This was one of the most talked-about features of fcp 7, but for some reason I didn’t start using it until recently. If you have a timeline with a gap in video and you would like to time scale (or speed change) a clip as it sits you have few options. What I had resorted [...]
This is one of those tricks that I’ve never seen written anywhere, but it save me a TON of time. It works on 90% of the file import /save / open dialogs across all programs. If you want to export a file from say, FCP. You start out by hitting command-E and then you get [...]
The more you use your mouse, the slower you work. Some tasks are impossible to do without a mouse, but maximizing keyboard shortcuts is the clear path to speed. Keyboard shortcuts, key remapping, and droplet creation are all designed to reduce the number of steps required to do something. The difficult thing is trying to [...]
Once fcp starts to become a part of you, you start to notice how it’s strangely missing some shortcuts. I must export to quicktime 20-30 times a day, why isn’t there a key command for that? It also has some simple shortcuts dedicated to infrequently needed things, like ‘w’ for toggle wireframes. The answer is [...]
Final cut doesn’t make it easy to move multiple keyframes – but it is possible! You can move both audio and video keyframes, but they each require a different approach. How to move video opacity keyframes hit option t with the timeline window active. look for the blue bars under your video clip. hit ‘ [...]
This tip is all about timeline cleanliness… And render times… And possibly some other stuff thrown in there too. I have long looked for something in FCP similar to precomp in after effects. What that does is to take multiple files, create a new composition out of them and then place the new composition in [...]
Normalize effect This isn’t the primary use of normalize. The primary usage is to even out audio so that it has a more uniform volume. This usage is still very very useful. The timeline only allows you to change audio levels up to +12dB. Sometimes you have a very low clip that needs more of [...]
This one is also short and sweet, since last weeks tip turned out so well! Shift z – zoom timeline to fit project. No more words are needed! These are the kinds of tips and tricks you usually learn by watching someone else edit. If you have something that drastically speed up your editing, let [...]
This one is short and sweet. Not all of these tips need to be needlessly complicated. Control-V – Control-V cuts a selected clip at playhead, or cuts all clips at playhead if no clip is selected. It only does one job, but it does it well. It is also much quicker than constantly toggling between [...]
Rename Compressor presets for web compatibility. This is another smack-your-forehead tip. By default Compressor has lots of spaces in the default filename suffixes it adds to your compressed files. This turns out to be a problem when you upload those to the web because the spaces turn into “%20″‘s and sometimes can split a link [...]