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

Retiming basics

In this section, you'll learn how to play clips faster or slower than normal, for special effects, for slow motion, or even to deal with footage at the wrong frame rate. After a quick look at the different kinds of footage you might need to deal with, you'll discover how to apply an overall speed change to a clip.

All of the important retiming commands are in the same menu — the third icon (a speedometer) at the lower left of the Viewer. To get started, you'll need a few clips in a timeline and ideally some high-speed clips for slow-motion. If you have an iPhone, switch it into Slo-Mo mode now and record something moving. For great results, blow a raspberry to the camera, create a water splash somehow, or dance.

If you have used your iPhone, don't Airdrop it to your Mac because that will lock in a pre-defined slow-motion effect. Plug the iPhone into your Mac and import it to FCP directly to get the full original clip.

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