Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Connected clips placed next to each other don't behave in the same way as clips inside the Primary Storyline.
The usual trimming tools—such as Ripple, Roll, Slip, and Slide—can't be applied to Connected clips and
neither can transition effects. If a Connected clip's In or Out point is selected with the cursor, the duration of the
clip can be lengthened or shortened in the usual way but doesn't ripple any other Connected clips beside it. This
may seem limiting at first, but Final Cut Pro provides a way around this by giving you the ability to group Con-
nected clips into a Secondary Storyline. You'll be exploring Secondary Storylines in Chapter 7, but in the mean-
time let's look at other things that can be done with Connected clips.
A clip's connection link is usually placed at the first frame of the clip being connected to, but it can be moved to
another position further down. This is useful when you want to delete the clip that it's attached to, but keep the
Connected clip in the Timeline. All you need to do is move the connection link to another point in the clip so
that it's attached to a different clip below it. You do this by Option+ -clicking inside the Connected clip at the
spot where you want the connection link to move to.
If the Timeline becomes cluttered with a large amount of Connected clips, you can tidy them by overwriting
them to the clips below in the Primary Storyline. To overwrite a clip to the Primary Storyline, select the Con-
nected clip and choose Edit
⇒
Overwrite to Primary Storyline or press +Option+ the down arrow.
Likewise, a clip from the Primary Storyline can be lifted up and turned into a Connected clip. When this is the
case, Final Cut Pro creates a gap beneath the lifted clip in the Primary Storyline (see Figure 6.20). To lift a clip
from the Primary Storyline, select the clip and choose Edit
⇒
Lift from Primary Storyline or press +Option+
the up arrow.
Figure 6.20
Lifting a clip from the Primary Storyline creates a gap beneath the clip.
