The previous chapter introduced basic editing procedures in Final Cut Express; this chapter outlines your display, navigation, and editing options in the Timeline and Canvas windows. You’ll also learn about the Tool palette, a deceptively tiny floating toolbar that’s packed with editing, selection, and display tools. The Tool palette is key to efficient workflow in the Timeline.
The Timeline and the Canvas work together, but they present two different views of your edited sequence. The Timeline displays a chronological diagram of all the clips in your sequence; the Canvas is a monitor where you view playback of an edited sequence. That’s why the Canvas and Timeline playheads are locked together. The Canvas always displays the frame at the current position of the Timeline’s playhead.
When you open a sequence, it appears simultaneously in the Timeline and the Canvas. Any changes you make to the sequence in the Timeline are reflected in the Canvas playback, and any changes you make in the Canvas are reflected in the Timeline display.
Double-clicking a sequence clip in the Timeline opens it in the Viewer; sequence clips are identified in the Viewer by two lines of dots in the Scrubber bar. Why the identification? Remember that when you insert a clip into a sequence, you are inserting a copy of the clip from the Browser. If you change the sequence version of the clip, your changes will be reflected in the sequence only. Opening the same clip directly from the Browser in a Viewer window opens a different copy of the clip. If you change the Browser copy (for example, by making audio-level adjustments or adding motion effects), these changes will not affect the copy of the clip in the sequence. It’s important to understand the difference between working with clips that have been opened from the Browser and clips that have been opened from the Timeline. (For more information, see “FCE Protocol: Clips and Sequences” in Chapter 4.)
The Canvas window (Figure 10.1) looks like the Viewer and has many of the same controls. You can use the controls in the Canvas window to play edited sequences, mark sequence In and Out points, add sequence markers, and set keyframes. In addition to the Viewer-like marking controls, the Canvas features a pop-up overlay where you can perform various types of drag-and-drop edits. The Canvas edit overlay appears only when you drag a clip from the Browser or the Viewer to the Canvas.
Figure 10.1. An overview of the Canvas window. Use the Canvas to play sequences, perform edits, and set keyframes.
You can also use the Canvas window to plot out motion effects. Learn about applying filters and effects in Chapter 14, “Compositing and Effects Overview.”
Tips
You can use tooltips to identify most of the control buttons in the window. Place your pointer over a button and then wait a moment, and a name label will appear. (Enable tooltips in the User Preferences window if they’re not showing up.)
Two playback options don’t have interface controls: Play Every Frame (Option-P) and Loop Playback (Control-L).
The Canvas controls include transport controls, Canvas display options, and editing controls.
Note that all the Canvas controls listed here (except the overlay) appear in the Viewer window as well and operate in the same way.
Transport controls
The Canvas’s transport controls are shown in Figure 10.2.
Previous Edit: Click to jump the playhead back to the previous edit, the In point, or the Out point.
Play In to Out: Click to play the clip from the In point to the Out point.
Play: Click to play the clip from the current position of the playhead. Click again to stop playback.
Play Around Current: Click to play the part of the clip immediately before and after the current position of the playhead. The pre-roll and post-roll settings (in the User Preferences window) determine the duration of the playback.
Next Edit: Click to move the playhead to the next edit, the In point, or the Out point.
Shuttle control: Drag the control tab away from the center to fast forward or rewind. Speeds vary depending on the tab’s distance from the center. A green control tab indicates normal playback speed (Figure 10.3).
Jog control: Drag the control to the left or right to step through a sequence one frame at a time (Figure 10.4).
Scrubber and playhead: The Scrubber is the strip immediately below the image window. Move through the sequence by dragging the playhead, or click the Scrubber to jump the playhead to a new location (Figure 10.5).
All the onscreen controls you use to mark clips are grouped in the lower-right corner of the Canvas (Figure 10.6):
Mark In (left) and Mark Out (right): Click to set the In point or the Out point for a sequence at the current playhead position.
Add Marker: Click to add a marker to the sequence at the current playhead position.
Add Keyframe: Click to add a keyframe to the sequence clip at the current playhead position.
Mark Clip: Click to set the sequence In and Out points at the outer boundaries of the clip at the position of the playhead in the target track.
Match Frame: Click to display in the Viewer the frame currently showing in the Canvas. This control is useful for synchronizing action.
View selectors
Zoom: Adjust the Canvas’s image display size (Figure 10.7). (This pop-up selector does not affect the actual frame size of the image.)
View: Select a viewing format. You can access Title Safe and Wireframe modes from this pop-up menu (Figure 10.8).
Two timecode displays, located in the upper corners of the Canvas window, are useful for precisely navigating to specific timecode locations.
Timecode Duration: This display shows the elapsed time between the In and Out points of a clip. If no edit points are set, the beginning and the end of the sequence serve as the In and the Out points (Figure 10.9).
Current Timecode: This display shows the timecode at the current position of the playhead. You can enter a timecode in this display to jump the playhead to that point in the sequence (Figure 10.10).
Tips
Control-click the Current Timecode field to see a pop-up menu of sequence markers in the current sequence (Figure 10.11). Select one to jump the playhead to that marker’s location. The same list of sequence markers is available from the Timeline ruler’s shortcut menu.
You can use keyboard shortcuts to step through both sequence and clip markers in the Timeline, but you must open a clip in the Viewer to make changes to that clip’s markers. For details, see “Using Markers in the Timeline and the Canvas” later in this chapter.
When you drag clips from the Viewer and drop them on the Canvas, the edit overlay appears (Figure 10.12). The edit overlay and its related edit procedures are detailed in Chapter 9, “Basic Editing.” You can perform the following types of edits:
Insert edit: This type of edit inserts a source clip into a sequence by pushing back the part of the sequence that’s past the sequence In point, making room for the new source clip.
Overwrite edit: The source clip overwrites sequence clips past the sequence In point. Overwrite uses the source In and Out points to calculate the edit duration. The incoming source material replaces the sequence material; there is no time shift in the existing sequence.
Replace edit: This edit type replaces the contents of a sequence clip with the source clip material. It allows you to specifically align single frames in the source clip and sequence. The material between the sequence In and Out points is replaced by corresponding material from the source clip on either side of the frame that was matched.
Fit to Fill edit: The speed of the source clip will be modified to fill the duration specified by the sequence In and Out points; the clip must be rendered before the edit can be played back.
Superimpose edit: The source clip is placed on a new track above the target track, starting at the sequence In point. The target track is not changed. If the clip has audio, the source audio is added to new tracks below the target audio track.
Transition edits: The source clip is inserted into the sequence with the default transition at the source clip’s head.
The Canvas and the Viewer windows operate in much the same way. If you review the sections in Chapter 8, “Working with Clips in the Viewer,” that detail operating the Viewer window, you’ll know how to use the Canvas window as well.
Editing in the Canvas is detailed in Chapter 9, “Basic Editing.”
So what does that leave for this section? Just a few odds and ends.
To open a sequence in the Canvas:
Start in the Browser. Double-click the sequence icon. The sequence opens in the Canvas and the Timeline.
To composite or add effects to a sequence in the Canvas:
Start in the Canvas with your sequence cued to the location to which you want to add effects.
Choose Image+Wireframe from the View selector in the Canvas (Figure 10.13).
The Canvas acts as your monitor as you compose and review effects or create motion paths (Figure 10.14). Learn more about creating effects in Chapter 14, “Compositing and Effects Overview.”
It’s easy to turn a single video frame into a freeze-frame image and use it in a sequence. If you want to convert this image into a graphics file and work with it outside of FCE, you’ll need to export it using the Export command on the File menu.
To create a still image from a Canvas frame:
In the Canvas, position the playhead on the desired frame.
Choose Modify > Make Freeze Frame; or press Shift-N.
The new freeze-frame image opens in the Viewer window as a clip. It has the default duration for stills, as specified on the Editing tab of the User Preferences window. You can modify the freeze-frame clip’s duration by setting In and Out points before you edit it into your sequence.
To export a still image from a Canvas frame:
In the Canvas, position the playhead on the desired frame.
Choose File > Export > Using QuickTime Conversion (Figure 10.15).
In the dialog box, type a new name for your exported still image in the Save As field and select a destination folder.
Select Still Image from the Format pop-up menu (Figure 10.16).
To set export format options, click the Options button.
In the Export Image Sequence Settings dialog box, select an export format from the Format pop-up menu at the top (Figure 10.17); click OK. You can ignore the frame rate settings because you are exporting a single frame.
Back in the Save dialog box, click Save.
To set the time display view:
In the Canvas, Control-click either of the timecode display fields; then select a time display option from the shortcut menu (Figure 10.18).
Tips
Check the time display mode to quickly determine which type of timecode is currently specified in your sequence settings. The timecode type specified in your sequence settings appears in bold.
Changing the timecode display in the Canvas won’t alter your sequence’s timecode settings; you’re just selecting a different display mode.
The Tool palette contains tools for selecting and manipulating items in the Timeline, Canvas, and Viewer. As you work in the Timeline with an assembly of clips in a rough sequence, you use the tools in the palette to do the following:
Select anything, from a sliver of a single clip to all the tracks in your sequence.
Select and adjust edit points in your sequence.
Adjust the scale of the Timeline so you can see what you are doing.
Crop or distort an image.
Add and edit keyframes in the Timeline.
Figure 10.19 shows the Tool palette as it appears in the program.
Figure 10.20 shows the Tool palette with all its pop-up selectors fully extended. When you actually use the Tool palette to select a tool, you will see only one of these selectors at a time, but they are assembled in this illustration to show the location of every available tool.
Figure 10.20. The Tool palette with every pop-up selector displayed. You’ll see only one of these bars at a time when you select a tool.
Here’s a complete rundown of the tools you’ll find in the Tool palette.
Edit Selection: Selects just the edit points inside your selection.
Group Selection: Selects whole clips or groups of whole clips.
Range Selection: Selects the area inside the selection marquee you draw. Select partial clips with this tool.
Select Track Forward: Selects all the contents of the track after the selection point.
Select Track Backward: Selects all the contents of the track before the selection point.
Track Selection: Selects the entire contents of a single track.
Select All Tracks Forward: Selects the contents of all tracks after the selection point.
Select All Tracks Backward: Selects the contents of all tracks before the selection point.
Roll: Rolls edit points.
Ripple: Ripples edit points.
Slip: Slips a clip’s In and Out points.
Slide: Slides a clip in a sequence.
Razor Blade: Cuts a single clip into two sections.
Razor Blade All: Cuts clips on all tracks at the selection point into two sections.
Learn more about performing these edits in Chapter 11, “Fine Cut: Trimming Edits.”
Zoom In: Zooms in on an image or within the Timeline.
Zoom Out: Zooms out from an image or within the Timeline.
Hand: Moves the Timeline or image view from side to side.
Video Scrub Hand: Scrubs the thumbnail image displayed on Timeline clips.
Crop: Crops the edges of an image in the Viewer or the Canvas (in Wireframe mode).
Distort: Distorts a selection by click-dragging corner points.
Pen: Adds a keyframe.
Pen Delete: Deletes a keyframe.
Pen Smooth: Smoothes a curve by adding Bézier handles to the selected keyframe.
You can use the Pen tools in keyframe graphs on the Viewer effects tabs, in keyframe overlays in the Timeline, and on a motion path in the Canvas or the Viewer.
When you click and hold the mouse on a tool in the palette, the Tool palette extends to display multiple tools on pop-up selectors. Each pop-up selector displays all the tools available from its palette button. After you’ve made a selection from the pop-up display, your selected tool will be displayed on the palette.
Tip
See Appendix B for a complete list of keyboard shortcuts for tool selection. Shortcuts are also listed in tooltips and on FCE menus.
To select a tool from the palette:
Do one of the following:
Click the tool to select it (Figure 10.21).
Click and hold on the tool icon; then make a selection from the pop-up display of related tools (Figure 10.22).
Use a keyboard shortcut. To quickly see the proper key, rest the pointer over the tool icon in the palette. A tooltip displaying the name of the tool and its shortcut will appear (Figure 10.23).
The Timeline displays multiple video and audio tracks along a time axis (Figure 10.24). The base layers of video (V1) and audio (A1 and A2) appear toward the center of the Timeline window. Additional audio tracks extend below the base layer; additional video tracks stack above the base layer.
If you have multiple sequences open, the Timeline and the Canvas display a tab for each sequence.
Use the controls in the Timeline window to move the playhead, view the tracks in your edited sequence, and perform edits and keyframe adjustments. Timeline controls and displays include track icons, sequence edit points, and clip and sequence markers (Figures 10.25, 10.26, and 10.27).
Sequence controls and displays (Figure 10.25)
Sequence tabs: Each open sequence in the Timeline has its own sequence tab. To make a sequence active, click its tab.
Real-Time Effects (RT) pop-up menu: Select a level of playback quality for real-time effects. Your trade-off is the number of effects you can see in real time versus the visual quality of the playback. For more details, see Chapter 18, “Real Time and Rendering.”
Current Timecode field: This field displays the timecode at the current position of the playhead. You can enter a time in the display to jump the playhead to that point in the clip. This display/control operates like the Current Timecode fields in the Viewer and the Canvas.
Render status bars: Two render status bars indicate which parts of the sequence have been rendered. The upper bar is for video tracks, and the lower bar is for audio tracks. Red bars indicate material that requires rendering before playback. Gray bars indicate material that does not require rendering. A blue-gray bar indicates material that has already been rendered. On real-time-capable systems, a green status bar indicates that the material can be played back in real time, dark green indicates an effect that can be played back and output to video at full quality in real time, orange indicates an effect that probably exceeds the real-time capabilities of the system and could result in dropped frames during playback, and yellow indicates real-time playback with a proxy (lower-quality) version of the material.
Timeline ruler: This ruler displays the timecode for the current sequence and sequence In and Out points. Edit point overlays are displayed along the ruler. Adjust the ruler’s time scale with the Zoom slider or the Zoom control.
Playhead: The playhead reflects the chronological position in the sequence of the frame displayed in the Canvas. The playhead in the Timeline always moves in tandem with the Canvas playhead.
Button bar: The Timeline button bar has two buttons that are displayed by default, but you can add other buttons and customize to your taste. See “Customizing Final Cut Express” in Chapter 3.
Linked Selection control: The Linked Selection indicator controls whether linked selection is active or disabled. Note: This control toggles the Linked Selection feature, not Link/Unlink. One click on this tiny icon does not permanently unlink the linked clips in your sequence. You typically disable linked selection to select just the audio or video track of a linked AV clip—to adjust a split edit in a sync sequence, for example.
Snapping control: Click to toggle snapping on and off.
Timeline track controls (Figure 10.26)
Track Visibility control: Click to make a track invisible. When the track is invisible, the contents remain in the Timeline but are not played or rendered with the sequence. Invisible tracks appear dimmed in the Timeline. Caution: Video render files can be lost if the track is made invisible.
Lock Track control: Lock a track to prevent any changes to its contents. Locked tracks are crosshatched in the Timeline.
Auto Select control: Use sequence In and Out points to define a selected area; then disable any tracks you want to exclude from your selection. You can cut, copy, search, delete, or ripple delete an auto-selected area. You can also apply copies of a filter to all the clips in an auto-selected area in a single operation.
Source and Destination controls for targeting tracks: Set the Source control to specify which source track is assigned to a destination track and whether the track is enabled to receive a source clip. The Destination control identifies the track. You can target one video target track plus one audio target track for each audio track in the source clip.
Audio Solo button: Click to mute playback of any other audio tracks, except those tracks where Solo is enabled.
Audio Mute button: Click to mute a track’s audio playback.
Adjustable track height: Drag the lower border of any individual track to adjust its height.
Timeline display controls (Figure 10.26)
Audio Controls button: Click to toggle the display of Mute and Solo buttons. Controls are hidden by default.
Clip Overlays control: Click to toggle the display of Audio Level line graphs over audio clips and Opacity Level line graphs in video clips.
Track Height control: Click to switch among the four track display sizes in the Timeline.
Track Layout menu control: Click the triangle to display a pop-up menu containing Timeline display options and to access saved custom track layouts.
Timeline scaling and scrolling controls (Figure 10.26)
Center Zoom control: Click to jump between different time scale views.
Zoom slider: Use this slider to scroll through your sequence and to adjust the time scale of your view.
Vertical scroll bars: This two-part scroll bar allows the video and audio tracks to scroll independently. Adjust the thumb tabs between the scroll controls to create a static area in the center of the Timeline.
Clip controls and displays (Figure 10.27)
Link indicators: Linked clips are displayed in the Timeline with their names underlined. When a linked clip is selected, moved, or trimmed, items linked to it are affected in the same way. Linked selections can be switched on and off as a sequence preference.
Out-of-Sync indicators: This display indicates the number of frames by which a clip’s video and audio tracks are out of sync.
Clips: You can display clips as solid bars or as video frames. Clips that have been disabled appear dimmed in the Timeline. Clips on locked tracks are crosshatched in the Timeline. Clips with a speed change applied display the current speed setting.
Stereo Pair indicators: These indicators appear as two triangles. These two audio clips are linked as a stereo pair.
Item Level Render Status indicator: Audio clips that require rendering display this render status indicator. The indicator’s color coding is the same as the render indicators above the Timeline ruler. Audio clips rendered at item level can be moved or edited without losing their render files.
Through edit indicator: This indicates an edit point joining two clips with the same reel number and contiguous timecode (such as a clip divided in two with the Razor Blade tool).
Transition: An effect applied at the edit point between two clips. See Chapter 13, “Creating Transitions.”
Locked track: A track whose contents cannot be moved or edited.
Opacity Level line graph: Adjust and apply keyframes to this editable overlay to set the opacity level of a video clip.
Audio Level line graph: Adjust and apply keyframes to this editable overlay to set the level of an audio clip.
Final Cut Express uses a color-coding system to identify the various clip and sequence types found in the Timeline. Table 10.1 lists the file types and their colors.
Every sequence is different, which is why you can customize Timeline display options for each one—perhaps you don’t need to see thumbnails in a complicated sequence, or maybe it’s easier to edit a short montage using larger tracks. These display settings are modified in the Sequence Settings window. Your custom display settings will apply only to the sequence that’s open on the top tab of the Timeline; if you want the same appearance every time you create a new sequence, you can specify your preferred Timeline display setup on the Timeline Options tab of the User Preferences window. This section details your choices for the Timeline display options you’re most likely to adjust often; for complete preferences setting details, see “Customizing the Timeline Display” in Chapter 3.
To set clip display mode on video tracks for the current sequence:
Make the Timeline active; then choose Sequence > Settings; or press Command-0 (zero).
When the Sequence Settings window appears, click the Timeline Options tab.
From the Thumbnail Display pop-up menu, select from three thumbnail display options (Figure 10.28):
Name displays the name of the clip with no thumbnail images.
Name Plus Thumbnail displays the first frame of every clip as a thumbnail image and then the name of the clip.
Filmstrip displays as many successive thumbnail images as possible for the current zoom level of the Timeline.
Click OK.
To show or hide audio waveforms for the current sequence:
Click the triangle next to the Track Height display to open the Track Layout pop-up menu (Figure 10.29); then select Show Audio Waveforms to toggle the display of waveforms in the Timeline (Figure 10.30).
Tip
The Timeline’s audio waveform display is really useful for tweaking your audio edits, but Timeline display performance suffers when waveforms are visible. If you want to quickly look at the waveforms without taking a trip to the Track Layout pop-up menu, press Command-Option-W.
To set the track display size:
Do one of the following:
Click one of the four icons in the Track Height control (Figure 10.31).
Press Shift-T to toggle through the four track display sizes.
Select a track display size from the Track Layout pop-up menu.
Do any of the following:
In the Timeline control area, drag the upper boundary of a single video track or the lower boundary of an audio track (Figures 10.32 and 10.33).
Hold down the Shift key while dragging to resize all video and all audio Timeline tracks.
Hold down the Option key while dragging to resize all the video or all the audio Timeline tracks.
Click a Track Height control to reset all the Timeline tracks to one of the four default display settings.
Tip
If you hold down the Option key while clicking a Track Height control, you can resize your variously sized Timeline tracks relative to one of the four default display settings.
Final Cut Express has state-of-the-art zoom features and scroll bars. The time scale in the Timeline is continuously variable; you can transition smoothly from viewing several minutes of your sequence down to a single frame. The horizontal scroll bar—the Zoom slider—is a combination zoom and scroll control. The Zoom control is handy—you can jump to any time scale with a single mouse click.
The vertical scroll bar separating the video and audio tracks allows you to set a static area in the center of the Timeline window, so your base tracks are always in view.
To adjust the time scale of the Timeline display:
Do one of the following:
Click either thumb control and drag it to adjust the time scale, keeping the selected clip (or the playhead, if no clip is selected) centered in the Timeline as it scales (Figure 10.34). (The thumb controls are the ribbed-looking ends of the Zoom slider.)
Shift-click and drag a thumb control to lock the position of the thumb control on the other end of the Zoom slider and to make the zoom adjustment only to the side you’re dragging.
Click the Zoom control to the left of the Zoom slider to jump to a different time scale (Figure 10.35). This Zoom control keeps the playhead or selected clip centered in view as you change zoom levels.
To zoom the view of the Timeline:
From the Tool palette, select the Zoom In or the Zoom Out tool (Figure 10.36); or press Z.
Do one of the following:
Click in the Timeline or drag a marquee around the section you want to display (Figure 10.37).
Use a keyboard shortcut. (See Appendix B for a complete list of shortcuts.)
Choose View > Zoom In (or Zoom Out).
Tips
When the Timeline is zoomed in or out to the maximum, the plus sign (+) or minus sign (–) disappears from the Zoom tool’s pointer.
Pressing Option while using the Zoom In tool toggles the tool to Zoom Out.
To scroll through your sequence:
To set up the vertical scroll bars:
In the Timeline, click and hold the uppermost thumb tab near the center of the vertical scroll bar. Drag the thumb tab up the scroll bar to create a static area for as many video tracks as you want to keep in constant view (Figure 10.38).
Figure 10.38. Drag the thumb tab up the scroll bar to create a static display area for a video track in the Timeline.
You can use the upper scroll bar to scroll through higher video tracks in the upper portion of the Timeline.
Click and hold the lowest thumb tab in the vertical scroll bar. Drag the thumb tab down the scroll bar, creating a static area for as many audio tracks as you want to keep in constant view (Figure 10.39).
Figure 10.39. Drag the thumb tab down the scroll bar to create a static display area for an audio track in the Timeline.
You can use the lower scroll bar to scroll through additional audio tracks in the lower portion of the Timeline window.
Once you have set up your static view area, use the center tab on the scroll bar to move the static area up or down in the window (Figure 10.40).
Many of the tasks described here can be accomplished with the help of keyboard shortcuts. Final Cut Express has an army of key commands; many professional editors prefer a keyboard-intensive working style. This section demonstrates some other ways to approach the Timeline interface because, frankly, keystrokes don’t make good illustrations. Check out the keyboard shortcuts in Appendix B. Before you flip to the back of the book, though, consider the alternatives in this section. You keyboard diehards might find something here you actually like.
Tip
You can use the playhead’s locator line to help identify the exact timecode location of an item way down at the bottom of the Timeline window. Set the playhead’s locator line on the point you want to identify, and the Current Timecode display will give you its exact timecode location.
The playhead in the Timeline can be positioned by the same methods as those used for the Canvas and the Viewer playheads.
The playhead sits on the Timeline ruler and has a vertical locator line that extends down through the Timeline track display.
To scrub through a sequence in the Timeline:
Drag the playhead along the Timeline ruler.
To jump the playhead to a new location:
Click the location on the Timeline ruler to move the playhead to that location (Figure 10.41).
To jump the playhead from edit to edit:
Do one of the following:
Press the Up Arrow key (for the previous edit) or the Down Arrow key (for the next edit).
Press ; (semicolon) for the previous edit or ’ (apostrophe) for the next edit. (These are the most convenient alternative if you use J-K-L keys for navigation.)
In the Canvas, click the Previous Edit button or the Next Edit button.
Choose Mark > Previous (or Next) > Edit.
Press Option-E (for the previous edit) or Shift-E (for the next edit).
Press Home to jump to the beginning of the sequence.
Press End to jump to the end of the sequence.
The playhead jumps to the first frame of the clip. If you’ve enabled Show Overlays on the View menu, an L-shaped icon appears in the lower left or right of the Canvas window, indicating that you are on the first or last frame of the sequence clip (Figure 10.42).
Just as in the Viewer, using timecode values to position the playhead in the Timeline and the Canvas will result in frame-accurate positioning. Final Cut Express’s timecode input function is very flexible (see “FCE Protocol: Entering Timecode Numbers” in Chapter 8 for protocol and entry shortcuts).
To navigate using timecode values:
Start in the Timeline. Make sure all clips are deselected, or you’ll move the selected clip and not the playhead.
Enter a new timecode number, or use the shorthand methods noted in Chapter 8. You don’t need to click in the field to begin entering a new timecode; just type the numbers (Figure 10.43).
Press Enter.
The playhead moves to the new timecode value, and the new timecode position appears in the Current Timecode field at the upper left of the Timeline (Figure 10.44).
Snapping is an interface state that makes certain points in the Timeline “sticky.” With snapping turned on, the edges of clips will snap together, or a clip will snap to an edit point on an adjacent track when dragged close to it. The playhead snaps to edits, clip and sequence markers, and keyframes (if displayed) on all visible tracks. If you drag the playhead across the Timeline ruler, it snaps to items in the Timeline when it encounters them. Small triangles flanking the playhead locator line appear above or below the edit, marker, or keyframe, showing you what the playhead has snapped to (Figure 10.45).
Figure 10.45. The Timeline with snapping turned on. The playhead’s locator line displays small triangles to show that it has snapped to an edit.
To turn snapping on or off:
Do one of the following:
Choose View > Snapping.
Click the Snapping control located in the upper-right corner of the Timeline window (Figure 10.46).
To toggle snapping on or off on the fly:
Press N; then drag the playhead, or your selected clip, to the new location (Figure 10.47).
Figure 10.47. Snapping a clip to an edit point. You can toggle Timeline snapping even in mid-edit by pressing N at any time.
Snapping remains in the toggled state until you press the N key again. Snapping can be toggled at any time, even in mid-edit.
Final Cut Express has two types of markers (Figure 10.48):
Sequence markers appear on the Timeline ruler.
Clip markers appear on individual clips in the Timeline.
If you open a Timeline clip in the Viewer, the clip markers appear in the Viewer Scrubber bar.
You can learn more about working with markers in Chapter 8, “Working with Clips in the Viewer.”
To set a sequence marker:
In the Timeline, position the playhead at the point where you want to set the marker. Make sure no clips are selected at the playhead’s location.
Press M.
A sequence marker appears in the Canvas scrubber and on the Timeline ruler. Press M a second time to open the Edit Marker dialog box.
Tips
You can set a sequence marker only if no clips are selected at the playhead position in the Timeline. With a selected Timeline clip under the playhead, your marker will be set as a clip marker on that clip.
You can delete sequence markers only if no clips are selected in the Timeline.
Any two adjacent sequence markers can be used to set sequence In and Out points. Just position your Timeline playhead anywhere between the two markers you want to use; then choose Mark > Mark to Markers, or press Control-A.
To position the playhead on a specific sequence marker:
Control-click the Timeline ruler; then choose a marker from the list of sequence markers in the shortcut menu (Figure 10.49).
The playhead jumps to the selected marker’s position (Figure 10.50).
To jump the playhead to the next or the previous sequence marker:
Do one of the following:
Choose Mark > Previous (or Next) > Marker.
Press Option-M for the previous marker.
Press Shift-M for the next marker.
These are the same commands you use to locate clip markers in the Viewer; when you use them in the Canvas or the Timeline, FCE looks for sequence markers only, unless you have selected a Timeline clip. With a Timeline clip selected, these commands will locate both clip and sequence markers in the selected clip.
To position the playhead on a specific Timeline clip marker:
In the Timeline, Control-click the clip; then choose a marker from the list of clip markers in the shortcut menu (Figure 10.51).
Figure 10.51. Selecting a clip marker from a Timeline clip’s shortcut menu jumps the playhead to that marker’s location.
The playhead jumps to the selected marker’s position.
Tip
Say you have a specific phrase in the middle of a narration track that you’d like to align with an action in your video track. You can place a clip marker in the audio track and a sequence marker in the video clip at a key point and then grab the audio clip by its marker and drag it to align it to your video clip marker (Figure 10.52). This procedure works best with snapping enabled.
Editing operations in Final Cut Express frequently involve configuring tracks. Timeline tracks can be locked, unlocked, targeted, added, deleted, and made visible or invisible. There is a difference between tracks and the contents of tracks. The procedures described in this section affect whole tracks. To learn about editing procedures that affect individual sequence clips, edit points, and keyframes, see “Working with Items in the Timeline” later in this chapter.
To add tracks to a sequence:
Open the sequence in the Timeline (Figure 10.53).
Choose Sequence > Insert Tracks.
In the Insert Tracks dialog box, select the appropriate check box if the Insert field is inactive; then enter the number of new video or audio tracks you want to add. Final Cut Express supports up to 99 tracks for video and 99 tracks for audio.
Select from options for inserting tracks:
Choose Before Base Track to insert your tracks before the first track in the Timeline.
Choose After Last Track to insert your tracks after the last track in the Timeline (Figure 10.54).
Click OK to insert the tracks.
The new tracks are added at the specified location (Figure 10.55).
To add a track to a sequence quickly:
Do one of the following:
Drag a clip to the area above the top video track or below the bottom audio track (Figure 10.56).
A new track will be added to the sequence automatically (Figure 10.57).
Control-click anywhere on the track header; then choose Add Track from the shortcut menu.
To delete a single track from a sequence:
Control-click anywhere on the track header; then choose Delete Track from the shortcut menu (Figure 10.58).
To delete empty tracks from a sequence:
Open the sequence in the Timeline (Figure 10.59).
Choose Sequence > Delete Tracks.
In the Delete Tracks dialog box, select from the options for deleting tracks:
Click the Video Tracks and/or Audio Tracks check boxes to select track types.
Choose All Empty Tracks to delete every empty track in the Timeline (Figure 10.60).
Choose All Empty Tracks at End of Sequence to delete all empty tracks above (or below) the highest-numbered track used in the Timeline.
Click OK to delete the tracks.
The selected tracks are deleted from the sequence; remaining tracks are renumbered consecutively (Figure 10.61).
Do one of the following:
In the Timeline, click the Track Lock control on the left side of the track. Click again to unlock the track (Figure 10.62).
To lock a video track, press F4 plus the track number of the track you are locking.
To lock an audio track, press F5 plus the track number of the track you are locking.
To lock all Timeline video tracks:
To lock all video tracks in the sequence, press Shift-F4.
To lock all Timeline audio tracks:
To lock all audio tracks in the sequence, press Shift-F5.
Tip
Option-click a Track Lock control to toggle locking on all other audio or video tracks except the selected track.
Final Cut Express’s track-targeting scheme has been adapted to accommodate multichannel audio source clips. Targeting Timeline tracks to receive source clips is a two-step process: First you map which source tracks are going to what destination tracks. Once your source clip’s audio and video are mapped to the proper destination tracks, you have the option of disabling track targeting when you want to exclude selected source tracks from a pending edit. For information on simple track targeting, see “Specifying target tracks” in Chapter 9. To learn how to operate the Timeline’s track-targeting controls and the protocols that govern target track behavior, read on.
To map a source clip’s destination tracks in the Timeline:
Do one of the following:
Control-click the Source control; then choose a new destination track from the shortcut menu (Figure 10.63).
Drag a Source control to your desired destination track (Figure 10.64).
Control-click the Destination control of the track you want to target; then select a source track from the shortcut menu (Figure 10.65).
Tips
When you load a clip into the Viewer, the number of Source controls available in the Timeline automatically updates to match the number of tracks in that source clip.
You can click the Destination control on a track you want to target, and the closest Source control will be assigned. Video targeting is limited to one track, so this is a quick way to target any video track with a single click.
To return destination track mapping to default settings:
Control-click in the Timeline track control area; then choose Reset Panel from the shortcut menu (Figure 10.66).
Tip
When you open that shortcut menu, you’ll see a menu item that allows you to assign your audio tracks to audio output channels. Assigning output channels is independent of destination track mapping. Unless your FCE system has additional audio hardware that supports multiple audio output channels, you’re limited to two channels of audio output: A1 and A2. For more information on FCE audio, see Chapter 12, “Audio Tools and Techniques.”
To disable a targeted track:
Click the Source control to disconnect the target indicator of the track before you perform your edit (Figure 10.67).
You can temporarily hide a track by making it invisible so that the contents of that track do not appear in the sequence when you play it back. This is useful when you tweak multilayered composited sequences.
You can also single out a track by making all the other tracks in the sequence invisible. This lets you focus on the contents of a single track temporarily. You can single out video and audio tracks independently.
Audio render files are protected from loss, but note that changing the visibility of a video track will cause a loss of any render files associated with the track. A warning dialog box appears when you attempt to change visibility on a track.
If you’ve invested a lot of rendering in a sequence, you can use a couple of workarounds to avoid re-rendering just because you turned a track off for a moment:
You don’t need to turn off the entire track. You can disable an individual clip by Control-clicking the clip in the Timeline and unchecking Clip Enable in the shortcut menu. If you are interested in a short section of your sequence, you can disable just the clips you want to hide, and you’ll sacrifice only the render file for that clip, preserving your render files for the rest of the sequence.
Undo and Redo might work. FCE has many layers of undo, and if you haven’t been messing around too much in the interim, you can revert to the state before the render file loss.
In the Timeline, click the Track Visibility control at the far left of the track you want to affect (Figure 10.68).
If the sequence has been rendered, a dialog box will appear warning you about the impending loss of render files. If you don’t need your render files, click Continue (Figure 10.69).
The track is made invisible. The render status bar updates to show which sections of your sequence have been altered and may require re-rendering (Figure 10.70).
Tips
You can still edit invisible tracks. Lock invisible tracks if you don’t want them to respond to edits.
Next time you build a sequence involving multiple takes or a multicamera shoot, try loading your synchronized clips into tracks above and below the base layer (V1 and A1 to A2), keeping the base layer clear to assemble your cut. You can turn on single tracks for viewing and then copy and paste your selections into the base layers.
To single out a track for visibility:
Do one of the following:
Option-click the Track Visibility icon.
Select items in the track; then choose Sequence > Solo Item(s) or press Control-S.
The contents of all the video or audio tracks except the selected one are dimmed in the Timeline and are hidden from view in the Canvas (Figure 10.71). All audio tracks except the selected track are muted.
Tip
In addition to the Track Visibility control, each Timeline audio track has its own Solo and Mute buttons. These controls are hidden by default, but you can unearth them by clicking the Audio Controls button at the extreme lower left of the Timeline window (Figure 10.72).
This section covers Timeline editing procedures that affect individual sequence clips, edit points, and keyframes. Manipulating Timeline items requires extensive use of the tools in the Tool palette (Figure 10.73). Final Cut Express boasts some great selection tools but very few keyboard equivalents. If you haven’t used the Tool palette yet, review “Anatomy of the Tool Palette” earlier in this chapter.
Figure 10.73. All selection tools are located on the top three buttons of the Tool palette. This composited shot shows the Tool palette with both selection tool pop-up selectors extended. The Selection (Arrow) tool is at the top, marquee selection tools are second from the top, and track selection tools are third from the top.
All the selection tasks described here use tools from the Tool palette.
Items you can select in the Timeline:
Clips,including multiple clips or ranges of clips
Transitions, which can be trimmed or deleted
Edits, which can be modified in several ways
Gaps, which can be closed or filled with media
Keyframes, which can be moved when they’re displayed over the Timeline clip
Items you cannot select in the Timeline:
Tracks: You can’t select a track, but you can select the contents of a track.
To select the entire contents of the Timeline:
Press Command-A.
To deselect the entire contents of the Timeline:
Press Shift-Command-A.
The track selection tools offer a variety of ways to select the contents of one or more tracks. Don’t forget: If you select an item that you’ve included in a linked selection, all the items involved in that linked selection will be affected by whatever operation you’re about to perform.
To select all items on a single track:
From the Tool palette, choose the Select Track tool and click anywhere in the track.
To select all items on a single track forward or backward from the selected point:
From the Tool palette, choose the Select Track Forward or the Select Track Backward tool (Figure 10.74).
In the Timeline track, click the first clip to include in the selection.
That entire clip is selected, plus all the items in front of or behind it (Figure 10.75).
To select all items on all tracks forward or backward from the selected point:
From the Tool palette, choose the All Tracks Forward or the All Tracks Backward tool (Figure 10.76).
In the Timeline, click the first clip on any track that should be included in the selection.
The contents of all tracks from that point forward or backward are selected.
Tips
The Track Forward and Track Backward tools select entire clips only; they do not make range selections.
When one of the Select All Tracks tools is active, you can quickly switch to the corresponding Select Track tool by holding down the Shift key.
To select an entire clip:
From the Tool palette, choose the Selection tool; or press A.
In the Timeline, use the Selection tool to click the clip you want to select.
The Canvas indicates the selection by displaying a cyan border around the video of the selected clip.
To select part of a clip or a larger selection including partial clips:
From the Tool palette, choose the Range Selection tool (Figure 10.77).
In the Timeline, click at the point in the clip where you want to start your selection and then drag a marquee around the range to select it (Figure 10.78).
Figure 10.78. Drag the tool across a Timeline clip to define the range you want to select. You can select partial clips with this tool.
A two-up display in the Canvas shows the first and last frames of your selection.
To select multiple whole clips:
From the Tool palette, choose the Group Selection tool (Figure 10.79).
In the Timeline, drag a marquee around all the clips you want to select. You don’t need to include the entire clip; any clip you touch will be included in its entirety.
To select multiple noncontiguous clips:
From the Tool palette, choose the appropriate selection tool.
In the Timeline, Command-click the items you want to select (Figure 10.80). Command-click again on a selected item to deselect it.
To select all items between the In and Out points:
Set the sequence In and Out points in the Timeline or in the Canvas.
In the Timeline Track control area, click to enable the Auto Select controls on tracks you want to include in your selection.
Choose Mark > Select In to Out; or press Option-A.
All items between the In and Out points on tracks with Auto Select enabled are selected.
To use Auto Select to select items between In and Out points:
In the Timeline Track control area, click to enable the Auto Select controls on tracks you want to include in your selection (Figure 10.81).
Set In and Out points to define the part of the sequence you want to select (Figure 10.82).
You can cut, copy, delete, ripple delete, or search the auto-selected area. These operations will include only the selected sequence section (defined by In and Out points) and only tracks with Auto Select enabled.
Tips
Option-click a video track’s Auto Select control to select just that track and deselect all other video tracks. The process works the same for audio tracks.
Auto-selected areas are automatically highlighted, so it’s easy to see what’s included in your auto-selection.
See “To use Auto Select to apply a filter to multiple clips” in Chapter 16 to learn another slick Auto Select move.
To set In and Out points around a selected part of a sequence:
From the Tool palette, choose the Range Selection tool. If your desired selection is composed of whole clips, use the Group Selection tool.
In the Timeline, drag a marquee around the range you want to select.
Choose Mark > Mark Selection; or press Shift-A.
The bounds of the selection become the sequence In and Out points (Figure 10.83).
To set In and Out points at two markers:
Linking clips is Final Cut Express’s scheme for grouping clips. When clips are linked, any action performed on one clip affects the other clips as well. Check out the sidebar “FCE Protocol: Linked Clips” later in this chapter, for the rules governing linked clips and the operation of linked selections.
To link a group of unrelated clips:
In the Timeline, select the clips you want to link (Figure 10.84).
You can select one video and up to 24 audio clips from different tracks.
Choose Modify > Link; or press Command-L.
In the Timeline, an underline appears beneath the linked clips’ names, indicating their linked status.
To permanently unlink a group of linked clips:
You can temporarily override the rules that govern a linked clip’s selection. Editors frequently disable linked selection to select just the video (or audio) track of a linked clip, in order to create a split edit (that’s an edit where a clip’s audio and video tracks have different lengths).
You can disable linked selection for the entire sequence or for a single selection operation.
To turn linked selection on or off:
Do one of the following:
Click the Linked Selection control on the right side of the Timeline window. (Figure 10.85).
Choose Sequence > Linked Selection.
Press Shift-L to toggle linked selection on and off.
To select an item without selecting any items that are linked to it:
Hold down the Option key when you select the item.
As with most things in Final Cut Express, you have a choice of methods for moving clips within and between sequences. There are a variety of drag-and-drop methods, plus the timecode entry method, which offers greater precision but a little less flexibility.
To drag a clip to a new position:
In the Timeline, select the clip and drag it to a new position (Figure 10.86).
In the new position, do one of the following:
Drop the clip to perform an Overwrite edit (Figure 10.87).
Drop the clip while holding the Option key to perform an Insert edit.
To shift a clip to another track at the same timecode location:
In the Timeline, select the clip you want to move.
Hold down the Shift key while dragging the clip vertically to another track (Figure 10.88).
The clip maintains its timecode position at the new track location.
To copy a clip to a new location:
In the Timeline, select the clip you want to move.
Hold down the Option key while dragging the clip to another location (Figure 10.89).
Figure 10.89. Press the Option key as you start to drag to copy the clip. Continue pressing Option as you drop the clip copy to perform an Insert edit; or release the key before you drop to perform an Overwrite edit.
A copy of the selected clip is edited into the new location.
Tips
You can make copies of sequence clips by dragging them from the Timeline into the Browser. Select and then drag multiple clips to make a copy of each clip in a single operation. Remember that this clip copy will include any changes you have made to the clip in the sequence.
A quick way to make a Browser copy of every clip you’ve used in a sequence is to select the entire sequence in the Timeline (Command-A) and then drag the clips over to a Browser folder. Don’t worry about wiping out your sequence—remember, you’re making copies.
To copy and paste a clip into the Timeline:
Working in the Timeline, select the clip (Figure 10.90); or use the Group Selection tool from the Tool palette to select clips from multiple tracks.
Cut or copy the selected material to the clipboard, and then do one of the following:
To paste the material into the same tracks you cut or copied from, position the playhead where you want to paste the clip.
To assign different destination tracks for your pasted material, set the destination track by enabling its Auto Select control (and ensuring that all Auto Select controls on lower-numbered tracks are disabled), and then position the playhead where you want to paste the clip (Figure 10.91).
Choose Edit > Paste; or press Command-V.
The pasted material overwrites the sequence clips, starting at the playhead location in the destination track and extending for the duration of the pasted material (Figure 10.92).
To reposition an item in the Timeline by entering a timecode:
In the Timeline, select the clip you want to move.
Enter a new timecode number; or use the shorthand methods detailed in Chapter 8, “Working with Clips in the Viewer.”
As you type, a text entry window appears below the Timeline ruler (Figure 10.93).
Press Enter.
The clip is repositioned, if there is space at the new timecode location.
If you had selected an edit tool from the Tool palette before making the timecode entry, an edit of that type is performed in the direction indicated by the timecode.
Tip
Moving clips around via timecode entry is wonderfully mouseless and precise, but there are limitations: When you’re repositioning a clip by entering a timecode, FCE won’t allow you move the clip so that it overwrites another clip. Your clip will move as far as possible without overwriting, and you’ll see a “clip collision” error message.
As you assemble a sequence, all that cutting and pasting and slipping and sliding may create gaps in your sequence tracks. Sometimes the gaps are too small to see in the Timeline, but a gap of even a single frame is easily detectable in Canvas playback.
This section contains a repertoire of techniques for detecting and closing gaps and explains FCE protocol for defining gaps.
To find gaps in a sequence:
Make the sequence active; then press the Home key to position the playhead at the beginning of the sequence (Figure 10.94).
Choose Mark > Next > Gap; or press Shift-G.
The playhead moves to the beginning of the first gap found (Figure 10.95).
If you want to close the gap, use one of the procedures described in the next section, “To close a gap.”
Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you reach the end of the sequence.
Make the sequence active; then position the playhead anywhere in the gap.
Do one of the following:
Select the gap and press Delete.
Control-click the gap; then select Close Gap from the shortcut menu (Figure 10.96).
Choose Sequence > Close Gap.
Clips to the right of the gap will shift left to close the gap. These clips adjust their timecode location to occur earlier, and the sequence duration may change (Figure 10.97).
To find track gaps in a Timeline track:
In the Timeline, target the track you want to search (Figure 10.98).
Press the Home key to position the playhead at the beginning of the sequence.
Choose Mark > Next > Track Gap.
The playhead moves to the beginning of the first track gap found (Figure 10.99).
To close a track gap:
Do one of the following:
Open the shortcut menu over the gap and choose Close Gap.
Select the gap and press the Delete key.
Position the playhead anywhere within the gap; then choose Sequence > Close Gap.
Tip
Sometimes a gap can’t be closed because clips don’t have space to shift back. If the command can’t be completed, the Close Gap command will appear dimmed (Figure 10.100). Try the track-locking technique discussed next.
To close a track gap without affecting other tracks in a sequence:
Press Shift-F4 to lock all video tracks in your sequence.
Press Shift-F5 to lock all audio tracks in your sequence.
Click the Track Lock control of the gapped track.
Your selected track is now the only unlocked track in the sequence (Figure 10.101).
Do one of the following:
Select the gap and press Delete.
Control-click the gap; then select Close Gap from the shortcut menu (Figure 10.102).
Choose Sequence > Close Gap.
Clips to the right of the gap will shift left to close the gap. These clips adjust their timecode locations to occur earlier, and the sequence duration may change (Figure 10.103).
If you want to unlock your sequence tracks after closing the gap, press Shift-F4 and Shift-F5 again to toggle track locking off.
To close a track gap with the Select Forward tool:
Snapping must be on; if necessary, choose View > Snapping to turn it on.
From the Tool palette, choose the Select Track Forward tool; then click the first clip to the right of the track gap (Figure 10.104).
Figure 10.104. Use the Select Track Forward tool to click the first clip to the right of the track gap.
The clips to the right of the sequence are selected, and the pointer changes to a four-headed arrow.
Drag the selected clips to the left until they snap to close the gap; then drop them as an Overwrite edit (Figure 10.105).
To close a gap by extending an adjacent clip (an Extend edit):
In some cases, you may prefer to close a gap in a sequence by extending the duration of a clip that’s adjacent to the gap. One advantage of an Extend edit is that all the clips in your sequence can stay put, and you won’t develop sync problems. To learn how to perform an Extend edit, see Chapter 11, “Fine Cut: Trimming Edits.”
Tips
When you fine-tune gaps in sequences, take advantage of the Zoom tools to scale your view so you can see what you’re doing. You may also find that turning on snapping simplifies selection and manipulation of gaps and track gaps.
Here’s a quick way to read a gap’s duration: Select the gap in the Timeline and then press Shift-A. The Mark Selection command sets sequence In and Out points, and your gap’s duration appears in the Timecode Duration field in the Canvas. Wow—it actually takes longer to describe it than to do it.
A clip’s attributes comprise the settings applied to a particular media file in Final Cut Express. You can paste all the attributes of one clip onto another clip, or you can select and paste some of a clip’s settings onto another clip without affecting other attributes. For example, you can apply just the filter settings from clip A to clip B without changing the video frames of clip B. Conversely, you can replace the video frames of clip B without disturbing the filters that have been applied to it by pasting only the video frames from another clip. If you just paste into a sequence without selecting a clip in the Timeline or the Canvas, the clip’s media contents and selected attributes are included.
The Remove Attributes command offers an easy way to strip selected settings from a clip or to remove selected settings from multiple clips in a single operation.
To paste the attributes of a copied clip into another clip:
In the Timeline or the Browser, select a clip whose attributes you want to copy (Figure 10.106); then press Command-C to copy the clip to the clipboard.
Select the clip that will inherit the attributes; then choose Edit > Paste Attributes or press Option-V.
In the Paste Attributes dialog box, select the attributes that you want to transfer to the selected clip (Figure 10.107).
Scale Attribute Times: Check this box to adjust the timing of the incoming keyframes to fit the duration of the clip inheriting the attributes. If this option is not selected, leftover keyframes will be cropped off the end.
Content: Paste the video frames only. If the receiving clip is a different length, incoming video frames are cropped or lengthened to match the duration of the receiving clip. The clip speed is not affected.
Basic Motion, Crop, Distort, Opacity, Drop Shadow, Motion Blur, and Filters: You can pick and choose among these options to apply the parameter values and keyframes you have set for each attribute.
Speed: Apply the same speed settings.
Clip Settings (Capture): Paste all capture settings that are logged with a clip. (You can review these settings on the Clip Settings tab of the Capture window.)
Audio Attributes:
Content: Paste the audio waveform only. If the receiving clip is a different length, the incoming audio file is cropped or lengthened to match the duration of the receiving clip. The clip speed is not affected.
Levels, Pan, and Filters: Apply the parameter values and keyframes you have set for each attribute.
Click OK.
The selected attributes are pasted into the receiving clip (Figure 10.108).
Tip
Pasting audio levels can be a quick way to add an audio element—say, another sound effects track—to a scene you have already mixed. You can “borrow” the mix levels from a track that has already been adjusted to match action and paste those levels onto your new effects track. You can apply the same idea to video compositing: paste the motion path from one video layer to another that you want to track the same path, or paste and then offset the timing of the motion path.
To remove attributes from a clip:
In the Timeline, select the clip or clips whose attributes you want to remove.
Choose Edit > Remove Attributes.
In the Remove Attributes dialog box, check the attributes you want to remove (Figure 10.109); then click OK.
Use the Modify > Levels command to adjust multiclip selections:
Use Modify > Levels to adjust levels for a group of audio clips.
Use Modify > Opacity to adjust opacity levels for a group of video clips.
To adjust audio levels for a group of clips:
In the Timeline, select a group of audio clips whose levels you want to adjust (Figure 10.110).
Choose Modify > Levels.
In the Gain Adjust dialog box, do one of the following:
Choose Relative from the pop-up menu; then use the slider to adjust each clip’s volume relative to its current level by the dB value indicated next to the slider (Figure 10.111).
Choose Absolute from the pop-up menu; then use the slider to set each clip’s volume to the dB value indicated next to the slider.
Click OK.
Tip
Use FCE’s audio level meters to check your audio level adjustments. Choose Window > Audio Meters to display the meters.
To adjust opacity levels on a group of clips:
In the Timeline, select just the video portion of a group of clips whose levels you want to adjust.
Choose Modify > Levels.
In the Opacity Adjust dialog box, do one of the following:
Choose Relative from the pop-up menu; then use the slider to adjust each clip’s opacity relative to its current level by the percentage value indicated next to the slider.
Choose Absolute from the pop-up menu; then use the slider to set each clip’s opacity to the percentage value indicated next to the slider (Figure 10.112).
Click OK.
Changing the playback speed of a clip adjusts its duration by duplicating or skipping clip frames and creates either a slow-motion or a fast-motion effect. For example, if you start with a 1-minute clip and set the playback speed to 50 percent, Final Cut Express will duplicate each frame, doubling the clip length to 2 minutes. Your adjusted 2-minute clip will appear to play back at half speed. If you start with the same 1-minute clip and increase the playback speed to 200 percent, the adjusted clip will skip every other frame and appear to play back at double speed in 30 seconds. You can specify frame blending when modifying a clip’s speed to smooth out the slow-motion or fast-motion effect.
Tip
When a clip is simply too short to fit that gap in your montage, the Fit to Fill edit is a one-step solution that automatically speed-modifies the clip so it fills that gap perfectly. See “Fit to Fill edit” in Chapter 9.
To change the playback speed of a clip:
Select the clip in the Timeline (Figure 10.113).
Choose Modify > Speed; or press Command-J.
Choose from the options in the Speed dialog box (Figure 10.114):
You can modify the clip speed by a percentage or specify a duration for the adjusted clip. Changing the clip speed or duration automatically adjusts the other value.
The Reverse check box renders the clip’s frames in reverse order; the adjusted clip plays in reverse.
The Frame Blending option smoothes motion at slow or fast speeds.
Click OK.
The adjusted duration of the modified clip will be calculated based on the clip’s original In and Out points (Figure 10.115).
An offline clip is defined as a placeholder for an actual media file. An offline clip could be:
Logged but not yet captured
A stand-in for the actual media file, which has been moved or deleted
A stand-in for media that is not yet available
You can treat offline clips just like regular clips: You can set In and Out points, add transitions and filters, rename the clips, and so on. Later, you can replace an offline clip by recapturing it or reconnecting to the original source media.
Final Cut Express is so advanced, you can edit media that doesn’t even exist yet!
To create an offline clip:
Choose File > New > Offline Clip.
An offline clip is inserted into the Browser.
See “Reconnecting Offline Files” in Chapter 4 for more information on offline clips.
Final Cut Express has two types of keyframes:
Keyframe overlays indicate clip opacity for video clips and volume level for audio clips. Keyframe overlays are displayed as line graphs right on top of the track display in the Timeline (Figure 10.116).
Motion effect keyframes appear in the Canvas (or Viewer). You can view, add, or modify motion keyframes only when the window is in Image+Wireframe mode (Figure 10.117). Working with keyframes to create motion effects is covered in Chapter 15, “Motion.”
For more information about using these keyframing tools, see “Working with Keyframes in the Timeline” in Chapter 14.
The Final Cut Express search engine is built to search for other items beyond clips and sequences. Use FCE’s Find command to search the Timeline for clip names, marker text, and clip timecodes. You can search for items forward or backward. You can also search for and close gaps in all tracks in a sequence or in individual tracks.
Tip
This might be a good time to mention that when you place a clip in a sequence, the new sequence clip is a separate version from the one that stays in the Browser, even though the two clips may have the same name. So if you are searching for the sequence version of a clip, you need to search in that sequence.
To search for items in the sequence:
Open the sequence in the Timeline.
Do one of the following:
To search the entire sequence, position the playhead at the start of the sequence.
To search a selected portion of the sequence, set the sequence In and Out points to specify the search area; or position the playhead at the beginning of the section you want to search (Figure 10.118).
Choose Edit > Find; or press Command-F.
From the Search pop-up menu, choose the type of item to search for (Figure 10.119):
From the Where pop-up menu, choose which tracks to search:
All Tracks: Search all tracks in the sequence.
Auto Select Tracks: Search only tracks with Auto Select controls enabled.
From In to Out: Search between the sequence In and Out points on all tracks (Figure 10.120).
To perform the search, do one of the following:
Click Find to find the item.
Click Find All to find all occurrences of clips that match the search criteria (Figure 10.121).
Clips matching the search criteria are selected in the Timeline (Figure 10.122). If the search returns a marker, the playhead is positioned on the marker.
To cycle through items in the Timeline that match the criteria:
Follow the search procedure outlined in the preceding steps; then press F3.
To search for an item backward from the position of the playhead:
Follow the search procedure outlined in the preceding steps; then press Shift-F3.