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

Rolling an edit

While a regular trim adjusts an In point or an Out point on a clip, a Roll edit adjusts the Out point on one clip and the In point on the next clip at the same time, by the same duration. While it works best on two neighboring clips in the Primary Storyline, it can also work on two clips in a connected storyline, or even on two independently connected clips that have no gap between them.

Why would you want to do that? Because it lets you trade one clip's length against another without causing a ripple down the timeline. The first clip gets longer while the second clip gets shorter, and no other clips move at all. This is a key point, so let's quickly recap on how a regular trim works.

Understanding a regular trim edit

To see the ripple edits that regular trims cause, here's a timeline before a regular one-point trim operation (using the Select tool) with a single Out point selected:

Figure 8.2: The Select tool dragging an Out point

Figure 8.2: The Select tool dragging...