Putting in transistions en masse in FCP?

[Bill Lee]

This is a fairly basic question, and if you are asking, then I would suggest getting extra training to make best use of your purchase of Final Cut Pro. This can be in the form of the Peachpit press Apple Pro Training series books, or in leader-led training. OK, I’m getting off the soapbox now.

1) Add a cross-dissolve to the first transition in your set of clips.
2) Adjust the cross-dissolve so that it is suitable for all of your clips (duration, start/eng points, etc). Ensure that you have enough good video beyond the in and end points to allow this dissolve to work properly.
3) Select the cross-dissolve in the timeline and select the Effect>Make Favorite Effect menu item
4) Move the playhead to the beginning of your set of clips
5) Set your Source-Destination (v1-V1) to the track that your clips are on (not needed if you have one video track)
6) Select all of your clips and drag them to the Canvas window and drop them on the Overwrite with Transition pop-up panel
7) There is no step 7)

Bill Lee
Page II-158 of the FCP 5 manual covers this.

[Danny Greer]

I’m constantly in the process of becoming more familar with FCP, and welcome your suggestions. Thanks for explaining. Tried it out, and it works great!

[Danny Greer]

I’m constantly in the process of becoming more familar with FCP, and welcome your suggestions. Thanks for explaining. Tried it out, and it works great!

[Bret Williams]

Basic to those that know it, but FCP was around a couple of years before that trick really got around. Is it in the manual? It’s anything but obvious.

[John Steventon]

I don’t think it’s ‘that’ basic a question to be honest. It’s been asked on here before, and people have said ‘There isn’t a way, you’ll have to right click….’ and it wasn’t until recently (after a couple of years of using the system) that I discovered this myself.

It sure isn’t clear in the manual, there’s no ‘add transition to all from in to out’ little check box like you get in Avid – it’s a ‘You know it, or you don’t know it’ kind of thing.

I know that opening line was meant as a gentle push to do some learnin’ before some askin’ but, you’ve got to assume the OP asked on here as a) The FCP manual is SOOO big that it’s easy to look for other avenues, and b) That this an incredible friendly, speedy, knowledgable and approachable forum to ask for advice.

I know if I’m ever at a loss (which, if you search my previous posts, you’ll know I am often), I’ll automatically come here first, post the question – then I’ll look into the manual while i wait to see if someone has been kind enough to help out.

Sorry, apparantly I’m grumpy this morning…

J

John Steventon – Author of DJing for Dummies

Success is merely a failiure to imagine more…

G5 2.7Ghz, 4.5Gb ram, Blackmagic Decklink/multibridge, 5.6Tb Infortrend storage, FCP Studio 5.04, Makie MCU control, Yahama 5.1 surround, JVC DTV multi-format monitor, 2x23inch Apple monitors – and a partirdge on a pear tree.

[Bill Lee]

My second apology for today.

My reply was not meant to sound like “You’re a dummy if you didn’t know that”, but obviously it did come across that way. I meant the drag and drop on the Canvas Overwrite with transition is a basic function in FCP, and the drag and dropping multiple clips is a simple extension of that. The original question said that the alternative to that was to click on every cut and apply a transition to it, which together with the questions about automatically applying transitions and the need to get a concert cut up and edited indicated that the original poster would truly get a lot out of some leader-led training or even the Pro Training Series books. It’s terrible to have to do a job where you have to learn while producing real work – believe me, I’d had to assist others who were expected to learn FCP on the job and produce without allowances for learning.

I find work very rewarding – I can sit and watch an editor work all day. 😉 Actually, I find I still learn a lot from watching editors work, since inevitably I’ll pick up something that in retrospect may be blindingly obvious, but I’d never thought of it. I partipate in the Creative Cow forums so I can try and learn about all the stuff that I don’t have access to, but maybe can learn from the experiences of others. For this I thank the contributors and editors.

I think I’ll stop digging now while I can still climb out of the hole.

Bill Lee

[Danny Greer]

Thanks all for the feedback, and Bill for your apologies. I have been editing on FCP for a few years now, and am currently in film school to learn more about all facets of production. With that being said, I’m the first to realize that although I consider myself to be proficent at FCP, in reality I probably know/understand only half of its capabilities. I try to look up in the manual, but if I can’t find what I’m looking for intially, I have found this to be a great place for solving those head scratching problems. I’m thankful it is such a handy resource, as we are all in some stage of the learning process.

Best of luck to you all. Take care.

danny