From 1999 onwards Final Cut Pro has redefined affordable filmmaking, bringing the means to editors throughout the world to create high quality content, quickly and reliably, with a process that is proven and established. This book documents that time and tells you just what you need to know to make the world’s most popular NLE, Final Cut Pro, versions 1-7, work for you.

Introduction; Hands-Dirty Editing; Setting up your system and doing it right; The importance of keeping everything on one drive; 10 set-up Tricks; That big break; Quick tips; File won’t open; Shortcuts for the editing tools; Producers and Directors; Editing tips;1.27 am; Editing tips on location; Editing techniques - How to edit; Vienna; More editing tips; Dublin; Even more editing tips; South of France; Killing sacred cows; Backing up your project or sequence; Media management; Don’t panic; Lady and the tiger; The sound of the cinema; Audio that sings; Audio Tips; Preparing for sound sweetening; Effects creation; Born Free; Distribution and Encoding; Travelling through Europe with a G5 ina box; Berlin; Getting the work and surviving in the industry; Room full of Macs; Playing the game; Killer tips; Techno Junkie.

List of Tips - Final Cut Pro versions 1 - 7

Removable storage solution; Loop Playback; Move Clips 5 Frames at a time; Move Clips by Typing in a Numerical Value; Slipping a Second at a Time; Poster Frames; Hiding the Final Cut Pro Interface; Shortcuts for the editing tools

Editing Tips

Indicators

Luminance Beware the Letter W; When to Upgrade; Energy Saver; Bring your own Equipment. ;Beware the Uninitiated; Backup Machine; Technical Tips; Nesting Clips; Match Frame Editing; Auto Select toggle on/off; Duplicating Clips in the Timeline; Dragging Audio from the Viewer into the Timeline; Cropping Shots; Expanding/Contracting/ Condensing the Timeline; Join Through Edits; Paste Attributes/Remove Attributes; Staying Safe; JIttery Freezes; Scrubbing Through Thumbnails in Column View; Quickly moving in and out of Icon View; Add a Transition to Multiple Shots; Changing Transition Durations; Displaying Clips as a Filmstrip; Audio Sample Rate; Got to Closest Edit Point; Locks; Control V Editing; Forward/Reverse Motion; Color Coding Clips in the Browser; Back Timing; Rules for dragging and juggling shots in the Timeline.

Audio Tips

ControlSurface Three Ways to Adjust Audio Levels; The Power of the Audio Cross Fade; Audio Scrubbing; Quick Sound Mixing; Headphones; Boosting audio levels; Audio to OMF

Effects Creation

Effects

Favorites; Basic 3D; Color Corrector 3-way; Color Corrector; Eight-Point Garbage Matte/Four-Point Garbage Matte; Gain; Gaussian Blur; Luma Key; Mask Shape; Mask Feather; Posterize; SmoothCam;

Solarize

Solarize; Strobe; Flop; Rendering; Repositioning Multilayers of Video; Colorising Parts of an Image; Composite Modes; Using Composite Modes for Text Creation; Filling Text with moving video; Creating Embossed Text; Creating a hard to transparent lower third graphic.

Basic3D

Distribution and Encoding

Isolating tracks on QuickTime Export; Compressing files efficiently;Making a Countdown Clock; Voice over on/offCommand + Tab; Firewiring Macs Together; Fixing Bad Exposure

Killer Tips

Fit to Fill from within the Timeline; Roll Edits; Render and output to any codec you choose; Displaying Timecode; Normalisation Gain; Fullscreen playback of your movie from the Timeline; Reveal in Finder/Browser & Make Offline; Reconnect Media; Avoid Rendering Using the Razorblade Tool; Working with Multiple Timelines; Dealing with aspect ratios; Repairing Disc Permissions; Clone your Boot Drive

Print edition, 180 pages, full color, includes electronic version.

YoungRick Rick Young is the founding member of the UK Final Cut User Group and Editor for MacVideo.tv - Rick also works for many clients in the UK and internationally.