FCP X for iMovie Editors©

7/23/2019 FCP X for iMovie Editors©

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Steve Mullen Ph.D.

FCP X for iMovieEditors

SUPER QUICK AND EASY TRANSITION GUIDE



Introduction

Steve Mullen Ph.D. has over 45 years experience

working with high technology. For over a decade

he was a Contributing Editor for Video Systems

magazine. He has also written for Adobe Pre-

miere Newsletter, A/V Video, Camcorder, DV,

Etown.com, millimeter, The Perfect Vision, Video

Pro, and Video Review. He now writes for Broad-

cast Engineering.

Steve taught digital video production at Rutgers

University and Electronic Cinematography at the

University of the Arts. And, at Harvestworks in

NYC, he taught Media 100 editing.

For more than two decades, Digital Video Con-

sulting has provided consulting services, train-

ing, and seminars on digital video production.

Steve’s, FCP X for iMovie Editors joins his other

very successful eBooks: Ins and Outs of iMovie

11 , Shoot Great Video with Sony NEX Cameras ,

the JVC ProHD Handbook , the JVC GZ-HD7

Handbook , the JVC GY-HD100 Handbook , the Sony HVR-V1 and HDR-FX7 Handbook , and

the Sony HVR-Z1 and HDR-FX1 Handbook ,

and Switcher’s Quick Guide to the Media Com-

poser.

For more information, see

http://home.mindspring.com/~d-v-c.

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NO STATEMENT OF FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICU-

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THE DOCUMENT. IT IS SUPPLIED “AS-IS.”

THE READER ASSUMES ALL RESPONSIBILITY

FOR HIS OR HER ACTIONS WITH REGARD TO

ALL CONTENT CONTAINED IN THIS DOCU-

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ALL OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THE AUTHOR'S

OWN. NO MALICIOUS INTENT EXISTS IN THIS

DOCUMENT OR IS INTENDED BY THE AUTHOR.

THE AUTHOR ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY

FOR EITHER CONTENT OR TYPOGRAPHICAL

ERRORS.

ANY PRODUCT OR COMPANY NAMES USED IN

THIS MATERIAL MAY BE/ARE TRADEMARKSOR COPYRIGHTED NAMES OF THE RESPECTIVE

COMPANY THAT OWNS THEM.

i

COPYRIGHT 2013 BY

STEVE MULLEN

http://home.mindspring.com/~d-v-c






FCP X Setup

1

FCP X has many advantages over

iMovie: it does not cause a loss of qual-

ity when you edit interlace video; it can

edit 480p60, 540p50, 720p50, 720p60,

1080p50, 1080p60, 2160p50, and 2160p60

video.

FCP X for iMovie Editors is designed

specifically for those who have experi-

ence editing video using iMovie. It pre-

sents those concepts and actions thatare different when using FCP X. In

those areas where FCP X is much the

same as iMovie, you can employ your

iMovie editing skills.

FCP X offers very powerful and com-

plex capabilities. It must because Applesees it as a replacement for FCP. FCP X

for iMovie Editors provides a level of in-

formation that will enable you to create

the type of movies you likely already

create with iMovie.

Final Cut Pro > Preferences

Set Photo duration to 4-seconds.

Set Transition duration to 2-seconds.

Transcoding: Select Optimize for files that are

not ProRes.

Transcoding: Select Proxy.

To avoid waiting for proxies to be generated be-

fore viewing source video:

! Select Use Original or Optimized Media

until Proxy ProRes has been rendered in the back

ground.

! Later, when the background-processing

clock reads “100” thereby signaling the conver-

sion is finished, select Use Proxy Media.

2



Final Cut Pro > Commands > Custom-

ize...

Assign “go to beginning” to the tab key.

Assign “Source Media: All” to the shift+B key.

Assign “Source Media: Audio Only” to the

shift+A key.

Assign “Source Media: Video Only” to the

shift+V key.

3



Log an Event’s Clips

2

The “optimized” codec for iMovie is AIC

(Apple Intermediate Codec) that is intra-

frame MPEG-2. FCP X employs a far bet-

ter intermediate codec, ProRes 422.

ProRes comes in five flavors—that range

from excellent to good: ProRes 4444,

ProRes 422HQ, ProRes 422, ProRes 422

LT, and ProRes 422 Proxy. In most cases

when you import ProRes it will be ProRes

422. Likewise, ProRes exports will typically

be to ProRes 422.

The differences between ProRes flavors re-

sults, as you would guess, in a range of

data rates: 330Mbps, 220Mbps, 147Mbps,

102Mbps, and 45Mbps for ProRes 4444,

ProRes 422HQ, ProRes 422, ProRes 422

LT, and ProRes Proxy, respectively.

You cannot capture DV or HDV from a cam-

eras using FCP X.

When you import H.264/AVC you can

choose to use it as an “original” source or

“optimize” it to ProRes 422. Optimize is

the best choice.

You can also choose to convert, during im-

port, H.264/AVC or any other source co-

dec, to ProRes Proxy. Proxy is the best

viewing option when editing.

You have a further choice—make it in Pref-

erences after the background conversion

is finished—to view the Proxy or view the

“optimized/original” files.

4



Click the Import button (leftmost on the

Toolbar) or issue the File > Import > Me-

dia command.

After selecting clips or files, click Import

Selected. The clips will be imported into

an Event.

When all the clips you

need are in a single

Event, click the Event Li-

brary button to open more space for theEvent.

5



Tap S to toggle on Skimming.

To unselect a clip, single-click in the Event

Browser’s black area.

To delete a clip, single-click select it and

tap delete. Delete a series of clips by

shift+clicking to select and then tap de-

lete. To delete multiple clips, com-

mand+click each and then tap delete.

Select the All Clips mode.

Reject bad material by using the red Re- ject button. See below. The clip will be

marked with a red bar.

Select the Hide Rejected mode.

Next, find the “best” material and mark it

by clicking the green Favorite button. See

above. The clip will be marked with agreen bar.

Next, find the “best” material and mark it

by clicking the green Favorite button. See

above. The clip will be marked with a

green bar.

To begin editing, select the Favorites mode. From this point onward, only your

Favorite clips will be visible.

6



Copy, as described in the next three Chap-

ters, material from the Event Browser to

your project’s Timeline.

The first clip placed into a Timeline definesthe nature of a project.

When you are sure you will not need the

Rejected clips, view them ( Rejected

mode) and delete them to free-up space.

7



Build Your Timeline by AppendingClips to It

3


To copy source material from the Event Browser

to your project, skim to the beginning of a clip

and tap the spacebar. As you play through a clip,

tap I (Mark IN-point) at the start of the segment

and tap O (Mark OUT-point) at the of the seg-

ment. (Shift+I or shift+O move to beginning or

end of a clip.)

—OR—


to your project:

! Skim through a source clip. If the portion

you want is the majority of the clip—single-click

the clip to select it thereby creating a yellow selec-

tion box around the entire clip.

! Alternately, as you skim through a clip, se-

lect the portion you want to copy to your project by dragging through the desired frames which

creates a yellow box around the segment to be

moved. You can drag the yellow handles to fine-

tune your selection.

Press shift+A for audio-only, shift+V for video-

only, or shift+B for both (A and V) or use the

AV-V-A pulldown the left-most button, below.

(Both is the default action.)

Click the Append button to append trimmed

clip at the end of the Timeline. Left button,

above.

Continue to append clips as required.

To preview a project, hold down the up-arrow

or tap tab , then tap spacebar or click the PLAY

button.

To step to end of Timeline, hold down the down-

arrow.

8



Insert Additional Clips into theTimeline

4






and O (Mark OUT-point) at the of the segment.

(Shift+I or shift+O move to beginning or end of

a clip.)

—OR—


and add it to your project:



the clip to select it thereby creating a yellow selec-







Use Previous { up-arrow } or Next { down-arrow

} buttons or drag the Time Cursor to the point

where the clip is to be inserted.

Press shift+A for audio-only , shift+V for video-

only , or shift+B for both (A and V) or use AV-V-

A pulldown—the right-most selector , below. (Both

is the default action.)

Click the Insert button to ripple insert trimmed

clip. Left button, above.

Continue to insert clips as required.

To preview a project, hold down the up-arrow

or tap tab , then tap spacebar or click the PLAY

button.

To step to end of Timeline, hold down the down-

arrow.

9



Adjust Audio Level:

• Drag audio level up or down as needed.

• Hover over ends of audio clip to reveal the audio faders and drag them as needed.

To copy source material from the Event Browser and place it into the Timeline at a specific time:

Tap P (Position mode) to enter Non-ripple mode. In non-ripple mode adding or deleteing a clip to the Ti

line does not cause a ripple to the right or to the left, respectively.

Drag the Time Cursor to the specific time where the clip is to be inserted.


To copy source material from the Event Browser into your project, skim to the beginning of a clip and ta

spacebar. As you play through a clip, tap I (Mark IN-point) at the start of the segment and O (Mark

OUT-point) at the end of the segment.

Press shift+A for audio-only, shift+V for video-only, or shift+B for both (A and V) or use the AV-V-A pu

down—the right-most selector , above. (Both, is the default action.)

Drag the selection to the location you want it placed. You can drag a clip into the "storyline" -- the clips o

clips connect to. A video-only clip or an audio-only clip can be placed "above" or "below" the storyline .

EXAMPLE: If you need to place a 10-second audio-only jingle at exactly 20-seconds into a 30-

second commercial you are creating, you can position the playhead at 20.00.00 seconds and the

drag the jingle clip to the playhead. Now you can create the remainder of the commercial, inclu

video or graphics that will appear with the jingle.

A dark grey “gap clip” will be inserted from the end of the last clip to the inserted clip.

Think of this gap clip as a transparent clip. It acts just like any other clip. However, as you add clips into

project, a gap-clip will shorten automatically so as not to cause a previously positioned clip to slip to late

the timeline. In this way , it is possible to ultimately overwrite all gap-clip(s) in a project. (You can delete

like any other clip.)

Tap A to -enter Ripple mode.

10



Connect Video Cutaways and Non-sync Audio to Timeline Clips

5

Although FCP X does not have video and audio

tracks, video and audio inserts can be added to a

project by connecting them to the primary A/V,

video, and audio clips:

! Use a video insert when you want your

movie to “cutaway” to different video stream

while the original clip’s audio continues to be

heard.

! Use an audio insert when your video has no

useable audio. Or, when you want your movie to

have a mix of sync (A/V) audio plus other

audio.

An insert will be connected to the original video

at the point where the insert’s connector meets it.

! You can drag an insert to move it earlier or

later without changing its duration.

! An insert can span one or more clips of original video.

! An insert will move with the clip it is con-

nected to.






and O (Mark OUT-point) at the of the segment.

(Shift+I or shift+O move to beginning or end of

a clip.)

—OR—


to your project:



the clip to select it thereby creating a yellow selec







11



Use Previous { up-arrow } or Next { down-arrow

} buttons or drag the Time Cursor to the point

where the clip is to be connected.

Press shift+A for audio-only, shift+V for video-

only, or shift+B for both (A and V) or use AV-V-A pulldown—the right-most button, below.

(Both is the default action.)

Click the Connect button to non-ripple insert aclip. Left-most button, above.

Continue to connect clips as required.

If you selected the entire insert clip, you should

playback the edit to check that the insert ends at

an acceptable point in the original clip.

If you have trimmed the insert, watch the Vieweras you drag the right end of the insert to locate

the frame in the original video where the last

frame of the insert should be located.

For audio-inserts:

! Drag audio level up or down as needed.

! Hover over ends of audio clip to reveal the

audio faders and drag as needed.

Typically, a video cutaway should simply appear

and disappear. However, when you create a su-

perimposition you will likely want it to fade-in

and out.

To create a superimposition, click on the tiny ar-

rows at the head of the upper of the two clips.

See below.

Select Show Video Animation and an effect se-

lector opens above the clip. See above.

12



Click in the Compositing: Opacity box (above)

and an opacity control opens above the clip. See

below.

13



Speed Change and Cropping

6

Tap S to toggle off Skimming when editing

the Timeline.

Toggle-off snapping { N }, unless onewants a snap to Time-cursor or cuts.

Divide clips: Split clips by pressing B and

then use the razor to slice clip. Press A to

exit Blade mode.

Ripple-delete a clip: Select a clip, or gap,

and tap delete. Clips to the right will ripple

to the left.

Non-ripple-delete a clip: Select a clip,

right+click and select Replace with Gap.

Clips to the right will not ripple to the left

thus leaving a gap.

Speed Change: Use Retime to change

the speed of selected clip:

The Fast or Slow options enable 2X,

4X, 8X, and 20X or 50%, 25%, or 10%

speed-changes, respectively. See the blue

circle below.

Cropping: Select clip and click the Crop

button (see the green circle below) for Trim

(smaller window into video), Crop (rescale

window to full-screen), or Ken Burns (dy-

namic rescale window to full-screen) FX.

To obtain information about clips and FX,

click the Inspector button (second from

the right on the Toolbar).

You can select Video, Audio, or Info.

Info has a pull-down for the type and

amount of information. It also has a gear

14



that can be used to show a clip’s File

Status.

Click the Inspector button (second

from the right on the Toolbar) to hide theInspector.

15



Add Photos, Videos, Music,Generators, and Titles

7

Tap S to toggle off Skimming.

To add a photo, click the Photos tab. Drag

a photo—represented by a + sign—fromyour iPhoto library into a project at the

point you want it to start. You’ll see a brief

blue bar if you are inserting it between two

clips. You can, however, also drag it above

an AV clip or a video clip.

To add a video clip, click the Photos tab.

Drag a video—represented by a + sign—

into a project at the point you want it to

start. You’ll see a brief blue bar if you are

inserting it between two clips. You can,

however, also drag it above an AV clip or a

video clip.

To add an audio clip, click the Music tab.Drag a clip—represented by a + sign—into

a project at the point you want it to start.

You’ll see a brief blue bar if you are insert-

ing it between two clips. You can, however,

also drag it below an AV clip or an audio

clip.

To add a image generator, click the Genera

tor tab. Drag a generator—represented by

a + sign—into a project at the point you

want it to start. You’ll see a brief blue bar if

you are inserting it between two clips. You

can, however, also drag it above an AV clip

or a video clip.

To insert video or audio at a specific point,

first toggle-on snapping { N } and then

drag the Timecode generator to the begin-

ning of the Timeline. Drag the right edge to

define its duration.

To replace with content, drag it above

or below the timecode clip. Do not drag a

clip onto the timecode.

To add a title, click the Titles tab. Add a ti-

tle—represented by a + sign—by dragging

it onto a clip at the point it should begin:

To define a title’s duration, click a title

and drag either edge. You can also drag a

title earlier or later.

16



Add Filters, Transitions, and Keys

8

Tap S to toggle off Skimming.

Toggle-off snapping { N }, unless one

wants a snap to Time-cursor or cuts

To apply a Video Effect (filter) to a video

clip or a photo, click the Effects tab. Drag

the filter—represented by a + sign—onto a

clip. To alter a filter:


from the right on the Toolbar).

Locate the filter and click it.

Alter the filter’s parameters as

needed.

To alter or delete a filter:


from the right on the Toolbar.

Locate the filter and click it.

Tap delete.

To add a transition, click the Transitions

tab. Insert a transition—represented by a +

sign—by dragging it between any pair of

clips. Drag the Transition to a cut-point. Al-

ter duration by dragging one edge. Watch

Viewer IN and OUT frames as you drag.

When you insert a transition, your project’s duration will remain unchanged.

Most NLEs operate in this mode. Material

after the frame you earlier chose to be the

last frame of the out-going clip will be

used. Likewise, material before the frame

you earlier chose to be the first frame of

the in-coming clip will be used. This can

cause an unpleasant surprise as material

you believe you trimmed away is revealed.

Moreover, you may not be able to add

a transition, or a transition of the desired

length when there is no material after the

17



last trimmed frame of the out-going clip

and/or when there is no material before the

first trimmed frame of the in-coming clip.

To alter a transition, click the Inspector

button (second from the right on the Tool-

bar) and alter Transition parameters as

needed.

Use Dissolve for a video fade IN or OUT.

To delete a transition, click it to select and

tap delete.

To create J-cut or L-cut, select an AV clip

and issue the Clip > Detach Audio com-

mand:

For a J-cut, drag the left-edge of

audio left.

For an L-cut, drag the right-edge of

audio right.

To key video, click the Effects tab. Drag a

Luma Keyer or Keyer FX—represented by

a + sign—onto an AV clip or a video clip

that is above an AV clip or a video clip.

18



Color Correction and Audio EQ

9

To color correct a video clip or a photo:

Select Color Balance after clicking

the Enhancement Menu button.

To EQ audio, simply drag the AU-

GraphicEQ AUDIO filter on the the clip to

be equalized—as shown below. Now you

need only adjust the filters parameters to

taste.

19



Share

10

During ProRes Proxy playback, files are

converted to RGB for the display. For FX,

Proxy files are converted to floating-point

RGB. RGB images are processed by the

GPU. The floating-point RGB result is

passed to another FX or converted to RGB

for display.

During optimized or original-source file

playback, files are decompressed to RGB

for display. For FX, optimized or original-

source files are decompressed to floating-

point RGB. RGB images are processed by

the GPU. The floating-point RGB result is

passed to another FX or converted to RGB

for the display.

To share an edit either click the Share but-

ton (leftmost in the Toolbar) or issue the

File > Share command.

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During a Share to the ProRes 422 codec,

optimized (ProRes 422) data are passed

through and written to disk. For FX, opti-

mized data are decompressed to floating-

point RGB. RGB images are processed by

the GPU. The floating-point RGB result is

passed to another FX or compressed to

ProRes422 during export.

During a Share to a different codec than ei-

ther the optimized (ProRes 422) or original

source, files are decompressed and re-

compressed during export. For FX, opti-

mized or original source files are decom-

pressed to floating-point RGB. RGB im-

ages are processed by the GPU. The

floating-point RGB result is passed to an-

other FX or compressed during export.

Proxy material is never used for export.

Documents

FCP X for iMovie Editors©