Editing 4: Advanced Final Cut Pro X

Editing 4:
Advanced Final Cut Pro X
Battle Creek Area Community Television
70 West Michigan Ave., Suite 112 • Battle Creek, MI 49017 • (269) 968-3633 • www.accessvision.tv
Using Trimming Tools and Different Kinds of Edits
Select Tool (A)
Ripple Edit: A one-sided edit where you change either a clip’s IN point or
OUT point, without leaving a gap in the timeline.
Roll Edit: Change both sides of a cut simultaneously. No clips move, only
the edit point between the clips moves.
Use the Precision Editor to Roll an edit point:
1. Double-click a cut point to show the Precision Editor.
2. See handles of A side shot and B-side shot. Drag slider in the middle
to Roll the edit point.
3. When finished, double-click on the slider to exit the Precision Editor.
Split Edit: trim just video and not audio (or vice versa):
1. Right-click on clip and choose Expand Audio/Video.
2. Drag on audio or video track to trim.
3. When done, right-click and choose Collapse Audio/Video (control-s).
Trim tool (T): Used for precise trimming and matching continuity. You can use the Trim tool to Ripple,
Roll, Slip and Slide edits.
Position tool (P): Use to reposition clips in timeline, while leaving a gap clip in its place. Gap clips
are black placeholder clips that behave just like regular clips.
Range Selection tool (R): Use to select a range
within any clip, or a range that spans multiple clips.
Use range selections to trim parts of a clip without
cutting the whole thing. Adjust the range selection
start and end points by dragging either side of the
selection.
Blade tool (B): Use to cut clips into pieces. With
Blade tool selected, click on a clip to make a cut
where you click.
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Additional Editing and Organizational Techniques
Nesting: Compound clips allow you to
group multiple clips together and nest clips
within other clips. Nesting multiple clips
into one container cleans up the timeline
by condensing the number of visible
elements. To make a compound clip:
1. Select a bunch of clips,
2. Right-click and choose New Compound Clip (option+g)
• When you drag a compound clip around
in the timeline, all elements move together.
• You can efficiently apply effects to all
clips inside of a compound clip all at once.
• To edit the elements inside of a
compound clip: double-click it to open it
in its own timeline. Press the left arrow <
key to return to the main storyline.
• To separate clips in a compound clip back into its elements:
1. Select Compound Clip,
2. Go to the Clip menu > Break Apart Items (shift+command+g).
Secondary Storyline: is a compound clip on a track above the Primary Storyline. A secondary
storyline will have only one connection point to the Primary Storyline for the whole thing, instead of
lots of individual connection points for multiple clips.
• To create a Secondary Storyline: select clips; right-click and choose Create Storyline
• To break apart a Secondary Storyline into separate clips: select storyline;
go to the Clip menu > Break Apart Clip Items
Markers
Markers are reference points you can place within clips to locate,
identify, annotate, and navigate to specific frames. They can be used like
digital post-it notes to make notes on clips, or to visually mark audio for
timing cuts.
• Press M to add a marker
• To remove a marker: right-click > Delete
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Color Correction
Final Cut Pro X includes color correction ability built-in to every clip, with no need to add an effect. You
can tell it to automatically adjust colors, or you can adjust manually.
Automatic color correction:
1. Place playhead over clip and click on it so it’s selected
2. Go to the Inspector > Color: check the Balance check box. This will automatically balance the color based solely on the frame shown.
You can also select a clip in the Event Library, right-click on it, and choose Analyze and Fix... and
check Analyze for balance color. This analyzes the whole clip. NOTE: automatic adjustment will not
necessarily be “right” or look better.
Manual color correction:
Use the Color Board to manully color correct
clips. Click the arrow on right side of Correction
1 to access the Color Board.
Exposure tab:
• Global slider raises/lowers exposure
uniformly across whole image.
• Shadows controls dark parts.
• Highlights controls lightest parts.
• Midtones controls values in between.
The Saturation tab works in a similar way.
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The Color tab allows you to add or subtract colors to the shadows, mids and highlights by dragging
the controls above or below the line.
• Sometimes
after making initial
adjustments, you have
to go back and forth
between Color and
Exposure to make
further adjustments.
• Return to the main
Inspector and compare
before and after making
changes by unchecking
the Correction 1 blue
box.
• Use Final Cut Pro’s
scopes for reference:
Window menu >
Viewer Display >
Show Video Scopes
Match Color: Use the Match Color function to match two clips automatically:
1. Select the clip, then go to Inspector > Video;
2. Under Effects, check the Match Color box;
3. Click the Choose checkbox and skip to a frame you want to match;
4. Toggle the Match Color button on/off to preview before/after changes.
Using color correction templates:
• Go to the Effects Browser > ‘Looks’ category.
• Also see the Presets drop-down in bottom right corner of the Color Board for more preset
looks.
• Auto Balance, Match Color, Effects and Presets can all be used as a starting point and then further adjusted/customized.
Paste Effects: once you have the work done on one clip, copy and paste effects to easily apply the
same changes again to other clips. You can also Copy/Paste Attributes such as Transform, etc. and
Audio Attributes:
1. Select first clip with effect and copy it (command-C)
2. Select other clips to apply the effect to
3. Edit menu > Paste Effects (option-command-v)
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Additional Audio Editing
Like color correcting, every clip has built-in audio
enhancements that can be done to a clip without
adding any effects. The Audio tab of the Inspector
window is the place to adjust Effects, Volume
and Pan, Audio Enhancements and Channel
Configuration.
Audio Enhancements
Equalization: altering the frequency of a sound in
order to enhance it. Choose from templates in the
drop-down menu.
Audio Analysis: Final Cut Pro will analyze sound for
problems and automatically fix Loudness and perform
Background Noise Removal and Hum Removal.
• Green = no problems found;
• Red ! = bad problem;
• Yellow = potential issue
Click the blue button to fix problems.
You can continue to manually adjust auto
enhancements. Be careful not to overdo it. Uncheck
blue boxes to compare changes.
Channel Configuration: change from Stereo to Dual Mono if you had split audio when shooting.
Recording voiceover:
You can record your own voiceover narration right into Final Cut Pro:
1. Position the play head where you want to start in Timeline;
2. Go to the Window menu > Record Audio;
3. Destination: choose which Event the recording should go in;
4. Test the levels and adjust Gain: your voice should peak
between -12 to -6dB
5. Disable existing music track, if necessary: select music clip
and press V
6. Press the red button to start recording; press it again to stop
Audio is recorded right into the Timeline and saved to the Event Library.
You can trim and adjust recorded sound clips just like any other clip.
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Built-In Motion Effects
Transform, Crop and Distort adjustments are built
into every clip. They can be found just below the Color
section in the Inspector.
Transform: change Scale, Position and Rotation.
Click on the wireframe icon to toggle the wireframe on/
off. Wireframe allows you to drag directly on the clip to
make changes. Crop has 3 different options: Trim/Crop/Ken Burns
• Trim: masks off portions of a clip, allowing you to
see behind it.
• Crop: crops off both dimensions allowing you to reframe the clip.
• Ken Burns: creates panning/scanning movement by animating changes in scale and position. Use
the start frame (green) to tell it where to begin the animation, and the end frame (red) to tell it
where to end the animation. This is useful for adding movement to still photos.
Distort: you can work with this in the Inspector or the wireframe tool. It gives you real-time feedback
as you drag the corners to reshape the clip.
Press the Done button to apply any changes made. Use the reset arrows to revert any parameters
back to their default values.
Stabilization: This feature in Final Cut Pro reduces the camera motion in your video so that shaky
parts can be played back more smoothly. At any time, you can turn off stabilization for any clip so that
it plays as originally recorded.
Rolling Shutter: Many camcorders and still cameras include CMOS image sensors that expose the
picture they’re recording progressively, instead of all at once. As a result, if the camera moves a lot
during recording, or if the camera is recording fast motion, image distortion can occur. This causes
the picture to appear wobbly or skewed. Final Cut Pro has a rolling shutter feature that can reduce this
motion distortion.
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Keyframing
Keyframing video or audio effects allows you to change the effect over
time - start at one value at the beginning of a clip, and end at another
value so that you see changes happen as the clip is playing. You can
keyframe motion, effect changes, volume changes, etc.; any alteration
done to a clip can be keyframed to change over time.
Keyframe animation requires at least two keyframes: one at the
beginning and one at the end. Final Cut Pro figures out all of the
in-between values.
To create a keyframe animation:
1. Move the playhead to the beginning of a clip and apply the Effect or Transform attribute;
2. Use the Add Keyframe button in the Inspector to add a keyframe;
3. Move the playhead to a later time, and make changes to the effect or attribute. The second
keyframe is automatically generated, causing the effect to gradually change over time.
You can add as many sets of keyframes as you want to a clip.
• To view keyframes in the timeline: right-click on the clip and choose Show Video Animation.
• Option-click to add keyframes in the timeline.
Working with Still Photos and Graphics
When still images are imported, they default to 4 seconds
long, but you can shorten or lengthen to any length.
After adding a photo to the timeline, go to the Inspector
and select the Spatial Conform type to use. Choose
between Fit, Fill and None:
• Fit: shrinks the image to fit the video frame. Black bars are added to fill any empty space;
• Fill: automatically zooms image to fill screen. Anything outside of the screen will be cropped off;
• None: leaves the image as-is, without enlarging or shrinking it.
You can apply all the same motion effects to stills, like Transform, Crop, Distort and Ken Burns. For
best results, use large/high-resolution photos.
Using files with an alpha channel or transparent background will allow you to composite the graphic
and see the video layer underneath. Layered Photoshop files import as a compound clips. To access
the layers, go to the Clip menu > Break Apart Items. Now you can move/keyframe each layer
separately to create animation.
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Working with Generator Effects and Animated Themes
Generator Effects are clips that
Final Cut Pro creates from scratch, like
backgrounds.
• Access generators in the Generators
Browser.
Themes are motion animations that
you can add to your project to give it a
packaged feel, using title sequences or
transitions
• Access themes in the Themes
Browser.
• Some themes are titles and some are
transitions. Some of them use footage in
Drop Zones that let you drag and drop
video clips into an area of the screen.
• The browsers for Generators and
Themes have the same structure as the
other browsers: categories are on the left
and themes are on the right. Hover your
cursor over them to preview what they
look like.
• To use Themes or Generators, simply
drag and drop them from the browser
into the timeline. You can then change
their parameters in the Inspector.
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Speed Effects
Changing the speed of a clip is also called Retiming. To
retime a clip, click on it and then go to Retiming menu (or
command-R) and choose speed from the presets (Slow >
50%, 25% or 10%; Fast > 2X, 4X, 8X or 20X).
You can then further adjust the speed in any increment by
dragging the handle on the bar above the clip in the timeline. Blue = faster; orange = slower; green =
100% (no change)
Variable speed adjustments, whereby the speed gradually speeds up or slows down, are accessed in
the Retime menu by going to Speed Ramp > to 0% or from 0%.
• If you want to run footage backwards, go to the Retiming menu and choose Reverse Clip.
• When you alter the speed of a clip, the sound also changes speed.
• Instant Replay: duplicates footage in the timeline.
• Rewind: allows you to reverse footage in real time, 2x or 4x.
• Hold: allows you to stop the footage and freeze on a frame.
1. In the Timeline, park the playhead on the frame you want to freeze;
2. Go to the Retiming menu and select Hold (shift h). The default length is 4 seconds, but you
can right-click on it and type in any length.
Rendering
As you add effects to clips, you may notice sections of orange along the top edge of the timeline.
This indicates that material below needs to be rendered. Rendering is the process of combining raw
clip files with effects to create a new media file. When effects are applied to a clip, the computer
processes the changes to produce the effect, and writes the newly-rendered media (with effects
applied) to the hard drive. Unrendered material will still play, but playback may stutter if the computer
can’t keep up.
Final Cut Pro X features automatic rendering: if the computer is idle for a certain amount of time, it
will automatically start rendering in the background, and stop when you resume working.
You can also manually make it render:
• Go to the Modify menu > choose Render All or Render Selection.
• Render Selection (Ctrl+R) renders whatever is selected or highlighted.
• Render All (ctrl-shift-R) renders everything that needs to be rendered.
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Multicam Editing
Multicam editing is used to edit overlapping footage shot from multiple camera angles. It requires
audio recorded on every camera, even if you don’t use all of the audio in the final edit.
1. Synchronize footage:
Final Cut Pro X will automatically sync the different angles of footage by
analyzing the audio from each and matching it up:
• Select all clips in the Events Library;
• Right-click and choose New Multicam Clip.
• Use Automatic settings for Angle Clip
Ordering and Angle Sync;
• Be sure to check the box for Use audio for
synchronization.
After synching is finished, you will see a new
icon for the Multicam clip in the Event browser.
You can add it to the Timeline just like a compound clip.
To see visuals for all angles, go to the Window menu > Viewer Display > Show Angles
2. Preparing for a multicam edit:
Select to cut only video or audio & video by clicking in the top left corner of the Angle Viewer. If you
have good audio on one camera but not the others, cut just video. Before cutting the angles:
• Double-click the Multicam clip in the timeline to open it in the Multicam Editor.
• Make adjustments to clips in the Multicam Editor before you start cutting.
• Sweeten the audio: mute uneccesary channel(s), adjust levels, add effects, etc.
• Color correct the video: try to make camera angles match as closely as possible.
3. Performing a multicam edit:
With the Angle Viewer showing, simply play the video and pretend you’re doing live switching by
clicking on the best angle in the Angle Viewer, as all angles play in sync in real time. If you make a
mistake, it’s okay. You can go back and refine the cuts later.
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4. Refining the multicam edit
• To change angles, right-click on a clip and change the Active Video Angle.
• To manipulate cut points, hover the cursor between two clips to get the Roll Tool; then drag left/right to adjust the timing of the cut.
• Open the Precision Editor to see exact video on either side of a cut.
• To remove whole sections of a multicam clip, trim or delete clips just like any others in the timeline.
Working with Additional Input/Output Formats
Importing/capturing from tape:
1. Make sure the tape deck is powered up;
2. Go to the File menu > Import Media and choose the VCR from the list;
3. Use buttons onscreen to play the tape. J, K, L also work for searching;
4. Click the Import button. This pauses tape and prompts you to choose the Event, etc.
5. Click Import and it will resume playing the tape and begin capturing in real-time. It will continue capturing until you click Stop Import.
* NOTE: Final Cut Pro X was built for file-based footage ingestion. When capturing footage
from tapes, a long segment may import as many clips in small pieces. Older programs
are actually better for capturing tapes. You can still capture tapes in Final Cut Pro 7 or
iMovieHD, and then import those captured files into Final Cut Pro X for editing. *
Sharing and Exporting for DVD
You are allowed to make one DVD of your finished program. To make a DVD:
1. Go to the File menu > Share > DVD...
2. Click on the Settings tab and check the following options:
Output Device: DVD burner; Layers: single layer; When disc loads: Play movie.
There also options for displaying a menu with a custom background, if you choose.
3. Click the Share button and wait. You can view the progress in the HUD.
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To make a video file for sharing on the web:
1. Go to the File menu > Share > (YouTube) (Vimeo) (Facebook)...
2. Click on the Settings tab and chose one of the presets.
Youtube, Vimeo and Facebook presets will encode your movie and automatically upload it when
done. Note that this requires you to sign in to your account. BE CAREFUL USING YOUR ACCOUNT
ON A SHARED/PUBLIC COMPUTER. BE SURE TO SIGN OUT OF YOUR ACCOUNT WHEN
FINISHED.
To export a still image:
1. Park the playhead on any frame you want to export;
2. Go to the File menu > Share > Save Current Frame;
3. Click on the Settings tab and choose JPEG;
4. Click Next and choose where to save it.
Managing Media and Project Data
1. Cleaning up
To keep your hard drive cleaned out while you’re still working on projects, you can periodically delete
unused render files. From the Project Library, go to the File menu > Delete Project Render Files >
choose Unused Render Files.
Once you’ve finished editing a project, it’s time to either archive the files for later or trash them. If you
don’t, your hard drive will eventually fill up. If you don’t plan to ever re-edit the project, you can delete
Prject and Event files by going to the File menu > Move Project to Trash or Move Event to Trash.
This puts the files into the Finder’s trash. Remember to Empty Trash (after closing Final Cut Pro).
2. Archiving
If you don’t plan to re-edit, but want to keep a master copy of your program in the best quality
possible, go the File menu and choose Share > Master File. While you will not be able to make
revisions to it, this master file is the best quality you can get, and can be used as the source for
creating DVDs or other files to upload in the future.
If you do want to be able to re-edit the material or make
changes in the future, you should archive all of the files
associated with your edit. Final Cut Pro gives you several
options for managing this, all available from the File menu
while you’re in the Projects Library.
To copy project data, select the project and go to the File
menu > Duplicate Project. Choose Duplicate Project
and Used Clips. This copies all the clips used in the
project. Use this when finished editing, for archiving.
Uncheck Include Render Files, in order to keep the file
size as small as possible; it’s easy to just re-render later.
Then copy these project files to another hard drive, or
burn to a data disc for long-term storage.
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There is another option to Duplicate Project Only. This duplicates timeline but no media, which is
good for making different versions of an edit in progress, using the same/existing media on your drive.
Project files are small, so it’s okay to make lots of versions. Keeping safety copies of your edit in
progress can be a daily backup strategy.
3. Troubleshooting missing media:
You always need to be aware and deliberate about your choices in media management! Everything
must live in the Final Cut Events and Final Cut Projects folders, at the base of the Firewire Drive.
If media is missing, you’ll see red MEDIA OFFLINE slates when you
open Final Cut. Media becomes offline if:
• Your Firewire Drive is disconnected;
• The Final Cut Events folder is in the wrong place and it can’t see the media. To fix it, search for the media in the Finder.
• During import, you chose not to copy the media into Events
folder and the link of the pointer files has been broken. You
have to find the original media. Once you find it:
1. Right-click on Event and choose Relink Event Files
2. Click Locate Selected
3. Select Copy Files into Final Cut Events folder.
If you accidentally imported media to the computer’s internal drive and
then changed computers, your media will be offline. These files are
inside the Macintosh HD > Users > Home > Movies folders. To
fix, go back to the original computer and open Final Cut Pro. Go to the
File menu > Move Project to move the files to your Firewire Drive.
Be sure to Include Referenced Events.
Additional Resources
Jumpbacks: browse the library of over 500 Jumpbacks, animated background video clips to use in
your productions. Go to the Shared Documents folder (on the desktop) and find the Jumpbacks folder
inside. Volumes are categorized by folder. Most Jumpbacks are short but can be seamlessly looped by
copying and pasting the clip back-to-back in the timeline.
Stock Music: AccessVision has a large library of licensed music for you to use. You can access some
of it in iTunes. The rest is in a large binder full of audio CDs. We can also acccess DeWolfe Music’s
entire library online at www.dewolfe.co.uk. See a staff person to log in and download from the site.
Learning resources:
• Help menu in Final Cut Pro X - searchable
• Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro X book by Diana Weynand
• www.lynda.com
• www.rippletraining.com
• IzzyVideo: www.izzyvideo.com/final-cut-pro-x-tutorial/
• Apple Support Communities: https://discussions.apple.com/community/
professional_applications/final_cut_pro_x?view=overview
• Mac Rumors forum: http://forums.macrumors.com/forumdisplay.php?f=80
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Final Cut Pro X Important Keyboard Shortcuts
Modifier key: Shift ⇧ | Control ˆ | Option ⌥ | Command ⌘
Go to Beginning Go to End Go to Previous Frame
Go to Next Frame
Home
End
←
→
Play Reverse
Stop Play Forward
Play Selection
J
K
L
/
Connect to Primary Storyline
Q
Insert W
Append to Storyline
E
Overwrite
D
Arrow Tool
A
Hand Tool
H
Set Selection Start (In)
I
Set Selection End (Out)
O
Select All
⌘ A
Cut⌘ X
Copy
⌘ C
Retime Editor
⌘R
Undo ⌘ Z
Add Cross Dissolve
⌘ T
Add Basic Title
ˆ T
Zoom In Zoom Out Zoom to Fit ⌘=
⌘⇧Z
Skimming Snapping Blade Tool
Position Tool
Trim Tool
Delete S
N
B
P
T
⌫
New Compound Clip
Paste
⌘G
⌘ V
Add Marker
M
Enable/Disable Clip
V
Jason Augenstein, Projects Coordinator
[email protected]
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