Apple Final Cut Pro X 10.1.2 User Guide

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Effects can be added to any clips in the Timeline. Once they have been added (or in the case of 
built-in effects, adjusted), you can customize the effects using controls in an inspector, onscreen 
controls in the Viewer, and controls in the Video Animation Editor and Audio Animation Editor. 
You can also try out multiple versions of an effect using auditions.
Most of the effects and generators can be opened in Motion, an Apple...

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How transitions are created
Transitions require overlapping video from the clips on each side of the edit point. A one-
second transition requires one second of video from the end of the left clip and one second of 
video from the start of the right clip. When you apply a transition to an edit point, Final Cut Pro 
attempts to use additional video from each of the clips to create the overlap. These additional 
(unused) sections of clips...

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Final Cut Pro uses any available media handles and then overlaps media as necessary to create 
the transition. The illustration below shows a transition created without media handles. The 
two clips are made to overlap, and the transition is placed over the overlapping region. This is 
effectively a ripple trim edit, and the total duration of your project decreases.
Edit with no transition
Clip 1Clip 2
Clip 1
Clip 2
Edit with transition...

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Add transitions to your project
There are several methods you can use to add transitions to your project. Once a transition is 
added, you can adjust its parameters. You can also modify the transition effect in Motion.
Add a cross dissolve
 1 Choose the Select tool from the Tools pop-up menu in the toolbar (shown below), and click the 
edge of a clip (an edit point) in the Timeline.
One or both clip edges are highlighted.
Note:  If you...

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Add or change a transition using the Transitions Browser
 1 Click the Transitions button in the toolbar.
 2 Select a transition.
Move the pointer over the transition thumbnails to see an example of what the transition looks 
like. Additionally, you can type text in the search field to filter the list of transitions that appear.
 3 Do one of the following:
 •To apply the transition to an edit point: Drag the transition to it.
 •To...

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Copy a transition to other edit points using the Edit menu
 1 Select a transition in the Timeline, and choose Edit > C opy (or press Command-C).
 2 Using the Select tool, click the edge of a clip (an edit point) in the Timeline, and choose Edit > 
Paste (or press Command-V ).
Note:  If you copy a transition to an edit point that already has a transition, the existing transition 
is overwritten.
Copy a transition to other edit points by...

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Move the transition
Moving a transition actually rolls the edit under the transition, adding content to one underlying 
clip while removing content from the other clip. The overall duration of the project is not 
affected. Additionally, you can only move the transition as long as sufficient media handles are 
available for the clip that is being extended.
Clip 2
Media handle
Edit with transition
Media handleClip 1
Clip 2
Media handle...

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 2 Drag one of the trim icons in the upper-left or upper-right area of the transition.
Drag to trim the start point 
of the clip on the right.
Drag to trim the end point of the clip on the left.
Dragging the trim icon in the upper left adjusts the right clip’s start point, and dragging the 
trim icon in the upper right adjusts the left clip’s end point. A number appears showing how 
many frames you have added to (negative numbers) or...

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In the above example, you can drag the white circle in the Viewer (an onscreen control) to 
position the circle wipe’s center and the square to set the border width (in this case, its softness). 
The Transition inspector includes a setting for the circle wipe’s aspect ratio and edge treatment 
(including the border color if you choose a hard edge).
Additionally, many transitions have parameters that you can animate using keyframes. For...

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Create specialized versions of transitions in Motion
Many of the transitions were created using Motion, an Apple application designed to work 
with Final Cut Pro. You can open these transitions in Motion, make modifications, and save the 
changes as a new transition file that appears in the Transitions Browser.
Important:  The following steps require you to have Motion 5 installed on your computer.
Modify a transition in Motion
 1 Click...