Click the disclosure triangles of all the bin folders in the Browser to reveal their contents, but don't change the size of the Browser window.

Click the Zoom button in the upper left of the Browser window to open the Browser in a wider view.

When you click this button, the Browser expands to display the full contents of the window. You can also click and drag the lower-right corner of the Browser to expand it.

In the Name column, all clips and sequences are arranged alphabetically by name within a bin, and all bins are arranged alphabetically as well.

At the bottom of the Browser window, drag the blue horizontal scroll bar to the right to see the other column heads.

Drag the scroll bar left and look at the Name column heading.

When the Name column heading is selected, the title bar is lighter than the others. This indicates that it is the primary sort column. There is a downward arrow indicating that sorting is from low to high, or from A to Z.

Click the Name column heading to reverse the current sort order so the elements go from high to low, or from Z to A.

All the elements in the window reverse order, including the bins themselves.

Click the Duration column heading to sort the clips by duration. Click it again to reverse the Duration sort order.

The default sort order is always from low to high, or in this case, low durations to high durations.

Click the Media Start column heading to show the source timecode for the first frame of the media file.

Click the Name column heading again. To add a secondary sort, such as duration, Shift-click the Duration column heading.

When a column is in secondary sort mode, a little sort arrow appears on that column's heading, but it is a lighter shade than the primary sort arrow.

To return to a single sorting mode, click an entirely different column heading, then click the Name column heading again to sort by name.

Drag the Good column left and release it just after the Out column.

When you drag a column heading, a bounding box appears representing that column.

Scroll the Browser window contents until you see the Reel column, and then drag it to follow the Good column.

As you drag left across the column headings, the other columns shift to the right until you reach your destination.

Ctrl-click any one of the column headings except that of the Name column.

A pop-up contextual menu appears with different column options.

Select Logging Columns to display a different layout.

The logging columns provide information about how you logged the clips when you captured them from tape.

Ctrl-click a column heading and select the Standard Columns default layout.

The changes you made previously still remain.

Drag the Browser scroll bar to the right until you see the Master Comment columns. To hide a column, Ctrl-click that column heading and select Hide Column from the contextual menu. Hide Master Comment 2.

To make that column active again, Ctrl-click the column heading where you want the Master Comment 2 column to appear and select Show Comment 2 from the bottom of the contextual menu.

Ctrl-click the Duration column heading and select Show Length from the menu.

In the Name column, select the frog lizard clip and look at the Length, Duration, In, and Out columns.

If a clip has marked In and Out points, they appear in the In and Out columns, and the marked duration appears in the Duration column. If no In or Out is marked, Not Set appears in the In or Out columns. The Length column displays the full length of the clip.

Ctrl-click the Length column and choose Show Thumbnail. Scroll down to see the Sahara Rain clips.

A thumbnail appears next to each clip name giving you a visual reference to the clip's contents.

To scrub through the little fox clip, scroll to find the clip, click on the thumbnail, then drag right and then left.

To set a new image or poster frame in the thumbnail, scrub to the desired frame, hold down Control, release the mouse, and then release the Control key.

To hide the Thumbnail column, Ctrl-click its column heading and select Hide Column from the menu.

The thumbnail column takes up a lot of space in the Browser window but can be a helpful visual reference. For an efficient workflow, show the Thumbnail Column briefly if you need to take a look at each clip and then hide it when you move onto the next step.

Find the frog lizard clip under the Name column, track over to the Good column, and click. A checkmark appears.

Click in the Good column for these clips: little fox, raining on trees, and running out.

Now click the Good column heading to sort and display the clips labeled Good.

The clips that have a check in the Good column appear together.

Ctrl-click the Reel column, and from the contextual menu select Show Log Note. If the Log Note column is already displayed, drag it next to the Good column.

Select the frog lizard clip and click in the Log Note column on the clip's active line.

A text box appears with a flashing cursor.

In the Log Note text box, type reptile action and press Return.

Select the raining on trees clip and enter cutaway in the Log Note text box.

Move to the row where the horned lizard clip sits. This time, Ctrl-click in the Log Note area and select reptile action from the pop-up menu of previously entered options.

In this option, you don't have to preselect the clip before bringing up the Log Note options.

To delete a log note, select the clip, click in the note area to select the text, and press Delete.

You can also attach a label to a clip such as good take, best take, and so on. These labels can be personalized in the User Preferences window. When applied, a label changes the color of the clip icon in the Browser and the clip name in the Timeline.

Ctrl-click the horned lizard clip and select Label > Best Take from the contextual menu.

To remove the label, Ctrl-click the clip again and select Label > None from the contextual menu.

Click an empty space in the Browser to deselect everything, and then choose Edit > Find, or press Cmd-F.

A Find window appears in which you can enter the name of the clip or item you wish to locate and the name of the project where you want to look for it.

In the Search pop-up menu, select Project: Lesson 8 Project, and in the field with the blinking cursor enter frog lizard. Click Find Next or press Return to find this clip in this project.

In the Timeline, drag the playhead to the beginning of the sequence.

Press Cmd-F to open the Find window for this sequence.

In the Find text box, enter running out, and click Find or press Return.

The playhead jumps to the first frame of that clip, and the clip is automatically highlighted.

Choose Window > Arrange > Color Correction.

This layout opens up the video scopes in the Tool Bench window. This is a good layout to use when color correcting clips or any time you want to monitor the luminance and chroma values of your video.

Choose Window > Arrange > Standard, or press Ctrl-U.

This is the default layout for basic editing.

Move the cursor between the Browser and Viewer. When you see the resize tool, drag to the left.

This dynamically shrinks the Browser, and the Viewer and Canvas grow to fill the space.

Move the cursor between the Timeline and Canvas. When you see the resize tool, drag up.

The Timeline expands as the Browser, Viewer, and Canvas shrink to make room for it.

Keeping the current layout, hold down Option and choose Window > Arrange > Set Custom Layout 1. Release the mouse and then release the Option key.

To create a second arrangement of the windows, click the Browser Zoom button to see it in the expanded column view.

Hold down Option and choose Window > Arrange > Set Custom Layout 2. Release the mouse button and then Option.

To recall the first layout of the dynamically resized windows, or Custom Layout 1, choose Window > Arrange > Custom Layout 1 or press Shift-U.

Choose Window > Arrange > Custom Layout 2, or press Option-U, to return to the wide Browser layout.

Choose Window > Arrange > Standard, or press Ctrl-U, to bring up the default window layout.

Press Cmd-S to save the project with its current layout settings.

Move the cursor over the line between V1 and V2 in the far left area of the Timeline.

Click and drag up.

The V1 track expands while all the other tracks remain the same size.

To save this track configuration, click the Timeline Track Height control.

A contextual menu appears with the track height choices but with other options as well.

Choose Save Track Layout, and a Save window appears. Enter the name Sahara, and click Save.

Toggle through the Track Height controls to restore the tracks to a default height and then click the Timeline Track Height control again.

Sahara has been saved as a track layout. Select it, and the track layout you just created will be restored.

Choose Tools > Keyboard Layout > Customize to open the keyboard layout map.

The tabs across the top of the window allow you to select a modifier key, (Shift, Command, Control, or Option) and program keyboard shortcuts using those keys, or a combination of those keys.

In the lower left of this window, click on the lock to allow changes to the current keyboard layout.

In the Command list area to the right of the keyboard layout map, drag the blue vertical scroll bar up and down to see the list of command topics.

The first nine topics contain all the commands in the Final Cut Pro menus. The topics that follow are organized by editing function.

At the top of the list, click the File Menu triangle to display the commands under that menu.

If a command currently has a keyboard shortcut, it is listed to the right of the command. The Import Folder does not currently have a keyboard shortcut.

Click the shift-cmd modifier tab in the keyboard layout map.

To program or map the Import Folder, drag its name or icon from the function/command menu list onto the I key under the shift-cmd tab.

The new keyboard shortcut now appears on the keyboard itself as well as on the Import Folder command line of the function/command menu area.

Single-click in the search entry area at the top of the commands list to bring up an alphabetized list of commands.

Type the letter s to see a list of current command shortcuts that use that letter.

Type the word select to search for all the select commands in Final Cut Pro.

To return to the main function and command menu listing, click the X to the right of the search entry box.

Type import into the search area.

A list of commands that include this word are displayed.

Click and drag the Import Files item into the button bar of the Browser and release the mouse.

The Import Files button is added to the button bar of the Browser.

Repeat step 6 with the Import Folder item.

The Browser now has an Import Files button and an Import Folder button.

To add color to a button, Ctrl-click the button to bring up a contextual menu and choose Color > Red.

Type add in the search area.

A list of commands that include this word are displayed.

Click and drag the Add edit item into the button bar of the Timeline and release the mouse.

The tool appears as a button in the Timeline button bar.

Ctrl-click the Add Edit button for a pop-up menu of options. Choose Save Main Button Bars.

When the Save window opens, click Save.

The buttons are now saved and will be available for any of your projects.

Choose Final Cut Pro > Easy Setup, or press Ctrl-Q.

Click the Setup For pop-up menu and choose DV-NTSC.

Click Setup.

You are now set up to capture and edit DV material. It is a good idea to load an Easy Setup at the beginning of each new project.

Choose Final Cut Pro > Audio/Video Settings, or press Cmd-Option-Q.

The Audio/Video Settings window opens and displays the Summary tab.

Click on the Sequence Presets, Capture Presets, Device Control Presets, and A/V Devices tabs. Under each tab note the list of presets.

Each of these presets can be duplicated and customized for your own use.

Click back on the Summary tab.

Here you can choose different presets by selecting them in their respective pop-up menus.

Select a few different presets, and then click the Create Easy Setup button.

Name your Easy Setup Practice Easy Setup and type Made for Practice in the Description field, then click Create.

A Save window opens.

Click Save.

Click OK in the Audio/Video Settings window.

Choose Final Cut Pro > Easy Setup.

The easy setup you created is now part of the list.

Press Cancel to close the window.

Choose Final Cut Pro > User Preferences, or press Option-Q.

The Preferences window opens with the General tab in view. The General tab is where you choose assorted preference settings, including capture preferences. Many of these options are covered throughout the book. Two that have not been covered are

Click the Editing tab.

This is where you make changes to your editing preferences.

Click the Labels tab.

This is where you rename the color labels that you apply to clips and bins. The colors themselves cannot be adjusted.

Click the Timeline Options tab.

This is where you choose settings for all new Timelines. Any changes made here will not affect how existing sequences look in the Timeline. You can adjust which features are present in the Timeline by selecting the Track Display options you want to work with. You can also determine a default number of tracks so that each new sequence you create has that track configuration.

Click the Render Control tab.

This is where you enable or disable the most processor-intensive effects in Final Cut.

Click the Audio Outputs tab.

Here you can create custom Audio Output configurations. You can use these different settings when laying off various audio tracks to tape. For example, if your hardware supports it, you can create an Audio Output configuration that outputs up to 24 distinct tracks at one time.

Click Cancel at the bottom of the window to leave the preferences unchanged.

Choose Final Cut Pro > System Settings, or press Shift-Q.

The System Settings window opens with the Scratch Disks tab in view. This is the most important system settings tab. It specifies which hard drive (or drives) to use for storing audio video and render files. It is very important to store your media on a drive that is fast enough to handle capturing and playing back large media files. If a drive is too slow, you may experience dropped frames and other playback problems.

Click the Memory & Cache tab.

This tab allows you to set how much memory and disk space Final Cut Pro allocates to run the application and store clip thumbnails in the Browser and Timeline. It's a good idea to leave these settings at their defaults until you have a specific reason to change them.

Click the Playback Control tab.

This tab allows you to adjust whether you want as many real-time effects as possible, or the best playback resolution as possible.

Cick the External Editors tab.

Here you can set other applications to work with your media, allowing you to switch back and forth seamlessly between Final Cut Pro and other applications. When you Ctrl-click on a clip and choose Open in Editor, the media file for that clip will automatically open up in the other application. After you save your changes in that application and switch back to Final Cut Pro, the clip will automatically update to reflect the new changes.

Click the Effect Handling tab.

This tab lists each real-time capable compression and decompression (codec) mode used by Final Cut Pro, and allows you to set how real-time effects are handled for each one. To turn off real-time effects, choose None for a particular codec. To process real-time effects, through software, choose Final Cut Pro. To process real-time effects through hardware, choose an available hardware accelerator, if one is installed.

Click the Cancel button.

Ctrl-click on the cat watching clip in the Browser and choose Item Properties > Format.

The Item Properties window opens displaying detailed information about every aspect of your clip. Notice under the Format tab that the Frame Size is 720x480 and the Compressor is DV/DVCPRO – NTSC. These are some of the settings for DV-NTSC video. If you were using a capture card to work with Standard Definition video, the Frame Size and Compressor would be different.

Click Cancel to close the Item Properties window without making any changes.

Click in the Timeline to make it active and choose Sequence > Settings, or Ctrl-click on the Sahara Rain – Finished sequence in the Browser and choose Settings.

Notice that the sequence Frame Size is set to 720x480 and the Compressor is set to DV/DVCPRO – NTSC. These sequence settings match your clip settings.

Click the Timeline Options tab and change the Track Size and Thumbnail Display.

These changes affect the selected or active sequence. They will not affect any new sequences you create. Those settings are controlled in the Timeline Options tab of the User Preferences window.