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Tip #162: Two Fast Ways to Change Project Properties

… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #162: Two Fast Ways to Change Project Properties

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

Display Project Properties faster using these two shortcuts.

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Most of the time, once we create a project, we don’t need to change its properties.

But, all too often, I find myself needing to change something in a project after I’ve started editing.

While you could choose Window > Project Properties, here are two faster ways:

  • Type Cmd + J
  • Select the Project in the Browser

In both cases, the image you see in the screen shot appears in the Inspector.

Click the blue Modify button to display the Project Properties window. At this point, you can make whatever changes you need to make.

NOTE: You can change any project setting at any time except frame rate. The only time we can change frame rates is when a project is empty.

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Tip #130: Edit Without Touching the Mouse

… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #130: Edit Without Touching the Mouse!

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

The secret is in the Source Monitor.

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Alex Macleod, writing in the Nov/Dec 2019 issue of KitPlus, pointed out this super-quick way to review and edit clips.

First, keep these keyboard shortcuts in mind:

  • Shift + 1. Makes the Project Panel active
  • Shift + 2. Makes the Source Panel active
  • Shift + 3. Makes the Timeline active
  • Shift + 4. Makes the Program Monitor active.

Second, remember you can load multiple clips into the Source Monitor by:

  • Selecting the clips you want to open in the Project panel
  • Control-click one of the selected clips and choose Open in Source Monitor

Third, as you review these clips in the Source Monitor:

  • Press I to set an In
  • Press O to set an Out
  • Press period [ . ] to edit the clip into the active track in the Timeline.

Everything you need to edit your clips without once touching the mouse.

NOTE: Learn more about the KitPlus Magazine here.

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Tip #095: Apply Keywords Faster!

… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #095: Apply Keywords Faster!

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

Adding Keywords doesn’t have to be a drag…

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A faster way to apply an existing keyword to multiple clips in the Browser is to select all the clips to which you want to apply the keyword, then, drag them on top of the keyword in the Library List.

Poof! Instant keywords.

EXTRA CREDIT

This also adds those clips to any relevant Keyword Collections.

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Tip #118: Walkie-Talkie Radio Codes

… for Random Weirdness

Tip #118: Walkie-Talkie Radio Codes

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

PremiumBeat decodes common on-set radio chatter.

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The folks at PremiumBeat recently published the basics of on-set walkie-talkie etiquette. (Smile… back “in the day” we used megaphones. Walkie-talkies are MUCH cooler.)

Here are some common radio codes you may hear during production:

  • Go to. This is a request to switch from the general communication frequency to a specific frequency for a longer conversation.
  • What’s your 20? What’s your location.
  • Copy and 10-4. Yes, I understand.
  • 10-1 and 10-2. Um, bathroom break.
  • Go again. Tells the other party to please repeat themselves.
  • Flying in/out. Bringing someone or something to or from the set.
  • Keying or Hot-micing. You are pressing the mic button and not talking. This will not make you any friends.

Share your own favorite codes in the comments below.

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Tip #041: Optimizing Premiere Transition Preferences

… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #041: Optimizing Premiere Transition Preferences

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

Premiere’s defaults aren’t bad. But they aren’t very good, either.

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Preferences are exactly that – YOUR preferences on how the software should work. This means that you can set your preferences however you want. But, as a starting point to your own modifications, let me share some of my preferences with you. Use or modify these in whatever ways seem good to you.

Preferences > Timeline

The hidden “gotcha” with the transition settings are that they use frames to determine durations. Which is fine – until your frame rates change. At which point, all these durations need to change as well.

  • Video. I prefer transitional dissolves that last 2/3 of a second; a one-second transition just hangs on screen for too long. However, I also shoot mostly 60 fps material. So I change this to 40 frames (40/60 = 2/3).
  • Audio Transition. Most of the time, I like a 1/4 second fade-up, while for fade-outs, I prefer about one second.  Sadly, Premiere only allows me to pick one so I generally leave this at the default.
  • Still image. Here’s a cool tip. If you are building a still image montage set to music, figure out the duration between beats, then import all your stills to match that duration. This means you can edit stills into the timeline without setting an In or an Out.
  • Timeline Playback Auto-Scrolling. It takes more CPU power, but Smooth Scroll looks nicer. Use Page Scroll on slower systems, as it uses less CPU overhead.
  • Timeline mouse scrolling. Vertical allows you to quickly scroll up in projects that use many stacked clips. Most of my edits are five tracks or less, so I change this to Horizontal, so I can quickly move around the timeline.
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Tip #076: Save A Custom Search (Part 4)

… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #076: Save A Custom Search (Part 4)

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

Smart Collections are simply “saved searches.”

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A Smart Collection is Apple’s way of saying “saved search.” In other words, you are saving the search criteria to use again in the future. Saving a search has two big benefits:

  • It is dynamic. As additional clips are added to the the library, the results of this search will update include those clips as well.
  • It is reusable. Smart Collections show up at the top of the Library window for each project. Once you create a Smart Collection, all you need to run it again is to click it.

To create a Smart Collection, open the Custom Search window, enter your search criteria, then click New Library Smart Collection.

Final Cut will save the search criteria, then, over in the Library List, prompt you to name it. Give it a name that makes sense to you.

Poof! Instant, reusable and highly-complex searches at your fingertips.

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Tip #018: Export Multiple Segments or Clips at Once

… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #018: Export Multiple Segments or Clips at Once

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

A hidden trick that makes exporting multiple segments even faster.

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While it’s true that you can only have one In and Out in the timeline, that is NOT true for the Browser. Clips in the Browser support selecting and exporting as many segments as you want.

To select more than one section in a clip, drag to set the In and Out for the first section, then press the Command key and drag to set as many additional sections as you want!

NOTE: To delete a selected range in the Browser, select it, then type Option + X.

With the ranges you want to export selected, choose File > Share and note that this menu now displays the number of segments you have selected.

BONUS

You can also use this technique to select and export multiple clips in the Browser, not just segments inside a single clip. As well, you can use this technique to select and edit multiple clips or segments into the timeline at once.

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Tip #065: Faster Ways to Apply an Effect

… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #065: Faster Ways to Apply an Effect

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

Dragging is easy, but these tricks are quicker.

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Normally, to apply an effect, you open the Effects Browser (shortcut: Cmd + 5), then drag the effect on top of the clip you want to add it to in the Timeline.

Works great. Takes forever.

Here are two variations that are faster.

OPTION 1

  • Select one or more clips in the Timeline. (The real time-savings with this technique come when need to apply the same effect to multiple clips.) The clips can be located anywhere in the Timeline.
  • Open the Effects Browser and find the effect you want to apply to ALL the selected clips.
  • Double-click the effect to instantly apply it to all selected clips.

OPTION 2

  • Select a Timeline clip that has the effect you want to apply to other clips.
  • Choose Edit > Copy.
  • Select all the other clips in the Timeline to which you want to apply this effect.
  • Choose Edit > Paste Effects. This pastes ALL the effects attached to the first clip into the selected clips

VARIATION

  • Choose Edit > Paste Attributes. This allows you to select which of the effects applied to the first clip are applied to the selected clips.
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Tip #096: A Faster Way to Rename Keywords

… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #096: A Faster Way to Rename Keywords

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

Renaming a keyword is easy – if you know where to make the change.

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What happens if you’ve applied keywords to a lot of clips, only to discover that you misspelled one of the keywords. Or want to change a keyword for a different word?

Relax! This is easy.

  • Select the Keyword in the Library List
  • Press Enter to open the name for editing
  • Rename it
  • Press Enter to apply the name

Instantly, every clip with this keyword is updated to the new name.

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Tip #043: Optimize Premiere Preferences for Performance

… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #043: Optimize Premiere Preferences for Performance

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

Five Settings That Can Speed Your System

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Most of the time, you alter Premiere’s preference settings to suit your, ah, preferences. However, there are five preferences that also affect performance.

Preferences > Media

  • Growing Files. A growing file is a special media file that can be edited while it is still being recorded; think sports highlights. When checked, every 60 seconds Premiere will check your hard disk for changes. If nothing is changing, all you are doing is slowing down your system. My recommendation is to uncheck this.

Preferences > Memoryy

  • RAM reserved for… Keep this low. On my system, I set this to 4 GB. The remaining RAM is reserved and shared between Adobe apps. Once you quit, this RAM is released back to the OS.
  • Optimize rendering for…. If you have 32 GB RAM or more, change this to Performance.

Preferences > Playback

  • Enable Mercury Transmit. Uncheck this UNLESS you are driving a video, not computer, monitor (say via HTML or 3rd-party interface box). Mercury Transmit is how Premiere outputs video to a video monitor. If all you are using are computer monitors, you can turn this off.

File > New Project Settings

  • Renderer. This determines how Premiere generates render files. On recent Macs set this to Metal; and, shortly, Metal 2. On Windows set this to OpenCL. This enables hardware acceleration for effects, rendering and export.
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