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

Larry Jordan

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The Final Cut Pro Interface

There are four main windows in Final Cut Pro. This initial discussion presents their purpose and use. Then, there will be a series of exercises so you can explore the interface further.

During this initial presentation, I use the files that you'll be editing in Chapter 4, "Build Your Story."

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Four main windows and two small palettes make up the principal interface of Final Cut Pro:

    Browser

    Viewer

    Canvas

    Timeline

The principal interface also includes two floating palettes:

    Tool Palette

    Audio Meters

MOVIE | Interface.mov

If you want to learn more about the Final Cut Pro interface and watch it in action, be sure to watch the Interface.mov located inside the movies folder on the FCP HD HOT DVD.

Chapter 4, "Build Your Story.")

NOTE | Definitions

Project: This is the master file that Final Cut Pro creates to store all the information needed to edit your videoexcept the actual media itself.

Media files: These are the actual audio and video elements, recorded on videotape, that get transferred to your computer's hard disk for editing and output. All media files created by Final Cut are stored as QuickTime movies.

Clips: References stored within Final Cut to the actual media files stored on your hard disk. Clips stored in Final Cut are simply pointers that "point" to the media files. Although it seems like you are editing your actual media files, in fact, you are simply arranging these small pointer files. The benefit to this approach is that your project files remain small, allowing you to edit huge projects easily.

Sequence: When you edit in Final Cut, you are editing a sequence of clips that start at the beginning and go to the end. Some projects have only one sequence; others have dozens. There is no real limit to the number of sequences you can store in Final Cut.

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The Viewer window is where you preview and modify your clips, transitions, filters, and effects. It has the following sections, starting at the top:

    Window tabs to select specific window functions

    Timecode and window display controls

    Video frame or audio waveform display

    Playhead window

    Playback controls

    Editing and marking controls (left side)

    Recent clips and Generator pop-up menus (right side)

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The Canvas window displays your final program. Its layout is almost identical to the Viewer window, but its function is different. The Viewer helps you decide how to edit your clips or create your effects. The Canvas shows you the final results. In fact, the Canvas window works in tandem with the Timeline to give you two different views of your project.

The Canvas window layout is almost identical to the Viewer, except for the names of the tabs at the top and the controls in the bottom corners of each window. The great benefit to this is that once you know how to operate one window, you know how to operate both. And, in fact, it's even better than that, because there are several other specialized windows that also involve video controlLog & Capture, Trim Edit, and Edit to Tapethat look and act just like the Canvas and Viewer. This consistency of interface is one of the great strengths of Final Cut and helps make learning it a lot easier.

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The Timeline window is where you assemble all your clips into a final program. Clips are laid out from left to right, with the start of your program beginning on the left. The Timeline has four major sections:

    Video tracks, on top, in blue

    Audio tracks, on the bottom, in green

    Track controls, on the left side

    Timeline controls, on the bottom

Chapter 5, "Organize Your Story."

The other floating palette holds the Audio Meters. You'll learn more about these in Chapter 7, "AudioThe Secret to a Great Picture."

Now that you've been introduced to the interface, it's time to take a closer look at each of these windows. Since you'll be spending a lot of time with them, you might as well be friends.