file is exported from the “Open with” pop-up menu: ÂÂ None: Choose this option if you don’t want to automatically open the exported file.
ÂÂ Video Roles Only As Separate Files: Exports each of the video roles in your project as a separate file. ÂÂ Audio Roles Only As Separate Files: Exports each of the audio roles in your project as a separate file. 3 To see which roles will be exported, click the Roles button. The roles that will be exported appear below the Preset pop-up menu. Clips with these roles assigned will be exported.
5 To choose a file type for the exported files, click the Options button and do either or both of the following: ÂÂ If you’re exporting one or more video files: Choose Current Settings to export files that match the project’s settings. You can also choose one of the available codecs (one of the Apple ProRes options, H.264, HDV, XDCAM EX, or XDCAM HD422) from the “Video codec” pop-up menu. ÂÂ If you’re exporting one or more audio files: Choose AIFF or WAVE from the “Audio file format” pop-up menu.
Save a custom export preset If you’ve created a customized list of roles to export, you can save it as a custom export preset. 1 Configure your export using the instructions in “Export your project’s roles as media stems,” above. 2 Click the Roles button, and do one of the following: ÂÂ To save a new custom export preset: Choose Save As from the Preset pop-up menu, type a name for the preset, and click Save. ÂÂ To save a custom export preset that you’ve modified: Choose Save from the Preset pop- up menu.
Export an image from your project You can save a single image file of any video frame in your project. Save a still frame 1 Select the project, and in the Timeline, place the playhead at the frame you want to save, and choose Share > Save Current Frame. 2 Choose a format from the Export pop-up menu. 3 To see details about the file that will be output, click Summary.
6 Click Next. 7 Choose a location to create a new folder for the exported files. 8 Type a name. The exported image files use this name with an appended sequential number. 9 Click Save. Final Cut Pro renders and saves your movie. You can monitor the render progress using Share Monitor. Export your project for web streaming With HTTP live streaming, you can send audio and video to iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac, using an ordinary web server.
7 Click Next. 8 Choose a location to create a new folder for the exported files. 9 Type a name and click Save. A folder containing the segmented video files and some support files is created for each selected video format. Additional support files, including the master index file (with a “.m3u8” file extension) and the Read Me file (if selected), are also saved to the folder. Export your project using Compressor The Share menu options provide results that work well for the most common situations.
ÂÂ If you want to render your output files in the background: By default, when you export a project using any of the share options, the processing work is all done in the foreground. This is the fastest way to generate your output files; however, you can’t use Final Cut Pro while the output files are being created. Except when using the Export Movie and Save Current Frame options, which always process in the foreground, you can choose to have output files processed in the background.
The settings are grouped by type into folders. Hold down the Command key while selecting settings if you want more than one. 3 To have the exported files open with the default application for the exported file type, select the Open with Application checkbox. 4 To see details about the files that will be output, click Summary. 5 To take advantage of distributed processing or to send your project to Compressor, click Advanced. 6 Click Next.
Process your output files in the background 1 Select the project and choose and configure an option from the Share menu. For example, you can choose Share > Apple Devices and configure its settings as needed. 2 Click Advanced and choose This Computer, This Computer Plus, or any available cluster from the Background Rendering pop-up menu. Choosing None processes the output files in the foreground. 3 Start the render by clicking the Publish, Share, Burn, Compose Message, or Next button.
You can click the Share icon in the Project Library to open the Sharing inspector. The project’s Sharing inspector displays when and where it was published, and also provides a pop-up menu with additional controls for those share options that support the controls. Click to open the shared item’s pop-up menu. If you make any changes to the project, a symbol appears next to the Share icon, indicating that the project has changed since it was last shared.
Visit and announce shared projects You can use options in the Sharing inspector to open the shared project in your browser or send an email to announce it. Click to open the shared item’s pop-up menu. Open the Sharing inspector mm Click the project’s Share icon in the Project Library. Share icon View the project at its shared location mm In the Sharing inspector, choose Visit from the shared item’s pop-up menu. Note: Not all shared items have a pop-up menu.
Remove shared projects You may find that you need to remove a shared project from its website or other final destination. In some cases Final Cut Pro may be able to remove it for you; in other cases you will have to manually remove it. In both cases, the project needs to be updated so that it no longer indicates that it was shared to that destination. Remove your movie from its destination 1 Open the Sharing inspector by clicking the project’s Share icon in the Project Library.
Manage media files 15 Media management overview In general, any task that relates to processing your media is considered to be media management. Media management includes: ÂÂ Importing media from cameras, an external storage disk, or another device. See “Importing overview” on page 24 for more information. ÂÂ Transcoding your source media files to formats that are high quality and easy to work with. See “Transcode media files” on page 473 for more information.
Where your media and project files are located When you create a new Event or project, folders for the new item are created in one of two places: ÂÂ If the new Event or project is on your local system: The folders are in your Movies folder in your home folder (/Users/username/Movies/). This is the default location for your Final Cut Pro files. ÂÂ If the new Event or project is on a connected external storage device: The folders are at the main, or root, level of your device.
ÂÂ Event file: Final Cut Pro Event files have the name CurrentVersion.fcpevent. ÂÂ Analysis Files: This folder contains analysis files associated with the media files. ÂÂ Original Media: This folder contains either the original files that you imported from your camcorder or hard disk or alias files that point to the original files in another location. ÂÂ Render Files: This folder contains render files associated with the media files.
Manage your media files View a clip’s information The Info inspector provides a summary of a clip’s information. Here you can view status information about a clip’s source media file, including the file’s location, available media representations for the file, the Event the clip is located in, and the Event the clip references. View a clip’s information 1 Select a clip in the Event Browser or Timeline.
Relink clips to media files In Final Cut Pro, clips represent your media, but they are not the media files themselves. Final Cut Pro keeps track of the links between clips and media files automatically. However, there are times when you want to manually relink clips to media files. One common scenario is that the media files were altered or re-created outside of your copy of Final Cut Pro.
3 If you want to show all items in the selection, select All. 4 Do one of the following: ÂÂ To locate all the matching files: Click Locate All. ÂÂ To locate some of the matching files: Select items in the list and click Locate Selected. 5 In the window that appears, navigate to one of the files you want to link to, or to the folder that contains it.
Text at the bottom of the window indicates how many potential matches to items in your original list were found (based on the filenames only). Text indicates how many matches were found. Note: Final Cut Pro identifies matches based on proximity in the directory structure and related filenames. For example, if your original files were in two adjacent folders, Final Cut Pro looks in folders adjacent to the file you chose and relinks all matching files in the relative path.
7 Click the disclosure triangle next to the analysis results to show a list of old files (on the left) and the new matching files (on the right). If a file was matched incorrectly, select it in the list and press Delete. The item is placed back in the original list at the top of the Relink Files window. Items with no matches remain in the original list above. You can continue to locate those by selecting them and repeating steps 4 through 6.
3 If you want to show all items in the selection, select All. 4 Do one of the following: ÂÂ To locate all the matching files: Click Locate All. ÂÂ To locate some of the matching files: Select items in the list and click Locate Selected. 5 In the window that appears, navigate to one of the files you want to link to, or to the folder that contains it.
Text at the bottom of the window indicates how many potential matches to items in your original list were found (based on the filenames only). Text indicates how many matches were found. Note: Final Cut Pro identifies matches based on proximity in the directory structure and related filenames. For example, if your original files were in two adjacent folders, Final Cut Pro looks in folders adjacent to the file you chose and relinks all matching files in the relative path.
If a file was matched incorrectly, select it in the list and press Delete. The item is placed back in the original list at the top of the Relink Files window. Items with no matches remain in the original list above. You can continue to locate those by selecting them and repeating steps 4 through 6. 8 To link the project clips to the new media files, click Relink Files. Only clips in this project are updated to link to the new media files. New clips are added to the project’s default Event.
Whether Final Cut Pro uses proxy media or your original or optimized media during playback is determined by the playback setting you select in the Final Cut Pro Editing preferences. See “Modify a project’s name and properties” on page 94 for more information. Transcode media files during import During import, Final Cut Pro either creates an alias file that points to the media file in its original location, or creates a copy of the original media file.
Transcode clips after import 1 Control-click one or more clips in the Event Browser and choose Transcode Media from the shortcut menu. 2 In the window that appears, select the “Create optimized media” checkbox, the “Create proxy media” checkbox, or both, and click OK. Note: If the original camera format can be edited with good performance, the “Create optimized media” option will be dimmed. The transcoding process may take a while, depending on the options you chose in this step.
1 Select a clip in the Event Browser. 2 To open the Info inspector, click the Inspector button in the toolbar (shown below), and click the Info button at the top of the pane that appears. 3 Choose Show File Status from the Action pop-up menu . 4 Click the Generate Proxy button in the Available Media Representations section of the file status area.
Important: If you actively use Final Cut Pro while background tasks are running, the background tasks will pause. The tasks resume when you stop using Final Cut Pro. View tasks that are running in the background 1 Do one of the following: ÂÂ Choose Window > Background Tasks (or press Command-9). ÂÂ In the toolbar, click the Background Process button. 2 To view the tasks that are running in each section, click a disclosure triangle.
Manage your Events and project files Before you move or copy Events and projects If you want to edit a project on a different computer, or back up a project or Events to an external storage device, you can either move or copy it. Before you move or copy a project, it’s a good idea to consolidate its media and back it up. By default, media files that are imported into Final Cut Pro are not moved from their original location.
ÂÂ Copy Used Clips Only: Duplicates only those media files used in the project. This option gives you only the media used in the project (and not all the clips in the Events referenced by the project). This is a good option to use if you want to conserve disk space. ÂÂ New Event Name field: If you select Copy Used Clips Only, you can create a new Event to hold the consolidated media. If you don’t specify a new Event name, the Event will be given the project name. 4 Click OK.
3 In the window that appears, choose your external storage device from the Location pop-up menu. 4 Select an option to specify what is duplicated: ÂÂ Duplicate Project Only: Duplicates files specific to the project you selected. You may want to choose this option if you use the same clips in multiple projects and plan to back up your Events separately (perhaps in your backup copy of your entire Project Library and Events).
Back up your Project Library and Events using the Finder To create a single backup copy of your Project Library and Events, you can copy the Final Cut Projects folder and Final Cut Events folder to the root level of an external storage device. When you connect the device to your computer, your device and the backup folders will appear in the Project Library. If you are backing up incrementally, create a folder structure that helps you easily navigate through your backup folders.
In most situations, viewing your backup projects and Events is as simple as connecting your storage device to Final Cut Pro and locating your backup project or Event in the Project Library. For more information about locating or viewing your project, see “Common media management issues” on page 494.
The project icon and Events disappear from their current location in the Project Library and Event Library and appear under the storage device icon (indicating that they have been moved). 6 Quit Final Cut Pro, and disconnect the storage device from your computer. WARNING: Do not disconnect a device when Final Cut Pro is using it. 7 Connect the storage device to the computer to which you want to move your project, and verify that the device appears in the Finder.
10 In the window that appears, do the following: a Choose the new computer from the Location pop-up menu. b Select “Move Project and Referenced Events.” c Click OK. The project icon and Events disappear from the external storage device and appear under the startup disk (home icon) in the Project Library, and the Event that contains the project’s media appears under the startup disk (home icon) in the Event Library.
c Type a descriptive name in the New Event Name field. If you don’t create a new name for the new Event, it will be given the same name as your project. d Click OK. The project icon and Events appear under the storage device icon (indicating that they have been copied and moved to the new location). 6 Quit Final Cut Pro, and then disconnect the storage device from your computer. Note: You cannot disconnect a device when Final Cut Pro is using it.
10 In the window that appears, do the following: a Choose the new computer from the Location pop-up menu. b Select “Duplicate Project and Referenced Events.” c Click OK. The project appears under the the startup disk (home icon) in the Project Library, and the Event that contains the project’s media appears under the startup disk (home icon) in the Event Library. You can now locate your project in the Project Library and begin editing.
3 To remove the SAN location and make it available to other computers on the network, select the SAN location in the Event Library or the Project Library, and choose File > Remove SAN Location. The SAN location disappears from Event Library and the Project Library. 4 To access the SAN location on the other computer, follow the steps for adding a SAN location in “Use SAN locations for Events and projects” on page 487. Make sure to navigate to the same folder you used in step 1.
Remove a SAN location 1 In the Event Library or the Project Library, select the SAN location you want to remove. 2 Choose File > Remove SAN Location. The SAN location disappears from Event Library and the Project Library. The SAN location, and any Events or projects stored there, are now available to other Final Cut Pro users on the network. Create and manage camera archives You can make a camera archive (backup copy) of the contents of your camera or camcorder.
3 In Final Cut Pro, click the Import from Camera button on the left end of the toolbar (or press Command-I). 4 In the Camera Import window that appears, select the device whose content you want to archive from the list of cameras on the left. Playback controls The media on the device appears here. Change the way clips appear using these controls. 5 Click the Create Archive button at the bottom-left corner of the window. 6 In the “Create Camera Archive as” field, type a name for the archive.
Archive the media on your tape-based camera or camcorder 1 If you want to save the archive to an external hard disk, connect the external hard disk to your computer. 2 Connect the camera or camcorder to your computer using the cable that came with it, and turn it on. If you’re using a camcorder, set it to PC Connect mode. The name of this transfer mode may be different on your device.
Note: It is recommended that you save your archive to a disk or partition different from the one where you store the media files used with Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Pro begins archiving from the current location on the tape. It will continue to archive until one of the following occurs: ÂÂ It reaches the end of the tape. ÂÂ You manually stop the archiving process by clicking Stop Import or Close (to close the Camera Import window). The camera archive is stored on your hard disk.
Solutions to common media management issues Alert icons When you see red frames and a yellow alert triangle in a Timeline or Event, Final Cut Pro is alerting you that part of your project or Event is missing. There are many reasons that clips and Events, media files, and effects can be missing: moving projects and Events between computers and actively managing your Final Cut Pro Events or Projects folder using the Finder are two common reasons.
Icon Alert Description Missing Camera A camera that contains files used in Final Cut Pro is not connected to your system. To avoid getting this alert, create a copy of the media when you import it. See “Organize files while importing” on page 45 for more information. Media files Missing File A file is not available in the Finder. You may see this alert if you moved or renamed a file in the Finder, moved an Event or project to a different location, or consolidated a different project’s media.
Common media management issues This section describes common media management issues and solutions. If you don’t see a project on an external storage device mm Make sure the Final Cut Projects folder and the Final Cut Events folder are at the root level of the storage device. mm If the storage device still does not appear in the Project Library device list, you can manually copy or move the Final Cut Projects folder and the Final Cut Events folder to the Movies folder.
If your computer loses power while Final Cut Pro is performing media management tasks Because Final Cut Pro automatically saves all the changes you make as you work on a project, your project will be current when you restart Final Cut Pro after an unexpected power loss. If Final Cut Pro was performing media management tasks in the background, you can restart those processes manually using the Organize Event Files and Organize Project Files commands.
Preferences and metadata 16 Preferences and metadata overview In Final Cut Pro, you can modify preference settings to specify how your source media is imported into the application, how your clips play back, and how you edit your clips in the Timeline. You can also view and change the information associated with a clip, referred to as a clip’s metadata. Metadata includes information about a clip’s source media files as well as information you add to a clip, such as notes.
Editing preferences Editing preferences affect editing behaviors in Final Cut Pro. Time Display ÂÂ Time Display: Use this pop-up menu to choose the time mode for Final Cut Pro. Changes in this setting affect the time display (for the position of the skimmer or the playhead) in the Dashboard in the center of the toolbar, as well as trimming and navigation operations in Final Cut Pro.
Audio ÂÂ Show reference waveforms: Select this checkbox to change the background appearance of the audio portion of a clip to show reference waveforms. A reference waveform shows the maximum visual resolution possible of the actual audio waveform. By factoring out loudness, reference waveforms let you see the shape of the sound more clearly.
Playback ÂÂ Use proxy media: Click this button to use medium-quality proxy media (converted to one-quarter resolution) rather than full-resolution media for playback. Choosing this option increases playback performance, but the video quality is lower. In Final Cut Pro, proxy media is in the Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy) format. ÂÂ Use original or optimized media: Click this button to use the optimized media for playback. If optimized media is not available, Final Cut Pro uses the original media for playback.
Import preferences When you import media into Final Cut Pro using the Camera Import window or the Import Files window, you can customize your import settings each time you import files. However, if you drag media directly from the Finder into Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Pro uses the import settings you selected in the Final Cut Pro Import preferences window. Organizing ÂÂ Copy files to Final Cut Pro Events folder: Duplicates the media files and places the copy in the Final Cut Events folder on your system.
ÂÂ Create proxy media: This option transcodes video to the Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy) codec, which provides high-quality files useful for offline editing. Video proxy files can use considerably less disk space, often enough to allow you to work on a portable computer instead of a desktop computer that has significantly more memory and processing power.
ÂÂ Remove silent channels: Audio channels are analyzed and silent channels are automatically removed. For more information about audio channels, see “Configure audio channels” on page 204. Note: You can retrieve the original audio configuration after import. See “Configure audio channels” on page 204. Work with metadata Display and change metadata Information about your source media files, information recorded by the camera, and descriptive information about a clip are called metadata.
View a clip’s metadata 1 Select a clip. 2 To open the Info inspector, click the Inspector button in the toolbar (shown below), and click the Info button at the top of the pane that appears. Metadata for the selected clip or group of clips is displayed in fields in the Info inspector. Switch metadata views in the Info inspector You can change the metadata fields shown in the Info inspector by choosing a different metadata view from the Metadata View pop-up menu. 1 Select a clip. 2 Open the Info inspector.
Rearrange the fields in a metadata view mm In the Info inspector, drag the metadata labels into a different order. Modify metadata views You can create new metadata views or modify the ones that come with Final Cut Pro. Create a new metadata view 1 Select a clip. 2 To open the Info inspector, click the Inspector button in the toolbar (shown below), and click the Info button at the top of the pane that appears. 3 In the Info inspector, choose Edit Metadata View from the Metadata View pop-up menu.
8 When you are satisfied with the metadata fields assigned to the metadata view, click OK. The new metadata view is added to the Metadata View pop-up menu in the Info inspector. Modify an existing metadata view You can change the combination of metadata that appears in an existing metadata view. You can rename metadata fields, add or remove metadata fields, create custom metadata fields, and rearrange the order in which the metadata fields are displayed. 1 Select a clip. 2 Open the Info inspector.
The new metadata view appears in the Metadata View pop-up menu in the Info inspector. Modify the new metadata view as needed. Delete a metadata view 1 Select a clip. 2 Open the Info inspector. 3 In the Info inspector, choose Edit Metadata View from the Metadata View pop-up menu. 4 In the Metadata Views window, select the metadata view you want to delete in the column on the left, and choose Delete Metadata View from the Action pop-up menu in the lower-left corner.
Create a new naming preset In most cases, you’ll want to create a new naming preset and customize it. ∏∏ Tip: The easiest way to create a new naming preset is to duplicate an existing one. See the following task for more information. 1 In the Event Browser, select the clips you want to rename. 2 Open the Info inspector. 3 Choose Apply Custom Name from the Action pop-up menu from the submenu.
4 In the Naming Presets window, add name tokens by dragging the elements from the Clip Info, Date/Time, Format, and Camera areas to the Format field. To remove a naming token, select it in the Format field, and press Delete. 5 Rearrange the tokens in the Format field by dragging them into new positions. 6 If you like, add text characters between naming tokens in the Format field, such as underscores (_) and spaces. 7 When you are satisfied with the naming preset’s new format, click OK.
Keyboard shortcuts and gestures 17 Keyboard shortcuts and Multi-Touch gestures overview Final Cut Pro provides several ways to increase your efficiency while you put together your project: ÂÂ Standard keyboard shortcuts: Many common tasks, such as opening a specific window or adding a clip from the Event Browser to the Timeline, can be accomplished very quickly by pressing one or more keys. See “Keyboard shortcuts” on page 509.
Command Shortcut Action Minimize Command-M Minimize Final Cut Pro Preferences Command-Comma (,) Open the Final Cut Pro Preferences window Quit Command-Q Quit Final Cut Pro Redo Change Command-Shift-Z Redo the last command Undo Change Command-Z Undo the last command Command Shortcut Action Append to Storyline E Add the selection to the end of the storyline Audition: Add to Audition Shift-Control-Y Add the selected clip to the audition Audition: Duplicate and Paste Effects Command-
Command Shortcut Action Create Audition Command-Y Create an audition from the selection Create Storyline Command-G Create a storyline from a selection of connected clips Cut Command-X Cut the selection Cut and Switch to Viewer Angle 1 1 Cut and switch the multicam clip to angle 1 of the current bank Cut and Switch to Viewer Angle 2 2 Cut and switch the multicam clip to angle 2 of the current bank Cut and Switch to Viewer Angle 3 3 Cut and switch the multicam clip to angle 3 of the curren
Command Shortcut Action Expand Audio/Video Control-S View audio and video separately for selected clips Extend Edit Shift-X Extend the selected edit point to the skimmer or playhead position Extend Selection Down Shift-Down Arrow In the Event Browser, add the next clip to the selection Extend Selection Up Shift-Up Arrow In the Event Browser, add the previous clip to the selection Finalize Audition Shift-Option-Y Dissolve the audition and replace it with the audition pick Insert W
Command Shortcut Action Nudge Audio Subframe Left Option-Comma (,) Nudge the selected audio edit point left by one subframe, creating a split edit Nudge Audio Subframe Left Many Shift-Option-Comma (,) Nudge the selected audio edit point left by 10 subframes, creating a split edit Nudge Audio Subframe Right Option-Period (.) Nudge the selected audio edit point right by one subframe, creating a split edit Nudge Audio Subframe Right Many Shift-Option-Period (.
Command Shortcut Action Paste as Connected Option-V Paste the selection and connect it to the primary storyline Paste Insert at Playhead Command-V Insert the Clipboard contents at the skimmer or playhead position Previous Angle Shift-Control-Left Arrow Switch to the previous angle in the multicam clip Previous Audio Angle Shift-Option-Left Arrow Switch to the previous audio angle in the multicam clip Previous Pick Control-Left Arrow Select the previous clip in the Audition window, ma
Command Shortcut Action Select Right Audio Edge Shift-Right Bracket (]) For audio/video clips in expanded view, select the right edge of the audio edit point Select Right Edge Right Bracket (]) Select the right edge of the edit point Show/Hide Precision Editor Control-E When an edit point is selected, show or hide the Precision Editor Snapping N Turn snapping on or off Solo Option-S Solo the selected items in the Timeline Source Media: Audio & Video Shift-1 Turn on audio/video mode to ad
Command Shortcut Action Switch to Viewer Angle 9 Option-9 Switch the multicam clip to angle 9 of the current bank Toggle Storyline Mode G Turn on or turn off the ability to build storylines when dragging clips in the Timeline Trim End Option-Right Bracket (]) Trim the end of the selected or topmost clip to the skimmer or playhead position Trim Start Option-Left Bracket ([) Trim the clip start point to the skimmer or playhead position Trim to Selection Option-Backslash (\) Trim clip start an
Command Shortcut Action Retime Editor Command-R Show or hide the Retime Editor Retime: Create Normal Speed Segment Shift-N Set the selection to play at normal (100 percent) speed Retime: Hold Shift-H Create a 2-second Hold segment Retime: Reset Command-Option-R Reset the selection to play forward at normal (100 percent) speed Solo Animation Shift-Control-V Show one effect at a time in the Video Animation Editor Command Shortcut Action Delete Delete Delete the Timeline selection, or re
Marking 518 Command Shortcut Action Add Marker M Add a marker at the location of the skimmer or playhead Add Marker and Modify Option-M Add a marker and edit the marker’s text Apply Keyword Tag 1 Control-1 Apply keyword 1 to the selection Apply Keyword Tag 2 Control-2 Apply keyword 2 to the selection Apply Keyword Tag 3 Control-3 Apply keyword 3 to the selection Apply Keyword Tag 4 Control-4 Apply keyword 4 to the selection Apply Keyword Tag 5 Control-5 Apply keyword 5 to the sele
Command Shortcut Action New Smart Collection Command-Option-N Create a new Smart Collection Range Selection Tool R Make the Range Selection tool active Remove All Keywords From Selection Control-0 Remove all keywords from the Event Browser selection Roles: Apply Dialogue Role Option-Control-D Apply the Dialogue role to the selected clip Roles: Apply Effects Role Option-Control-E Apply the Effects role to the selected clip Roles: Apply Music Role Option-Control-M Apply the Music role to t
Organization Command Shortcut Action New Event Option-N Create a new Event New Folder Command-Shift-N Create a new folder Reveal in Event Browser Shift-F Reveal the selected clip in the Event Browser Synchronize Clips Command-Option-G Synchronize the selected Event clips Command Shortcut Action Audio Skimming Shift-S Turn audio skimming on or off Audition: Preview Command-Control-Y Play the pick in context in the Timeline Cut/Switch Multicam Audio Only Shift-Option-3 Turn on audio-
Command Shortcut Action Go to Next Frame Right Arrow Move the playhead to the next frame Go to Next Subframe Command-Right Arrow Move the playhead to the next subframe Go to Previous Edit Semicolon (;) Move the playhead to the previous edit point in the Timeline Go to Previous Field Option-Left Arrow Move the playhead to the previous field in an interlaced clip Go to Previous Frame Left Arrow Move the playhead to the previous frame Go to Previous Subframe Command-Left Arrow Move the play
Command Shortcut Action Play from Playhead Option-Space bar Play from the playhead position Play Full Screen Command-Shift-F Play full screen from the skimmer or playhead position Play Reverse J Play in reverse (press J multiple times to increase the reverse playback speed) Play Reverse Control-J Play in reverse while editing a text field (press J multiple times to increase the reverse playback speed) Play Reverse Shift-Space bar Play in reverse Play Selection Slash (/) Play the s
Command Shortcut Action Timeline History Forward Command-Right Bracket (]) Go forward one level in the Timeline history Up Up Arrow Go to the previous item (in the Event Browser) or the previous edit point (in the Timeline) Up Control-Up Arrow While editing a text field, go to the previous item (in the Event Browser) or the previous edit point (in the Timeline) Command Shortcut Action Export Media Command-E Export the selected project as a media file Select (Arrow) Tool A Make the Select
Command Shortcut Action Show/Hide Audio Animation Control-A Show or hide the Audio Animation Editor for the selected clips Show/Hide Skimmer Info Control-Y Show or hide clip information when skimming in the Event Browser Show/Hide Video Animation Control-V Show or hide the Video Animation Editor for the selected Timeline clips Show More Filmstrip Frames Command-Shift-Period (.
Command Shortcut Action Go to Event Browser Command-1 Make the Event Browser active Go to Inspector Command-Option-4 Make the current inspector active Go to Timeline Command-2 Make the Timeline active Go to Viewer Command-3 Make the Viewer active Next Tab Control-Tab Go to the next pane in the Inspector or the Color Board Previous Tab Shift-Control-Tab Go to the previous pane in the Inspector or the Color Board Show Histogram Command-Option-H Show the Histogram in the Viewer Show Vec
Multi-Touch gestures If your computer has a Multi-Touch trackpad, you can use the Multi-Touch gestures listed in the table below when working with Final Cut Pro. For more information about Multi-Touch gestures, see the documentation that came with your computer. Gesture Action Scroll (two-finger): Moves the Timeline left or right. Scroll (three-finger): Swipe up to move the playhead to the beginning of the Timeline. Swipe down to move the playhead to the end of the Timeline.
View keyboard shortcuts 1 Choose Final Cut Pro > Commands > Customize (or press Command-Option-K). The Command Editor appears. 2 To find keyboard shortcuts in the Command Editor, do any of the following: ÂÂ Click one or more keys on the virtual keyboard (or click one of the four modifier buttons at the top of the Command Editor).
When you hold down any modifier buttons on the keyboard, the key colors update. Key colors correspond with command classifications; for example, playback commands, such as Play/Pause (Space bar), are blue. The Command Groups window on the left side of the Command List contains a clickable color key for reference. ÂÂ Enter a command name, description keywords, or a key name in the search field at the top-right corner of the window.
Click any command in the list to view its details in the Command Detail area in the bottom-right corner of the window. Click a Command group to quickly filter the Command List. View shortcuts from a different command set If your system has multiple command sets, you can easily switch between them. For more information, see “Export and import command sets in the Command Editor” on page 531. Do one of the following: mm Choose Final Cut Pro > Commands, and then choose a command set from the submenu.
Modify keyboard shortcuts in the Command Editor You can quickly and easily customize keyboard shortcuts in the Command Editor. If you want to add a few custom commands to the default set in Final Cut Pro, you can duplicate the default set and assign keyboard shortcuts to some of the unassigned commands. You can also create a new set that contains only your commands. Duplicate a command set 1 Choose Final Cut Pro > Commands > Customize (or press Command-Option-K).
If you close the Command Editor with unsaved changes, Final Cut Pro prompts you to save your changes. Delete a command set 1 Choose Final Cut Pro > Commands > Customize (or press Command-Option-K). 2 If the command set that you want to delete is not shown, select a different command set from the pop-up menu at the top of the Command Editor. 3 Choose Delete from the pop-up menu in the top-left corner of the Command Editor. 4 In the window that appears, click Delete. The command set is removed.
Glossary 18 4:3 The aspect ratio for standard-definition (SD) broadcast video. The ratio of the width to the height of the visible area of the video frame is 4:3, or 1.33. See also standard-definition (SD). 16:9 A widescreen aspect ratio for video. The ratio of the width to the height of the visible area of the video frame is 16:9, or 1.78. The 16:9 aspect ratio is used for high-definition video. See also high-definition (HD). AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) Also called MPEG-4 Audio.
Angle Viewer A viewer used to watch all angles of a multicam clip simultaneously while switching or cutting to different angles in real time. You can cut and switch video and audio at the same time or independently. For example, you can use the audio from angle 1 while switching the video between angles 1 to 4. See also multicam clip.
aspect ratio A film or video frame’s width-to-height ratio on any viewing screen. Standard-definition (SD) video (used for regular television screens) has an aspect ratio of 4:3. High-definition (HD) video has an aspect ratio of 16:9. Audio Animation Editor You can show the Audio Animation Editor for clips in the Timeline to adjust effect parameters, create fade-ins or fade-outs, or change effects over time using keyframes.
Blade tool The editing tool that allows you to cut clips in the Timeline. You can select the Blade tool by pressing the B key. blue laser media Blu-ray burners and players use a blue laser when working with Bluray media. The blue color has a shorter wavelength, making it possible to store more data on a disc when compared to red lasers. blue or green screening See chroma key. broadcast-safe Broadcast facilities have limits on the maximum values of luma and chroma that are allowable for broadcast.
clip selection A selection of whole clips in the Event Browser or the Timeline. In contrast to a range selection, a clip selection is limited to clip boundaries and does not have range handles. You cannot adjust a clip selection to include portions of clips. However, you can add or remove whole clips. codec Short for compressor/decompressor, or encode/decode.
compound clip You can use compound clips to group any combination of clips in the Timeline or the Event Browser, and nest clips within other clips. You can open any compound clip, edit its contents in the Timeline, and then close it. Compound clips can contain video and audio clip components, clips, and other compound clips. Effectively, each compound clip can be considered a mini project, with its own distinct project settings.
data rate The speed at which data can be transferred, often described in megabytes per second (MB/sec.) or megabits per second (Mbps). The higher a video file’s data rate, the higher quality it is, but the more system resources (processor speed, hard disk space, and performance) it requires. Some codecs allow you to specify a maximum data rate for a movie during capture.
DVCPRO A standard-definition (SD) digital videotape recorder format that records an 8-bit, 5:1 compressed component video signal using 4:1:1 color sampling (PAL uses 4:2:0). Supports two tracks of audio with 16-bit, 48 kHz audio sampling. DVCPRO 50 A standard-definition (SD) digital videotape recorder format that records an 8-bit, 3.3:1 compressed component video signal with 4:2:2 color sampling. Supports four tracks of audio with 16-bit, 48 kHz audio sampling.
Event Browser The Event Browser displays the clips for the item selected in the Event Library. You select clips or portions of clips in the Event Browser to work with them. You can sort clips in the Event Browser by creation date, as well as by date imported, reel, scene, clip duration, and file type. You can also view your clips as filmstrips or in a list. Event Library The Event Library holds and organizes the Events that contain your imported media (video, audio, and still images).
frame rate The number of images photographed per second for a video clip. frame size See resolution. frequency The number of times a sound or signal vibrates each second, measured in cycles per second, or hertz (Hz). Audio recordings are made up of a vast collection of waveforms, using many different frequencies of sound. Each frequency in a recording is associated with an audio pitch. For example, the note generated by each key of a piano has a specific frequency.
HDV A format for recording high-definition video on DV tape. HDV uses MPEG-2 video compression with 8-bit samples and 4:2:0 chroma subsampling. HDV has a video bit rate of 18.3 Mbps for 720p (1280 x 720) and a bit rate of 25 Mbps for 1080i (1440 x 1080). high-definition (HD) Refers to any video with a higher resolution than standarddefinition NTSC or PAL video. The most common high-definition resolutions are 1280 x 720 (720p) and 1920 x 1080 (1080i or 1080p).
inspectors Final Cut Pro provides a number of inspectors you can use to view and change the attributes of selected items. For example, you can adjust video effects and apply color corrections in the Video inspector. Other inspectors include the Audio, Audio Enhancements, Info, Transition, Title, Text, Generator, and Sharing inspectors. The inspectors appear in the Inspector pane in the upper-right corner of the Final Cut Pro main window.
linear editing Before digital video editing, programs were edited together by copying shots from the original source tapes to a master tape, one by one. Because the assembly was linear, any changes in duration made to an earlier point of the tape required reassembling the movie from that point forward. See also nonlinear editing. looping A playback mode in which clips and projects go back to the beginning whenever the playhead reaches the end of the media.
media browsers Media that you import into Events in Final Cut Pro is accessed from the Event Library and the Event Browser, but Final Cut Pro also includes a collection of media browsers you can use to add clips to your project. The media browsers provide access to the effects, titles, and transitions supplied with Final Cut Pro as well as to video, audio, and still-image files in other applications on your computer.
nondestructive editing No matter how you edit clips in Final Cut Pro, the underlying media is never touched. This is known as nondestructive editing, because all of the changes and effects you apply to your footage never affect the original source media files. Clips represent your media, but they are not the media files themselves. The clips in a project simply point to (link to) the source media files on your hard disk.
overwrite edit In an overwrite edit, one or more source clips overwrite any clips in the primary storyline or a selected storyline, starting at a range selection start point or at the skimmer or playhead position. No clip items are rippled forward, so the duration of your project remains the same. Overwriting is purely duration-based and works on range selections only, irrespective of clip boundaries.
project properties A project’s default Event as well as the project’s video, audio, and render properties. In most cases, Final Cut Pro manages project’s properties automatically based on the properties of the first clip you add to a project. If you must modify the project properties, choose video and audio project properties based on how you intend to share your final movie with your audience. You set a project’s properties when you create a Final Cut Pro project, and you can change them at any time.
resolution Image resolution refers to the number of pixels in an image. Resolution is expressed in terms of the width and height of the image in pixels (for example, 640 x 360 pixels). Higher-resolution images contain more detail but also create larger files that take longer to download. Your electronic devices (computer, iPhone, iPad, iPod, and so on) also have screen resolution. Ideally, you should match the image resolution of your media to the resolution of your playback device.
Select tool The default arrow-shaped pointer that allows you to select items in the Timeline. For example, you use it to select a clip or edit point. You can select the Select tool by pressing the A key. sequence See project, Timeline. shortcut menu A menu you access by holding down the Control key and clicking an item on the screen, or by pressing the right mouse button. Sometimes called a contextual menu. shot A segment of continuously recorded video. A shot is the smallest unit of a program.
snapping When the snapping feature is turned on in Final Cut Pro, items you move in the Timeline (including the playhead, the skimmer, and selected clips) appear to jump, or “snap,” directly to certain points in the Timeline. This can help you quickly line up edits with other items in the project. Snapping affects the functions of many of the editing tools in Final Cut Pro, including the Select tool, the Trim tool, the Position tool, the Range Selection tool, and the Blade tool.
storylines All instances of the Timeline contain a primary storyline, which is the main sequence of clips that you build to create your movie. Storylines are sequences of clips connected to the primary storyline. You can use storylines for the same purposes as connected clips (such as creating cutaways, compositing titles and other graphics, and adding sound effects and music). straight cut A cut in which both the video and audio clip items are cut at the same time.
Titles Browser A media browser in Final Cut Pro that provides access to all the title effects included with Final Cut Pro. toolbar The toolbar is a collection of buttons and tools located in the middle of the Final Cut Pro main window. The toolbar also includes the Dashboard, which displays the timecode for the clip selected in the Event Browser and for the playhead’s position in the Timeline. transcode All media files use a format. Video format examples include DV, H.264, and MPEG-2.
VCR Abbreviation for videocassette recorder. Generally refers to consumer equipment used for recording video from various sources. Sometimes referred to as a VTR. See also VTR. Vectorscope A video scope in Final Cut Pro that shows the distribution of color in your image on a circular scale. The Vectorscope is useful for comparing the hue and intensity of colors between two clips for the purposes of color correction.
XDCAM HD422 A member of the Sony XDCAM product family featuring 4:2:2 chroma sampling and a video bit rate of 50 Mbps. Like XDCAM EX, it uses MPEG-2 video compression at full HD resolution (either 1920 x 1080 or 1280 x 720). See also HDV. Y'CbCr The color space in which many digital video formats store data. Three components are stored for each pixel—one for luma (Y) and two for color information (Cb for the blue difference signal and Cr for the red difference signal). Also referred to as YUV.
