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

Creating a Library (in the right place)

Everything you do in FCP is stored somewhere in a Library. Events live in a Library, and everything else lives in an Event: video and audio clips, your edited Projects, photos, and music you've used — the lot. If you follow the most basic workflow, this can be a simple process, but there are reasons why you might want to go down a more complex path.

Creating and naming a Library

  1. Choose File > New > Library.
  2. Give your Library a sensible name, corresponding to the entire job it represents.

A good name might be derived from a simple rule, such as Year-Month ClientNameJobName, producing 2020-01 SuperCo Internal Messaging. The reason why I prefer to use a numeric year-month format (YYYY-MM, part of ISO 8601) at the start of Library names is that it alphabetizes correctly as you add more and more Libraries to the same folder. Bad names will make Libraries hard to find, so avoid giving no name or a generic name...