Book Image

Final Cut Pro Efficient Editing

By : Iain Anderson
Book Image

Final Cut Pro Efficient Editing

By: Iain Anderson

Overview of this book

Final Cut Pro (also known as FCP, previously Final Cut Pro X) is Apple’s efficient and accessible video editing software for everyone, offering powerful features that experienced editors and novices will find useful. FCP is the quickest way to transform your raw clips into a finished piece, so if speed is important, make this a key tool in your editing arsenal. Final Cut Pro Efficient Editing is a comprehensive best practice guide for all editors. You’ll not only learn how to use the features but also find out which ones are the most important and when you should use them. With the help of practical examples, the book will show you how typical footage can be assembled, trimmed, colored, and finessed to produce a finished edit, exploring a variety of techniques. As you progress through the book, you’ll follow a standard editing workflow to get the feel of working on real-world projects and answer self-assessment questions to make sure that you’re on track. By the end of this Final Cut Pro book, you’ll be well versed with the key features of this app and have all the tools you need to create impressive edits.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
1
Section 1: Importing and Organizing
7
Section 2: Rough Cut to Fine Cut
13
Section 3: Finishing and Exporting

Summary

If you're not editing a feature film or serious short, straight cuts are not always enough. Transitions can help you to smooth the relationship between two shots, sure, but they can also grab attention on their own. Maybe the shots around a transition need breathing room, a creative connection, or a way to keep them separate or you're disguising a cut you had to have. Or maybe the content is boring, and you need to inject some life to keep the audience awake. Even my least favorite transition, Page Peel, can justify itself in the right context.

Retiming brings a whole new dimension to clips that a video effect can't — playing with time. Newer cameras have given us the power to record footage at higher frame rates than ever before, and with or without all of those extra frames, you now have a way to bring attention to specific moments.

Transitions and retiming can be used for great things, but they can also contribute to wildly over-the-top edits...