Editing 2: Final Cut Pro X Basics
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Editing 2: Final Cut Pro X Basics Battle Creek Area Community Television 70 West Michigan Ave., Suite 112 • Battle Creek, MI 49017 • (269) 968-3633 • www.accessvision.tv What is editing? Editing is the post-production process, or anything that you do to a video after recording. Raw pieces are assembled into a coherent whole, by arranging them into a context that tells a story. Editing is referred to as the “invisible art”, because when it is done well, the viewer can become so engaged that they’re not even aware of the editor’s work. What can you do in the process of editing? The majority of editing work consists of trimming clips to remove unwanted sections and arranging the order of scenes. You can also remove/add sound, add narration and music and change the volume and sound mix. You can swap audio for video, apply special effects, add transitions between clips and add titles. Digital or “non-linear” editing is non-destructive; edits are easy to revise and you can assemble a program out of order. What CAN’T you do in the process of editing? No amount of editing can make bad footage good. Blurry or under-/over-exposed video and audio that is poorly-recorded cannot be fixed. Process Overview and Terms Final Cut Pro X is Apple’s professional non-linear editor. The editing workflow usually consists of these steps: 1. Collect source material: Import media (raw footage and any other source files) into Final Cut. 2. Organize media: Rename, tag and trim clips in preparation for editing into project. 3. Assemble a “rough cut”: Create a new project, add clips in order and work out timing. 4. Refine and finish: Continue to trim clips; add transitions, effects, titles and music; mix audio. When finished, share/export the edited project as a movie file. Import: process of bringing raw materials into Final Cut. Video/audio files and photos show up as Clips in an Event, inside of a Library. Library: container that holds all media, events, and projects. It is a single package in the Finder, con- taining all of the supporting files used by Final Cut Pro. Event: similar to a folder that holds your clips after importing. You can organize clips into as many events as you need. Clips are displayed in the Event Browser. Project (Timeline or Sequence): edited assembly of audio and video clips. The Project is a linear layout of your edited program. You’ll add clips to a Project to assemble your program. A Library is a self-contained unit of work such as a production or job. It contains multiple Events and Projects in the same location. When you import files, raw footage appears as clips inside an Event in the Library. When you assemble your program, you’ll edit these clips in a Project, which lays out the footage in a timeline. NOTE: The Library is the only file you’ll see in the Finder. Events, Projects and clips are only visible from within Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Pro requires a Library to contain at least one Event. 1 2 Final Cut Pro X interface Sidebar Import Browser organize libraries and access Viewer Play media skim and select clips to audio, titles & generators use in your projects Play play back clips and projects full screen Show/Hide Inspector Event Clips Resize view of Timeline Timeline Timecode & Show Effects & Play edit your movie in this area Audio Meters Transitions Head Camera Archive: a backup copy of an SD card. It’s a bit-for-bit clone containing the card’s entire contents (all video clips, folders, etc.) inside a special folder/package that shows up as a single file in the Finder. In/Out points: areas of a selection that define where a clip begins (In) and ends (Out). B-roll: supplemental or alternative footage intercut with the main shot in an interview or documentary. Getting Started AccessVision has three Edit Rooms and eight portable laptop editing kits. All computers contain the same software and are interchangable; as long as you save all of your material on an external hard drive, it doesn’t matter which machine you use. Edit rooms may be reserved for a maximum of 4 hours at a time. Once you have completed your first program in an edit room, you may check out a laptop kit for 4 days. 1. Press any key on the keyboard to wake the computer up, or press the power button on laptop. 2. Connect your External Drive. 3. Copy the SD card as a Camera Archive onto the External Drive (when you return a camera). 4. Import footage into Final Cut Pro (when you’re ready to edit). Creating a new library 1. Connect your External Drive. 2. Launch Final Cut Pro X: hold down the option key while clicking on its icon in the Dock. 3. Select ‘New...’ from the Open Library window. Save your new Library to the External Drive, listed in the left sidebar under DEVICES. IMPORTANT! Only save Libraries to the External Drive! If you are unsure where you are saving your files, ask for help before proceeding. ANY WORK SAVED ON THE MAC’S INTERNAL DRIVE WILL BE TRASHED. 3 Creating a Camera Archive 1. Insert the SD card. Close Photos, if necessary. 2. In Final Cut Pro, click the Import button. 3. Select the SD card (named ‘CAM_SD’ or ‘NO_NAME’) in the left sidebar. In the bottom left corner, click the ‘Create Archive’ button. 4. Be sure to save the archive to your External Drive. When naming the archive, include the date when the footage was recorded. 5. Wait for the archiving process to complete, then click on the EJECT button next to the CAM_SD icon. DO NOT PULL THE CARD OUT UNTIL IT HAS BEEN EJECTED AND HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SIDEBAR! Importing clips 1. In the Media Import window, choose External Drive from the left sidebar and navigate to the Camera Archive or other folder containing clips. 2. Note the options listed on the right. You can choose to add imported clips to an existing Event, or you can have it create a new Event. All other options may be left unchecked except for ‘Close window after starting import’. 3. Shift-click or command-click to select the files to import and press Import Selected button. 4 If you’re not using a Camera Archive, you can also import clips directly from an SD card or another folder on the External Drive by using the same process. IMPORTANT! If you are importing clips from a folder, note the checkbox in the import window’s right sidebar: • If ‘Copy to library’ is checked: Imported files will be COPIED (duplicated) into the Library. • If ‘Copy to library’ is unchecked: Final Cut Pro will LINK to the original files on your hard drive. If these original files are later trashed, moved or renamed, they may go offline! Imported clips appear in an Event in the Library in the top left corner. To double-check where a clip is located in the Finder, right-click on it and choose Reveal In Finder. Organizing clips and preparing for edit Displaying event data: • You can show or hide the Libraries list • You can change views to show clips as a list or as filmstrips. Use the slider to zoom in/out. Taking time up front to prep footage will help later in the the process: • To rename a clip: click on the name once to highlight, then type a new name • To review footage: press the spacebar to play/stop playing clips. Use J, K, L to fast forward/rewind. The Event Browser displays the clips and Resize Clips Add Keyword projects in the selected event Library Project Smart Choose Filmstrip Collections or List view Clips Event 5 Making selections to trim clips: • Mark an IN point by pressing I; press O to mark an OUT point. • You can also click and drag on the clip’s icon to make a selection. • Selections are indicated by a yellow box on the clip’s icon. To play only the footage included in the selection: press the / key. Ratings: you can rate whole clips, selections or even multiple sections of the same clip: 1. To Favorite a clip: make a selection, then press F 2. To Reject a clip: make a selection, then press Delete. Clip status display: Green = Favorite; Red = Rejected; Orange = Used in a project. To remove a clip from the Event Library, right-click on it and select Move to Trash. This moves it to the Finder’s Trash. Basic Editing: Assembling The Timeline Create a New Project (timeline): Go to the File menu > New Project or right-click on the Library and select New Project. Name it and select which event to save it in. Final Cut Pro’s timeline uses Lanes instead of tracks. The main lane of video is called the Primary Storyline. There are four ways to add clips to the timeline. 6 Append Edit: (keyboard shortcut: E) Always puts the clip at the end of the timeline. Useful for adding clips one after another, without having to worry if the playhead is in the right spot. Insert Edit: (W) It puts the clip wherever the playhead is: • If it is between two clips, the new clip is inserted between them. • If it is in the middle of a clip, the clip will be split and the new clip inserted at the split. Connect Edit: (Q) Used to add cutaway shots, titles, music and sound effects.