Introduction
When the two Steves started Apple back in 1976, they dreamed of making a computer that people could use as a tool to change the world. Final Cut Pro, launched in 1999, has been an Apple program worthy of the founders’ vision.
Final Cut Pro attracted a worldwide community of users, ranging from award-winning icons of cinema to people you never heard of who were suddenly able to make movies. Twelve years is a long time—you might recognize their names now.
Apple has had a busy and insanely successful decade. It’s a very different company now, with different ambitions, but it’s still resolutely and always facing forward, not backward. With this release, Final Cut Pro X, Apple pushed the big reset button. This is an all-new application.
FCP X, launched in June 2011, has dramatically divided the Final Cut Pro community. Reviews have ranged from “revolutionary and visionary” to “I want my money back.”
FCP, once part of the Final Cut Studio application suite, is a stand-alone application once more and available (only as an Apple App Store download) at a much lower price.
The changes in this latest edition of Final Cut Pro include, well, everything: power and performance gains, a completely redesigned editing interface that works differently, a different (and smaller) feature set, and different names for many features and functions.
This book, Final Cut Pro X: Visual QuickStart Guide, is the first QuickStart Guide for Final Cut Pro, but its authors have been with FCP since before the beginning. This is our first collaboration.
This edition describes the operation of FCP X. If you’re using FCP 4, HD, 5, 6, or 7, you’ll need an earlier edition of Final Cut Pro: Visual QuickPro Guide.
Who Should Use This Book
Final Cut Pro X: Visual QuickStart Guide is designed to be used by Mac users with a little basic knowledge of video-editing terms and procedures and the Mac operating system; explaining basic video production and editing is beyond the scope of this book. Final Cut Pro is designed to be easy to use, but it’s still a professional-level video-editing and compositing program. If you’re familiar with the Macintosh but you’re completely new to video editing, consider some basic training in video-editing fundamentals before you plunge into this program.
Or try Apple’s free iMovie program. It’s a great way to get a taste of basic video editing in a stripped-down program that’s a little easier for beginners to use.
What’s in This Book
This book starts with a quick feature overview of the entire program, followed by hardware setup and program installation.
Next you’ll find four chapters devoted to FCP’s clip handling, media marking and organization, and project structure.
Chapter 6 introduces the Import window—the Final Cut Pro tool you use for importing and organizing media in preparation for an edit.
The next part of the book details the variety of ways you can use FCP’s editing tools to assemble and refine an edited project. These chapters cover basic editing procedures and the operation of the Timeline, Viewer, and Precision Edit windows for editing, with a couple of chapters devoted to audio editing and effects.
The next nine chapters are devoted to using the program’s special effects and compositing tools. You’ll find chapters devoted to creating motion effects, using filters, and creating titles and other generator effects.
The final chapter lays out your options for outputting a final product.
How to Use This Book
This guide is designed to be a Final Cut Pro user’s companion, a reference guide with an emphasis on step-by-step descriptions of specific tasks. You’ll encounter the following features:
• “Anatomy” sections introduce the major program windows with large annotated illustrations identifying interface features and operation. If you’re not a step-by-step kind of person, you can pick up quite a bit of information just by browsing these illustrations.
• Sidebars throughout the book highlight production techniques, FCP protocol rules, and suggestions for streamlining your workflow.
• Tips are short bits that call your attention to a neat trick or a cool feature or warn you of a potential pitfall in the task at hand.
Learning Final Cut Pro
Here are some tips to help you get up and running in Final Cut Pro ASAP.
Basic Theory
“Secrets of Nondestructive Digital Editing,” a sidebar in Chapter 1, “Welcome to Final Cut Pro,” explains how nondestructive editing works and how it affects the operation of Final Cut Pro. You don’t absolutely have to read it to operate Final Cut Pro, but understanding some of the basic concepts underlying the design of the program will make FCP much easier to learn.
Test, Test, Test
Many times, what you’re able to produce with Final Cut Pro depends on the capabilities of your external video hardware and the video format you’re working in. So, before you rush out and submit a budget or sign a contract, take your entire Final Cut Pro system, including your external video gear, for a test-drive.
Keyboard Commands
Final Cut Pro was designed to support a wide variety of working styles ranging from heavy pointing, clicking, and dragging to entirely keyboard-based editing. More keyboard commands are available than those listed in the individual tasks in this book; you can find complete keyboard shortcut info here:
http://help.apple.com/finalcutpro/mac/10.0.1/#ver90ba5929
Shortcut Menus
Final Cut Pro makes extensive use of shortcut menus. As you explore the program, right-clicking items and interface elements is a quick way to see your options in many areas of the FCP interface, and it can speed up the learning process.
Buy a Two-Button Mouse
You’ll be amazed how much a two-button mouse with a scroll wheel will improve your Final Cut Pro editing experience. The FCP interface is quite scroll-friendly; everything from major program windows to the parameter controls on the Viewer’s effects tabs respond to the scroll wheel. Right-clicking a two-button mouse is equivalent to a Control-click, so FCP’s shortcut menus are never more than a single click away.
Touching
If your computer has a multi-touch trackpad, you can interact with FCP using its repertoire of multi-touch gestures. Final Cut Pro Help has details.
Refer to the Manual
The official Final Cut Pro Help documentation can come in handy. The latest edition has shrunk dramatically from the days of FCP 7, but the official word from Apple is available on Apple’s website and from your Mac’s Help menu. Final Cut Pro’s manual is no longer available as a printed document, but you can (and should) download the PDF version from Apple’s website: http://help.apple.com/finalcutpro/mac/10.0.1.
The Help Viewer and online versions of the manual do not offer page numbers. Use the FCP Help search field to look up the section by name, or create a PDF version of the FCP manual on Apple’s website. For more information on how to make your own PDF, see “On-screen Help” in Chapter 1, “Welcome to Final Cut Pro.”
Check Out Apple Support
Apple posts a steady stream of valuable Final Cut Pro articles and updates on its online Apple Support site: www.apple.com/support/finalcutpro/.
Apple Support is also the place to go for program update info, user manuals, and user forums. The company also posts information about FCP “known issues” (that’s corporate-speak for bugs) as technical articles on the site.
The Web Is Your Friend
Using the World Wide Web is an essential part of using Final Cut Pro. Apple, as well as the manufacturers of the video hardware you’ll be using with Final Cut Pro, relies on the Web to inform users of the latest developments and program updates and to provide technical support. You’ll find a starter list of online resources on the Apple FCP Resources page (www.apple.com/finalcutpro/resources/) and specific URLs sprinkled in this book. There are some great sources of information, technical help, and camaraderie out there. If you get stuck or encounter difficulties getting started, go online and ask questions. After you’ve learned the program, go online and answer questions. Helping other people is a great way to learn.
Thank You
Program interfaces may come and go, but the people in this community tend to stick around. It’s been an adventure and a privilege to explore this world and meet so many of you. We look forward to our further adventures together.
Special thanks to Kira Ryder of www.lulubandhas.com, the very real yoga instructor who appears in this book.
Heartfelt thanks to Cupertino, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley, Ojai, Irvine, West Hollywood, Seattle, Chicago, New York, London, and Sydney.
Can’t wait to see your movie.