Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
There are numerous ways to add clips to the Timeline and build a rough cut to work with. For the
Pranks
Pro-
ject, you'll start by compiling the master shots of the Bump in the Night clips in the correct order to create a
first assembly of the sequence. You do this by using some basic methods such as appending, inserting, and
overwriting clips to the Primary Storyline. This forms the main body of the piece and gives you a foundation to
build on as you add more clips and progress through the edit. You then use the various tools that come with Fin-
al Cut Pro to trim and adjust this rough cut into shape.
The first initial clips that you bring into the Timeline are used to build the Primary Storyline. The first clip that
you add is automatically placed at the beginning and each subsequent clip that you append is tacked on to the
end. Attempting to move a clip away from the end of a sequence only springs it back to its original position.
Similarly, Final Cut Pro automatically closes any gap left by a clip deleted within the Primary Storyline. Be-
cause of this, each clip is always joined together in one long sequence without any spaces. This is the Magnetic
Timeline at work, and it prevents accidental gaps from occurring in the Timeline. You'll learn more about how
to work with the Magnetic Timeline in the “Working in the Magnetic Timeline” section, later in this chapter.
The three types of edits that you'll most frequently use are Append, Insert, and Connect. These are represented
by three edit buttons on the Toolbar. These edits always are applied to a Storyline, because you can't perform an
Append or Insert edit to a Connected clip. A clip's video and audio is edited to the Timeline at the same time,
but sometimes you want to use only the video or audio portion of a clip. You can specify this before performing
the edit by selecting All, Video Only, or Audio Only from the drop-down list beside the three edit buttons (Fig-
ure 5.7).
Figure 5.7
Edit buttons available directly from the Toolbar.
To play the area around an edit point, choose View
⇒
Playback
⇒
Play Around, or just press Shift+? (question
mark).
Appending clips
The simplest way to assemble your clips when creating a rough cut is by using an append edit. An append edit
adds only a clip, or a selected area of a clip, to the end of a Storyline. This is usually the Primary Storyline, but
you also can append to a Secondary Storyline by selecting it in the Timeline before you perform the edit. This is
a fast way to throw a group of clips onto the Timeline and form a foundation for your sequence.
To append a clip or selection from the Event Browser to a Storyline, you can manually drag the clip directly to
the end of the Storyline, or select the clip and then click the Append button on the Toolbar, choose Edit
⇒
Ap-
pend to Storyline, or just press E.
