How do you copy/paste individual attributes/effects in Final Cut Pro X?

Question

Level 2

158 points

How do you copy/paste individual attributes/effects in Final Cut Pro X?

I am wrapping up a feature film that I edited in Final Cut Pro X and now I need to create some effects, adjust them, and then copy and paste them to the rest of the clips in my project, BUT.. the only thing Final Cut Pro X seems to be able to do is copy ALL attributes, effects, crops, distorts, etc.. and it OVERWRITES EVERYTHING on the EVERY clip you paste to!!

It REMOVES other effects you may already have on a clip.. it OVERWRITES all attributes, crops, etc..

WHAT?????

That is INSANE!

I have tried all the suggestions I have seen in the discussion forums:

- show Video Animations, then select certain effects and try to copy them (option-command-c for copy effects), but that doesn't work.. it just copies everything and option-command-v (paste effects) OVERWRITES every attribute on the clip you are pasting to.

-show Video Animations, then turn off certain attributes then copy and paste those, but again... it copies everything and overwrites what's on the clip pasted to, only this time the attributes are off just like on the copied clip.

How could Apple miss something SO important where you may need to copy certain effects that you have tweaked to other clips, WITHOUT overwriting everything else on those clips.

Has anyone figured out how to copy certain parameters.. or certain effects from one clip to another WITHOUT overwriting everything on the clip you are pasting to? I know that you can create a Preset for color correction, but how would you alter an effect and paste that altered effect to another clip?

I hope I am just being a complete idiot and have missed something here.

Thanks!

Charles

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.3), i5 12GB RAM

Posted on Mar 23, 2012 1:06 PM

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Answer 1

andynick

Level 5

4,961 points

Mar 23, 2012 3:14 PM in response to Chazzzzy

If the recipient clips and their attributes are made into compound clips, you can paste effects from another clip which will be added to the compound, but not overwrite the original attributes of the recipient clip.

I just put two clips on a timeline.

Then I reduced the size and highly saturated the first clip.

I rotated the second clip by 180º - with no alteration to saturation or size.

Then I made the first clip into a compound.

I selected and copied the second (180º clip) then selected the first and pressed Option+Cmd+V to paste attributes.

The first clip retained its size and saturation - but was inverted by 180º.

Hope this helps.

Andy

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Answer 2

Chazzzzy Author

Level 2

158 points

Mar 23, 2012 3:18 PM in response to andynick

Andy,

Let me give that a try to see if it will work for me.. I'll have to pretty much make my whole film into a compound clip.. but it might work for the time being untli Apple fixes this issue!

Thanks!

Charles

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Answer 3

itsKeef

Level 1

54 points

Apr 13, 2012 2:20 AM in response to Chazzzzy

Well yes it works...but this is a 'work around' not the solution or function we expect. If one could save effects as a 'Favorite' we would not need to do this either. FCPX is a mess. Yes its fast when we chop chop chop edit but once you get down to the real work. We are herding cats.

Apple make subtle, stealth changes as the days go by. We can only sit and hope. If only they would tell us..''yep we are working on that' That is something I find truly outrageous. Arrogant silence.

While on the subject, in the early days of FCPX I could track down the folder that held all those useles effects and remove them. Can't do that now.

Own up Apple and communicate.

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Answer 4

itsKeef

Level 1

54 points

Apr 13, 2012 2:33 AM in response to Chazzzzy

...and finally if you do go down the Compound Clip route. If you decide to Break Apart Clips then all the effects are removed.? I dont get it.

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Answer 5

Sep 2, 2012 12:40 PM in response to Chazzzzy

Still no paste single attributes. They are not going to make this pro app any more. 😟

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Answer 6

Chazzzzy Author

Level 2

158 points

Sep 2, 2012 10:19 PM in response to Chazzzzy

Create something called an adjustment layer.. Believe it or not it actually works better than the old way of copying filters.

Here are instructions on creating the adjustment layer.. Download the example and use that one, don't bother with the motion thing.

The adjustment layer resides in the titles section of your filters. I've been using them for the last 8 months and they work great!

http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/344/1346

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Answer 7

andynick

Level 5

4,961 points

Sep 2, 2012 10:58 PM in response to Chazzzzy

Chazzzzy wrote:

Create something called an adjustment layer.. Believe it or not it actually works better than the old way of copying filters.

The only problem with this idea is that it affects everything beneath the adjustment layer - that means any clips below the one I want to add an effect to, are affected too.

Despite this, I'm sure I'll be using an adjustment layer pretty often - (thanks)!

Andy

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Answer 8

Sep 3, 2012 1:42 AM in response to Chazzzzy

Thanks for sharing that! It's a good workaround, but I really hope to see original FCP like pasting in the future.

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Answer 9

Nov 2, 2012 10:55 AM in response to Chazzzzy

Another sorta workaround I just discovered: Select all the clips you want to change in the timeline (with option-click or shift-click) then apply whatever effects or parameter changes you want manually, and they will apply to all clips. Still not as convenient as copy/pasting an effect (especially if you've already dialed in a lot of fine details) but beats making the same adjustment 50 times...

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