10 Things Every Final Cut Pro User Should Know

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10 Things Every Final Cut Pro User Should Know

Posted 04/22/2009 at 10:47:22pm | by Michael DeLano

6. Arrange

Every so often your windows in Final Cut will go haywire and rearrange themselves or disappear entirely. Whether you switched screen resolutions, switched monitors, or opened the project on a different computer, there is only so much space available on the back of milk cartons, so the next best thing is Arrange.

arrainge

Click on Window in the menu bar, select Arrange to reveal a secondary down down menu. There are several choices here, if you just need to get back to the simple default layout, click on standard, this should get all your windows visible at least. If you have customized your layout, this is also the place to save it so you can call it back up easily in the future.

7. View Choices in the Browser Window

Icons and lists, can they ever learn to get along? If only they had a place where they could work side by side, where the best aspects of both could be used to their full potential. There is such a place, it’s called the Browser. The Browser is the window that holds all your imported files, video, audio, unicorns, whatever you happen to have in there.

browser

Ctrl or right click in the grey area of the Browser window, a contextual menu will appear where you will find four viewing choices, View as List, Small Icons, Medium Icons and Large Icons. The list option is great if you have a large amount of media or have carefully named and organized your assets. The Icon Views let you see the first frame of your clip, and even better, you can open that clip in the viewer and set an in-point anywhere in the clip and that will now become the thumbnail you see in the Browser. With just a glance at the thumbnails in the Browser you can find the clip you are looking for.

8. Color Corrector

The color corrector is hands down the effect we use the most. The quality or “look” of your footage can live or die by the color corrector. Whether your white balance is a bit off and the people in your footage look like Smurfs, or you want your home videos to look just like Sin City, the color corrector is your first stop. There are a couple different ways to find the color corrector.

color

First, select the clip you want to apply it to in the timeline by double clicking it, next go to Effects in the menu bar and select Video Filters/Color Correction/Color Corrector. In the Viewer, above your clip you will find a new tab, Color Corrector, click on this. Now you see the Color Corrector controls.

color

Let’s fix that white balance problem, in the timeline drag your playhead until you have a frame of video that contains something “white” or something that is supposed to be white, this should show up in the Canvas window. Now in the viewer click on the eye dropper, or select Auto Balance-Color, button below the Balance circle on the left. When you move your cursor over the Canvas window it will change into the eye dropper, click on an area in your clip that should be white. This will tell Final Cut Pro that this area should be white and it will adjust the color of your footage to try and represent that.

If it’s still not quite right, grab the small circle in the center of the Balance window with your cursor and drag it in the direction of the color your footage needs more of. This is just the tip of the iceberg for the Color Corrector, there are tons of toys to play with here, you can individually change the white, mid and black levels of your media, similar to the Levels adjustment in Photoshop, as well as the saturation levels.

color

You can also access the Color Corrector through the Effects tab in the Browser, expand the Video Filters section and then the Color Correction section to find the effect, from there you can double-click it or drag it onto a clip.

9. Composite Mode

Is your video just not “weird” or “cool” enough?

overlay

Or maybe you are just bored, either way, stack a clip on top of another in the Timeline, now Ctrl or right click on the upper clip, in the contextual menu choose Composite Mode. Inside there are quite a few options, each option tells the clips how to interact with each other, giving you a wide range of wild effects.

color

Make sure your play head is over the clips you are working on in the Timeline to get a preview of the effects as you try them out.

10. Export-Using Quicktime Conversion

You have edited your footage, piled the effects on, layered your video and created the finest Smurf zombie fan-fiction film of all time. Now how do you get it out of the clutches of Gargamel...err...Final Cut Pro?

quicktime

Choose File from the menu bar, select Export then, Export Using Quicktime Conversion. QuickTime Movie is more suited to exporting full resolution versions of your project. If you are looking to put this masterpiece on the internet, lets take a look at the Using QuickTime Conversion option.

internet

When you choose this option a Save window will pop up, let’s concentrate on the Format: and Use: options toward the bottom of the window. Leave the Format option on QuickTime and click on the Use pull down menu. Under the list of options, Broadband Medium or Broadband High are both good choices. They are both preset to use the H.264 codec, which produces nice sharp video, great audio and small file sizes. Now youtube it and prepare for fame and riches.

COMMENTS: 32

TAGS: Final Cut Pro

COMMENTS

How do you guys afford all this mac stuff???
Submitted by lukeforester1 on Mon, 2009-04-27 06:18

Well...?????<3 Mac|Life <3

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What does a "ramen
Submitted by Markweee on Wed, 2009-10-14 23:05

What does a "ramen experience" have to do with design? Better packaging? Curlier noodles? Adding a cute little forky thing to the cheap staple of dorm rooms everywhere? social work degree AND Criminal Justice degree

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I was sitting at a big
Submitted by Markweee on Wed, 2009-10-14 23:06

I was sitting at a big dinner in Pacific Heights recently, and I told
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Definitely things every FCP should now . . .
Submitted by dddnlb on Mon, 2009-04-27 14:35

. . . but they should already know them. ;-)

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Video for Final Cut
Submitted by claudia163 on Sun, 2009-06-14 03:49

The video does not show up and I can't find it in your code-I think someone goofed up...

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it works for me
Submitted by SomPom on Sat, 2009-10-31 14:34

the video works for me.. try refreshingcancer man

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Michael Delano's Article-Final Cut Pro 10 Tips: Keep Organized
Submitted by petersonck1 on Mon, 2009-06-15 08:36

Subject: Tip #1: "Keep Organized":

Please help me to view the video on best organizing my Final Cut Pro files.

After I downloaded and installed the latest Flash Player and went to the link: tinyurl.com/c2rif6, the Flash video failed to display on my Safari or Firefox browser.

Thank you, Michael Delano. I enjoyed your fine and well-organized article and found it very useful! :)

Chuck Peterson, petersonck1@att.net

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Missing Video
Submitted by agr8esc on Tue, 2009-06-16 12:28

Having the same problem. Just a big white space below the request to load the latest Flash.Running with Safari Version 4 Public Beta (5528.17) Enjoyed the rest of the article, thanks!Pete MacLachlan

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Missing Video
Submitted by galley on Sun, 2009-06-21 21:33

I'm getting the notice to download the latest Flash player (version 8 or higher), but I already have version 10,0,22,87 installed. What gives?iMac 2008, OS X 10.5.7, Safari 4.0.1 (5530.18)

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Still no video?
Submitted by fotmasta on Wed, 2009-07-01 08:09

Flash player 10
Safari 4
10.4.11

Blank white space. No video.

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Missing Video
Submitted by gingerbiggles on Mon, 2009-07-06 00:38

Fully up to date.

Still no video, just a blank white space. Tried it in Safari and Firefox.

Does anyone in Mac Life read these comments?

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Missing Video
Submitted by mtsuhre on Tue, 2009-07-14 15:11

Nice article, but it sure would be nice to be able to view the video. Downloaded the latest flash player and still no luck. I hope Mac/Life looks into this.

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Missing Video
Submitted by abbaink on Sat, 2009-07-18 19:50

You would think that faster technology would have made everything faster. Faster information, faster downloading, faster websites. Faster corrections. Guess nobody told the print department and the webmaster that the url in the magazine is wrong and the website just shows a blank white place where the video is supposed to be. Can somebody wake those guys up, please? AbbaInk

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Thanks for the awesome 10
Submitted by creek on Mon, 2009-08-31 18:55

Thanks for the awesome 10 Book Reports. These steps really makes my work faster and safer.These will increase the speed you are “rewinding”, keeping hitting it, it will go faster and faster. If you can press the key at 88mph you will go back in time, well, not really, that is a lie. Term Papers
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this video is very
Submitted by lister on Tue, 2009-09-08 02:13

this video is very informative to share in the Buy Essay. I downloaded and installed the latest Flash Player and went to the link: tinyurl.com/c2rif6, the Flash video failed to display on my Safari or Firefox browser.

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Still no video...
Submitted by jack_on_a_mac on Tue, 2009-09-08 19:49

Finally got around to reading my July issue of Mac Life....found the FCP hints. But the video STILL doesn't work? Does anybody read these comments?
---hopefully...soon

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10 Things Every Final Cut Pro User Should Know.....
Submitted by preityroisinha on Thu, 2009-09-10 05:41

The sheer depth of Final Cut Pro features can intimidate new users. Apple's plan was to take the video editing world by storm with their professional editing app. In order to shake Avid from its high horse...

.thanks for sharing your views..
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Regards,

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I have tried it in
Submitted by divider on Sat, 2009-09-12 14:37

I have tried it in firefox..But its displaying blank white space only.No video is coming..Still Very informative blog..Free Online Games.
Regards,

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Thanks - does it work
Submitted by Helenz4 on Sun, 2009-09-27 02:01

Thanks - does it work properly in Firefox yet? ski chalets

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All these 10 aspects-things
Submitted by benhurtisson on Thu, 2009-10-08 01:30

All these 10 aspects-things can be properly used by users. Thanks.
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All of these aspects can be used by all users in world. look more at teaching essay

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I think this is one of the
Submitted by philly387 on Thu, 2009-10-15 20:32

I think this is one of the best tools for a Mac computer. The tips are great as well!
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wow thanks a lot really
Submitted by Bostro on Sat, 2009-10-17 08:35

wow thanks a lot really helpful article thanks
regards,
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I am glad the new iphone
Submitted by philly387 on Sat, 2009-10-17 11:20

I am glad the new iphone does have cut and paste! It does work wonders. Apple did a good job the new 3G S
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Nice article, but it sure
Submitted by emil300 on Thu, 2009-10-22 06:32

Nice article, but it sure would be nice to be able to view the video. Downloaded the latest flash player and still no luck. I hope Mac/Life looks into this.

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Perfect Mac
Submitted by floydsthompson on Fri, 2009-10-23 08:59

Mac and his programs did not cease to amaze! I just started processing home video. These tips will help me. A few more tips I found in this essay

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Being able to just stay
Submitted by philly387 on Mon, 2009-10-26 13:19

Being able to just stay organized would be hard enough. I think walkawaytoday keeps the stuff very organized for everything.

Mac came out with a CD Label Maker I believe last year for their products and I was hoping maybe I could find it. Thanks to me being on a weight loss diet nutrition, I can finally purchase one since I don't need as much food!

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Interface is intuitive
Submitted by russian-girls on Tue, 2009-10-27 01:38

Not very complicated, and new version- hard to confuse new users. Interface is intuitive. Thanks for review function. Russian Girls | Oriflame | Russian Date

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I'm don't understand these topic:(political science papers

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Good Job....This article is
Submitted by real-exams on Mon, 2009-11-16 01:29

Good Job....This article is very informative.

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