using final cut x like premiere

Question

Level 1

8 points

using final cut x like premiere

Please tell me there is a way to set fcp X like fcp7 or premiere. I edit by placing and organizing footage on various video layers. I have to organize here and not waste time looking for clips in the library. Every time i try and place a clip in video layer two/three or whatever and it defaults to another layer. If i move a clip everything shifts??? This is the most frustrating software for editing I’ve experienced. I have to switch to .fcp X but i need to work the way i love working. How can i simply drag and drop a clip onto a specific layer without it defaulting elsewhere??

also i used to double click a video clip in the timeline and be able to view and listen to it in the viewer window. Now i click a clip and nothing happens. If i try and play the clip in the timeline i have to listen to all the other layers??

this software can be this lame.

if i move all the other cideo clips to watch and hear the one clip it defaults to a layer i don’t want it and its a pain putting everything back. So far any easy edit takes forever in this garbage program. Please help can someone point me to a tutorial that helps set everything to work like real editing software?

thanks

Posted on Aug 10, 2023 4:13 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

JDHfilms Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 14, 2023 1:20 PM in response to terryb

Hey gang. Still finding this difficult after a weekend of tutorials. Right now I am trying to simply match an audio clip/ sfx to a clip of video. when I vertically scroll down to see the audio ALL the video lanes/ tracks move up with it. in premiere and FCP7 I could scroll down or up independently moving video OR audio allowing me to adjust audio exactly as I want. Now I can't see the video at all while moving down to the audio. how do you just scroll down to the audio clip without moving the video?

Reply

Answer 2

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

151,089 points

Aug 10, 2023 4:21 PM in response to JDHfilms

No, the application does not work at all like those. You can force the application to work the way you want, but it completely not designed for your workflow.

I would suggest you look at joema's responses in this thread. He explains I think very clearly the basic workings of FCP.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255013844?answerId=259331547022

Reply

Answer 3

terryb

Level 4

2,187 points

Aug 11, 2023 1:36 PM in response to JDHfilms

I think we can all sense your frustration. I would gently say if your expectation is that FCP is just like all the other NLEs then you will continue to be confused and disappointed. If you're up for learning a new tool, I recommend watching the linked tutorials, learning about Roles as W. Raider recommends which can present things similar to a track-based timeline, become familiar with the UI and keyboard shortcuts, skim through the FCP user guide Final Cut Pro User Guide for Mac - Apple Support and feel free to come back here with the inevitable questions.

Reply

Answer 4

W. Raider

Level 3

784 points

Aug 11, 2023 9:46 AM in response to terryb

I still work with one client who doesn't use the Primary Storyline at all. They literally just place clips on top of a long gap clip and drag them around piece-meal one by one. It's utterly bizarre to me.

When they hand me a project I organize it properly and use the primary storyline then when I hand it back to them they're clueless of how to make any adjustments because "everything moves" and they just hand it back to me. This has been going on with them since FCPX's release.

ALL their projects look something like this when they hand them to me. Half the time the files are missing because they still don't understand what Copy to Library vs Leave Files In Place means.

Reply

Answer 5

W. Raider

Level 3

784 points

Aug 15, 2023 6:17 AM in response to JDHfilms

I use Shift Z to see the entire timeline. Then I find myself using Command Option + (plus sign) and Command Option - (minus sign) to make the clips taller and shorter as needed.

Depending on the complexity of the edit you can make the timeline window taller or if it's a very complex edit you can organize things with compound clips to make the edit less "tall."

Also, in the Timeline Index (Shift Command 2 will toggle it) you can tap the little circle to "focus" on a role.

Reply

Answer 6

terryb

Level 4

2,187 points

Aug 10, 2023 4:26 PM in response to JDHfilms

FCP is designed for speed using a magnetic timeline. Coming from other NLE's like Avid or Premiere can take some mental adjustment, but once you understand it's an extremely fast and efficient way to edit. But not every tool is suited to every task or workflow. Here are the go-to, free tutorials recommended here.

Steve at Ripple Training’s 60 minute FCP tutorial overview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqUP7Zgeuck

Izzy Video tutorials. Older so the UI looks different but the concepts are still correct. https://youtu.be/_jvyrnQpR1E?list=PLp5SAgbM8S87n1qvv34-PAU2zMHLlXyfb

Reply

Answer 7

JDHfilms Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 10, 2023 4:26 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Thanks for replying so quick. So disappointed. This is line being right handed and having to use your feet instead. Apple is usually intuitive but this is beyond frustrating.

ill chwck out the link. Thanks

Reply

Answer 8

W. Raider

Level 3

784 points

Aug 11, 2023 9:48 AM in response to JDHfilms

I'd suggest learning about Roles and Keywords in FCPX. When I started using FCPX I found it very frustrating moving from FCP "classic" and AVID to it, but now other editing methods seem archaic and slow to me. Understanding Roles was an eyeopener for me early on.

Reply

Answer 9

terryb

Level 4

2,187 points

Aug 11, 2023 10:27 AM in response to W. Raider

I had the same experience when moving from Avid to modern FCP. The whole magnetic timeline and connected clips concepts eluded me for nearly a week, leading to lots of frustration. I think what can throw existing NLE users, but new users to FCP, and was certainly the case for me, is that the timeline *looks* like it contains tracks since that's what one is used to seeing, but they are not tracks and behave differently by default. After watching some YouTube tutorials, reading the FCP docs and going through a Ripple course things clicked and clouds parted. I'd have a very difficult time going back to a track-based editor now.

Reply

Answer 10

W. Raider

Level 3

784 points

Aug 11, 2023 11:06 AM in response to terryb

Same. Once you grasp FCPX's clip-based editing vs. track-based editing, everything begins to make a clear and intuitive sense (to me at least) and, honestly, I kinda wonder how we (me) endured track-based editing for so long.

I still have clients just wow'd by how fast I can return a polished edit or first assembly of longer form projects, replete with initial color corrections and reference text/graphics. Just last night I cut together a 5min video for a client out of the blue because they needed it in less than two hours and know I'm a "fast" editor when really it's largely FCPX's doing ;)

In my experience there are two basic reactions to FCP: "Wow, this is interestingly different," and "Wow, this is too different."

Reply

Answer 11

JDHfilms Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 11, 2023 12:00 PM in response to W. Raider

This looks more like track editing and fine to me. I get ‘leave files in place’ i just don’t get this nonsense of having to scroll through stuff in the library and having that **** yellow crap appear when i try and grab it to move to the timeline. I just want to grab it and drop the whole thing. This is like an advance editing for iMovie which is garbage to me.

I was SUPER efficient and fast with track based editing. I use tracks to lay out a rough order to a sequence using each track for different type of shots overlays, titles etc.. and that way everything is organized and in the timeline to quickly grab and edit. Now when i place footage into the timeline - or what i think of a timeline the clips default to the bottom and i have no idea where anything is. Having to go back to the browser or library to constantly look for and pull clips is a pain in the ***, tedious and slows me down. Also i used to be able to click on a clip in the timeline and it would appear in the window and i could view it independently and reset in and out or just view it as a whole quickly. If i try and watch it in the timeline i hear everything beneath the clip or have to move everything and let it drop to the bottom - where i don’t want it - just to watch the one clip. Now i have to click it - find it in the browser watch it there - try and grab the part i want without the stupid yellow lines auto forming instead of letting me drag it to the time line. I don’t understand how this is faster. I’ve watch a bunch of youtube videos and it looks like I am going to have to ask people to go back to premiere or spend the next few weeks getting no work done as i try and learn this. I just tried to create a title animation template as a compound clip and it took me 20 minutes to get it unlinked from the “parent clip” so i could use them independently. This was so fast and easy AND intuitive in premiere. I literally was doing the same thing as the instructions and videos told me - over and over - and then it just worked once and won’t repeat. NEVER had this kind of thing in old FCP, Avid or premiere. I appreciate you responding. It seems from the feedback i have to start all over learning this from the ground up. So disappointing.

Reply