-
tips for avid editors turning to FCP.
I’m learning FCP having been using Avid for many years. It’s like a new lease of life. But is there anyone out there who’ve made the change and can give advice over keyboard shortcuts.
Is it worth copying my keyboard short cuts and overriding the suggested FCP ones, or is there more to be gained by relearning a new keyboard layout?
And a more specific question. I’m really missing the “mark in to out” button on avid as well as the “move back/forward ten frames” buttons. Do they exist on FCP.Toby
-
6 Replies
-
[toby stanier] ” it worth copying my keyboard short cuts and overriding the suggested FCP ones, or is there more to be gained by relearning a new keyboard layout? “
No. Learn FCP the correct way. Don’t try to make it Avid.
Get FCP for Avid Editors.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author.
Credits include multiple Emmy, Telly, Aurora and Peabody Awards.
Owner, Biscardi Creative Media featuring HD Post
Biscardi Creative MediaCreative Cow Forum Host:
Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Apple Color, AJA Kona, Business & Marketing, Maxx Digital. -
(I think) Shift+ < or > or Shift + [ or ] engages a slide edit on the selected clip, the amount is based on your User Prefs ->Editing -> Multi-Frame Trim Size. Page 320 in Manual II (PDF).
If you’re moving over, or even if you’re not, the manual is fantastic. No way you can read it and not learn something really useful.
Cheers,
StaceApple Certified Trainer
-
Here…someone cares!
https://provideocoalition.com/index.php/ssimmons/story/keyboard_manifesto/
And also read…
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
as a pro apps trainer I point people working with leopard to the help search box (like spotlight but for apps)
this is a great way to find out shortcuts, just type in and then rollover the search results for menu items, it delves in the menus and then highlights to item
also a good tip when trying to learn FCP shortcuts is to put a new button on the timeline each week, then roll over that button and find out its shortcut
-
Welcome.
When I made the transition to FCP, I recreated the Avid keyboard in FCP, which was a mistake. FCP operates in a different way to Avid (at least 5 years ago when I made the switch – I haven’t cut on Avid since). As one of the first computer non-linear edit systems, Avid took its cue from the only other non-linear system at the time – film. Load clip, splice here, splice there, paste in. FCP took everything that’s great about Avid and combined it with everything that’s great about computers. You want to just drag that still from the finder into your timeline? Knock yourself out.
The result is that when you first cut with FCP it seems a little infuriating. In Avid, the options in the timeline were pretty limited, scrub, trim, move clip. In FCP, the cursor is very context sensitive – you can move the cursor an inch, and it changes into half a dozen tools. Annoying at first, but once you get used to it, you’ll fly.
Point is, don’t try to impose the way you cut on Avid onto the way you cut in FCP. It’s a different tool.
I’d copy over the obvious shortcuts – mark in, mark out (‘mark clip’ is the command you’re looking for, but you need to have the right tracks activated), play etc. But then create new FCP shortcuts for the other functions you’ll find yourself using repeatedly. I wouldn’t use the standard FCP keyboard layout – every editor edits differently, and the keys you use the most often should be right under your fingertips. I’ve personally mapped almost every key onto the left side of the keyboard so that I don’t have to lift my hand over to the other side – who’s got that kind of energy?
As for learning FCP, launch FCP and open the manual to page 1. And then read it. It’ll take about a week, combined with playing around on the timeline, and there will be sections you’ll skip over, but there is no better way to learn FCP.
Rob Tinworth
http://www.1021.tv -
i have to laugh. i remember being annoyed that avid didn’t pay attention to the cmx keyboard which was standardized across cmx, grass valley, sony and virtually every taped based edit system. i remapped my avid keyboard based on cmx and i use it that way to this day. i can ‘t keyboard edit on anybody else’s avid unless i bring my settings with me. i remember the pains that avid and lightworks went through to create mechanical interfaces that behave like jog wheels and steenbeck controllers. i’m much faster on an apple mouse than i ever was with a sony jog wheel. i’m learning fcp and i definitely will not be remapping the fcp keyboard to cmx! my phillosophy has changed. i now believe that i’m more adaptable than the machine.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up