Final cut pro choose what displays get used (4 screen setup)

Question

Level 1

4 points

Final cut pro choose what displays get used (4 screen setup)

Hi

I have a setup that uses 4 displays, possibly a tad excessive but for the day job of coding it has come in quite handy.

However i edit quite a bit with final cut pro.

I would like to display my main timeline, browser etc all on the central screen and then using the "show or hide second disply view" i would like to show the media that is playing in the screen to the left.

However i cant really drag the second display view window into the screen i want, it seems to default to the macbooks display.

If i go to window and A/V output i seem to get content to display on the screen to the right. It just doesnt seem to display on the screens i want it to.

Any way to get it to do this?

This is the arrangement of the screens:

Normally i use screen number 3 the most due to it being straight ahead, i normally have FCP in that screen, but i would like if i press the button in FCP that says "show or hide second disply view" for it to display it in screen number 2 instead of screen number 1.

That is FCP showing in a single window, in this case screen number 3

That is what happens when i press "show or hide second disply view" it puts the media into screen number 1

If i go to Window > Av output it puts the output into screen number 4, thats close to what i want to achieve, but purely for comfort i would rather work from screens 2 and 3.

I have played about with trying to change the screens in this dropdown but have not been able to get it to work yet.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.12

Posted on Nov 4, 2023 1:25 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Nov 5, 2023 2:29 AM in response to farmerpug

Now that I am reading this on my Mac rather than on my iPhone, I can read better and I can elaborate a bit more.

There is a difference between AV Output and Show in Secondary Display. You can have one of them, and you can have both. I will try to elaborate a bit on each case.

For A/V Output: the first thing is to go into Final Cut Pro->Settings->Playback and choose which display is to be used.

Note: it is possible that not all of your displays will be available to use as A/V Output. It used to be that they had to be set to either 1080p or 4K, and be connected via HDMI; I think the last restriction has been eased a bit, so USB-C should work too.

Reply

Answer 2

Nov 5, 2023 2:36 AM in response to farmerpug

To be able to choose a secondary display, we have to do a little trick.

You did not say what your OS is. The instructions below are for Ventura or Sonoma. For earlier versions, the same principles apply but the details are slightly different

1) Go to System Settings->Displays; select the display that you want as secondary in FCP - In your case this would be, it seems, your "Display 2"; and choose "Use as: Main display"

2) Start FCP. If necessary, move the main window to "Display 3" (or the display where you want the main interface to be at).

3) Choose Window->Show In Secondary Display->Viewers

Done.

Reply

Answer 3

Nov 5, 2023 1:16 AM in response to farmerpug

Short answer: go to System Settings->Displays and make sure that the display that you want to use in FCP as your “Secondary Display” is set as your “main display”.

Then start FCP; if necessary,move FCP main window to where you want it, and do Window->Show in Secondary Display->Viewers.

You can also use a third display as A/V Output, but that depends on connection and resolution of that display, it does not work with all displays.

Reply

Final cut pro choose what displays get used (4 screen setup)

Similar questions