Edit without Tears with Final Cut Pro

Edit without Tears with Final Cut Pro

by Bruce G. Macbryde
Released March 2024
Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
ISBN: 9781804614921

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Book description

Create, edit, and produce professional-grade videos with practical tips, step-by-step guides, and illustrations

Key Features

  • Enhance project structure, manage media, and use the inspector effectively for consistent pacing
  • Take your video projects to the next level by mastering features such as keyframe animation and advanced color correction
  • Foster collaboration and troubleshoot common issues for a smooth editing process
  • Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook

Book Description

Edit Without Tears with Final Cut Pro is your essential guide to overcoming challenges in video editing using Final Cut Pro, simplifying complex procedures and workflows and providing a structured approach for efficient and impressive video editing. This book will change how you approach editing, guiding you to create professional-grade videos with ease and confidence.

Throughout the book, you'll enhance your efficiency and speed, while also learning unique workflows for common tasks. The comprehensive coverage spans planning video narratives, crafting preliminary edits and refining them, improving audio quality, setting up and editing multicam sequences, leveraging the inspector's controls, and working with both built-in and third-party plugins. You’ll then advance to animating objects using keyframes, utilizing color scopes for advanced color correction, and troubleshooting common issues confidently.

By the end of this Final Cut Pro book, you’ll have developed an efficient editing style, unlocking the full power of this video editing software for your creative endeavors.

What you will learn

  • Organize Final Cut Pro files efficiently in designated locations
  • Set yourself up for success by planning your edits
  • Fine-tune the editing pace to achieve the desired flow and timing
  • Utilize the inspector for color and audio adjustments
  • Initiate various projects, including the Countdown project
  • Enhance effects and animations through plugins
  • Collaborate effectively with multiple users and leverage multicam
  • Ensure all necessary requirements are met after completing the edit

Who this book is for

If you’re an intermediate-level Final Cut Pro editor, creative professional, freelancer, YouTuber, part of a production team, or anyone creating high-quality content on macOS using Final Cut Pro, this book is for you. A basic understanding of video editing principles and familiarity with media formats and macOS file storage is needed to get started with this book.

Table of contents

  1. Edit without Tears with Final Cut Pro
  2. Contributors
  3. About the author
  4. About the reviewer
  5. Preface
    1. Who this book is for
    2. What this book covers
    3. To get the most out of this book
    4. Conventions used
    5. Get in touch
    6. Share Your Thoughts
    7. Download a free PDF copy of this book
  6. Prologue
    1. Who this book is for
    2. What this book covers
      1. Part 1: Planning
      2. Part 2: Editing
      3. Part 3: Using the Inspector
      4. Part 4: Outside of Final Cut Pro
  7. Part 1:Planning
  8. Chapter 1: It’s All about the Media
    1. Technical requirements
    2. The Users folder
    3. The definition of a video file
      1. Aspect ratio
      2. Bit rate
      3. Bit depth
      4. Resolution
    4. Where Final Cut Pro libraries are stored
      1. Why use an external disk for libraries?
      2. Camera footage
      3. Photos/stills
      4. Music
    5. The library concept
    6. The plug-in folders
    7. Video formats
      1. LOG video
      2. The HDR format
      3. RAW video
      4. Interlaced video
      5. ProRes
      6. H.264/H.265
    8. Which video format is best for which purpose?
    9. Audio formats
    10. Second monitors
      1. Having different windows on each display
    11. Types of disks
      1. How much storage is enough?
    12. Summary
  9. Chapter 2: Organizing Media
    1. Understanding libraries and events
    2. When and why to log clips
    3. Favorites
      1. The rating as a favorite method
      2. The adding to favorites method
      3. How to use Favorites
    4. Understanding Keyword Collections
      1. Creating Keyword Collections
      2. Adding shortcuts to Keyword Collections
    5. Smart Collections
      1. What is a Smart Collection?
      2. Adding a Smart Collection
    6. What are folders?
    7. Templates
      1. Creating templates
    8. Using the Search functionality
      1. Filtering method 1
    9. Colored lines on browser clips
      1. Analyzing for people
      2. Markers
    10. Removing media from categories
    11. Browser filters
      1. The filters
    12. Sorting the browser
    13. The Open Clip view
      1. Using the Open Clip function
    14. Shortcuts for media actions
      1. Transcoding media
    15. Exploring clip and library information
      1. A method of exploring clip information
    16. Exploring Settings/Preferences
    17. Summary
  10. Chapter 3: Planning the Video Story
    1. A story is a journey
      1. What are the types of stories?
      2. Why classify stories?
      3. What are the types of plots?
    2. What you should remember when planning a story
      1. Knowing your target audience
      2. Planning the edit with the target audience in mind
      3. Creating storyboards
    3. Planning for different types of videos
      1. Documentary videos
      2. Interviews
      3. Wedding videos
      4. Social media videos
      5. Instructional videos
    4. Summary
  11. Chapter 4: Pre-Editing a Rough Cut
    1. The steps from importing to rough cut
      1. Steps in video post-production
      2. Who does what?
      3. The browser or the timeline
      4. Initial assembly or rough cut
    2. Ingesting the media
      1. Setting up media folders in the Finder
      2. Importing media directly
    3. Logging
      1. Categorizing the clips
      2. Grading the clips
    4. What are projects?
    5. Adding clips to the project
      1. Connected clips
      2. Three-point edits
    6. The timeline
      1. The skimmer and playhead
      2. Timecode
      3. The timeline index
      4. Roles
    7. The initial assembly
      1. Assembling audio- or image-focused videos
      2. Don’t over-edit!
    8. The rough cut
      1. Adding scratch music
      2. Placeholders
      3. Alternatives to placeholders
      4. Duplicating projects
    9. Summary
  12. Part 2:Editing
  13. Chapter 5: Refining the Rough Cut
    1. Understanding the remove, replace, and add actions
      1. Using the to-do marker
      2. Using the audition feature to replace clips
    2. Understanding the timeline view tools
      1. Ripple edits
      2. Roll edits
      3. Slip edits
      4. Slide edits
    3. What is pacing?
      1. Consider these conventions
      2. Tools that aid pacing
    4. What is the Total Running Time (TRT)/picture lock?
    5. Summary
  14. Chapter 6: Fixing and Enhancing the Audio
    1. Understanding audio in the browser
      1. Reading the audio meters
    2. Audio in the timeline
      1. Sub-frame audio fine-tuning
      2. Audio filters
      3. Expanded audio
    3. Fixing audio vocal problems
      1. Ambient background noise
      2. Voices with variable volume levels
      3. Wind noise
      4. Echoes
      5. Distorted voices
      6. Ums and ahs, coughs, and sniffs
    4. Suggestions for correcting audio
      1. Settings for the audio meters
      2. Simple methods to increase low volume
      3. Loop playback
      4. Removing room noise
      5. Removing high and low frequencies
      6. Sweetening male and female voices
      7. Reducing the music
    5. Using XML files
    6. Exporting with audio-only roles
    7. Audio tips and tricks
    8. Summary
  15. Chapter 7: Titles, Effects, and Generators
    1. What are titles?
      1. Animated titles
    2. Adding text to a title
    3. What are generators?
      1. Backgrounds
      2. Elements
      3. Solids and textures
    4. What are effects?
      1. Effects categories
    5. What are transitions?
      1. Two categories of transition
    6. What are Plug-ins?
      1. Problems with Plug-ins
    7. Summary
  16. Chapter 8: Setting Up and Editing Multicam
    1. What is multicam?
      1. What events use multiple cameras?
      2. How multiple cameras are synchronized
    2. Suggestions for filming to suit multicam editing
      1. Audio
      2. The two-minute rule
      3. Color balance
    3. Settings before multicam editing
      1. Importing and categorizing media
      2. Creating a new multicam clip
      3. Manual multicam synchronization
      4. Multicam angle timeline adjustments
      5. Fixing audio and video mismatches
      6. Adjusting the angle viewer
    4. Actions in the multicam angle timeline
      1. Audio synchronization
      2. Global adjustments
      3. Audio levels
      4. Color matching
    5. Editing the multicam project
      1. Setting up angles
      2. Switching angles
      3. Correcting the angle
      4. Stabilization
      5. Multicam audio
      6. Simulating a multicam shoot from one camera’s footage
    6. Summary
  17. Chapter 9: Project Workflows – Pace and Structure
    1. Interviews
      1. Pre-editing
      2. Cutting
      3. Restoring removed clips
      4. Hiding jump cuts
      5. Removing fillers
    2. Audio in sync
    3. Conferences and seminars
      1. One long event
      2. Short, independent videos
    4. Weddings
      1. Organizing media
      2. Synchronizing cameras
    5. Full-length movies and documentaries
      1. Pacing
      2. Continuity editing
      3. Parallel editing (cross-cutting)
      4. J and L cuts
    6. Social media videos
    7. Family holiday movies
    8. Cutting to a beat
    9. General techniques
      1. Cutting angles with a green screen
      2. Adding adjustment layers
      3. Storing callouts
      4. Storing titles and corporate intros
      5. Using workspaces
      6. Collapsing clips into connected storylines
    10. Summary
  18. Part 3:Using the Inspector
  19. Chapter 10: The Inspector Controls
    1. The four main tabs of the inspector
    2. The Video inspector
      1. Section 1 – Effects
      2. Section 2 – Transform
      3. Sections 3 and 4 – Crop and Distort
      4. Sections 5 and 6 – Stabilization and Rolling Shutter
      5. Section 7 – Spatial Conform
    3. The Color inspector
      1. Color Board
      2. Color Wheels
    4. The Audio inspector
      1. Audio Enhancements
      2. Audio Analysis
      3. Pan
      4. Effects
      5. Audio Configuration
      6. Save Audio Effects Preset
    5. The Information inspector
      1. Project information
      2. Library information
      3. Export information
    6. The Titles inspector
    7. The Text inspector
      1. Text division
      2. Position division
      3. The Face checkbox
    8. The Generator inspector
    9. The Transition inspector
    10. Summary
  20. Chapter 11: Using Built-In Plug-Ins
    1. An explanation of plug-in terminology
    2. Plug-ins – general knowledge
    3. Built-in plug-ins
      1. Using built-in titles
      2. Using built-in generators
      3. Using built-in effects
      4. Using built-in transitions
    4. Creating custom plug-ins from built-in plug-ins
    5. Summary
  21. Chapter 12: Using Third-Party Plug-Ins
    1. Free plug-ins
      1. Andy’s plug-ins
      2. BretFX Power Tools Lite
    2. Purchasable plug-ins
      1. Lock & Load Stabilize
      2. PaintX
      3. Keyper
      4. Neat Video noise reduction
      5. Titles plug-ins
      6. Audio correction plug-ins
      7. Eric Lenz
      8. Captionator
    3. Workflow extensions
    4. LUTs
    5. Uninstalling plug-ins
      1. Manually uninstalling plug-ins
    6. Summary
  22. Chapter 13: Using Keyframes to Animate Objects in Final Cut Pro
    1. What is a keyframe?
    2. Audio keyframing
    3. Keyframing in the inspector
      1. Keyframe conventions
    4. Keyframing in the viewer
      1. Adding new keyframes
      2. Selecting linear or smooth curves
    5. Viewer keyframe controls
    6. Keyframing video animation
    7. Ken Burns on steroids
    8. Summary
  23. Chapter 14: Understanding the Principles of Color
    1. Color theory
      1. Color classification
      2. Color values
      3. The color wheel
    2. Color wheels in Final Cut Pro
      1. Color Board
      2. Color wheels
      3. Highlights wheel
    3. Color harmony
      1. Common color schemes
      2. Color schemes for non-designers
      3. Online color calculators
    4. Monitoring color accuracy
      1. Color-accurate monitors
      2. Monitor calibration
    5. Color correction and grading
      1. Adjusting temperature, tint, and hue
      2. Subtractive model of color mixing (CMYK model)
      3. Using HSL tuning for color grading
      4. Automatic color correction controls in Final Cut Pro
    6. Summary
  24. Chapter 15: Using Color Scopes for Advanced Color Correction
    1. Displaying the scopes
      1. Waveformmonitor
      2. Vectorscope
      3. Histogram
      4. The Video Scope menu
    2. Scopes workflow in Final Cut Pro
      1. Step 1 – exposure correction
      2. Step 2 – saturation control
      3. Step 3 – color balance
    3. Color curves
      1. Luma curve
      2. All color curves – RGB
      3. The eyedropper
    4. Hue and saturation curves
      1. HUE vs HUE
      2. HUE vs SAT
      3. HUE vs LUMA
      4. LUMA vs SAT
      5. SAT vs SAT
      6. ORANGE vs SAT
    5. Color and shape masks
    6. Summary
  25. Part 4: Outside Final Cut Pro
  26. Chapter 16: Your Job Role – Collaboration
    1. Understanding the job roles in video production
      1. The production team
      2. The postproduction editing team
    2. Exploring the industries that require video editors
      1. Corporate
      2. Social media
      3. Movies and TV
      4. Documentary
      5. Commercials
      6. Trailers
    3. Should you be a freelancer?
      1. How much work from a client
      2. Type of work
      3. The schedule
      4. Balancing time
      5. Intensity of work
      6. Financial reward
      7. The risk/comfort factor
    4. Collaboration between remote video editors
      1. Sending proxy and XML files
      2. Collaborating at the same premises
      3. Collaborating on Dropbox
      4. Collaborating with LucidLink
      5. VPN access to a centralized local server
      6. Using SNS EVO with Final Cut Pro
      7. Collaboration software
    5. Summary
  27. Chapter 17: Supporting Software Applications for Final Cut Pro
    1. Apple applications that support Final Cut Pro
      1. Motion 5
      2. Compressor
      3. QuickTime
      4. Preview
      5. Keynote
      6. iTunes and Photos
    2. Non-Apple applications that support Final Cut Pro
      1. Final Cut Library Manager
      2. CommandPost
      3. VLC
      4. Handbrake
      5. Audacity
      6. Pixelmator Pro
      7. Miscellaneous applications
    3. Summary
  28. Chapter 18: Troubleshooting Final Cut Pro
    1. Updating macOS and Final Cut Pro
      1. The spinning beach ball
    2. Fixing problems
    3. The easy fixes
      1. Quitting Final Cut Pro and restarting the computer
      2. Deleting the render files
      3. Resetting your Final Cut Pro preferences
      4. Copying to a new project
    4. The harder fixes
      1. Fixing a faulty effect, transition, or title
      2. Locating a corruption
      3. Clearing export error messages
      4. A Final Cut Pro library won’t open
      5. Trying another user account
      6. Trying the library on another computer
      7. Reinstalling Final Cut Pro
      8. Booting into recovery mode
    5. Relinking missing media
      1. Consolidating media
    6. Final Cut Pro quitting unexpectedly
    7. Summary
  29. Chapter 19: Backing Up and Archiving Libraries
    1. Working with Final Cut Pro backups
    2. Preparing to archive a library
      1. Consolidation
      2. Motion Content
      3. Cache
      4. Relinking
      5. Deleting render data
      6. Further reducing the library size
    3. Archiving the library
    4. Indexing archives
      1. Final Cut Library Manager
      2. NeoFinder
    5. Maintaining archive devices
    6. Summary
  30. Index
    1. Why subscribe?
  31. Other Books You May Enjoy
    1. Packt is searching for authors like you
    2. Share Your Thoughts
    3. Download a free PDF copy of this book

Product information

  • Title: Edit without Tears with Final Cut Pro
  • Author(s): Bruce G. Macbryde
  • Release date: March 2024
  • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781804614921