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

Managing everything on set

You've picked a camera and audio recorders, everything's charged, and you know what kinds of shots to capture — what next?

Most importantly, if you're working with more than one device, be sure to synchronize the clocks (to the second!) on all of the devices before you record anything. This will make the syncing process far easier, and you'd be surprised at how quickly cameras and recorders can drift from the correct time.

If you've bought a camera that lets you customize the names of the files it produces, set up each camera to make files with different names. My A and B cameras make files that start with P_IA and P_IB to make life easy, and a shooting colleague uses P1RC and P2RC. With or without this feature, label the physical media cards so that you don't get confused about which card is which:

Figure 2.26: No duplicate names here, and I can tell at a glance which camera each clip was shot on

Figure 2.26: No duplicate names here, and I can tell at a glance which camera each clip...