Apple Final Cut Pro 7 User Manual

Final Cut Pro 7

Exploring Final Cut Pro

Apple Inc.

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7 Chapter 1: A First Look at Final Cut Pro

8 Opening Final Cut Pro

10 Jump In: Explore the Browser

14 Jump In: Explore the Viewer

19 Jump In: Explore the Canvas

24 Jump In: Explore the Timeline

28 Jump In: Work with the Main Windows

29 Learning About Projects, Sequences, Clips, and Media Files

31 Key Concepts

33 Chapter 2: Bringing Media into Your System

34 Jump In: Explore Tape-Based Video Capture

40 Jump In: Explore File-Based Video Transfer

48 Jump In: Import Still Images and Other Media

51 Learning About Ingesting Media and Setting Up Projects

53 Key Concepts

55 Chapter 3: Preparing Clips in the Viewer

55 Jump In: Get to Know the Viewer

61 Jump In: Change Clips in the Viewer

62 Jump In: Create a Title Clip

68 Jump In: Change Clips over Time

77 Learning About Motion Parameters

79 Key Concepts

81 Chapter 4: Working with the Canvas and Timeline

81 Jump In: Work with the Canvas

86 Jump In: Work with Tracks in the Timeline

93 Jump In: Edit Clips into a Sequence in the Timeline

97 Key Concepts

99 Chapter 5: Basic Editing

99 Jump In: Trim Clips

107 Jump In: Make Simple Split Edits and Cutaways

113 Learning About the Trim Edit Window

115 Key Concepts

117 Chapter 6: Working with Audio

118 Jump In: Work with a Clip’s Audio in the Viewer

125 Jump In: Change Audio Levels over Time

134 Jump In: Work with Audio Tracks in the Timeline

140 Key Concepts

Contents

141 Chapter 7: Creating Voiceovers

141 Jump In: Add Voiceover Clips

150 Key Concepts

151 Chapter 8: Adding Video Filters and Transitions

152 Jump In: Apply Filters to Clips

157 Jump In: Make Simple Color Corrections

159 Jump In: Add Transitions Between Clips

16 5 Learning About Transitions

16 9 Key Concepts

17 1 Chapter 9: Outputting Your Finished Movie

17 2 Jump In: Create a QuickTime Movie

17 3 Jump In: Export a Movie in a Specic File Format

17 6 Key Concepts

17 7 Chapter 10: Getting Answers

17 7 Jump In: Explore Final Cut Pro Help

17 8 What’s Next?

Contents

A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Welcome to Final Cut Pro. If you’re new to the Final Cut Pro

video editing workow, this guide is for you. Here you’ll create

a sample video project and learn by doing.

Each chapter of this book presents major features and guides you in trying things out. Feel free to explore on your own. Have fun learning the basics. Later, when you

feel comfortable, you can bring in your own video and other media and begin serious editing with Final Cut Pro.

This book assumes that you’ve installed Final Cut Pro on your computer.

If you haven’t installed Final Cut Pro yet:  See the Installing Your Software booklet.

If you prefer to start by reading in-depth explanations of concepts and procedures used



with Final Cut Pro: Open Final Cut Pro and choose Help > Final Cut Pro Help. Then click Final Cut Pro 7: User Manual.

Opening Final Cut Pro

You’ll start by opening Final Cut Pro and creating a sample project.

To open Final Cut Pro:

Double-click the Final Cut Pro icon in your Applications folder.1

If you see the Choose Settings dialog, click OK to accept the default settings.2

When you open Final Cut Pro, it checks to see if a camera or other device is connected to your computer. If no device for capturing video is connected, a dialog appears asking whether you want to connect a device and have Final Cut Pro check again, or continue without connecting a device.

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Click Continue.3

Browser

Viewer

Canvas

Timeline

When Final Cut Pro opens, your screen will look similar to this:

On the left you see the Browser, where you create projects and organize bins that hold your clips. Now you’re ready to explore a simple video editing workow.

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Explore the BrowserJump In:

First, you’ll import some clips into your project, and then you’ll explore some important parts of the Final Cut Pro interface. If you have video les of your own on your

computer, feel free to import several and work with them as you explore. You’ll learn more about capturing video from a camcorder or other device later.

Getting Ready

To import sample video les:

In Final Cut Pro, choose Help > Final Cut Pro Help. 1

Click the link below the description of the 2 Exploring Final Cut Pro manual to download

the sample les.

After downloading, double-click the folder to decompress it, then drag the four sample 3

les from your Downloads folder into your Movies folder.

Choose File > Import > Files.4

Navigate to the Movies folder. 5

Select the sample les. You can Shift-click or Command-click les to select several at once.6

Click Choose.7

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

To import your own video les that are already on your computer:

Project tab

Audio clip

Sequence icon

Sample video clips

Choose File > Import > Files.1

Navigate to the folder holding your video les. 2

Select the les you want to import into Final Cut Pro. You can Shift-click or Command-click 3 les to select several at once.

Click Choose.4

Next, you’ll explore the Browser. Your Browser now looks similar to this:

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Try This

Feel free to try out any of the following to see what happens.

Change the Browser display:

Choose View > Browser Items > as Large Icons to display the clips as icons. 

Choose View > Browser Items > as Small Icons to display the clips as smaller icons. Drag  the clips around in the Browser to reposition or reorder them.

Choose View > Browser Items > as List to display the clips as a list of items. 

Create and work with bins:

Choose File > New > Bin to create a new bin to hold clips. Type “Samples” as the bin 1 name and press Return.

You can create bins, which are like folders, to hold and organize the clips in your project.

Press Command-B to create another bin. Name it “Samples 2” and press Return.2

Double-click the Samples bin to open it. Click the close button to close the bin. Click the 3 Samples 2 bin to select it, and press Return to open it. Press Control-W to close the bin.

Select the Samples 2 bin and press Delete to delete it.4

Select items in the Browser:

Click an item in the Browser. Press the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to select items. 

Shift-click items in the Browser. 

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Create a new sequence:

Sequence tabs

Choose File > New > Sequence. 1

A new sequence icon appears in the project. A sequence represents clips in the

Timeline. A sequence might hold a scene, a portion of your movie, or the entire movie.

Select the sequences and name them “Scene 1” and “Scene 2.”2

Double-click the Scene 2 sequence icon and notice that there are now two sequence 3 tabs in the Timeline.

Click the sequence tabs in the Timeline to switch between sequences. 4

After you open a sequence in the Timeline, you can place the clips you want in it. You’ll learn more about working with sequences later.

View additional Browser information:

Drag the scroll bar at the bottom of the Browser to see additional columns of clip  information.

Control-click an item in the Browser to bring up a shortcut menu of useful commands.  Click in the Browser to close the shortcut menu.

Save changes to your project:

Choose File > Save Project to save your work. Name the project any name you like. 

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Explore the ViewerJump In:

You use the Viewer to view and edit individual clips, set In and Out points, set markers, and more.

Try This

Place a clip in the Viewer:

Drag Sample Clip 1 into the Viewer. 

Change the display of a clip in the Viewer:

Choose Fit to Window from the Zoom pop-up menu in the Viewer. Final Cut Pro resizes  the clip to display it completely within the Viewer’s frame. Choose 50% from the Zoom pop-up menu to display the clip at half size.

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Play a clip in the Viewer:

Play button

Scrubber bar

Click the Play button to start and stop playing the video clip. Then press the Space bar  to start and stop playing the video clip.

Press J to play the clip backward. Press K to stop playback. Press L to play the clip  forward. Press the J or L key several times to accelerate the playback speed, and press K

to stop playback.

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Navigate to specic locations in a clip:

Shuttle control

Jog control

Click in the white scrubber bar to reposition the playhead. The scrubber bar represents  the length of the clip.

Press the Home key or the End key to move the playhead to the beginning or end of  the clip.

Drag the shuttle control right or left to play the clip forward or backward slowly. 

Drag the jog control to move the playhead forward or backward by a small number of 

frames.

Press the Right Arrow or Left Arrow key to move the playhead forward or backward  one frame at a time. Hold down Shift and press the Right Arrow or Left Arrow key to

move the playhead forward or backward 1 second at a time.

If your mouse has a trackball, position the pointer over the Viewer and roll the trackball  left or right to reposition the playhead in the Viewer.

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Set and work with In and Out points:

Play In to Out button

In point marker Out point marker

Position the playhead near the beginning of the clip and choose Mark > Mark In to set  an In point. Position the playhead near the end of the clip and choose Mark > Mark Out to set an Out point. Click the Play In to Out button to play the clip starting from the In point. Click the Play In to Out button again to restart the playback from the In point. Press the Space bar to stop playing the clip.

Drag the In point and Out point markers in the scrubber bar to new positions. 

Position the playhead near the beginning of the clip and press I to set an In point.  Position the playhead near the end of the clip and press O to set an Out point. ( You can

also press I or O as a clip plays to set In and Out points on the y.)

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Navigate between edit points:

Go to Previous Edit button

Go to Next Edit button

Click the Go to Next Edit button or the Go to Previous Edit button to move the  playhead to the next or previous edit point.

Press the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to move between edit points. 

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Explore the CanvasJump In:

Sequence tab

Transport controls

Scrubber bar

The Canvas is where you play back the movie that you’ve created in the Timeline.

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Try This

Drag from here... ...to here.

Use the Canvas to place a clip in the Timeline:

Drag the clip from the Viewer (just drag the image) into the Canvas until the colored 

Edit Overlay appears. Drag the clip to the Insert section of the overlay. The clip is inserted in the Timeline.

If you see a message asking if you want Note: Final Cut Pro to set the Timeline

sequence settings to match the incoming clip settings, click Yes.

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Change the display of the Canvas:

Zoom pop-up menu

Scrubber bar

Go to Previous Edit button

Go to Next Edit button

Choose several dierent zoom levels from the Zoom pop-up menu. Last, choose the 

50% zoom level from the Zoom pop-up menu.

Play and navigate within the clip in your sequence:

Click the Canvas window to make it active. To play the clip in your sequence in the  Timeline, press Home to move the playhead to the beginning of the Timeline, then click the Play button in the Canvas transport controls. Most of the Canvas controls work identically to those you’ve used in the Viewer.

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Press the Space bar to start and stop playback. 

Go to Previous Edit button

Go to Next Edit button

Click in the white scrubber bar in the Canvas to reposition the playhead. The scrubber  bar represents the sequence in the Timeline.

Press the Home key or the End key to move the playhead to the beginning or end of  the sequence in the Timeline.

Press the J key or L key to play the clip backward or forward. Press K to stop playback.  Press the J or L key several times to accelerate the playback speed.

Move the playhead forward or backward:

Press the Right Arrow key or Left Arrow key to move playhead forward or backward  one frame at a time. Hold down Shift and press the Right Arrow or Left Arrow key to

move the playhead forward or backward 1 second at a time.

Click the Go to Next Edit button or Go to Previous Edit button to move the Canvas  playhead to the next or previous edit point in the sequence. Press the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to move between edit points.

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Reposition the playhead in the Canvas (if your mouse has a trackball):

View pop-up menu

Position the pointer over the Canvas and roll the trackball left or right to reposition the  playhead in the Canvas and Timeline.

Change the display of the Canvas:

Choose Show Overlays from the View pop-up menu. Choose Show Title Safe from  the View pop-up menu to have Final Cut Pro display borders showing the part of the image that will appear on a standard video screen. Choose Show Overlays from the

View pop-up menu again to turn o the display of overlays.

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Explore the TimelineJump In:

Ruler

Zoom slider

Thumb tab

Sequence tab

Video clip item

Audio clip items

Playhead

The Timeline holds your sequences, which contain the arrangement of video and audio clips, and other items such as titles and transitions, in the order you want them in your movie.

Try This

Play and navigate within the sequence in the Timeline:

Click in the Timeline ruler to reposition the playhead. Try using the J, K, and L keys to  play the sequence in the Timeline. Press Home and End to jump to the beginning or end of the sequence. Use arrow keys to move the playhead to dierent locations.

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Drag the thumb tabs at the ends of the Zoom slider to change the displayed length of 

Drag the clip to move it.

Drag the end of a clip to shorten or lengthen it.

the Timeline’s clips. Scroll through the Timeline by dragging the Zoom slider left or right.

Press Command–Equal Sign (=) and Command-Hyphen (-) to zoom in to and out of the  Timeline.

Scroll through the sequence in the Timeline:

Press H to select the Hand tool, then drag left or right within the Timeline. Press A to  select the Selection tool again.

If your mouse has a trackball, position the pointer over the Timeline and roll the  trackball left or right to scroll through the sequence.

Change a clip in the Timeline:

Drag the clip to the right to reposition it in your sequence in the Timeline. (Just drag  the blue bar that represents the clip.)

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Position the pointer over the end of the clip and drag to shorten or lengthen the clip. 

Razor Blade tool

Selection tool

You can trim either end of a clip this way.

Click the Razor Blade tool in the Tool palette. Position the pointer over the clip, then  click to split the clip. Click the Selection tool. Select part of the clip and press Delete.

Cancel your actions:

Choose Edit > Undo to cancel your last change. Press the Undo command’s keyboard  shortcut, Command-Z, to undo the change before that. You can undo up to 99 changes.

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Change the Timeline track size:

Track Height control

Change the size of tracks by clicking the Track Height control. 

Add more clips to the Timeline using the Canvas window:

To add another clip to your sequence in the Timeline, rst press End to position the 1

playhead at the end of the last clip.

Drag Sample Clip 2 from the Browser into the Viewer. Set In and Out points if you wish 2 (press I to set an In point, and press O to set an Out point).

Drag the clip from the Viewer to the Insert section of the Canvas Edit overlay. 3

Open a sequence clip in the Viewer to make changes:

Double-click the blue bar of Sample Clip 1 in the Timeline to open the clip in the  Viewer. Change the In and Out points of the clip in the Viewer to make the clip shorter, and see the change appear in the Timeline.

Eliminate gaps between clips in your sequence:

To eliminate a gap, click the space in the Timeline where the gap appears (between the  clips) to select it, then press Delete.

Experiment with dragging and moving clips in the Timeline:

Experiment with dragging and changing the position and lengths of clips in the Timeline. 

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Work with the Main WindowsJump In:

Final Cut Pro provides some easy methods for working with its main windows.

Try This

Change the active window:

Press Command-1 to activate the Viewer. 

Press Command-2 to activate the Canvas. 

Press Command-3 to activate the Timeline. 

Press Command-4 to activate the Browser. 

Change the window layout for dierent editing purposes:

Drag the title bar of a window to change its position. 

Choose Window > Arrange > Standard to restore the standard window layout. 

Choose Window > Arrange > Two Up to change to a window layout that allows you to  easily work with the Viewer and Canvas.

Choose Window > Arrange > Audio Mixing to change to a layout designed for easily  working with the audio in your sequences.

Choose Window > Arrange > Color Correction to change to a layout that allows you to  easily grade and color correct clips.

When you’ve nished exploring these window layouts, press Control-U to restore the 

standard window layout.

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Learning About Projects, Sequences, Clips, and Media Files

To begin creating a movie, you create a project in the Browser. To create a new project, choose File > New Project.

You can have multiple projects open at once, each represented by a tab in the Browser. To access a specic project, you click the project tab. You can also drag a project tab out of the Browser window to open the project in a separate window. You can reuse and share sequences and clips between projects.

Learning About Sequences

When you create a new project, a sequence icon appears in the project, too. This

sequence icon represents the clips you place in the Timeline. You can open a sequence by double-clicking it in the Browser, and the sequence then appears in the Timeline.

You can create multiple sequences in a project. For a long project, for example, you might create dierent sequences to hold dierent scenes. You can create as many

sequences as you wish. A sequence tab appears in the Timeline title bar for each open sequence. Clicking the sequence tab in the Timeline displays the sequence’s clips.

You can drag a sequence from the Browser and place it in the Timeline, just as you

can with a clip. You can place one sequence after another in the Timeline. You can also

place sequences within sequences. So, for example, you might create several dierent sequences that represent scenes in your movie and then arrange them in their nal

order within a single master sequence.

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

Understanding the Relationship Between Clips and Media Files

An important rst stage in creating a project is transferring your video to your

computer. Final Cut Pro provides a variety of ways to get media into your computer. The method you use depends on the media type. You’ll learn more about capturing and transferring video in the next chapter.

After you’ve captured or transferred your media into a project, clip icons representing the media les appear in the project’s tab of the Browser window. A large project may hold many clips. For complicated projects, you can create a system of bins to hold and

organize clips. You can name and organize the bins to suit your work style.

When you capture or transfer clips, the corresponding media les are stored on your computer hard disk. You can specify where you want the media les stored. Because video and audio media les are often large, you’ll want to plan where your les will reside.

An important point to remember is that the media les from your camcorder or other sources are not stored in a project. The clips in a project merely point to the media les

stored elsewhere on your hard disk. When you modify a clip, you are not modifying

the media le, just the clip’s information in the project. You work with and edit clips in Final Cut Pro, but the underlying media les are unchanged on your hard disk.

Chapter 1 A First Look at Final Cut Pro

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