Media Technician's Blog

Final Cut Pro Basics

Cutting:  

Press B on the keyboard to bring up 'Blade Tool'. Using the playhead (the slider) as a ruler, hover the mouse over the slider and the blade will snap to its position. Then simply cut through the footage. Press A to revert to normal mouse mode and click and delete unwanted footage

Adding Effects:

Select the Effects Tab (top left of the FCP layout). Here you can select a variety of different effects, both Video and Audio to add to your footage, fade outs , dissolves etc. Simply click the effect you want and drag it onto the footage. For instance if you want to dissolve between 2 shots, drag the effect BETWEEN 2 shots and the effect will lay itself across both. It can be stretched out to make the effect last longer, or shorter.

Adding Text:

To Add Text, find the small A symbol located at the bottom of the VIEWER panel. Follow the items through to plain Text. (other options are available such as scrolling text for credits, or typewriter text) A screen saying 'SAMPLE TEXT' will appear. In the CONTROL tab you can change the presets, change the text, size, font, colour etc. Once you have your title, click back to VIDEO tab (just to its left) and literally click and drag the title onto the timeline. Make sure its above your footage, then you can move it around, resize etc.

Exporting:

Once your movie is finished. Click on FILE > EXPORT > QUICKTIME MOVIE.  

It will ask you to save your completed film, follow the network through to YOUR individual folder and save your finished film with a logical name, i.e the members of your group + the task name (e.g Sophie, Ollie - AS Camera Practical)