When you hit CMD 7, the edit point nearest your playhead will be used (no need to select it) and the magnificent, impressive Trim Edit Window will open in all its glory over your Viewer and Canvas. Mercifully, it is not in the scope of this shortcuts blog to cover the mechanics of this stupendous edit point trimming machine and why indeed should I bother when Damon Abacherli explained it so beautifully on the the always excellent Ken Stone FCP site. You can also bone up on it here in Apple’s official FCP 7 documentation.

Now having been so glib about this fine tool, I will point out what I think is the coolest thing about it and I’ll admit that I should use it more for this purpose: it will allow you to trim more than one edit point simultaneously! That sounds a bit confusing, so allow me to explain. Suppose you have video on two or three stacked tracks. The edit points for each may not be lined up, but they are on separate tracks (the Trim Edit Window cannot simultaneously trim different edit points on the same track and that would be crazy–it’d be like Vulcan Chess). Anyway, it’s easy to imagine how, since you’re trimming what’s happening on one track and it may have a ripple effect, it would be efficient to trim the stacked tracks at the same time, right?  Sure it would. To do this, simply select an edit point and then CMD-select the additional edit points and invoke CMD 7. You’ll only see one edit point in the Trim Edit Window, but you can choose which one you want to see in the Track pop-up menu at the top of the window. No matter which one you’re looking at however, all selected points will be trimmed. Pretty cool.

The other nice feature of this window is Job Security. It is so complicated looking, large and intense that, if you start using this in front of your producer, it will quickly put to rest any thoughts they may have entertained that what you do is easy (ha) and that they should start doing more editing themselves. Maybe I don’t use it because I’m a lone wolf freelancer.

To invoke this useful functionality, simply select the clip (or clips) in question and hit OPT CMD L

With this dialogue box (see illustration), you can “normalize” the audio to a reference point of your choosing (I set dialogue, for instance, to -6 db). You can then readjust the levels using the clip overlays.

You can also choose to make this adjustment either “relative” or “absolute” which means you can either simply raise or lower the levels by a specific amount (absolute) or readjust the levels such that the peak is at your desired level (relative).

Because this shortcut does not appear next to the menu command (though it does appear in the awesome Button List), many people do not even know it exists as a shortcut. Hence it’s status here as a “ninja level” shortcut and it’s one of my faves.

To copy the filters applied to the clip (on the same track) that immediately precedes your selected clip to your selected clip, just hit CTRL OPT 3

To copy the filters applied to your currently selected clip to the next clip forward on the same track, hit CTRL OPT 4

As with the color Corrector shortcuts, you can also reach back two clips or copy forward two clips (again, on the same track) with the CTRL OPT 2 and CTRL OPT 5 commands respectively:

Again, you can recall these “2 back” and “2 forward” commands by visualizing the fact that the numbers, 2 and 5, are one lower and one higher than the 3 and 4 used for the “1 back” and “2 forward” commands above.

Also, if these shortcuts seem a little ungainly (and they surely are), you can remember that the Color Corrector version uses only the CTRL modifier and these add the OPT modifier. I personally find the Color Corrector ones more useful and use them more often, but it’s nice to know I have the option of copying all filters.

In this case, it’s nice to know that there is a set of shortcuts that enable you to either copy the Color Corrector from the preceding clip (which you have already corrected) to your currently selected clip on the Timeline (CTRL 3)

or use CTRL 4 to copy the Color Corrector settings from your current (selected) clip to the next clip forward on the timeline:

Note that these both of these apply to clips that are on the same track, so if you have a clip up on Track 2 that you want to copy filters to from a preceding clip on Track 1, you will need to use traditional filter copying methods or, in the case of the Color Corrector, you may want to open the corrected clip into the Viewer and use the handy “drag hand” icon in the “Visual” tab of the corrector in the Viewer. Note also that the “drag hand” is located between the GUI buttons for today’s shortcuts.

If you are cutting “over the shoulder” dialogue or a scene where you are cutting back and forth between two cameras, you will find the “copy from two previous” command and copy to 2 forward commands handy. They are CTRL 2 and CTRL 5 respectively:

If you can remember that CTRL 3 and 4 copy clips from behind or forward, perhaps you will remember that the “copy from 2 back” or “copy 2 forward” keys are on the left or right side of the other commands. Generally however, I think this is one of those shortcuts that I wouldn’t bother trying to remember, but I would only memorize them “situationally” for the short term when you find yourself working on a big timeline that requires them. Once you’ve done that a couple of times, you might find yourself recalling them anyway.

Tomorrow, we’ll double down on this set of shortcuts with a very similar set…

Note that this new column will appear to the left of whichever column you right-clicked and I like to have my thumbnails column on the leftmost side, so I right-click the left-most column to invoke (you can also drag it there, once it’s showing).

This gives you a very useful visual look at your clip content and by default, the first frame of the clip is displayed. If that weren’t enough however, note that you can use your mouse to actually scrub the content by clicking and dragging left and right in the thumbnail itself! When you release the mouse, the thumbnail reverts to the first frame again.

In cases where, say, all of your clips start with a slate, this can be kind of useless, but alas there are two ways to change the default thumbnail image to whatever you want it to be. The first is done by opening the clip in the Viewer, slewing to the frame you want and hitting CTRL P

The other way is even easier: while scrubbing the thumbnail in the Browser (as described above), simply press and hold the CTRL key, release the mouse button and voilà, you have a new poster frame!

In situations where you have a lot of clips to sort and assess and they can be easily recognized by a poster frame (maybe some are talking heads, some are outdoor, etc.), this can be a powerful way to save time in the rough cutting process.

The scenario is this: you’ve opened a clip in the Viewer, you’ve trimmed it up with shortcuts and you’re ready to send it down to the timeline, but since maybe it’s a cutaway shot (a common instance), you want the video to go to video track 2 or 3 or some other track and the audio to go to audio tracks 3 and 4 or some other tracks (if stereo pair). The kludgy way to do this would be to grab your mouse and dive down to those GUI tabs (see illustration at left) and futz around with clicking and dragging the source tabs to the proper destination tabs (and clicking them off and on as needed). By this time however, you might sadly wonder if it isn’t just easier to drag the clip from the Viewer straight to the Timline and put it where you want it (realizing that this sloppy clip dragging operation is the stuff of FCP greenhorns).

So how can you finesse this? Use the unorthodox shortcut of first tapping F6 then tapping the number key of the track you want video switched to:

That’s right, you don’t hold F6 while hitting the desired number, you tap them in succession.  It will take a bit of practice and you’re only allowed a second or two to hit them both.  This switches your video track destination to the number you tapped. Play with this for a few seconds and you’ll get the drift.

Now you do the same for audio by hitting F7 for the left (or topmost) channel followed by the desired track number. Then you tap F8 for the right (or bottommost) channel followed by the track number.

There is a catch here though:  you should hit F8 first and move it down before you move the topmost (usually left channel) of audio down because you cannot jump over destinations.  The best way to really understand this is to try it a few times.

The other half of this awesome shortcut is that if you simply want to turn off the destination for audio or video (a common need), you hit SHIFT F6, F7 or F8:

Now that’s a powerful shortcut!  But there’s still a bit more (and a surefire way to improve your trip to NAB in Vegas) if you can stand it after the jump…

Now before you start using this excellent method of switching destination tracks to place a clip on the next video track up with the audio going to the next available tracks down, you must remember to deploy the often forgotten F12 “superimpose” command wherever practical which does this in one fell swoop (adds to track above current destination). We’ll give this shortcut a day of it’s own soon to reinforce, but it must be noted here as even a great shortcut like today’s can be superfluous if you’re not aware of a better way.

The F6/F7/F8 methodology is best used for more complex track switching situations, but I will say this, once you get used to it, you can probably do it as easily as hitting F12 and it will be second nature, so if we’re ever working together on a job someday and I’m looking over your shoulder and see you eschew F12 in favor of the deft usage of this shortcut group, I promise not to yell at you or “accidentally” spill coffee on your mousepad.

Remember this little gem when you’re at the bar of the Reno Hotel and Casino during the upcoming FCP Supermeet and, as you order up a White Russian for that editor or editrix you’ve had designs on since that class at Post Production World, casually mention that their smile is as delightful and effortless as changing destination tracks by hitting F6 then tapping a track number and… well… Let’s just say you may be missing the next morning’s keynote. You can thank me later.

This shortcut was previously discussed on 3/22/2010.

When you adjust “pan,” you are determining, for a single channel of audio, how much of the sound comes out of each speaker. If you have a “stereo” recording consisting of two tracks, each one might panned all the way to the left or right speaker or they may have some overlap. Most often, I find myself needing to pan one, or usually a bunch of clips to the center (maybe I only want a center-panned mono track for SFX). The shortcut for panning a slected clip or clips to center is:

Of course there are shortcuts for “pan left” and “pan right” as well. Pan Left is CTRL , (comma)

and Pan Right is CTRL / (slash)

By the way, if you are already on the CTRL ,./ program, you should make sure you’re also using CTRL - and + or [ and ] to adjust audio levels on the timeline as that’s an even greater timesaver!

This shortcut is an update from one previously discussed on 3/17/2010.

This offers you much more control over the alternative of grabbing the levels overlay line and dragging it up or down in the timeline (this tip notwithstanding) or going to the Viewer’s audio tabs and using the slider. This method’s chief benefit (in the timeline) is that it can be applied to a group of selected clips at one time! This is useful for selecting one particular camera’s shots (where the audio levels are consistent) or for quickly adjusting a music bed. To make rough adjustments even more quickly, you can use CTRL [ or ]

which moves them up or down by 3 decibels. This is the shortcut I usually use to set “ballpark” levels for a rough cut and I later use CTRL - or + for fine tuning. To truly perfect your mix however, I highly recommend the versatile Audio Mixer tool (OPT 6) which gives you the ability to meter and adjust all aspects of your mix simultaneously and includes a master fader to adjust overall levels (which you cannot do from the timeline).

There is a related set of commands that can make equally quick adjustments to the pan for clips on the timeline, and it’s covered here.

This shortcut is an update from one previously discussed on 3/16/2010.

FAVORITE TRANSITIONS ARE ESSENTIAL

If you like to use non-standard transitions regularly, as I do, you should know how to set them up and how to use them with shortcuts.  Setting them up is simple: double-click your transition open in the Viewer and hit OPT F

This will add it to the Favorites bin and you MUST then re-name the transition so it will be clear when you call it from the menus or use a shortcut to invoke it. Your naming scheme should take into account in what order your named favorites will appear in the list (they’re alphabetical) as this will determine which shortcuts invoke them.

Examples of favorite transitions I like and recommend are: setting up a shorter 10-frame cross-dissolve (the full 1 second cross is often too lingering for me), setting up faster push slides to the left and right (the stock push slide goes up) and I also set up faster edge wipes that go to the left (as well as the right, which is stock). These are transitions I use all the time, so I have them stored in the Favorites bin in the Effects Tab.

Setting up favorite transitions takes a little time and effort, but it’s well worth it to be able to call them up easily using shortcuts from that point forward. Think of all the time you’ll save by considering how much time you currently spend adjusting a 1 second crosses to be shorter. For me, that’s a significant time savings and a huge convenience.

FILTERS ON A PROJECT BASIS

There are very few filter settings that I set up on a universal basis. Since I usually wind up keyframing effects like a blur, I don’t bother with these favorites much because the application of keyframed filters is dicey in FCP. I prefer to set up a clip with my keyframed filters and use paste attributes (OPT V) to apply them to other clip in a project. Remember that you can also save favorites to a bin in a project and have them available for just that project. Yes, you will need to drag them onto clips, but I think it’s worth the effort. If you are setting up filter favorites, there are some quirks and caveats involved, so be sure to review the posting on this topic.

MOTION FAVORITES

“Favorite motions” give you a way to save all the various settings you find on a clip’s Motion tab (such as scale and opacity). As with filters, there are very few motion faves that I save on a universal basis. To see some practical examples of the ones I save, see my post from a couple of days ago. If you’re going to set some motion favorites, remember that you need only select the clip on the timeline and use the CTRL F shortcut:

KNOW THE KEYS!

Please review the post from yesterday where I provided a graphic to show you how the shortcut keys for applying favorite effects are layed out on the the keyboard–this will make it very easy to recall the shortcuts and, given what I have said above, the main ones to remember are the transition-related shortcuts (though your own usage and work habit will, of course, vary).

Fist of all, let’s recap the shortcuts for setting up favorite transitions and favorite filters. To set a favorite transition, use OPT F

For transitions, you must have the transition (tweaked the way you like it) opened in the Viewer (which, is actually called the “Transition Editor” when a transition is opened in it).

For filters, if you have one or more applied filters selected in the clip’s Filters Tab in the Viewer (or all, for that matter), they will be saved as individual favorites. If you have none selected, they will be saved as a group.

To save motion favorites (read more here), you use CTRL F

All you need to do is make sure the clip containing your motion settings is selected on the timeline. Note that keyframes will be saved as well, but they will scale when you apply them to other clips!

To call up the first 4 of your various effects favorites (as they appear in the Favorites Bin in the Effects tab of the Browser), use the following keys:

For video transitions:

For audio transitions:

For video filters:

For audio filters:

And finally, for favorite motion settings:

So why all the crazy random characters? How will you remember all these?  Here’s how:

Tomorrow, I’ll recap the whole favorites subject again, but with a few bottom line recommendations that will help you to use this large family of shortcuts in an efficient way.