Apple Final Cut Pro X 10.1.2 User Guide

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Preferences and metadata overview
In Final Cut Pro, you can modify preference settings to specify how your source media is 
imported into the application, how your clips play back, and how you edit your clips in 
the Timeline.
You can also view and change the information associated with a clip, referred to as a clip’s 
metadata. Metadata includes information about a clip’s source media files as well as information 
you add to a clip, such as notes. For more information, see Display and change clip...

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General preferences
General preferences are basic settings in Final Cut Pro.
Time Display
 •Time Display: Use this pop-up menu to choose the time mode for Final Cut Pro. Changes in 
this setting affect the time display (for the position of the skimmer or the playhead) in the 
Dashboard in the center of the toolbar, as well as trimming and navigation operations in 
Final Cut Pro. You have the following options:
 •Timecode display
 •Timecode display including...

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 •Position playhead after edit operation: Select this checkbox to have the playhead automatically 
positioned in the Timeline at the end of your last edit. For example, if you insert a clip between 
two clips in the Timeline, the playhead is automatically positioned between the inserted clip 
and the clip that follows it.
Inspector Units
 •Inspector Units: Use this pop-up menu to choose how values are displayed in inspector controls 
for Transform, Crop, and...

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Playback
 •Create optimized media for multicam clips: Select this checkbox to automatically transcode 
multicam clip video to the Apple ProRes 422 codec, which provides better performance during 
editing and faster render times.
 •If a frame drops, stop playback and warn: Select this checkbox to have Final Cut Pro warn you 
when frames are dropped during playback.
 •If frames drop due to disk performance, warn after playback: Select this checkbox to have 
Final...

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Files
Choose a storage location for the media files:
 •Copy to library storage location: This option duplicates the media files and places the copies 
in the current library storage location. You can set storage locations for each of your libraries 
using the Library Properties inspector. For more information, see Manage storage locations
 on 
page 434.
 •Leave in place: If you import files with this option selected, Final Cut Pro creates symbolic links 
(also...

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 •Find people: Analyzes clips with video for the presence of people and shot types. After analysis, 
any of the following keywords are added to the clip: One Person, Two Persons, Group, Close Up 
Shot, Medium Shot, and Wide Shot. The “Consolidate find people results” checkbox simplifies 
and summarizes all of the “find people” analysis keywords. For more information, see  Video and 
still-image analysis options
 on page 51 . If you’re analyzing to find people,...

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Destinations preferences
You modify share destinations in the Destinations pane of the Final Cut Pro Preferences window. 
The destinations in the Destinations list (on the left side of the Destinations pane) also appear in 
the Share submenu of the File menu and in the pop-up menu that appears when you click the 
Share button in the toolbar.
When you first open Final Cut Pro, a default set of destinations appears in the Destinations list, 
but you can add other...

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 •Layers: Displays the available layers on the destination media. 
 •Automatic: Automatically detects the type of disc you can use.
 •Single-layer: Identifies the disc as a single-layer disc. You can use this option to force a dual-
layer disc to be treated as a single-layer disc.
 •Double-layer: Identifies the disc as a double-layer disc. You can use this option to force the 
disk image to be formatted for a double-layer disc when you choose Hard Drive as your...

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The web destinations include the following settings:
 •Sign In: The first time you view a web destination, a window for entering your account 
information appears. If you enter your account name and password and select the “Remember 
this password in my keychain” checkbox, you won’t need to enter your account name or 
password again. For detailed instructions, see Create and modify share destinations
 on 
page 403.
After the initial setup, you can click the...

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You can customize the Export File destination by choosing one of several resolutions, depending 
on the intended playback device. For example, choose 1280 x 720 resolution for iPhone and iPod, 
and 1920 x 1080 resolution for iPad. You can also export one or more of the roles used in your 
project into one or more files, also known as media stems.
The Export File destination includes the following settings:
 •Format: Lists mastering formats ( Video and Audio,...