… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #074: Automatic Keywords Using Finder Tags

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

A Fast Way to Organize Media Before You Import

Finder tags are the next step beyond changing the color of a file or folder: They allow a greater amount of customization and can be used, when importing media into Final Cut Pro, to create keywords automatically.

Right-click (Control-click) any file in the Finder and choose Tags.

The Finder ships with seven color tags. You can use these or create your own; for example, Interviews, B-roll, Scene 23, etc.).

Once a tag has been created, you can assign it to as many other clips as you want. Tags allow you to organize clips using the Finder before importing them into Final Cut.

In the Finder you can find files using tags. In Final Cut, when you import a file and select From Finder Tags in the Media Import window, FCP X will assign a keyword to match each Finder tag. These, then, work the same as any other keyword.

Think of it as automatic file organization.

Cool.

… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #085: Narrow Your Search (Part 3)

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

Boolean selection simplify finding that needle in a haystack.

A “Boolean Selection” is a search based upon logical criteria. Specifically, “any,” “and,” and “not.” These are most often applied to searches using keywords, but you can find these options in a variety of places in Final Cut.

Here’s how these work. Let’s say you are searching the media in your project. These clips have some combination of the following keywords applied to each clip: “Red,” “Green,” and “Blue.”

• Any. This will find clips that contain even one (“any”) of the keywords you are searching for. If a clip contains Red – or – Green – or – Blue, it will appear in the results of your search.
• All. This will find clips that contain all of the keywords you are searching for. Only clips that contain Red – and – Green – and – Blue will appear.
• Does Not Include Any. This lists only those clips that do not hold any of the keywords you are searching for. For example, searching for Red and Blue and enabling this option means only clips that do not contain either Red or Blue will appear.
• Does Not Include All. This lists only those clips that do not hold all of the keywords you are searching on. For example, searching for Red and Blue and enabling this option, will show clips with Red – or – Blue, but not both.

I like keywords a lot. What I like even more is how, using Boolean selection, we can really narrow our searches to find exactly the media we need next for our project.

… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #084: Find What You Need (Part 2)

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

Final Cut supports searches on far more than text.

After you open the Search Filter window (see Tip #75) click the Plus icon in the top right corner.

This displays ten different categories you can use to search for specific media, as illustrated in this screen shot.

While all of these are useful, the two that I use the most are:

• Text
• Keywords

Text searches on file names, of course. But it also searches for all text entered in the Notes field as well as other metadata fields entered using the Info > Inspector.

NOTE: Metadata entered into clips in the Browser is searchable. Metadata entered into clips in the Timeline is not. So be sure to enter any metadata you want to search for later by applying it to clips in the Browser.

You can combine multiple categories in the same search. For example, Text AND Keywords AND Not used.

Keywords allow us to search for clips which contain, or don’t contain, keywords. Since FCP X now supports an almost unlimited number of keywords, I find myself using this feature frequently.

However, Tip #85 covers an equally important search feature – Boolean selection.