FCP *did-ya-know's*

[GmElliott]

On my second set of training material...now the DMTS FCP Studio set. You may wonder why I need more than one training series...well there's never enough time in one series (10 hours or not) to teach everything. Plus various people have different styles of teaching. Plus training material is an investment- I can turn around and sell them for a decent price when I'm done with them. :dance1:

Anyway I the more I learn FCP the more I'm growing to appreciate it as an NLE. I found out some new things the other day and thought they were cool. I don't know, they might be common knowledge but I figured I'd share regardless.

1) Hold the Z key and you will automatically zoom in to the highest zoom range. Not sure how useful this would be but interesting none the less.

2) Hold the OPTION key when you drag an edit point and you temporarily overrivde the linking relationship between audio/video to quickly and easily create a split edit (J or L cut). What's even more interesting is this works in the viewer. Create your (I)n and (O)ut points then hold the option key and adjust the top and bottom of your selection independantly while holding the OPTION key. Very slick!

3) The thin little 1 pixel thick black lines that show up in the viewer, canvas, and timeline denote time. I'm not talking about the timeline ruler notches but rather longer, thinner, vertical lines. I haven't however figured out what the exact time relationship is. On one clip it worked out to equal 5 minute incriments. It may change depending on the length of the clip.

[D4rK F0CuS]

2) Hold the OPTION key when you drag an edit point and you temporarily overrivde the linking relationship between audio/video to quickly and easily create a split edit (J or L cut). What's even more interesting is this works in the viewer. Create your (I)n and (O)ut points then hold the option key and adjust the top and bottom of your selection independantly while holding the OPTION key. Very slick!

By default I turn off linking. To create J L cuts, I just position the playhead where I want, then I select the edit point and press E. That moves the edit point to wherever the playhead is at on the timeline. There's tons of little shortcuts like this...

I also use the [ and ] keys on edit points to nudge them +- a few frames. Works with whole clip selections, toooooo....

[GmElliott]

I just position the playhead where I want, then I select the edit point and press E. That moves the edit point to wherever the playhead is at on the timeline.

WOW. I mean...why does this work. What does "E" do? Never knew that shortcut.

[GmElliott]

I also use the [ and ] keys on edit points to nudge them +- a few frames. Works with whole clip selections, toooooo....

I wonder if holding down OPTION while bracket keying left or right would temporarily override linking. :icon_rr:

[MediaConcepts]

I like the fact that you can just type in a number, for instance 4512 and your playhead moves forward 45 seconds and 12 frames. Great for when I'm editing music for DVD menus.

[AndrewMSV]

I like the fact that you can just type in a number, for instance 4512 and your playhead moves forward 45 seconds and 12 frames. Great for when I'm editing music for DVD menus.

Does it move FORWARD BY 0:00:45;12 or does it move TO the 0:00:45;12 point on the timeline?
The latter seems more logical.
:snork_bike:

[MediaConcepts]

Does it move FORWARD BY 0:00:45;12 or does it move TO the 0:00:45;12 point on the timeline?
The latter seems more logical.
:snork_bike:

4512 moves the playhead forward 45 seconds and 12 frames. -4512 moves it in reverse. There is a was to go to a particular point but I'm not on my edit computer right now and I can't remember it off the top of my head.

Joe

[RatVega]

4512 moves the playhead forward 45 seconds and 12 frames. -4512 moves it in reverse. There is a was to go to a particular point but I'm not on my edit computer right now and I can't remember it off the top of my head.

Joe

The moves are relative, so if you want an absolute point in the timeline, just hit Home first then enter the time.

[D4rK F0CuS]

I don't think pressing the Home key is even necessary. If you're using timecode in the sequence window, just typing 4512 will move to 45 seconds 12 frames from the start of the sequence.

Typing in a + or - sign will advance or rewind the necessary numbers. Say, if you wanted to move 1 second from where the playhead is parked, just type "+1." To advance 1 minute, type "+1.." etc. Or a more accurate way is to type "+45.12" to move the same as +4512.

[RatVega]

I don't think pressing the Home key is even necessary. If you're using timecode in the sequence window, just typing 4512 will move to 45 seconds 12 frames from the start of the sequence.

Typing in a + or - sign will advance or rewind the necessary numbers. Say, if you wanted to move 1 second from where the playhead is parked, just type "+1." To advance 1 minute, type "+1.." etc. Or a more accurate way is to type "+45.12" to move the same as +4512.
Thank you, D4rK, this points out one of the benefits of this Forum: different interpretations of the same basic info.

A. You are correct, using the Home key isn't necessary if you normally use the timecode window for moves.

B. If you don't normally enter into the timecode window but simply type starting with the + or - key, (this is my mode) then deselecting and using Home gets you the absolute timeline address.


The beauty of the Apple ProApps is in the way they adapt to various work styles.