Final Cut Pro HD | H•O•T Hands-On Training [Electronic resources]

Larry Jordan

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Using an External Editor

This falls into the category of advanced topics, but I find myself using it more each day, and I wanted to explain it to you.

Many times, I will create an image in Photoshop or an animation in LiveType, load it into Final Cut, and discover that I need to make changes. In the past, before I learned about this feature, I would

1.

Reopen the image in Photoshop.

2.

Make corrections.

3.

Save it under a different name.

4.

Go back to Final Cut.

5.

Import the new file.

6.

Edit it to a new track on the Timeline.

7.

Copy the old file to the clipboard.

8.

Paste attributes to the new clip.

9.

Delete the old clip.

This is a workable solution, but it took nine steps!

Using an external editor reduces this to just three:

1.

Ctrl+click a clip in the Browser or the Timeline and choose Open in Editor from the shortcut menu.

2.

Final Cut automatically opens the editor application and loads in your file. Make your changes using the other application.

3.

Save the file in the editing application (i.e., LiveType or Photoshop).

Final Cut automatically imports the file and replaces it in the Browser or Timeline with all the settings of the old file copied to the new one.

[View full size image]

In order for this to work, choose Final Cut Pro HD> System Settings and click the External Editor tab, where you can then set your External Editors preferences.

In Final Cut Pro HD, you can use external editors for four different types of files:

Still Image Files: Selects a program for editing images, both still frames and imported graphics. Popular programs you can use here include Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Fireworks, and Graphics Converter. My personal setting is Photoshop.

Video Files: Selects a program for editing video files. Popular programs you can use for this option include Apple QuickTime Player, Discreet Combustion, Pinnacle Systems Commotion, and Adobe After Effects. I rarely take video files out for editing, so I don't have this option set.

Audio Files: Selects a program for editing audio files. Popular programs you can use for this option include QuickTime Player and Bias Inc.'s Peak (a limited version of which is also bundled with Final Cut). Due to how ProTools structures a session, you can't use ProTools for this option. My personal setting is for Peak.

LiveType Movie Files: Selects a program for editing LiveType movies. With the advent, in FCP HD, of importing LiveType projects and allowing Final Cut to render them, the best option for this editor is LiveType itself. As I was writing this book, I used this option a lot to switch between Final Cut and LiveType while creating titles.

Once you've tried using an external editor to quickly "round-trip" a clip, you'll be amazed at how fast you can make changes.