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Category Archives: FCP 101 Stuff
Add Fast Transitions with Shortcuts
Sure, you can drag transitions down from the Effects Panel in the Browser or, if you’re really looking to kill some serious time, you can wrangle them from the Effects>Video Transitions>yada yada menu, but nothing beats using CMD T and OPT CMD T for adding quick default transitions to video and audio respectively.
Start by selecting [...]
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I View N as the King of Shortcuts
Although it’s an incredibly basic keyboard shortcut that I think probably 95% of FCPers utilize, this blog’s mission is to present and discuss every keyboard shortcut there is and even though the N key, which toggles snapping on and off is widely known, it bears mention here as, for many people, this shortcut is the [...]
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Open Stills, Video Clips and Audio Clips in an External Editor
If you have a clip selected on the Timeline or in the Browser and you’d like to open it up in an external editor such as Quicktime (for video clips), Soundtrack Pro (for audio files) or say, Photoshop (for stills), you can simply hit OPT Return:
In order to determine which external editor is chosen, you’ll [...]
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Snap that Playhead Around Efficiently
In addition to knowing how to switch windows (or “focus”), you need to know how to quickly position your Playhead without using the mouse. These two initial skills are critical because if you’re not using them, you break up the rhythm of shortcut workflows and the shortcuts you do use won’t seem very rewarding. You [...]
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Navigating Around the FCP Interface
To use keyboard shortcuts in Final Cut Pro effectively, you need to know exactly where you are in the interface at all times. The results of using certain shortcuts often differ depending on which window (i.e., Browser, Viewer, Canvas, Timeline) is active or, to use the more correct term, has “focus” at the moment. Therefore, [...]
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Markers! Markers! Markers!
Good old Markers! I think virtually everyone uses ‘em and today’s introductory hint kicks off a week long series on Markers. Of course you can leave a marker on either an individual clip or on the timeline and you can do it by hitting either the M key or that little accent key called a [...]
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Use Those Arrow Keys To Move Around!
Here’s a Saturday essential: aside from scrubbing with J, K and L, the best way to fly around your timeline is often by using the simple Up and Down Arrows to surf from edit point to edit point.
It’s a good habit to use these keys to position yourself because, and this is the key thing [...]
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Use SHIFT L With Caution, If Much At All
You can turn off “linking” either by clicking on that little interlocking rings button in the button bar of your Timeline (right next to the Sanpping button) or by hitting SHIFT L
Since mousing over to the tiny linking button is inefficient and there are certainly many times when you want to adjust the in or [...]
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Cycle Track Heights