Final Cut Pro Efficient Editing E-Book

Iain Anderson

• Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 923

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Elevate your video editing skills with Final Cut Pro 10.7.1, the ultimate tool for efficient and professional editing, offering powerful new features to enhance your workflow and give your videos a stunning look.

The second edition of this comprehensive guide covers exciting new features in FCP, teaching you how to streamline your workflow with customizable workspaces, shortcuts, and advanced trimming tools. Explore best-in-class titles and a comprehensive suite of visual effects in Final Cut Pro for dynamic videos, create a great-sounding mix with Final Cut Pro's audio tools, and utilize the magnetic timeline, multicam editing, and advanced color correction for every project.

Whether you're creating content for social media, YouTube, or Hollywood, Final Cut Pro Efficient Editing, Second Edition is your ultimate guide to professional video editing. Get your copy today and take your video editing skills to the next level.

Leseprobe

Final Cut Pro

Efficient Editing

Final Cut Pro Efficient Editing Second Edition

The ultimate guide to editing video with FCP 10.7.1 for faster, smarter workflows

Iain Anderson

BIRMINGHAM—MUMBAI

Final Cut Pro: Efficient Editing

Second Edition

Copyright © 2023 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing or its dealers and distributors, will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Senior Publishing Product Manager: Manish Nainani

Acquisition Editor – Peer Reviews: Gaurav Gavas

Project Editor: Namrata Katare

Content Development Editor: Elliot Dallow

Copy Editor: Safis Editing

Technical Editor: Aniket Shetty

Proofreader: Safis Editing

Indexer: Pratik Shirodkar

Production Designer: Pranit Padwal

Developer Relations Marketing Executive: Sohini Ghosh

First published: October 2020

Second edition: July 2023

Production reference: 2040424

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

Grosvenor House

11 St Paul’s Square

Birmingham

B3 1RB, UK.

ISBN 978-1-83763-167-4

www.packtpub.com

This book is for N and for H.

— Iain Anderson

Contributors

About the author

Iain Anderson is a trainer and freelance editor based in Brisbane, Australia. Among other things, Iain is an Apple Certified Trainer in Final Cut Pro, part of the team that developed the official new certification exams and curriculum, a lead trainer for macProVideo.com, the designer of funwithstuff, Annotator, and PiP Kit on fxfactory.com, a tutorial creator for coremelt.com, a videographer, an editor, an animator, a writer, a designer, and occasionally a coder of Apple Watch and iPad apps. In the past, he’s created animations and live videos for Microsoft, virtual islands in Second Life for governments, and screensavers for fun. Find him at iain-anderson.com, [email protected] on Mastodon, and @funwithstuff on Twitter.

This book could not have happened without the contributions of many amazing people. Massive hugs and thanks go, of course, to my family. Many more thanks go to my editors at Packt (Sofi, Rakhi, Elliot, and others) and technical reviewers (Chris Hocking, Kevin Luk, Lee Herbet, Larry Jordan, Bruce Macbryde, and more) who all spotted several embarrassing errors. Any remaining mistakes are my responsibility; apologies in advance.

It almost (but not quite) goes without saying that the entire team behind FCP needs a huge round of applause too — kudos to you all. Much gratitude also to those who let me share screenshots of their work (or work I created for them) within this book. A special shout out goes to the music artist Kyland, for whom I created a music video, and you can check out his audio track here: https://gyro.lnk.to/Gravitate.

Finally, thanks also to the talented editors who contributed quotes to open each chapter. They’re all fantastic and worth tracking down online, but an extra thank you to Bradley Olsen, who created the awesome documentary Off The Tracks, and to Steve Bayes, who looked after Final Cut Pro and ProRes from launch and for several years afterward — we’re all in your debt.

See you all online!

— Iain Anderson ([email protected] / @funwithstuff / iain-anderson.com)

About the reviewers

Kevin Luk is an editor based in Melbourne. His television work includes the Neighbours spin-off, ErinsboroughHigh (Channel 5 UK and 10 Network Australia), and the children’s action-adventure series, The Legend of Burnout Barry (ABC).

He has also worked extensively on short-form projects, including actor/musician Guy Pearce’s music video for his track What Makes You Think, the AACTA-and SPA-nominated short film Rebooted, which has screened at major festivals including Annecy, Clermont-Ferrand, and Austin Film Festival, and most recently, The Future of Everything, an animated series nominated for Best Digital Series at Austin Film Festival, narrated by the late, great Uncle Jack Charles.

Kevin is a regular collaborator with LateNite, where Final Cut Pro is the standard. Beyond software, VFX, and color grading, Kevin remains true to his passion for stories, characters, and the moments between the cuts.

Bruce G. Macbryde is an independent trainer for Final Cut Pro with over 20 years of experience, right from the original release of the legacy version of the software in 1999 through to the current version 10.6. Bruce gained a certificate in marketing from NSW TAFE in 1984. After qualifying, he was employed by TAFE as a tutor in marketing and marketing research courses and worked in that capacity for several years. Working as an IT importer at the time the Macintosh was introduced in Australia (1984), he contributed multiple articles on the subject to the Australian Computing magazine. During a 7-year spell in Wellington New Zealand, he established ECONET, an official Apple reseller, while simultaneously teaching courses in Adobe Photoshop, PageMaker, Illustrator and commercial Microsoft software packages within the New Zealand Polytechnic system. On his return to Sydney, he was employed as Sales Manager for the Australian Authorized Apple distributors from 1998 to 2004. He was later employed by Apple authorized resellers as a Training Manager for Final Cut Pro and other Apple software between 2004 and 2009. In 2004 he established Wedding Media Productions as a wedding video business in Sydney Australia. He is also a YouTube creator for the VideoTutors channel, with over 500 published video tutorials.

Larry Jordan is a producer, director, editor, author, teacher, and Apple Certified Trainer in Digital Media with more than 45 year’s media experience, including producing and directing national broadcasts and corporate and webisode programs. Based in Boston, he’s a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America. He was an Adjunct Professor at USC, Los Angeles, between 2011-2020.

He’s written 11 books on media and software, thousands of technical tutorials, and created hundreds of hours of video training for almost all major training sites. His two latest books are Final Cut Pro Power Tips and Techniques of Visual Persuasion.Visit his website at LarryJordan.com.

Join us on Discord!

Embark on an exciting journey as you read this book together with fellow video editors.

Engage in thought-provoking discussions, seek answers to your questions, take part in challenges, and collaborate on finding solutions with other passionate readers. Expand your network and connect with like-minded professionals who share your interests.

Plus, we have an exclusive offer for you! Claim your free eBook on the discord server with every version update. Join the community now by simply scanning the QR code or visiting the provided link.

Let's learn, grow, and succeed together!

https://packt.link/fcp

Preface

PART 1: Importing and Organizing

1 Quick Start: An Introduction to FCP

A brief history of editing

Interface basics

Overview

In the central bar

In the Browser

In the Viewer pane

Other important windows and controls

Controlling the main window

The Touch Bar

An editing workflow overview

Terminology

Workflow

Part 1: Importing and Organizing

Part 2: Rough Cut to Fine Cut

Part 3: Finishing and Exporting

Hardware recommendations

A Mac

Active media storage

Backup storage

Displays

Audio

Media card reader

Miscellaneous USB gear

Anything else?

Summary

Review questions

Review answers

2 Before the Edit: Production Tips

Getting the settings right

Resolution

Portrait or landscape?

Frame rate

Shutter speed

Banding

White balance

Codecs

Containers

Review — getting all the settings right

Choosing a camera

An iPhone (or any other mobile phone)

A DSLR or mirrorless camera

A high-end camera

An action camera or drone

A 360° camera

Audio equipment

Other accessories

Review — choosing a camera and audio equipment

Shooting the right shots

A-roll

B-roll

Movement

Focus pulling

Different perspectives

Framing

Review — shooting the right shots

Working with multiple cameras and audio recorders

Conference presentations

Interviews

Physical movement

Weddings and live events

Review — working with multiple cameras and audio recorders

Managing everything on set

Review — managing everything on set

Summary

Review questions

Review answers

3 Bring It In: Importing Your Footage

Creating a Library (in the right place)

Creating and naming a Library

Deciding where to store media

Review — creating a Library (in the right place)

Understanding original, optimized, and proxy footage

Understanding optimized media (ProRes 422)

Understanding proxy media

Generating transcoded media

Viewing proxy media

Review — understanding original, optimized, and proxy footage

Importing media in different ways

The Import window

Importing via drag and drop

Managing storage space

Using camera archives

Reimporting media

Importing from iMovie or FCP for iPad

Review — importing media in different ways

Syncing media from multiple devices

Creating synchronized clips

Creating Multicam Clips

Checking and resyncing a multicam clip

Review — syncing media from multiple devices

Understanding and applying Roles

Review — understanding and applying Roles

Summary

Review questions

Review answers

4 Sort It Out: Reviewing and Keywording

Reviewing your media

Skimming is awesome

Exploring the Viewer

A/V Output

Review — reviewing your media

Browser view options

List view

Filmstrip view

Review — Browser view options

Playback shortcuts

Basic shortcuts

Extended shortcuts

Review — playback shortcuts

Examining metadata

Metadata in List view

Metadata in the Inspector

Review — examining metadata

Understanding and applying Keywords

Applying Keywords to clips

Automatic tagging for people

Review — understanding and applying Keywords

Searching with Keywords

Review — searching with Keywords

Summary

Review questions

Review Answers

5 Choose Your Favorites: Selecting, Rating, and Searching

Selecting part of a clip

Review — selecting part of a clip

Rating as a Favorite

Showing only the Favorites

Review — rating as a Favorite

Rating as Rejected

Review — rating as Rejected

Storing additional information

Selective Keywords

Notes

Names

Markers

Review — storing additional information

Advanced searches

Review — advanced searches

Summary

Review questions

Review answers

PART 2: Rough Cut to Fine Cut

6 Build the spine of the story: Quick Assembly

Creating a new Project

The perils of Automatic Settings

Custom Project settings

Non-standard resolutions

Moving between open Projects

Review — creating a new Project

Adding your media in a few different ways

Appending with a button or shortcut

Adding clips with drag and drop

Inserting with a button or shortcut

How to use Snapping

Revisiting the Skimmer and the Playhead

Adding temporary clips

Review — adding your media in a few different ways

Rearranging your clips

Moving clips in the Magnetic Timeline

Selecting multiple clips

Duplicating clips

Basic timeline shortcuts

Review — rearranging your clips

Basic trimming with the Magnetic Timeline

Do you have enough media?

Trimming with the mouse

Trimming with the keyboard

Trimming the top and tail of a clip

Extending edits

Review — basic trimming with the Magnetic Timeline

Blading and deleting

Deleting clips

Breaking up a clip

Selecting part of a clip

Review — blading and deleting

Duplicating Projects

Review — duplicating Projects

Summary

Review questions

Review answers

7 Cover It Up: Connections, Cutaways, and Storylines

Understanding cutaways

Preparing for a cutaway

Review — understanding cutaways

Connecting clips

Connecting visual B-roll

Connecting sound effects

Connecting only audio or video

Understanding connections

Working with music

Trimming connected clips

Review — connecting clips

Grouping connected clips in Storylines

Review — grouping connected clips in Storylines

Controlling and overriding connections

Review — controlling and overriding connections

Three-point editing and more

Backtiming

Overwriting

Copy and paste

Review — three-point editing and more

Summary

Review questions

Review answers

8 Neaten the Edges: Trimming Techniques

Rolling an edit

Understanding a regular trim edit

Performing a Roll edit

Using keyboard shortcuts to Roll

Review — Rolling an edit

Slipping and Sliding clips

Using a Slip edit

Using a Slide edit

Review — Slipping and sliding clips

Softening audio with split edits (J- and L-cuts)

Expanding and collapsing audio

Overlapping audio edit points

Fading audio edits

Fading music for beat-matching

Review — softening audio with split edits (J- and L-cuts)

Editing numerically and with the precision editor

Trimming using numbers

Setting clip duration

Moving to a specific timecode

Using the precision editor

Review — editing numerically and with the precision editor

Summary

Review questions

Review answers

9 Consider Your Options: Multicam, Replacing, and Auditions

Working with Multicam media

Understanding Multicam footage

Preparing to edit with the Angle Viewer

Switching angles

Replacing and editing existing angles

Editing inside a Multicam angle

Review — working with Multicam media

Exchanging one clip with another

Showing or hiding a clip

Replacing clips

Review — exchanging one clip with another

Creating and using Auditions

Review — creating and using Auditions

Summary

Review questions

Review answers

10 Explore a Little: Compound Clips and Timeline Tricks

Creating and using Compound Clips

Replacing media using Multicam Clips

Understanding Compound Clip trimming issues

Understanding container duplication issues

Review — creating and using Compound Clips

Low-level relinking

Relinking to replace a clip

External media and relinking

Review — low-level relinking

More tricks with tools

Overriding the Magnetic Timeline with the Position tool

Lifting and overwriting

Collapse to Connected Storyline

Blading multiple clips at once

Zooming and scrolling with tools

Review — more tricks with tools

Adding and navigating with Markers

Review — adding and navigating with Markers

Using the Timeline Index

Review — using the Timeline Index

Summary

Review questions

Review answers

PART 3: Finishing and Exporting

11 Play with Light: Color Correction and Grading

Understanding the color workflow

Preparing for color correction

Understanding Video Scopes

Understanding Wide Gamut and HDR

Understanding timeline selection subtleties

Review — Understanding the color workflow

Correcting white balance, exposure, and saturation

Using Balance Color and Match Color

Adjusting Exposure with the Color Board

Adjusting Saturation with the Color Board

Adjusting white balance with the Color Board

Using Color Wheels

Using Color Adjustments

Using the Comparison Viewer

Review — Correcting white balance, exposure, and saturation

Finessing contrast and more

Using Color Curves to change contrast

Using the eyedropper to sample the image

Using the color channel curves

Review — Finessing contrast and more

Selective corrections

Using Hue/Saturation Curves to change color

Using a Color Mask to restrict a correction

Using a Shape Mask to restrict a correction

Combining multiple masks together

Review — Selective corrections

Advanced color techniques

Copying and pasting color adjustments

Applying color corrections from nearby clips

Using Adjustment Layers

Review — Advanced color techniques

Summary

Review questions

Review answers

12 Refine and Smooth: Video Properties and Effects

Adjusting video properties

Compositing

Transform

Crop

Distort

Cinematic Mode

Stabilization

Rolling Shutter

Spatial Conform

Rate Conform

Color Conform

Review — adjusting video properties

Animating with keyframes and tracking

Animating in the Inspector

Animating the Crop property

Animating a color correction

ANIMATING A MASK WITH TRACKING

Animating a mask with keyframes

Editing keyframes in the Inspector

Animating on the timeline with Video Animation

Animating keyframes in the Viewer

Alternative animation methods

Review — animating with keyframes and tracking

Applying and using video effects

Adding video effects

Adjusting video effects

The most useful video effects

Basics

Blur

Color

Comic Looks

Distortion

Light

Looks

Masks and keying

Nostalgia

Stylize

Tiling

Third-party effects

Masking video effects

Animating video effects with tracking

Animating video effects with keyframes

Create and use Effects Presets

Review — applying and using video effects

Summary

Review questions

Review answers

13 Blend and Warp: Video Transitions and Retiming

Applying and editing transitions

Adding transitions

Adjusting a transition

The most useful transitions

Blurs

Dissolves

Lights

Movements

Objects

Stylized

Wipes

Third-party transitions

REVIEW — applying and editing transitions

Retiming basics

Understanding slow motion and Automatic Speed

Review — retiming

Speed ramping and more

Using special speed modes

Hold Frames and Freeze Frames

Review — retiming and speed ramping

Summary

Review questions

Review answers

14 Boost the Signal: Audio Sweetening

Recording and editing a voiceover

Adjusting volume levels

Creating a custom Audio Workspace

Understanding waveforms

Changing volume levels

Changing volume levels over time

Understanding Audio Configuration

Adjusting multiple audio channels

Adjusting panning

Review — adjusting volume levels

Audio Enhancements

Equalization

Manual EQ

Match EQ

Voice Isolation

Audio Analysis

Loudness

Noise Removal

Hum Removal

Review — audio enhancements

Applying and using audio effects

Adding audio effects

The best audio effects

Distortion

Echo

EQ

Levels

Modulation

Spaces

Specialized

Voice

Third-party effects

Audio Animation

Review — applying and using audio effects

Using Roles with audio

Understanding signal flow

Using Compound Clips for audio mixing

Review — using Roles with audio

Summary

Review questions

Review answers

15 A Few Words: Titles and Generators

Adding and editing titles

Positioning text elements

Editing basic text properties

Editing other text properties

Editing 3D text parameters

Editing unique parameters and adding animation

The best titles

3D

3D Cinematic

Build In/Out

Bumper/Opener

Credits

Dynamic Titles (new in 10.6.6)

Elements

Essential Titles (new in 10.6.6)

Lower Thirds

Social

Review — Adding and editing titles

Advanced title techniques

Animating titles with Object Tracking

Replacing text in titles

Retiming titles with Compound Clips

Creating complex titles with Compound Clips

Using Drop Zones

Review — advanced title techniques

Adding and editing generators

Adding and editing a simple Generator

Changing advanced Generator settings

Positioning a Generator

The best Generators

360°

Backgrounds

Elements

Objects

Pattern Backgrounds

Solids

Textures

Review — adding and editing generators

Captioning and subtitles

Understanding caption formats

Creating captions

Editing captions

Understanding standards and formatting

Review — captioning and subtitles

Summary

Review questions

Review answers

16 You’re Done: Exporting Your Edit and Finishing Up

Preparing for sharing

Performing final checks

Limiting the audio levels

Limiting the video levels

Creating duplicate Projects for different aspect ratios

Limiting role visibility

Setting up a sharing preset

Review — preparing for sharing

Exporting, uploading, and distributing your video

Exporting a compressed video

Uploading for client review

Uploading for distribution

Review — exporting, uploading, and distributing your video

Exporting for further production

Understanding ProRes

Exporting a ProRes Video

Exporting separate elements with Roles

Exporting to XML

Collaborating using libraries

Review — exporting for further production

Archiving your work

Consolidating media

Reducing the size of libraries

Deleting unused media

Copying to an archive drive

Restoring from a backup

Review — archiving your work

What’s next?

Predicting future developments

Augmented Reality (AR) and Spatial Video

Wide Gamut Color and HDR

Collaboration

3D models may become more important

Cameras will get better

Phones will get better

Further learning

The official FCP User Guide

Online video training

Online communities

Podcasts and live streams

Conferences

Complementary tools, plug-ins, and effects

Review — what’s next?

Summary

Final words

Review questions

Review answers

Appendix A: 360° Video Workflows

Introduction

Understanding 360° cameras

Planning for delivery

Supporting the camera

Positioning your subjects

During the shoot

Processing your footage

Editing 360° footage in a 360° timeline

Editing considerations

Understanding Reorient

Effects and Transitions in 360°

360° Titles and Generators

Do you want to deliver in 360°?

Editing 360° footage in a regular timeline

Understanding Orientation

Reprocessing original footage

Summary

Why subscribe?

Other Books You May Enjoy

Index

Preface

Final Cut Pro is Apple’s flagship non-linear editing application, used by both professionals and independent editors alike. Featuring the Magnetic Timeline, advanced organizing tools, professional titling and effects, industry-leading multicam, and powerful finishing tools, it runs on any modern Mac.

This second edition has been checked and revised throughout, is now up to date with all the latest features included in the 10.7.1 release, and also includes a new Appendix on 360° editing.

To stay up to date with future releases of Final Cut Pro, visit http://fcpefficientediting.com/ for fresh information about new features or changes.

Who this book is for

Anyone who’d like to learn how to edit video in Final Cut Pro is welcome here. If you’re new to editing, terrific, and if you’re already familiar with FCP but want to master all the latest features, you’re welcome too.

What this book covers

Part 1: Importing and Organizing

Chapter 1, Quick Start: An Introduction to FCP

This chapter presents an overview of the workflow and an introduction to the book.

Chapter 2, Before the Edit: Production Tips

Learn about the technical details and on-set strategies.

Chapter 3, Bring It In: Importing Your Footage

We’ll consider different importing techniques and media management tips.

Chapter 4, Sort It Out: Reviewing and Keywording

Watch and tag your clips smartly.

Chapter 5, Choose Your Favorites: Selecting, Rating, and Searching

We’ll consider how to go about marking the best and worst clips, and finding them again.

Part 2: Rough Cut to Fine Cut

Chapter 6, Build the Spine of the Story: Quick Assembly

Create a project and assemble your media inside it.

Chapter 7, Cover It Up: Connections, Cutaways, and Storylines

We’ll explore connections, storylines, and other key Magnetic Timeline skills.

Chapter 8, Neaten the Edges: Trimming Techniques

Slip, slide, roll, and soften your edits.

Chapter 9, Consider Your Options: Multicam, Replacing, and Auditions

Switch one shot for another with clever workflows.

Chapter 10, Explore a Little: Compound Clips and Timeline Tricks

Learn some fancy workarounds and advanced techniques.

Part 3: Finishing and Exporting

Chapter 11, Play with Light: Color Correction and Grading

We’ll cover everything to do with exposure, saturation, contrast, and balance.

Chapter 12, Refine and Smooth: Video Properties and Effects

We’ll learn about scaling, cropping, animating, and changing video in all sorts of ways.

Chapter 13, Blend and Warp: Video Transitions and Retiming

This chapter covers creating a bridge between clips, and speed-ramping others.

Chapter 14, Boost the Signal: Audio Sweetening

Make the audio sound as good as the video looks.

Chapter 15, A Few Words: Titles and Generators

We’ll consider a few words about titles, backgrounds, and captions.

Chapter 16, You’re Done: Exporting Your Edit and Finishing Up

Export your video in a few different ways.

Appendix A, 360° Video Workflows

Explore how to make the most of immersive 360° footage, in any kind of timeline.

To get the most out of this book

Readers will need basic familiarity with using a Mac, and an installed copy of Final Cut Pro or the free trial. While you don’t need to have any editing experience to read this book, basic familiarity with the process will help. If you’re an experienced editor, remember what you know about the art of editing, but don’t be tied down by existing methods — Final Cut Pro takes a new approach and it’s best approached with an open mind.

It’s recommended that you have access to a camera or at least an iPhone so you can shoot your own footage, but it’s possible to work with stock footage too.

The screenshots in this book are consistent with the public version of Final Cut Pro 10.7.1 as of March 2024, though you may notice minor visual differences depending on the version of macOS you are using. We intend to update this book for future releases of Final Cut Pro and macOS, but if you’re using newer software than is covered here, you may see some differences.

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: “Name your workspace Audio.”

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For example, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. Here is an example: “Choose Match from the EQ menu or Match Audio from the Audio Enhancements menu.” Some terms which have a special meaning in Final Cut Pro, including Library, Event and Project, have also been capitalized to avoid confusion.

Capitalized Terms: The names of menus, tools, or buttons will always be capitalized — even when not in bold. For example, “Set your Library’s storage location."

TIPS OR IMPORTANT NOTES

Appear like this.

Get in touch

Feedback from our readers is always welcome.

General feedback: If you have questions about any aspect of this book, mention the book title in the subject of your message and email us at [email protected].

Errata: Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you have found a mistake in this book, we would be grateful if you would report this to us. Please visit www.packtpub.com/support/errata, selecting your book, clicking on the Errata Submission Form link, and entering the details.

Piracy: If you come across any illegal copies of our works in any form on the Internet, we would be grateful if you would provide us with the location address or website name. Please contact us at [email protected] with a link to the material.

If you are interested in becoming an author: If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, please visit authors.packtpub.com.

Share your thoughts

Once you’ve read Final Cut Pro Efficient Editing, Second Edition, we’d love to hear your thoughts! Please click here to go straight to the Amazon review page for this book and share your feedback.

Your review is important to us and the tech community and will help us make sure we’re delivering excellent quality content.

Download a free PDF copy of this book

Thanks for purchasing this book!

Do you like to read on the go but are unable to carry your print books everywhere? Is your eBook purchase not compatible with the device of your choice?

Don’t worry, now with every Packt book you get a DRM-free PDF version of that book at no cost.

Read anywhere, any place, on any device. Search, copy, and paste code from your favorite technical books directly into your application. 

The perks don’t stop there, you can get exclusive access to discounts, newsletters, and great free content in your inbox daily

Follow these simple steps to get the benefits:

Scan the QR code or visit the link below

https://packt.link/free-ebook/9781837631674

Submit your proof of purchaseThat’s it! We’ll send your free PDF and other benefits to your email directly

PART 1: Importing and Organizing

In this part, you will get to grips with the purpose and aims of this book. You will also learn to bring your footage in and organize it for an efficient editing process.

This part comprises the following chapters:

Chapter 1, Quick Start: An Introduction to FCPChapter 2, Before the Edit: Production TipsChapter 3, Bring It In: Importing Your FootageChapter 4, Sort It Out: Reviewing and KeywordingChapter 5, Choose Your Favorites: Selecting, Rating, and Searching

1 Quick Start: An Introduction to FCP

“FCP X was built for the future as we saw it developing — more cameras, much more footage, reliance on metadata, the need to simplify complex and technical tasks to focus on creativity. You can see that this imagined future is exactly where we are right now.”

— Steve Bayes, Final Cut Pro X and ProRes Product Manager, 2010–2018

“After 10 years as a video editor in the 1980s, Steve became the first certified instructor for the Avid Media Composer and eventually the Principal Product Designer. In 2006 he became Apple’s Senior Product Manager for FCP. From 2010 he product managed the development and release of the ProRes video codec and FCP X, including the almost 30 subsequent releases. Steve retired from Apple in 2018 and continues to consult and invest in developing new technology for film and video.”

— www.thestevebayes.com

Welcome. In this book, you’ll learn how to use Apple’s flagship non-linear editing application, Final Cut Pro, from a standing start — and it’s going to be fun. As I won’t assume that you already know how to edit, this chapter will guide you through a few of the fundamentals of editing, give you a broad overview of the Final Cut Pro interface, show you how the editing workflow functions, and give you a few tips on what kind of hardware will help you further down the track.

Video editing is a huge field, and there are many, many ways to proceed, either on your own or as part of the wider industry. You’ll hear many opinions on best practices, and, indeed, not all of those opinions will agree with the advice I’ll give you here. And that’s fine! Wherever there are conflicting opinions, I’ll do my best to explain why I’m making my specific recommendations, and you can feel free to go a different way if you have different needs. It’s all good.

Before I get into the details of Final Cut Pro — frequently abbreviated to FCP — I’d like to take you on a quick tour of video editing more broadly.

IMPORTANT NOTE

You can tell a story with any software, but the technical details do matter, and a lot has changed. This book has been completely updated to align with version 10.7.1 of FCP. Although Final Cut Pro for iPad is available, and very good for touch-based editors, this book is about the fully-featured Mac version.

This chapter will cover the following main topics:

A brief history of editingInterface basicsAn editing workflow overviewHardware recommendations

By the end of this chapter, you’ll have a great understanding of what the app is about, what this book is about, the editing process that you’ll learn, and the gear you’ll need to put it into practice.

A brief history of editing

Cinema has been around for a little over 100 years, and for a long time, the editing process was straightforward. Each frame of film was a single image on a continuous strip of celluloid, and, to combine multiple shots in a sequence, the film was physically cut and then taped to another piece of film. Every cut took real physical effort and time, and revisiting your earlier edits could be difficult, expensive, or impossible, depending on when the decision was made. And then, the arrival of video in the 1980s made it more accessible, but also worse.

Tape-based editing meant that an editor didn’t have to physically cut film, and because it made the process much cheaper, an entire generation of teenagers could explore movie making on a budget. However, images recorded on magnetic tape cannot be easily reordered. To rearrange shots A-B-C to B-A-C means offloading the whole sequence to a second tape, then placing them back on the original tape in a different order, often with a degree of quality loss. Linear editing surely democratized the industry, but it came at a cost.

Computer-based non-linear editing changed it all for the better, giving editors the low cost of tapes, the ability to change an image without chemicals, far easier access to special effects, and, thankfully, the return of easy clip reordering. Today, this is normal and natural, and a new video editor need not consider how things used to be done. Still, most Non-Linear Editing (NLE) applications work in a way that’s driven by the tape-based metaphors of the past. For example, the common Overwrite and Insert operations come straight from video tape decks.

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with these operations (and, indeed, they exist in FCP), they come from a paradigm with a heavy emphasis on tracks, and a linear timeline structure. Just as with tape, nothing moves unless you explicitly tell it to. These linear methods make sense if you grew up with them, but there are better ways today. While many other NLEs have incorporated concepts such as ripple edits while retaining a default linear timeline, FCP defaults to a non-linear magnetic timeline, which makes rearranging clips easy.

If you’re new to editing, you’ll be totally fine; it makes sense. But if you’ve edited with another NLE, you might struggle as you try to mash the square peg of your existing knowledge into the round hole of the Magnetic Timeline. While you can make it work, it’s going to be much easier to pretend you know nothing and start afresh.

This is easier said than done, and in the wider professional video world, the traditional paradigm is still dominant for many reasons. Firstly, most high-end productions still use the first computer-based editing app their editors learned about: Avid Media Composer. It’s deeply embedded into many expensive workflows, it works, and a change would cost money. Secondly, there’s a large pool of people who already know how to edit, and many of them would rather not relearn the basics — fair enough. Thirdly, FCP X (back when it had an X) was missing key features at a poorly received launch, and this faulty public perception will take a long, long time to change.

Does it matter if you use the same software as most production companies? Well, if your goal is to get a job at a production house, maybe. But if your goal is to make great videos for yourself or your clients, not at all. Apple aimed for a non-traditional video editor, and while I’m sure they’d love more professionals to take another look, they’ve made many FCP users happy so far.

If you’d like to learn more about the launch of FCP X, please watch the excellent film Off the Tracks by Brad Olsen. There’s a free version and a longer paid version on offer at http://offthetracksmovie.com, and it’s absolutely worth your time (not just because I’m in it!).

But enough background on how we got here. Let’s take a bird’s-eye view of FCP and see how things tick.

Interface basics

Here’s a quick screenshot of the main window in FCP. On the left, I have several libraries open in the Browser, where a few media clips can be seen. The Timeline is showing a music video I worked on, and you can see a drone shot visible in the Viewer. The Audio Meters are open on the bottom right, and the Inspector is showing Color Wheels on the top right, as you can see here:

Figure 1.1: The main window, with several panes open

The interface is quite changeable. You can choose which panes you want to see, and how much space they each take up. There are several floating windows too, but let’s go over the basics first.

Overview

Most of the time you spend in FCP will be working in a single window. While additional windows will be shown to adjust preferences, import media, and export, the editing process is largely a single-window experience. Within this single window, there are several panes, each of which can be resized by dragging its edges and have its contents adjusted by using menus and dropdowns. (If your workspace looks very different from these images, press ⌘0 to reset it to Default.)

First, look to the top left of the screenshot here:

Figure 1.2: The Browser, including a sidebar to the left and the main area to the right

This area is called the Browser, and it’s where you locate, organize, tag, and choose your footage. It’s where you locate photos, music, and sound effects, and where you look through pre-designed title and background templates. All in all, it’s where you find things you want to include in your edit, and it’s where we’ll spend the first part of this book, Importing and Organizing.

Central to all operations is the Viewer, a place to view video, which is shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 1.3: The Viewer, surrounded by properties, details, a menu, buttons, and a timecode display

This could be a clip from the browser that you’re considering, a frame from your current timeline, or it could show more: video scopes to judge color, angles in a multicam clip, or additional controls for effects or titles. You’ll use the Viewer in just about every part of this book.

To the bottom of the screen is the Timeline — your current edit, as you can see here:

Figure 1.4: Part of the Timeline for a music video; your Timelines might be simpler, or more complex

This is where clips are arranged in sequence, reordered, and placed above or below other clips. It’s where you trim, roll, slip, and slide your edits; where clips are replaced; where speeds are changed; where markers are set; and much more. It’s where the “magic” happens, and it’s where we’ll spend Part 2 of this book, Rough Cut to Fine Cut.

As of version 10.7, the Timeline can scroll automatically, keeping the playhead in the middle of the pane as the clips fly past — activate it in Settings, under Playback. You’ll also want to know how to zoom. On your trackpad, pinch two fingers to zoom in or out, and swipe with two fingers to scroll. Using the keyboard and mouse, zoom in and out with ⌘plus and ⌘minus, and hold ⇧ as you scroll to move sideways. ⇧Z shows the whole timeline. Use the spacebar to play or pause the video.

To the right of the screen is the Inspector — a place to change all kinds of properties, as illustrated:

Figure 1.5: The Inspector has many faces; these are the Color Wheels

Usually, you’d use this to adjust one or more clips in the timeline, changing color, size, volume, or video effects you’ve applied. However, you’ll probably use this earlier in the process too, to inspect or modify the properties of a clip in the Browser, and for other operations too. We’ll spend a lot of time here in Part 3 of this book, Finishing and Exporting.

With the basics covered, let’s take a slightly deeper look at some of the specific areas in the interface. (While you can simply follow along with the screenshots here, if you’d like to click on your own copy of FCP, you’ll need to have some footage already imported and a timeline open.)

In the central bar

In the center of the screen, at the top of the Timeline panel, is a bar with several icons and a few words. On the left, you’ll see this:

Figure 1.6: These buttons and menus live on the left of the main gray central bar

From left to right, you’ll first see the word Index, which opens the Timeline Index and lets you navigate and refine the display of your timeline. More on that can be found in Chapter 10, Explore a Little: Compound Clips and Timeline Tricks.

Next are four editing buttons that let you copy footage from the browser above to the timeline below. When you hover over these buttons, each shows a shortcut key that you can press instead of clicking on the button, and that’s often a better way. To the right of these buttons, there’s a Tools pop-up menu, currently showing an arrow. Yes — these tools are helpful, and we’ll explore them in Chapter 6, Build the Spine of the Story: Quick Assembly, Chapter 7, Cover It Up: Connections, Cutaways, and Storylines, andChapter 8, Neaten the Edges: Trimming Techniques of this book.

In the center of the screen, there’s a title and a menu next to a duration or a timecode, surrounded by two arrows, looking something like this:

Figure 1.7: There’s an arrow to go back to the previous timeline, a name, a menu, a timecode display, and an arrow to go forward

The name and time code tell you which Project you’re currently working on and where you’ve parked the playhead within it, while the arrows allow you to jump to other recent Projects or to step back out of nested items, such as Compound Clips.

New in version 10.4.9, the menu lets you duplicate your current Project, change its properties, and more.

Moving to the right, several toggle switches are lit in blue if they’re on and white if they’re off, as can be seen in the following screenshot:

Figure 1.8: These buttons, to the right of the main gray bar, provide toggle switches and display options

The first four are Skimming, Audio Skimming, Solo, and Snapping. These let you control some of the finer points of timeline editing, and we will explore all of these throughout the chapters of this book.

Next along is a filmstrip icon — the Clip Appearance menu — which lets you change how the timeline appears: how far you have zoomed in, how much space audio and video are allocated, how tall clips are, and so forth:

Figure 1.9: This popup lets you control the appearance of clips on your timeline — use ⌘minus and ⌘plus for zoom, and ⇧⌘minus and ⇧⌘plus for clip height

You’ll see a similar clip appearance icon to the right of the Browser, and a slightly different icon when you bring up Video Scopes. Wherever you find it, you can expect this icon to offer contextual display options.

Finally, the Effects and Transitions buttons to the far right of the main gray bar will show or hide an additional browser when clicked, letting you access a range of ways to change how a clip looks, sounds, or changes over the course of an edit. And that’s the central bar.

In the Browser

Back up in the Browser, you’ll see buttons and menus on the left and right, as follows:

Figure 1.10: The toggles, menus, and buttons in the Browser will change what you see here

On the left, the first icon represents Libraries (where you’ll find your footage), the second icon takes you to Photos and Audio, and the third icon displays Titles (for showing text) and Generators (for creating backgrounds and filler content). In each of these areas, you’ll see higher-level categories in a sidebar to the left and actual content on the right, but you can hide or show the sidebar with an extra click on the currently selected icon.

Moving across, you’ll see a different selection of icons and menus that are different for each of the Libraries, Photos and Audio, and Titles and Generators areas. In general, these allow you to search and control your current view, and we’ll look at them in more detail throughout the book.

In the Viewer pane

The Viewer pane includes several pieces of information and important controls, and is shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 1.11: The top of the Viewer shows information above and to the left, and menus to the right

At the top left, you’ll see the resolution and frame rate of whatever thing you’re playing back, and at the top center, you’ll see its name. To the top right, you’ll see two menus, the first of which controls how big the video appears on screen (usually set to Fit to the space available), and the View menu to the far right lets you show additional panes and overlays, and adjust playback settings.

At the bottom left of the Viewer, three drop-down menus give you access to onscreen controls that you can adjust in the Viewer, as shown:

Figure 1.12: Menus on the left, and buttons and display controls below and to the right

The first offers Transform, Crop, and Distort: to resize, rotate, crop, and stretch the video directly — though we’ll see in Part 3, Finishing and Exporting, that you can also find these controls in the Inspector. Next along is a drop-down menu with a selection of color correction and audio enhancements, and the third icon lets you retime video in a variety of ways: speeding up, slowing down, freezing time, and changing speed over time.

In the bottom center of the Viewer, on the left of a small group of numbers and icons, you’ll see a play/pause button; it also indicates if looping is active. Next is a timecode readout, showing the current hour, minute, second, and frame of the clip or timeline playing back. To the right of the timecode you’ll see mini Audio Meters, but this small icon can be clicked to show a much larger version, down the right of the timeline. Finally, in the bottom right of the Viewer, you’ll see an icon to enter fullscreen video playback. (Press Escape to leave this mode.)

Other important windows and controls

At the very top of the main window, just below the standard Mac menu bar to the left, you’ll see the standard circular “traffic light” window controls, as illustrated:

Figure 1.13: Close, Minimize, Resize/Fullscreen, and Import, Keywords, Background Tasks, and Extensions

Pressing the green button enters fullscreen mode, which is helpful if you prefer to focus on a single app at a time, but is less helpful if you want to see multiple apps at once. It also hides the traffic light controls, but you can hover at the top of the screen to show them, or simply press Escape to leave.

Next to the traffic lights you’ll see three (or perhaps four) buttons, each of which spawns an additional window. They handle importing footage, creating and assigning keywords, and displaying the progress of background tasks, and if you have installed any workflow extensions, you’ll see a fourth button giving access to them. These allow third-party developers to integrate with FCP for more advanced workflows.

The menu bar gives quick access to some additional important windows. Choose Final Cut Pro > Settings (or Preferences on an older version of macOS) to bring up the Settings window, where you can change a few important settings regarding warnings, background rendering, and more, as illustrated:

Figure 1.14: The surprisingly spartan Settings window, with just five sections along the top

Choose Final Cut Pro > Command Sets > Customize to bring up the Command Editor, where you can discover and assign keyboard shortcuts, as shown:

Figure 1.15: The Command Editor, where you can create your own shortcuts

Importantly, modifier keys such as Command (⌘), Option (⌥), Control (⌃), and Shift (⇧) are not required when creating shortcuts, though they can of course be used. This means that the 0 key alone could be assigned to a command just as easily as ⇧0 or ⌥0.

Throughout this book, symbols are used for the modifier keys instead of names. While keyboards vary in different regions, no matter what your keyboard looks like, the symbols are what you’ll see in the menus, so you’ll need to learn them. To recap, these are the modifier keys:

Command: ⌘Option: ⌥Control: ⌃Shift: ⇧

With the modifier keys in mind, you can use the Command Editor window to discover shortcuts, as follows:

To discover a shortcut, simply click a key in the onscreen keyboard, and you’ll see which commands that key maps to — when using any combination of modifier keys — in the bottom-right part of the window.

This is useful when you’re exploring the program, and want to find a function attached to a recently pressed key. To make new shortcuts, there are a few more steps, as follows:

To create a shortcut, first search for the command in the top-right search field to see matching commands at the bottom of the window:For example, you could search for silence, and you’ll see the single command Set Volume to Silence (-∞) in the lower part of the window.Next, click your desired modifier keys above the keyboard, then drag the command to the key you want to assign it to. (Alternatively, you can type the shortcut key instead. Zero is a perfect key for the Silence command above.)If this is the first shortcut you’ve made, make a copy of the command set, and give it a new name. Command sets (collections of shortcuts) can be chosen, imported, exported, and managed with the menu at the top left of this floating window.Finally, verify that the command has been assigned, by checking the keyboard display or the list below it.When you’re done, press Saveand Close.

Controlling the main window

While any additional windows can be opened, closed, resized, and positioned freely, you’ll have to use a slightly different technique to resize, show, or hide the panes in the main window.

To resize two panes, you need to hover over the thin line between them, as seen between the Browser and the Viewer, or at the top of the gray bar above the Timeline, until you see a resize cursor, as illustrated in the following screenshot:

Figure 1.16: The resize cursor appears when your cursor is in just the right spot

You can then click and drag to resize multiple panes together. The panes themselves can also be toggled on or off with the buttons shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 1.17: These controls appear in the top right and toggle parts of the interface on or off, except for the rightmost Share button

To show or hide an entire pane, click one of the icons at the top right of the interface. There are three buttons here that control the visibility of the Browser, Timeline, and Inspector respectively, and they’re visible when the icons show blue. Note that one of the Browser and Timeline panes must remain visible, and that the Viewer cannot be hidden.

If you have an independent external display connected, you’ll see an additional button and drop-down menu to the left of these three buttons. Click the button, and the external display will show just one pane: the Timeline, Viewer, or Browser.

Happily, you won’t have to manage all these panes manually because you can store and recall as many layouts as you wish. Here’s how:

Choose Window > Workspaces > Color & Effects to see this in action:The browser is hidden, four scopes are shown with the Viewer, and the Inspector and Effects panes are visible.Choose Window > Workspaces > Organize to hide the Timeline and scopes, leaving you with a big Browser pane ideal for organization.After applying your own tweaks, use Window > Workspaces > Save Workspace as to store your own layout.Choose Window > Workspaces > Default to return to the standard set of interface panes.

Custom layouts can be recalled from the same Window > Workspaces submenu. This will be revisited later in the book.

Under Window > Show in Workspace, you’ll see commands and shortcuts to show or hide any part of the interface, including two I haven’t mentioned yet: the Event Viewer and the Comparison Viewer. These are both optional and will be discussed in Chapter 11, Play with Light: Color Correction and Grading.

Finally — because it’s the only button left — is Share. Located in the very top-right corner of the main window, this lets you export your finished Project. But that’s a little way off! Before we move on, if you’re using a laptop, you might also have a Touch Bar, and that’s worth a look too.

The Touch Bar

Several older models of Pro laptops included a Touch Bar at the top of the keyboard. However, the Touch Bar is no longer available. If you have one, it replaces the F1–F12 keys normally found above the number keys, with a touchscreen offering custom buttons and sliders for the current app, and Final Cut Pro takes great advantage of this. The options available also change as you move between different parts of the app:

Figure 1.18: Click on the Timeline pane to see these general-purpose buttons

While you browse, you can switch between views and clear selections. While you edit, you can switch tools, use trim commands, play around with the edit, or even show an overview of your entire Timeline:

Figure 1.19: This timeline view is a great way to move around and zoom in on part of your edit

When you click the audio button, you can also change the volume, add fades, or silence a clip:

Figure 1.20: Audio controls in the Touch Bar, including volume changes and fades

While none of these are essential, they’re all really nice to have. If you don’t have a Touch Bar on your Mac, you can still assign keyboard shortcuts for quick access to these features, and if you want to push your Touch Bar to do even more, then you’ll want to explore the third-party app Command Post (http://commandpost.io).

Where to next? A quick overview of the editing workflow.

An editing workflow overview

At the very highest level, every editing job is the same. You shoot — or somebody else shoots — some footage, which is then copied to your system and backed up for safety. You choose the best parts of the best clips, and then arrange them in sequence. You trim and re-arrange, tweak color and audio, and then add titles. You gain approval from the client (who could be you), and then you make further changes. When everyone’s happy, you export the final file. The file is uploaded, or otherwise sent to its destination. The original files are then archived to make room for future jobs or kept for further editing. Sounds simple, right? It can be, but often isn’t. There are several complicating factors, but it’s easy to keep it simple — and that’s what I’d recommend for many first-time editors.

Terminology

FCP uses some unique terms, but here is a quick summary:

A Library holds all the data for a job.Each Library contains one or more Events.Each Event contains Clips and/orProjects.

Importantly, a Project is an edited sequence of clips that forms the final output — a timeline, if you prefer. I like to use the term job when talking about a high-level task, such as a collection of finished videos for a client.

Clips and Projects live in Events, and Events live in a Library. You can open multiple Libraries at the same time, but to recap, here’s a handy diagram of just one:

Figure 1.21: A simplified diagram that shows Clips and Projects inside Events, inside a Library

If you’ve edited before, you might be expecting some other terminology, such as bin or sequence, and those concepts do carry across. A sequence is a Project, and a bin is a collection of clips that can be exactly recreated with a Keyword Collection.

Depending on your personal preferences, there are many ways to work with the Library/Event structure. My following recommendation is simple:

Create a new Library for each job you do for a client, with File > New> Library.

While it’s possible to keep everything in a single Library, it will soon become very large indeed — making it slow and hard to back up. Ongoing jobs such as home video can be controlled by creating a new dedicated Library every year, or every month.

When you create a new Library, you’ll be immediately asked where you want to save it, and the answer is, on a fast drive with plenty of space. (There’s more on this in Chapter 3, Bring It In: Importing Your Footage.)

And Events? When a Library is created, a new Event is automatically created inside the Library, named with today’s date in your system’s date format. You can simply use this Event to hold everything, but for more complex jobs, you might create additional Events, to hold different groups of clips or different Projects (timelines).

One way I like to work is to create a new Event for each day in a multi-day shoot, and I like to keep my Projects (timelines) together in another Event. Short jobs just need one Event, while bigger jobs benefit from more. But there are many ways to work, and you can change your mind down the track.

Workflow

This book is structured the same way as most editing jobs, and you can use your own footage alongside it if you wish. Not every edit will go in exactly this order, but many will be pretty close, and this is a great way to explore the program if you’re not sure how to get going. Use this outline as a starting point, and change it as needed. We’ll start the process (and the book) with:

Part 1: Importing and Organizing

Chapter 1, Quick Start: An Introduction to FCP

You’re reading this now!

Chapter 2, Before the Edit: Production Tips

You need to make sure you shoot in the right formats, with the right cameras, and shoot the right things to make an edit work. This is the only chapter in the book that’s not strictly about FCP, but it’s still important.

Chapter 3, Bring It In: Importing your Footage

No matter how many Events you decide to use, you’ll want to import your footage. This should be easy but there are a few different ways to work, and you’ll hear strong opinions about which way is best.

Next, you’ll sync up clips shot with multiple devices that recorded the same scene at the same time, such as two or three cameras, or an audio recorder and video camera. If you used good practices on set (according to Chapter 2, Before the Edit: Production Tips), then this will be straightforward.

Chapter 4, Sort It Out: Reviewing and Keywording

First, you’ll watch what you’ve shot, or have been given, and there are a number of good ways to do that. After or during that process, you’ll organize your footage using Keywords, putting them in “virtual buckets” for easier retrieval later on.

Chapter 5, Choose Your Favorites: Selecting, Rating, and Searching

After Keywords come Favorites, which mark the best parts, and possibly Rejecting, to mark the parts you won’t use. Marking up your clips here is a far more useful method than the traditional technique of making timeline-based collections of clips you like because your choices are permanently recorded and searchable and you can instantly refer back to them way down the track. This is a trick that only FCP can really offer, and it’s a fantastic way of working.

The next part of the process (and, again, the book) is editing.

Part 2: Rough Cut to Fine Cut

Chapter 6, Build the Spine of the Story: Quick Assembly

With all the clips organized, you finally make a Project, matching the technical requirements (frame rate and resolution) of what you want to deliver. Those may be the same settings you shot with, though if they’re different, it’s not the end of the world.

With a view of the organized footage, you’ll build up a rough cut, getting the best parts of the best clips in order on a timeline, until it all looks good. Maybe you’ll drag and drop; maybe you’ll use keyboard shortcuts; but you’ll definitely use a few basic edits to trim, cut, rearrange, and delete your clips.

Chapter 7, Cover It Up: Connections, Cutaways, and Storylines

Now, you’ll get a little fancier, disguising edits, adding clips above or below other clips, using the B-roll you shot to make your edit feel more complete, moving clips around, and fleshing it all out. You might use Storylines to group connected clips together, and you might use three-point editing if you want to be precise.

Chapter 8, Neaten the Edges: Trimming Techniques

Further finesse your edit to make sure every frame is needed and is in exactly the right place. Slip, slide, and roll your edits, and use the precision editor if you wish. Soften any audio edits that need it, expand and collapse audio, and use plenty of shortcuts.

Chapter 9, Consider Your Options: Multicam, Replacing, and Auditions

This chapter discusses how to deal with multicam media in the most efficient way. With or without Multicam, you’ll learn how to revisit your earlier choices, switch clips out for other clips, swap one music track for another, and generally try to make an edit even better.

Chapter 10, Explore a Little: Compound Clips and Timeline Tricks

If you want to try something fancier, such as treating a group of clips as a single clip, or you’re becoming frustrated with the magnetic timeline for some reason, this is where you discover how the Timeline Index works, how to lift and merge, and how to use the Position tool. With luck and good planning, you won’t need to relink media, but this chapter has some tips on that too.

With the edit locked (or nearly locked?), it’s time for:

Part 3: Finishing and Exporting

Chapter 11, Play with Light: Color Correction and Grading

First, you’ll fix basic color issues such as white balance and exposure, and then perform shot-to-shot matching. Next, you’ll add curves if you want to change contrast, and use color or shape masks to selectively brighten, darken, or change the color of part of the frame. You might also use adjustment layers to quickly change many clips at once.

Chapter 12, Refine and Smooth: Video Properties and Effects