This is lesson 1 from the Weyland Final Cut Pro certification text. This text is used in my production class and we work through a lesson each week.

1. BC 142
TV Production I
Professor Sam Edsall

2. Lesson 1:
Editing in Final Cut Pro
Apple Pro Training
Series
Final Cut Pro X
Instructor: Sam Edsall

3. Using the DVD Book
Files
APTS FCP X.sparse image file
• Actually an external drive when turned on
• When you click on it an external drive appears on your desktop
• Eject or drag to trash when done
• Original file is not trashed; just ejecting the external drive
Copy from DVD to your computer
• Make a folder for your sparseimage file in documents and copy it
there

4. Apple Pro Certification
Become an Apple
Certified Pro
• Complete the course
material from the book
• 1st half in BC 142, 2nd
half in BC 361
• Take the certification exam
online
• More info on the DVD
and in the text

5. How to Use These
Lessons
Information boxes
• These boxes contain
information about a
certain topic
Action boxes:
If you see a yellow border box, you
will need to do something in Final
Cut Pro.
The illustration area
Follow every step to keep up in the showing what the function
lesson. Homework assignments or action looks like in Final
Cut.
are normally based on the lesson.

6. How to Use These
Lessons
Homework with each lesson
• Each lesson has a homework assignment
• Assignments are posted on iTunes U as your name
• Sam Week 1.m4v
Mark and Drop into a Sequence
• Page 68 Example of homework
• Create a new sequence assignment for each
• Mark all the clips listed on the page
• Drop them onto the timeline in that orderlesson at the end of the
• Export your sequence slideshow.
• Export using QuickTime Conversion
• Format - iPod
• Save as (your name) Week 1.m4v
• Post in Homework folder on
iTunes U

7. Starting up Final Cut
Pro
3 ways
• From the Application
folder
• Icon in the dock
• If using Lion, from
the Launchpad

8. Starting up Final Cut
Pro
If it isn‟t there already, drag
the Final Cut Pro icon to
your dock.
In the dock, click the Final
Cut Pro icon.

9. Workflow
Import your Create a
Organize
media into Project & Add
Your Media
Final Cut Pro Clips
Rearrange &
Share your Add Effects &
Edit your
Movie Transitions
Clips

10. Workflow
Import your media into Final
Cut Pro
• Transfer your media (video,
audio, and still images)
from your recording device
to your computer or an
external disk.
• You can import media from
many kinds of cameras and
other devices, or from other
applications such as
iMovie.

11. Workflow
Organize your media
• Reorganize your clips by
creating Events and moving
clips between Events.
• Rate clips as Favorite or
Rejected.
• Makes it easier to focus on
your best footage.
• Other useful organizing
tools, such as Keyword
Collections and Smart
Collections.

12. Workflow
Create a project
and add clips to it
• Your project is the
movie you create
using clips from your
Events
• Start creating your
movie by adding
clips to the Timeline.

13. Workflow
Arrange and edit your
clips
• The Rough cut - Rearrange
and trim clips in the
Timeline.
• Try out different clips
using auditions.
• Use connected clips and
storylines to add cutaway
shots, titles, background
music, and sound effects
to your project.

14. Workflow
Add effects and
transitions
• Add special effects from the
media browsers.
• Give your movie titles and
credits
• Add video or audio
transitions.
• Adjust clip speed settings
• Keyframe video and audio
effects, correct color, and
composite motion graphics.

15. Workflow
Share your movie
• Publish your movie
right from Final Cut
Pro to the web, or
send it to iTunes,
iPhone, iPad, iPod, or
Apple TV.
• You can also burn a
disc to give to others.

16. The Elements of
Final Cut Pro
Media Files Clips
• Media that is captured from • Objects that reference to the
your camera to the hard drive media file
• Imported from internal or • Sort, trim, arrange on your
external drive timeline
• Non-volatile • Video, audio, graphics

17. The Elements of
Final Cut Pro
Timeline Project
• Series of clips arranged • What you are working on
together • Contains all the elements
• Forms a storyline you use:
• QuickTime clips, music,
sound effects, narration,
graphics

18. Understanding the Final
Cut Pro Interface
Event Browser Viewer
Toolbar
Timelin
e

19. The Event Library
Event
Library
Event
Browser

20. The Event Library
Event Library
• Every editing workflow begins
with gathering and organizing
your source media files.
An Event
• Container that organizes
imported source clips
• Available Events are displayed in
the Event Library

21. Event Library Icons
Show/Hide
• Allows you to see all the
events saved
• You can hide this column
once you have selected the
event you are using
Click on the icon to reveal the
Event Library if necessary

22. Select an Event
To view the source content
in
the_DeliciousPeace_Event,
click its icon.
-- Selecting an Event
displays its clips to the right
in the Event Browser.
Close the Event Library by
clicking on the open/close
icon on the bottom.

23. Event Browser
Event Browser
• Screen clips
• Select which chip or
portions of clips to use
or not use for your
project
• Set start and end
points (in & out point)
• Favorite or reject
• Sort clips

24. Open the Project Library
In the lower-left corner of
the Timeline window, click
the Show/Hide Project
Library button to view the
Project Library.
-- view available projects,
sorted by connected hard
disk

25. Content-Sensitive
Pointer
The Pointer
• Final Cut Pro also has a
context-sensitive pointer.
• As you move the pointer
over the interface, it may
change to allow you to
perform a specific
function

26. Content-Sensitive
Pointer
Position the pointer over
the border between the
Event Browser and Viewer.
When the pointer changes
to the vertical resize
pointer, drag right to
increase the size of the
Event Browser window.

27. Tooltip
Tooltip
• Placing your pointer
over an icon will reveal
what the tool does
• The letter following the
description is the
shortcut to use this
function

28. Try out the Tooltip
Position the pointer over
the green star icon at the
left end of the toolbar.
A tooltip explains that this
tool marks a clip as one of
your favorites.
The keyboard shortcut to
access this function is F.

29. Pop-up Menus
Pop-up Menus
• Allows you to access
more than one option
• Click on the pop-up
menu to see the
options available

30. Try out a Pop-up Menu
In the toolbar, click the
Tools pop-up menu.
Move the pointer over the
first tool in the Tool palette.
-- Select tool A
If it‟s not already the active
tool, click to select it.

31. Menus
Menus
• The Final Cut Pro menu
bar organizes topics by
categories such as
View, Mark, Modify,
Share, and so on.
• Within each menu,
specific functions that
share a similar purpose
are grouped together.

32. Menu Keyboard
Shortcuts
Menu Shortcuts
• Many menu items can be
chosen by pressing a
keyboard shortcut
• Single letter or combination
of letter and Shift, Control,
Option or Command
• These keyboard shortcuts
are often displayed next to
the item in its menu.

33. Menu Keyboard
Shortcuts
Choose Window > Media
Browser. Move the pointer
into the submenu and
choose Effects.
-- Notice that the keyboard
shortcut for this option is
Command-5

34. Menu Keyboard
Shortcuts
2 Things Happen
• In the lower right of the
Timeline, the Media
Browser window
displays Final Cut Pro
effects.
• In the toolbar above the
Browser, the Effects
icon is highlighted in
blue.

35. Control-Clicking
CTRL Click
• Brings up a shortcut list
of things that can be
done to the selected
item
Three ways
• CTRL Click
• Right click
• Two-finger click with
track pad on your
laptop

36. Control-clicking
Click the close button (X) in
the upper left corner to
close the Effects Browser
-- or click the highlighted
media icon.
Move the pointer into the
Event Browser and Control-
click (or right-click) any
thumbnail image.

37. Viewing & Sorting
Events
In the Final Cut Pro workflow, you import media files
into Events, which are displayed in the Event Library
Can be grouped and viewed by date, disk, most
recent, and so on.
Once you create an Event and import source media
into it, it will be listed in the Event Library as long as
the drive containing the original media is accessible
from your computer

38. Viewing & Sorting
Events
Open the Event Library
In the Event Library, select
the_DeliciousPeace_Event,
if necessary.

39. Event Library
Action Button
Action Pop-up
• The upper part:
• Different ways of
grouping events in the
Event Library
• The bottom part:
• Different ways of
grouping clips in the
Event Browser

40. Viewing & Sorting
Events
From the Action pop-up menu, choose Group Events by
Date, and from the submenu, choose Don‟t Group Events
by Date.
From the Action pop-up menu, make sure Group Events by
Disk is selected.

41. Viewing Clips in the
Event Browser
To Skim or to
Play?
• Often it‟s more
productive to quickly
skim through clips to
search for a particular
person or action.
• Other times, you may
want to play the clip in
real time to get a sense
of timing or content in a
scene.

42. Viewing Clips in the
Event Browser
Make sure
the_DeliciousPeace_Event
to display those clips in the
Event Browser.
To see all the clips in this
event, choose „All Clips‟ in
the Browser Filter Pop-up
menu.

43. Viewing Clips in the
Event Browser
From the Action pop-up
menu, choose Arrange
Clips By > Name.
-- all the clips appear
alphabetically in the Event
Browser.

44. Event Browser
Duration Slider
Duration Slider
• Adjusts how much of
the clip is shown as a
filmstrip
• The shorter the
duration, the longer the
filmstrip
• Can be set to „All‟ so
each clip is only a
thumbnail

45. Viewing Clips in the
Event Browser
Beneath the Event Browser
in the lower-right corner,
drag the Duration slider to
the far right until the
duration amount reads „All.‟

46. Viewing Clips in the
Event Browser
Click the first clip, beans being
hulled.
To skim its content, move your
pointer (now a Hand icon) from
one side of the clip thumbnail to
the other.
-- notice that the skimmer (thin
pink vertical line) travels with you
as you skim through the
thumbnail, and a large view of
the clip appears in the Viewer.

47. Skimmer vs. Playhead
Skimmer
• Pink line that travels along
as you move your pointer
Playhead
• A white vertical line that
appears when you click in a
clip.
• Stays in place when you
click, like placing a
bookmark at a specific frame
or action to which you may
want to return.

48. Skimmer vs. Playhead
In the beans being hulled
clip, click a frame in which
a bean is coming out of the
chute in mid-flight.
Now move the pointer to
another frame to find a
different flying bean, and
then skim back to the
playhead.

49. Change the
Duration Slider
Drag the Duration slider to
the left until the duration
reads 2s, representing two
seconds.
Now scroll up and down to
see the new display of clip
thumbnails.
-- one thumbnail appears for
every two seconds of media in
each clip

50. Selecting & Playing a
Clip
Select the grind stone clip
Press the Spacebar to play
the clip then press it again
to stop playing the clip.
As you start and stop,
watch the toolbar above the
Timeline to see the
numbers change in the
Dashboard.

51. Playing a Clip
Play Shortcuts
• L – Play forward
• K – Pause
• J – Play backwards
Fast & Slow
• LL – Shuttle forward
• JJ – Shuttle backwards
• KL – Slow motion forward
• KJ – Slow motion backward

52. Using J, K, L
Press „L‟ to play the clip forward.
Listen to find the point at which
the woman says, “It has a nice
smell.”
Then press K to stop playback.
Press the JJ key to shuttle
backward to a point before the
woman‟s statement
Press L to play through the clip
again.

53. Clip Appearance
Options
Clip Appearance
Button
• If you prefer to see
more clips in the Event
Browser, you can
reduce the size of the
clip thumbnails.
• You can also choose
whether or not to
display an audio
waveform on the clip.

54. Clip Appearance
Options
Click the Clip Appearance
button.
From the Clip Appearance pop-
up menu, deselect Show
Waveforms.
Then drag the Clip Height
slider to the left to reduce the
size of the thumbnails and
display more clips in the Event
Browser.

55. Event Browser Options
To the right of the Action pop-
up menu, click the List View
button.
In the Event Browser, click the
Name column to sort the clips
by name.
Then scroll through the list and
click the map of Africa clip.
Skim through the filmstrip at
the top of the window.

56. Clip Cues in the Viewer
Sprocket Holes
• Let‟s you know when
you are at the very
beginning or end of a
clip
• Seen in the Viewer
Skim though the Map of Africa
clip to see the overlays in the
Viewer.

57. Working in the
Project Library
The Editing
Process
• Combine selected
video and audio clips,
or portions of clips, into
a project that tells your
story.
• You add music and
sometimes narration,
photos, titles, and
anything else that
brings your story to life.

58. Working in the
Project Library
Open the Project Library, in
the lower-left corner of the
timeline:
-- Click the Project Library
button
-- Shortcut - Command-0

59. Working in the
Project Library
Drag the Lesson 1 folder
from the Lesson Projects
folder to the APTS FCP X
icon.
Then click the disclosure
triangle of the Lesson
Projects folder to hide the
other lesson projects.
Open Lesson 1 folder

60. Working in the
Project Library
Projects
• Beneath each project
name is information about
the project
• Length
• Frame rate
• Date it was last
changed or edited
• You can also skim a
project in the Project
Library like a clip in the
Event Browser

61. Working in the
Project Library
Track Colors
• Video = blue tracks
• Audio = green tracks
Open the Delicious Peace
project in the Timeline -
-- Double-click its project
icon
-- Select it then press Return

62. Viewing Projects
in the Library
Getting Around
• You view projects as a list
in the Project Library, but
play and edit those
projects in the Timeline.
• In the Timeline window,
you can view and edit one
project at a time.
• View a project in the
Timeline using the same
navigation techniques
used to preview a clip in
the Event Browser.

63. Viewing Projects
in the Library
Play the project in the
Timeline by pressing the
Spacebar.
As you play to the end of the
project, the white playhead
moves through the clips.
Pause the playhead and try
skimming though the project

64. Viewing Projects
in the Library
Getting Around
• Home & End key
• Go to start, go to end of
project
• Laptops = fn  & fn 
• JKL
• Backwards, pause,
forwards
• JJ, LL = shuttle
backwards, shuttle
forwards
• KJ & KL = slow motion

65. Viewing Projects
in the Library
Getting Around
•  &  keys
• Move backward or
forward one frame
• Shift  & Shift  keys
• Move backward or
forward 10 frames at
a time
• Up & Down arrow keys
• Previous & next edit
point

66. Viewing Projects
in the Library
Press fn  to move the
playhead to the beginning of
the project.
Press the Down Arrow a few
times until you see the
brown close-up Uganda
map in the Viewer.

67. Viewer Overlays
L Overlay
• An L-shaped symbol in
the lower-left corner of
the Viewer indicates
that the playhead is
positioned on the first
frame of the edited clip.
Press the  once to move the
playhead to the last frame of the
previous clip to see the „end of
clip‟ overlay in the viewer.

68. Getting Around
Try out some keyboard
shortcuts to move around in
your project:
- Spacebar
- J, K, L keys
- combining J & K, K & L
together
- JJ & LL
- up and down arrow keys
- left and right arrow keys

69. Viewer
Transport Controls
Getting Around
• Buttons to play & pause, go to previous or next
edit point, previous or next frame, loop or full
screen.

70. Getting Around
Try out the Viewer controls
to move around in your
project.
Try out the full screen
playback.
-- press Esc key when done

71. Zooming in & Out
of your Project
A Better Look
• Zoom into an area for a
closer look to see a clip
name or view more
thumbnails representing
the clip.
• Shortcuts:
• Command = (+) zoom
in
• Command – zoom out
• Shift Z to see whole
project

72. Zooming in & Out
of your Project
Click the Timeline to make it the
active window, and press
Command-= (equals) two times to
zoom into the skimmer or
playhead location.
To scroll forward through the
project, drag the scroll bar at the
bottom of the Timeline to the right.
You can also use the scroll feature
on your mouse or trackpad.
-- 2 fingers left and right

73. Zooming in & Out
of your Project
A Better Look
• You can also zoom in and out by dragging the
Zoom control in the lower right of the Timeline.

74. Changing Clip
Appearance
Clip Appearance
• Thumbnail size
• Clip height
• Show connected clips
• Show pop-up menu
Handy
• When sweetening
audio
• When you have several
tracks

75. Changing Clip
Appearance
Click on the Clip
Appearance button and
change the thumbnail size of
your clips.
Change the track height.
Notice the change to the
connected audio clips when
you turn „Show Connections‟
on and off.

76. Saving, Duplicating,
Hiding, Closing
Saving
• FCP saves your project
automatically in the
background
Duplicating
• You can duplicate a project
to save a version of your
work before you make more
changes
• Select your project in the
Project Library and File >
Duplicate (Command D)

77. Saving, Duplicating,
Hiding, Closing
Hiding
• You can hide FCP to work on
other things like any other Mac
program
• FCP > Hide FCP or Command
H
• Click on the icon in the dock to
bring it back
Closing
• If you are finished working, quit
the program by choosing Final
Cut Pro > Quit Final Cut Pro, or
by pressing Command-Q

78. Putting Lessons
Back in Place
To keep the lessons
organized in the external
drive, when you are done
with the lesson, drag it back
into the Lessons folder.
Select the Lesson 1 folder
and drag it back into the
Lesson Projects folder.

79. Shortcuts in Lesson 1
F • Clip selection becomes a favorite
A • Choose the Select tool
S • Turn skimming on/off
Shift S • Turn audio skimming on/off
• Play/pause a clip in event browser or in
Spacebar
the timeline

80. Shortcuts in Lesson 1
JKL • Play backwards, pause, play forwards
JK & KL • Slomo backwards & slowmo forwards
• Move playhead back 1 frame & move
K tap J & K tap L
playhead forward 1 frame
Shift Spacebar • Play clip or project in reverse
• Position playhead to beginning or end
Home/End or fn  
of project

81. Shortcuts in Lesson 1
• Event Browser – select previous or next clip
Up & Down Arrow
• Timeline – go to previous or next edit
• Move the playhead backward or forward 1
Left & Right Arrow
frame
• Move the playhead backward or forward 10
Shift Left & Right Arrow
frames
Command H • Hide FCP
Command Q • Quit FCP

82. Homework This Week
No homework this week!
Well, do practice those shortcuts and learn what the
buttons do in the Event Browser, Viewer and Timeline.

83. Lesson 1:
Editing in Final Cut Pro
Apple Pro Training
Series
Final Cut Pro X
Instructor: Sam Edsall