Apple Final Cut Pro X (10.0.9) - Manual (Page 14)

Chapter 2 Final Cut Pro basics 14
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Use connected clips and storylines to add cutaway shots, superimposed titles, and sound
effects to your project. Connected clips and storylines always stay in sync.
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Add special effects to video, audio, and photos, and adjust them using keyframes and onscreen
controls. You can also change clip speed to create fast-motion or slow-motion effects.
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Automatically balance and match color, or use the color correction tools to precisely control
the look of any clip in your project.
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Publish your project directly to websites such as YouTube and Facebook, or send your project
to iTunes for syncing with Apple devices such as iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.
Final Cut Pro workflow overview
To give you an idea of the possibilities, the overall process for putting together a movie with
Final Cut Pro is described below. You don’t have to do every step, and you might do others that
aren’t listed. The workflow isn’t necessarily linear. You could, for example, go all the way through
editing and adding effects, and then import more new media for your project.
Import your media into Final Cut Pro
To use Final Cut Pro, you need to transfer your media (video, audio, and still images) from your
recording device to your computer or an external disk. You can import media from many kinds
of cameras and other devices, or from other applications such as iMovie.
Organize your media
Final Cut Pro automatically organizes your imported media into events. An event is like a folder
that contains all the media recorded on a certain date. In Final Cut Pro, your media appears as
clips, which link to the media files stored on a disk. You can reorganize your clips by creating or
renaming events and moving clips between events. For example, you could create an event for
all the media shot for a specific client.
As you review your footage, you can easily rate clips as Favorite or Rejected. These ratings make
it easier to focus on your best footage. Final Cut Pro also offers other useful organizing tools, such
as Keyword Collections and Smart Collections.
Create a project and add clips to it
Your project is the movie you create using clips from your events and from the Final Cut Pro
media browsers. Start creating your movie by adding clips to the Timeline. You make all
your edits in the project; your original media files remain untouched (this is known as
nondestructive editing).
Arrange and edit your clips
Now your movie can really begin to take shape. To assemble a rough cut, rearrange and trim
clips in the Timeline. You can also try out different clips using auditions. Use connected clips
and storylines to add cutaway shots, titles, background music, and sound effects to your project.
Create compound clips to group any combination of clips and nest clips within other clips. You
can simplify a complicated project by creating a separate compound clip for each major section.
Add effects and transitions
Add special effects from the ample collection of video and audio effects in the Final Cut Pro
media browsers. Give your movie titles and credits, and apply video or audio transitions. Adjust
clip speed settings to create fast-motion or slow-motion effects.
To further polish your project, you can fine-tune cuts and transitions with the Precision Editor,
keyframe video and audio effects, correct color, and composite motion graphics.