Lesson 1: Features of Final Cut Pro

Okay... Let's check if everyone's here... meh, probably you're all here....

Today we start with our 5 day Final Cut Pro 101 non-consecutive course, and I'm telling you, it'll be tough: you'll probably have to go to your Macs and do some mouse-clicking, you'll learn what you must do before starting to work, how to upload your raw footage to your computer, and how to make that raw footage into a nice sirloin footage with mustard sauce (damn, I'm hungry...)

I'll also give you a list of shortcuts at the end of each lesson. This way, you won't have to learn the exact location of menus and buttons. Although, you'd do well in learning those too...

First off let us remember something from our previous lesson: Final Cut is based upon Adobe Premiere, so, if you know Adobe Premiere 101, you have an advantage over all of us who didn't even know about other editing software befor Final Cut, except for Windows Movie Maker, or iMovie (I've done some nice things in iMovie, and so has my friend Ing. Jose Maria Noriega C.A.S. In fact, he's better at iMovie than many guys at Final. Behold the power of Simplicity!)

Final Cut is one snazzy application: non-destructive editing of any QuickTime compatible video format. It also supports an unlimited number of simultaneously composited video tracks, up to 99 audio tracks, multi-cam editing for cutting video from multiple camera sources; as well as your standard set of effects like ripple, roll, slip, slide and many other I can't really name right now, cause I can't remember (I'm just human after all, you know?)

If you're a beginner at Mac, you'd like to get yourself Final Cut Pro 6, the newest version, since it has better integration with Apple's other Pro applications and improved codec support for editing HD, DV and SD video formats, or Final Cut Express: it's Final Cut Pro, without the Pro, which means less specifications and more user friendly. If you like things well done, you might also like to get Final Cut Studio 2, which includes our aforementioned application, Motion 3 , Soundtrack Pro 2, Compressor 3, DVD Studio Pro 4, and Color. I personally have a Boris FX

plug-in integrated in my Final Cut Pro. Kinda makes it even snazzier (God, I love that word! Snazzy!)

Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express have four main windows: the Browser, The Viewer, The Timeline and the Canvas.

• The Browser: where source media files are listed, including video files, audio files, effects, pictures, and transitions


• The Viewer: This is where you preview and trim files, including effects, transitions, and pictures


• The Timeline: your map on your editing adventure: this is where you arrange your diverse files into what's to become your final product.


• The Canvas: this is where you see your edited production from the Timeline. In short terms: On the Viewer, you watch what's happening on the Browser, in the Canvas you're watching what's happening on the Timeline.

Both Viewer and Canvas windows have a jogging interface, which is useful when you want to scan frame by frame your files, and a shuttle interface, your aid when wanting to scan a film on different speeds

Shortcuts:

• J: Play any file at full speed backwards


• K: Pause (you can also use the Space Bar, which is Play/Pause on many Apple apps)


• L: Play any file at full speed forwards


• I: Set an in-point on a clip or sequence


• O: Set an out-point on a clip or sequence

That's all for today. Hope you liked today's lesson... See ya soon enough !!!

Video and Television postproduction editing in Mexico