Digital Media Studio Final Cut Pro X Instructions (10.1.

3)
by Allen Kingsbury

Note: An external hard drive is highly recommended to store all of the

contents of your video project (ie. video clips, pics, music files, project file etc.)
Without one the automatic location where files are saved will be the Movies folder
on the computer you are working on which will not be accessible from other
machines if someone else is using that particular machine.
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1. Connect an external hard drive to the Mac with a USB cable. Click
“Don’t Use” if a message asks to use drive with Time Machine.

2. Open Final Cut Pro X by going to the dock and then click on “Final Cut Pro”.

3. To setup your project on the hard drive go to “File” then “New” then
“Library”. Choose a name to save your project file as and under the
where dropdown box select the DMS hard drive # and click save.

4. The new “Library” is created in the top left corner of Final Cut. The tab
under the “Library” is where all of your imported clips get stored in folders
called “Events”. It’s a good idea to change the name of your events to
something different than today’s date.

5. Next it’s time to create a timeline. Go to “File” then “New” then “Project”

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 Give the “Project” a name and make sure the project is saving under the
correct “Library”. Then click “OK”.

The default video setting sets the timeline based on the first video clip you
add. If you know the settings your camera uses you can adjust that under
“Use Custom Settings”. Our camera’s record at the following settings:

Video Properties: Format 1080p, Resolution 1920x1080, Rate 30p

Audio and Render Properties: Use default settings
Click OK

6. Saving your work

FCPX will automatically save your work after every move.

7. Backing up your work to the DMS server (optional).

Click on the DMS icon in the dock.

Open the workspace folder and here you can create a new folder to backup your
work to. Open the DMS hard drive and drag and drop your Library file into the
workspace folder.

8. Import clips from the camcorder. Connect your camcorder to the computer
using the mini usb cable. The USB connection is on the back of the monitor and
the mini usb connection for the camera is on the bottom right side behind a
plastic cover.
• Power on the camcorder and press the playback button on the side of the
camera behind the LCD screen.
• On the touch panel choose connect to computer/printer.
• In Final Cut Pro X go to “File” then “Import” then “Media”
• From the capture window you can highlight and select individual clips for
import or choose “Import All”
• Make sure you Add to the existing event you named in step #4.
• Leave all defaults in place including copy files to library.
• Close the capture window when done.
 9. Importing additional media files. To import additional video, pictures, and
audio files from other locations such as the desktop go to “File” then “Import !
Media”. You can add them to an existing event or create a new event. Make sure
the box is checked for copy files to library.

10. Final Cut Pro X Interface

Event Library: this is where your clips are stored.
Timeline: this is where you edit and build your movie.
Canvas: this window previews your video from the event browser and the
timeline.

Toolbars: Contain tools for selecting, trimming, cutting clips, and manipulating the
timeline.

11. Effects palette

The effects palette is on the bottom right underneath the Canvas. This
contains Video Filters, iPhoto library, Music & Sound Effects, Transitions,
Text Options, Backgrounds, Themes, and the Inspector.

12. Adding video to timeline from Event Library

Mouse over and highlight a clip in the browser and drag and drop it into the
primary storyline track (the dark gray area) of your timeline.

13. Trimming with in and out points in the Event Library.

Before adding video your timeline you can trim the video to add one segment of
the clip to the timeline. Highlight and select a clip and press spacebar to preview
it. To trim the clip, highlight a specific section using the mouse. Only the part
inside the yellow marquee box is selected. For those familiar with past versions
of Final Cut you can use “I” for in and “o” for out to mark your in and out points.
Mouse over the center of the selection and when you see the hand grabber tool
appear its safe to drag and drop that selection into your timeline.

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14. Playback in the Timeline
Press spacebar to play video in the timeline. In the Canvas you can also press
the play button.
Notice the playhead marker (gray arrowhead with a vertical line) coming down
from the top of the timeline. This indicates the exact frame you are on and should
moved be to the left of the clip you wish to play. To move the playhead left click
or left click and drag.

15. Deleting clips

To delete a clip in the timeline, highlight clip and press ‘delete’ or backspace key
on the keyboard. This will close any gaps. If you use the small ‘delete x’ key
located to the right of the backspace key then it leaves a gap with a blank video.

16. Using the selection tool to move clips in the timeline

With the selection tool (a) from the tool palette, highlight a clip in the timeline and
left click and hold to move it around. Release to drop the clip. You can change
the order of clips in the timeline using the selection tool. If you create a gap you
can right click in that space and choose ‘close gap’.

17. Making a cut in the Timeline

To split a clip, park the playhead at the desired cut point. Then from the tool
palette select the razor blade tool (b). Move the mouse with the razor blade
selected to the playhead over the video and it will snap too the line. Left click to
perform the cut.

18. Trimming clips in the Timeline

To trim a clip, move the mouse to the front or back edge of a clip and when you
see a symbol that looks like this: <[> or this <]>. Click and drag to trim in either
direction. Use the playhead as a guide to line up your trim point.

19. Transitions in the Timeline

The common transitions to use are cuts (default) fade in, fade out, and cross
dissolve. To do a cross dissolve right click on the timeline in between the two
clips you wish to transition. Choose add cross dissolve from the pop-up (or
command+t). You can extend or shrink the transition by the trimming the edge of
the transition (<]>). A cross dissolve is a fade in or fade out when its not
connected to an adjacent clip.
 20. Using a 2nd video track
Video track 2 overrides video track 1 and is useful for adding b-roll while keeping
your interview audio running in audio track below.
Drag a clip from the event library on top of primary storyline track 1. Park the
playhead to assist in lining up your clip. Note: Video on track 2 will automatically
be connected to track 1 where you add it. This is called clip connections.

21. To add a title to your video

Click on this icon in the toolbar options above the timeline. Click on a title
below to preview it. Too add a title on top of video in your movie drag and drop
the title above a clip on the timeline. To add it over black video choose a blank
space in your timeline. Once the title is in the timeline, highlight it then mouse
over the text in the Canvas and double click to change the wording of the text.

Click on the ‘Inspector button to get more text options such as font, color,
and size.

22. Adding music or narration

Import music files from ‘File’ then ‘Import’ then ‘Files’. Add to a new event or
existing event. To move the audio into your timeline highlight the audio clip from
the Event Library and drag and drop it below your primary storyline video track.
Audio can be trimmed with in and out points before adding it to the timeline (just
like video).

23. Controlling volume levels

Highlight an audio track in the timeline and left click and grab the line in the
middle. You can raise it 12 decibels (12db) to increase the volume. To do an
audio “fade in/fade out” grab the marker at the start of a clip and left-click and
drag it to the right to add a (+3db) fade in. Right click on the marker to make it a
linear or s-curve fade in.

24. De-linking audio from video

Right click on a video track in the timeline and choose “Detach audio”. This will
drop the audio track below the primary storyline track. Now if you move the video
track the audio track will not follow. Highlight the audio track and press delete to
remove it.

25. Clip Connections

Clip connections automatically lock video placed above video track 2 to the
primary storyline track 1. This is very useful if you move video track 1 around
then track 2,3,4, etc will follow. Be careful deleting content on video track 1
though because any clips connected to the clip on track 1 will be deleted as well.

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26. Compounding Connections
Compounding clips will merge all clips together into 1 track on the primary
storyline. This is useful to eliminate clutter in the timeline and allows transitions
on track 1. First highlight your clips either by left clicking and dragging a marquee
box around all clips or hold down shift and left-click to select each one. Then
right-click on one of the selected clips and choose “New Compound Clip”. To add
a transition, first make a cut with the razor blade tool (then refer back to step 17).
To restore a compounded clip, right-click and choose “Break Apart Clip Items”.

27. Clip Auditioning

Clip auditioning is a new feature which allows you to place a bunch of clips inside
of 1 clip in the timeline and quickly switch back and forth between the lot to
determine which clip fits best. To do this, drag and drop a clip from the event
library into another clip on the timeline (You should see a filmstrip icon appear).

Then choose “Add clip to audition from the pop-up menu.

Next click on the spotlight symbol that appears next to the Clip Title and the
audition window will pop up. Here you easily switch between the different clips to
sample how they look in that section of your movie. Click “Done” to finalize.

28. Adding still images

Go to File’ then ‘Import’ ! ‘Files’. You can add it a new event or existing
event. Add still images to the timeline the same way you do video clips.
Drag and drop the still image from the Event Library to the Timeline.

29. Using Ken Burns effect on still images (medium difficulty)

Start by dragging and dropping a still image from the Event Library into the
timeline. Highlight your picture then click on the crop button beneath the
Canvas.

Next click on the Ken Burns tab.

 Now you’ll see two rectangular widescreen boxes to represent the starting
and end point of your Ken Burns motion. Just move the boxes around to
control position and change their size to adjust scale. What you see in the
box is how the image will be cropped in the frame. The arrow in the center
indicates the direction in which the motion will occur within the frame.

30. Motion on a video clip using keyframes (advanced difficulty)

Motion on a video clip works a little differently than Ken Burns and is a lot
harder to do using keyframes. First highlight the clip in the timeline and

then click on the ‘Inspector’ tab.

From the Inspector window make sure the Video tab is selected.

Then click on the “Show” button.

The show button drops down this menu which gives you the ability to set
keyframes for position, rotation, and scale.

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The keyframe button is located to the right of each line.

Next hit the grid button which gives you handles on each side of
your video to manipulate the scale and position.

Note: You may wish to scale out to 25% at the top of your Canvas so you
can see the blue handles.

Now back within the Canvas you can grab the border of your video clip to
change scale, or grab the middle to control positioning, or the blue dot to
the right of the middle to control rotation. Set the position for the first
keyframe and click on the position keyframe in the inspector.

Then move the playhead to a later part of the same clip and adjust the
position for the 2nd keyframe. The 2nd keyframe will be created
automatically after you create the first as it detects when a change is
made. Scale and position keyframes need to be created separately. To
jump between the keyframes you created use the arrow keys next to the

keyframe button. To delete a keyframe hit the drop down arrow

next to the keyframe button and choose “Delete Keyframe”.
 31. Video Effects
One of the last steps to finish your project may be to colorize it to give the
video a consistent look. To add a video effect highlight a clip in the
timeline then click the video effect button. Select an effect to preview how
it will look. To apply the effect left click and drag it onto the clip in the
timeline.

Finishing your Final Cut project

32. Exporting to DVD

Go to the top menu and click on “File” then “Share” then “DVD”.
Connect an external DVD drive and Insert a blank DVD-R.

For Options you can change the following:

Output device: External drive
Layers: Automatic or single layer
Disc template: default (Black or White)
When disc loads: Either Show Menu or Play movie immediately
Background: Browse for a picture to add as the background to personalize
your menu.
Click “Next”

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33. Exporting back to the highest quality QuickTime file (Mac only)
Go to “File” then ‘Share’ at the top menu then ‘Master File (default).
Under options:
Format: Video and Audio
Video codec: Apple ProRes 422
Click “Next”

Choose a file name and location to save to and click “Save”.

34. Exporting for Ensemble dropbox

Note: File size must be below 2GB. Video length approx: 15 min.
See professors URL link for dropbox webpage.

Go to “File” then ‘Share’ at the top menu then ‘Master File (default).
Click on the settings tab.
Format: Video and Audio
Video codec: H.264 (this is the only option to change)
Click “Next”
Then choose a file name and location to save to and click “Save”.
Click on “Window” then “Background Tasks” to view the overall %
complete of your export next to sharing. The video will open in QuickTime
player when it’s done.
 35. Exporting to YouTube

Go to “File” then ‘Share’ at the top menu then ‘YouTube’ to directly upload
the movie to your account. If you would like to create the file now and
upload later then use the .H264 Ensemble setting above:

Under options:
First: Sign In
Resolution: HD 720p or higher (up to 1080p)
Compression: Faster encode or better quality (takes longer)
Check box to make movie private or public
Category: Choose a category
Click “Next” to begin youtube upload.

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36. Import QuickTime file into iDVD for DVD authoring (optional)

If you would like to have a more options for DVD menu’s then take the high
resolution QuickTime file created in step 33 and import it into iDVD in step 35.

Open iDVD from the Finder ! then Applications

Select “Create a New Project”
For Aspect Ratio select Widescreen (16:9)
Select a Menu from the drop down list on the right.
Go to ‘File’ then ‘Import’ then ‘Video’
Select the file (from step 33) from your computer and click ‘Import’.
Change the iDVD title and movie title to read ‘Play’
(Optional) Drag & drop an image from the desktop into the iDVD drop
zone.
Click the Burn button (located directly to the right of the Play button.
Insert a blank DVD-R.