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

Finessing contrast and more

With the image looking roughly balanced, it's now time to move a little more toward the aesthetic world of color grading, by dialing in just the right amount of contrast. The best way to add contrast to a shot without losing shadow or highlight detail is to use Color Curves, which can also be used for powerful creative color adjustments. Here, we'll look at both, and also find out what the eyedropper does.

Using Color Curves to change contrast

There's no better way to understand this than to do it yourself:

  1. ⌥-click on a clip (with no corrections applied) to select it and move the Playhead to that point.
  2. Press ⌘6 to add the default color correction to this clip.
  3. Click on No Corrections and choose +Color Curves from the menu:
Figure 11.45: Add a new Color Curves adjustment to get started

Figure 11.45: Add a new Color Curves adjustment to get started

The image won't change yet, because (as with any correction) it starts out blank...