Final Cut Pro X Weynand Certification Lesson 1

1. Lesson 1:
Exploring the Interface
Apple Pro Training
Series
2nd Edition
Final Cut Pro X
Instructor: Sam Edsall

2. Using the DVD Files
from the Book
• Insert the DVD from the book
• Open Finder and make a folder in Documents for the APTS
FCP X.sparseimage file currently on the DVD
• Copy the APTS FCP X.sparseimage file from the DVD to
the Documents folder on your Mac
• Do not try to run the files straight off the DVD
Copy the book files from the DVD to your computer

3. Using the DVD Files
from the Book
• Acts as an external drive
APTS FCP
X.sparseimage
• Double-click the file
• Drive appears on your
desktop when started
Turn on
• Eject or drag to trashcan when
done
• Original file is not trashed;
just ejecting the external
drive
Turn off

4. Apple Pro Certification
• 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
Become an Apple
Certified Pro

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

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

7. Starting up Final Cut
Pro
• From the
Application folder
• Double-click a
Library from the
Movies >Final Cut
Libraries folder
• Select the app from
the Launchpad
3 ways

8. Load the Lesson
Content
Double-click on the APTS
FCPX disk in your
Documents folder to start up
the external drive.
The drive should appear on
your desktop.

9. 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 and start up
FCPX.
-- the program will load and
also load the content from
the lessons drive

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

11. 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
cameras, SD cards, and
other applications such as
iMovie.

12. 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.

13. 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.

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

15. 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.

16. 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.

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

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

19. Timeline
Viewer
Understanding the Final
Cut Pro Interface
Toolbar
Library

20. Browser
Window
Inspector
Understanding the Final
Cut Pro Interface

21. The Library
Libraries holding
Events
Event Project
Event Clips

22. • Organizes your source media files.
• Projects and the clips you use for
your project are saved in an Event
Library
• Holds your project, clips, and
special folders to help organize your
clips
• Smart collections and keyword
collections
Event
The Event Library

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

24. Select an Event
Select the Delicious
Peace Event under
LESSON 1
-- Selecting an Event
displays the project and its
clips to the right of the
Library
Close the Library by
clicking on the open/close
icon on the bottom.

25. 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
Event Browser

26. Content-Sensitive
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
The Pointer

27. 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.

28. 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
Tooltip

29. Try out the Tooltip
Click on a clip in the Event Browser.
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.

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

31. 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.

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

33. Menu Keyboard
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.
Menu Shortcuts

34. 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

35. Menu Keyboard
Shortcuts
• 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.
2 Things Happen

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

37. 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.

38. Viewing & Sorting Clips
In the Final Cut Pro
workflow, you import media files
into Events, which are displayed
in the Event Browser
You can organize your clips by
name, duration, or in the order
the clips were shot

39. Viewing & Sorting
Events
Open the Library
In the Library, select LESSON 1
Select the Delicious Peace Event,

40. Viewing & Sorting
Events
From the Action pop-up menu, choose Group Clips By >
Duration
-- Event Browser now groups the clips by duration.

41. Viewing & Sorting
Events
From the Action pop-up menu, choose Group Clips By >
None
Now try Sort by > Duration
-- Clips are sorted by duration, but not grouped together.

42. Viewing & Sorting
Events
From the Action pop-up menu, choose Sort By > Name
-- Clips are sorted by their name.

43. Viewing Clips in the
Event Browser
• 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.
To Skim or to
Play?

44. Viewing Clips in the
Event Browser
Make sure the Delicious
Peace Event is selected in
the Library
To see all the clips in this
event, choose „All Clips‟ in
the Browser Filter Pop-up
menu.

45. Event Browser
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
Duration Slider

46. Viewing Clips in the
Event Browser
Beneath the Event Browser
in the lower-right
corner, drag the Duration
slider to 5s and notice how
the clips look.
Drag the slider all the way
to the left to All so each clip
is only a thumbnail.

47. 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.

48. Skimmer vs. Play head
• Pink line that travels along
as you move your pointer
Skimmer
• 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.
Play head

49. Skimmer vs. Play head
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 play
head.

50. Change the
Duration Slider
Drag the Duration slider
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

51. 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.

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

53. 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 J key twice to shuttle
backward to a point before the
woman‟s statement
Press L to play through the clip
again.

54. Clip Appearance
Options
• 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.
Clip Appearance
Button

55. 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.

56. 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.

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

58. Building a Project
• 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.
The Editing
Process

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

60. Viewing Projects
in the Library
• 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.
Getting Around

61. 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 play head
moves through the clips.
Pause the play head and try
skimming though the project

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

63. Viewing Projects
in the Library
•  &  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
Getting Around

64. Viewing Projects
in the Library
Press fn  to move the play
head 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.

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

66. 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
-  and  arrow keys

67. Viewer
Transport Controls
• Transform/Crop/Distort tool
• Previous edit
• Play/Pause
• Next edit
• Full Screen
Getting Around

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

69. Zooming in & Out
of your Project
• 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
A Better Look

70. 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 play
head location.
To scroll forward through the
project, use the scroll feature on
your mouse or track pad.
-- 2 fingers left and right

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

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

73. 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.

74. Saving, Duplicating, Hid
ing, Closing
• FCP saves your project
automatically in the
background
Saving
• 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)
Duplicating

75. Saving, Duplicating, Hid
ing, Closing
• 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
Hiding
• If you are finished working, quit
the program by choosing Final
Cut Pro > Quit Final Cut Pro, or
by pressing Command-Q
Closing

76. Shortcuts in Lesson 1
• Clip selection becomes a favoriteF
• Choose the Select toolA
• Turn skimming on/offS
• Turn audio skimming on/offShift S
• Play/pause a clip in event browser or in
the timeline
Spacebar

77. Shortcuts in Lesson 1
• Play backwards, pause, play forwardsJ K L
• Slomo backwards & slowmo forwardsJK & KL
• Move play head back 1 frame & move
play head forward 1 frame
K tap J & K tap L
• Play clip or project in reverseShift Spacebar
• Position play head to beginning or end
of project
Home/End or fn  

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

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

80. Lesson 1:
Exploring the Interface
Apple Pro Training
Series
2nd Edition
Final Cut Pro X
Instructor: Sam Edsall