

Option + ] : Use this to end the clip at the current playhead position (also known as Trim End).Option + [ : Start the clip at the current playhead position (also known as Trim Start).Cmd + E : Export using the default sharing option.Comma (,) and Period (.) : essential – use these two keys to move left or right one frame at a time.Cmd + B : use this to cut a clip at the position of the playhead.Shift+Z : if you need to fit something into a window, this is your pal.E : you can ‘append edit’ a clip from the Browser into the Timeline simply by tapping the E key.Here are some of the most popular shortcuts: Part of being a power user (that’s why you’re here right? Or was it for this damn fine music?) is to become a wizard on the keyboard. Do so with a Lightning cable and Preview. iPhone footageĪs smartphones like iPhones become ever more powerful and useful as video cameras, you should get up to speed with the best way to import media from them quickly. Bear this in mind if high quality videos are your primary focus as you probably don’t want to export a pixelated mess after all your hard work editing. When you optimise your media, you’re not improving the look, you’re improving the editing workflow so that you can do things like export your videos faster. To work best within FCPX, try and keep your still images smaller than 10k pixels, keeping things no bigger than three times your project frame size is a good rule of thumb. They’re also useful if you have a small amount of disk space or you are editing multi-camera footage.


If your system is slow, you might want to consider using proxy files as they are around one quarter of the resolution of native camera footage / optimised media. However, if you need to share your media between libraries (or with an editor for example), then it’s best to keep your media separate from a library. To make your life easier when backing up, import your media into a library. If you plan on doing a lot of colour effects and correction etc., then make sure to use a codec that compresses media as little as possible as colour info is usually lost the more a codec compresses a file. A good combo of all three is obviously the best choice if you can afford it! 3. Here’s a useful rundown on RAM, CPU & GPU:īasically, the more RAM the better as you can run more processes simultaneously and, although a fast CPU is great for thread-hungry processes like rendering and exports, more RAM and a faster GPU is going to be better for editing quickly. Consider a RAID 5 array with a minimum of four hard drives as you’ll be able to edit pretty much in every format available (except 4K uncompressed). RAID drives are faster and usually hold more data which is useful if you’re editing (remember that a single uncompressed 4K video frame is around 230mb at 10-bit depth!). If you’re serious about editing, get a RAID set up to protect yourself against one of your drives dying on you mid-edit.

#Final cut pro editing techniques mac#
USB2 and FW400 are not fast enough for todays practices, go for at least FW800 and USB3 or, even better, Thunderbolt if your Mac has the capability. As your media can be stored anywhere, don’t fill up your system drive with unnecessary clutter as it will slow things down when you’re editing (remember to try and keep your system drive around 10% empty or even 20% if possible so things run smoothly).Īs we’re now well into the 21st century, use the fastest external drives you can get your hands on. Let’s start with a few basics : store your media on an external drive that is fast enough to support video editing and streaming. Navigating through Final Cut Pro X can be daunting if you’re new to it or even just transitioning across from previous versions, so learning the following tips & tricks will help you streamline the process and increase your productivity! 1.
