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Navigating to different points in timeline using in and out
After five years of using Premiere post FCP7, I’ve finally been using FCPx for a project and am getting to grips with it. Overall it’s great. There are a few things bugging me, and one especially.
In FCP7/PP I would very often set an in point on the part of my timeline I was working on and quickly go and have a look at something later on in the timeline (or just to dump a clip at the end of it for later) and I could then quickly navigate back to where I was using the in point (shift+i) I had set. But in fcpx this doesn’t seem to exist. It just selects the clip range and if i click anywhere else in the TL that range then disappears.
Am I doing something wrong? Is there an alternative way to do this?
For me, working on an hour long timeline it’s really important to quickly be able to navigate back and forth at the click of a key to different point in the sequence.
Any help would be much appreciated.
If you aren’t willing to change you shouldn’t be editing” – Richard Marks
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3 Replies
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I use markers for this. They’re well implemented in FCPX. Just tap m to set a marker, and m again if you want to give it a descriptive name. (If you always want to name your markers, type option-m, which creates a marker and opens it for editing immediately). You can even choose to turn markers into to-do items and check them off as you complete them.
If the playhead is over a connected clip but you want to add a clip to the primary storyline instead, just tap the C key to select the storyline clip and then tap m to add the marker to the storyline clip. You can even add markers to any clip under the playhead (including audio) by holding the command key and tapping the down arrow until that clip is selected, and then tap m to mark that particular clip at the playhead location.
Now, hit shift-command-2 to open the timeline index, choose “Tags” and then use the filters at the bottom to see all of your markers (you can also just see all your to-do items, which is a really efficient way to get through them all). Click on any marker in the timeline index to jump right to it.
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Forgot to mention that you can also quickly navigate to markers by tapping control-; (to go backward in timeline) or control-‘ (to go forward).
So if you just want to drop a temporary marker, go somewhere else in the timeline and then go immediately back to the marker you created, you can type m to set the marker, go to an earlier spot in the timeline, and then tap control-‘ to go right back to the marker.
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[Matt Scholes] “quickly go and have a look at something later on in the timeline “
Use the timeline index and markers, including a red “to do” marker. There is not an assigned shortcut for the red marker but you can easily make one. The command is “Add ToDo Marker”.
Below are existing shortcut commands for navigating and moving markers. Note this works in the event browser as well as the timeline:
M: create marker at current skimmer or playhead location on current clip in the browser or timeline
CTRL+M: delete marker at current skimmer/playhead location
CTRL+’ (apostrophe): Jump to next marker in browser or timeline
CTRL+; (semicolon): Jump to previous marker in browser or timeline
SHFT+M: Modify current marker
CTRL+, (comma): nudge marker left. Press and hold to slide marker left.
CTRL+. (period): nudge marker right. Press and hold to slide marker right.
SHIFT+M: modify marker at skimmer/playhead location.Markers can be named via Modify Marker or within the timeline index, then searched on your assigned marker name within the index.
Larry Jordan video on creating custom FCPX commands:
https://larryjordan.com/articles/create-custom-keyboard-shortcuts-for-apple-final-cut-pro-x/
Using the timeline index:
https://larryjordan.com/articles/fcp-x-rediscover-the-timeline-index/
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