Apple Final Cut Pro X 10.1.2 User Guide

							 Chapter 10    Advanced editing 2 81
 2 To adjust the edit point, do any of the following:
 •Move the edit line in the center of the Precision Editor by dragging its handle left or right.
Drag the edit line 
handle left or right.
Moving the entire edit line performs a roll edit.
 •Drag the end point of the outgoing clip or the start point of the incoming clip. This performs a 
ripple edit.
Note:  You can drag the edit line or individual edit points to the extent that there are media 
handles available. When you extend a clip to its maximum length in either direction, the clip 
edge turns red.
Drag the end point of the outgoing clip or the start 
point of the incoming clip.
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 •Skim over and click the outgoing clip or the incoming clip at any point. 
Click either clip at any point.
The clip’s edit point is adjusted to the frame you click. This is the equivalent of a ripple edit.
The clip’s edit point moves to the frame you click.
You can also enter a timecode value to adjust the edit point numerically. If you select either 
the end point of the outgoing clip or the start point of the incoming clip, a ripple edit is 
performed. Otherwise, a roll edit is performed.
 3 To navigate to another edit point, do one of the following:
 •To go directly to an edit point: Click the other edit point.
 •To go to the next or previous edit point: Press the Up Arrow or Down Arrow key.
 4 To close the Precision Editor, do one of the following:
 •Double-click the current edit point, or press the Esc (Escape) key.
 •Click the Close Precision Editor button at the bottom-right corner of the Timeline.
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Create split edits
Final Cut Pro allows you to set separate video and audio start and end points in an individual 
clip. These edits, known as split edits, can be used in many different situations—in dialogue 
scenes, when cutting to illustrative B-roll footage during an interview, or when transitioning from 
one scene to another.
 You can use a split edit to introduce the sound of a new shot or scene before cutting to the 
video of that shot or scene. Conversely, you can use a split edit to extend the audio of a shot 
over a subsequent shot. For example, you could cut from a clip of a person talking to video of a 
person listening, while the audio from the first clip continues.
The split edit technique results in L-shaped and J-shaped clips with audio extending to the left 
or the right. These are known as L-cuts and J-cuts.
Note:  Whenever you use split edits in a project, it’s recommended that you choose View > 
Expand Audio/Video Clips > For Splits (so that there’s a checkmark next to the menu item). This 
setting provides you with the most accurate display of all your split edits. 
Create a split edit by dragging
To create the split edit, you extend the audio of one clip over a neighboring clip. In this example, 
the audio from the close-up of the man is extended over the close-up of the woman to create a 
J-cut.
 1 Add clips to the Timeline in the order in which you want them to appear in your movie.
 2 To show separate audio for the clip you want to edit, do one of the following:
 •In the Timeline, select the clip whose audio you want to expand, and choose Clip > Expand 
Audio/Video (or press Control-S).
 •Double-click the clip’s audio waveform.
The audio and video portions of the clip appear as discrete components that you can change 
individually. They are still attached and will remain in sync. 
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 3 Drag the start point (left edge) of the video portion of the clip to the right, effectively trimming it 
with a ripple edit. 
The example below shows the video start point of the close-up of the man being dragged to 
the right.
This creates a J-shaped split edit, with the start point of the audio overlapping the preceding clip.
 4 To complete the split edit, show separate audio for the preceding clip, and do one of the 
following:
 •Drag the preceding clip’s end point to the left so that the two audio clips no longer overlap.
 •Adjust the audio (fade) level of either clip so that the audio overlap sounds natural. 
 5 If you want to turn off the separate audio view to “clean up” the affected clips, do one of the 
following:
 •Choose View > Collapse All Clips.
 •Select the clip in the Timeline, and choose Clip > Collapse Audio/Video (or press Control-S).
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 •Double-click the clip’s audio waveform.
When you play back this section of the Timeline, you hear the man begin to speak before the 
video cuts to the close-up of him. In this way, you can use split edits to create seamless edits 
from one shot to the next.
Create a split edit using keyboard shortcuts
You can create split edits quickly using keyboard shortcuts. In this example, the audio from the 
close-up of the man is extended over the close-up of the woman to create a J-cut.
 1 Confirm that the two adjacent clips have sufficient media handles. If not, trim the clips (shorter) 
to create the media handles.
 2 To expand (show separate audio) for the two adjacent clips, do one of the following:
 •In the Timeline, select the clips whose audio you want to expand, and choose Clip > Expand 
Audio/Video (or press Control-S).
 •Double-click the clip’s audio waveform.
 3 Move the playhead to the edit point between the two clips. 
Playhead at edit point
To ensure accurate playhead placement, use keyboard shortcuts:
 •To move the playhead to the previous edit point: Press Semicolon (;) or the Up Arrow key.
 •To move the playhead to the next edit point: Press Apostrophe (‘) or the Down Arrow key.
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 4 Do one of the following:
 •To select both sides of the audio edit point: Press Shift-Backslash (\).
 •To select both sides of the video edit point: Press Backslash (\).
Selected audio edit point
 5 To roll the audio edit point or the video edit point, do any of the following:
 •To nudge the edit point left or right: Press Comma (,) or Period (.), respectively.
 •To nudge the edit point 10 frames left or right: Press Shift-Comma (,) or Shift-Period (.), 
respectively.
 •To add or subtract from the current edit using timecode: Press Plus Sign (+) or Minus Sign (–) 
followed by the timecode duration, and press Return.
The timecode entry field (with blue numbers) appears in the Dashboard in the toolbar as you 
type. For more information about entering timecode values, see Navigate using timecode
 on 
page 14 3.
Original edit pointShifted edit point
When you play back this section of the Timeline, you hear the man begin to speak before the 
video cuts to the close-up of him. In this way, you can use split edits to create seamless edits 
from one shot to the next.
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Make three-point edits
Three-point editing overview
Three-point editing allows you to use start and end points in the Browser and the Timeline to 
specify the duration of a clip and where it should be placed in the Timeline. Three-point editing 
gets its name from the fact that only three edit points are necessary to determine the portion 
of the source clip to use and where to place that clip in the Timeline. Final Cut Pro infers the 
fourth edit point automatically. The result of the edit depends on which three points are set in 
the Browser and in the Timeline: two start points and one end point or one start point and two 
end points.
You can use three-point editing with the following types of edits: 
 •Insert
 •Connect
 •Overwrite
With each of these edit types, you can also perform backtimed three-point edits, in which the 
end point (rather than the start point) is aligned with the skimmer or playhead position in either 
the Browser or the Timeline. You can also make two-point edits in which start and end points are 
inferred from the skimmer position and the clip duration.
To make three-point edits, it’s important to know how to make selections and how to use the 
skimmer and the playhead. For more information about making selections, see  Select a range
 on 
page 94 and Select one or more clips on page 92. For more information about the skimmer and 
the playhead, see Playback and skimming overview
 on page 77 .
Basic three-point editing has three stages:
Stage 1: Set source selection edit points in the Browser
Specify which part of a clip you want to place in the Timeline. You do this by setting the start and 
end points. If you want to set just a start point in the Browser, position the skimmer (or playhead) 
at the point where you want the edit to begin. In this case, the end point is determined by the 
start and end points set in the Timeline or by the end of the clip. You can also select multiple 
clips in the Browser, and their aggregate source media duration determines the start and 
end points.
Stage 2: Set edit points in a storyline in the Timeline
Specify where you want the clip to appear in the Timeline by setting start and end points in the 
primary storyline or in a connected storyline. If both start and end points are set in the Timeline, 
these edit points determine the edit duration, regardless of the duration set in the Browser. If no 
start or end points are set in the Timeline, Final Cut Pro uses the skimmer position for the start 
point of the edit. If the skimmer is not present, Final Cut Pro uses the playhead position.
Important:  With few exceptions, three-point editing requires range selections (rather than clip 
selections).
Stage 3: Add the source clip or selection to the Timeline
Choose to either insert, connect, or overwrite.
Important:  Timeline start and end points always take precedence over start and end points set 
in the Browser. This means that if you set both a start point and an end point in the Timeline, the 
Timeline start and end points determine the duration of the edit, regardless of the start and end 
points in the Browser. This allows you to limit your edit to a specific section of the Timeline.
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There are a few key things to keep in mind when making three-point edits.
Edit points set Results
 •Source selection start and end 
points in the Browser
 •Destination start point in the 
TimelineThe start point of the source selection in the Browser is aligned with the 
destination start point in the Timeline, and the duration of the edit is 
determined by the source selection start and end points in the Browser.
 •Source selection start point in 
the Browser
 •Destination start and end 
points in the TimelineThe start point of the source selection in the Browser is aligned with the 
destination start point in the Timeline, and the duration of the edit is 
determined by the destination start and end points in the Timeline.
Note:  This edit requires a range selection in the Timeline. You can use 
the Range Selection tool 
 or the I and O keys for this purpose. For 
more information about making range selections, see Select a range on 
page 94 .
 •Source selection start and end 
points in the Browser
 •Destination end point in the 
Timeline The end point of the source selection in the Browser is aligned with the 
destination end point in the Timeline, and the duration of the edit is 
determined by the source selection start and end points in the Browser.
This is known as “backtiming” an edit. Use this method when you want to 
make sure a clip ends at a specific point in the project. 
 •Source selection end point in 
the Browser
 •Destination start and end 
points in the TimelineThe end point of the source selection in the Browser is aligned with the 
destination end point in the Timeline, and the duration of the edit is 
determined by the destination start and end points in the Timeline.
This is known as “backtiming” an edit. Use this method when you want to 
make sure a clip ends at a specific point in the project. 
Note:  This edit requires a range selection in the Timeline. You can use 
the Range Selection tool 
 or the I and O keys for this purpose. For 
more information about making range selections, see Select a range on 
page 94 .
Three-point edit examples
In Final Cut Pro, you can make precise edits using a combination of three (or sometimes two) 
edit points set in the Browser and the Timeline. For more information, see  Three-point editing 
overview
 on page 287 .
Here are a few examples of ways to make three-point edits.
Example: Make a three-point edit
The simplest way to perform a three-point edit is to specify start and end points for the 
source selection in the Browser, and then specify the destination start point in your project by 
positioning the skimmer (or the playhead) in the Timeline.
 1 Set start and end points for the source selection in the Browser.
Start pointEnd point
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 2 In the Timeline, position the skimmer (or the playhead, if the skimmer is not present) at the 
location in your project where you want the clip to start (the destination start point). 
Position the skimmer at the 
location in the project where  you want the clip to start.
 3 To add the source selection to the project using an overwrite edit, press D.
The new clip starts where 
the skimmer was positioned.
The portion of your source selection between the start and end points appears in the Timeline, 
starting at the skimmer position.
By defining only three points—the source selection start and end points in the Browser and the 
destination start point in the Timeline—you have total control of the edit.
Example: Make a backtimed three-point edit
You can make a three-point edit by defining source selection start and end points in the Browser 
and a destination end point (instead of a destination start point) in the Timeline. This is called 
backtiming a clip. You can use this method when you want to make sure a particular clip ends at 
a specific point in a project, on a musical beat. In the resulting edit, the end point of the media 
in the Browser selection is aligned with the end point you set in the Timeline, and the rest of the 
source selection appears to the left.
 1 Set start and end points for the source selection in the Browser.
Start pointEnd point
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 2 In the Timeline, position the skimmer (or the playhead, if the skimmer is not present) at the 
location in your project where you want the clip to end. 
Position the skimmer at 
the location where you  want the clip to end.
 3 Do any of the following:
 •To backtime the selection using a connect edit: Press Shift-Q.
 •To backtime the selection using an overwrite edit: Press Shift-D.
Your source selection is edited into the project so that the end point of the media in your source 
selection lines up with the end point you specified in the Timeline.
The new clip ends where the  skimmer was positioned.
The rest of your clip has overwritten any material to the left of the end point for the duration 
defined by the source selection start and end points set in the Browser.
Example: Make a three-point edit with multiple clips
You can make three-point edits with multiple clips at a time.
 1 In the Browser, select two or more clips. (Don’t select a range within a single clip.)
For information about selecting multiple clips, see Select one or more clips on page 92.
Three clips are selected 
to be placed in the storyline. 
No range selection is set.
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