[ This article was first published in the February,
2004, edition of "Larry's FCP Newsletter.” Updated
May 16 for FCP HD.]
This article is in two sections:
New to Version 4 Final Cut Pro is a button Apple calls, "Auto-select." It's
located on the left side of the Timeline -- one to each track.
During normal edit operations, these buttons sit quietly and no one
pays any attention to them. However, they become significant when you
are cutting and pasting, or when you are applying filters. This Technique
explains why.
Auto-select adds an additional layer of control (some would also say, "unnecessary
complexity") when applying a filter, which I will talk about in
a minute. However, in version 4.1, Apple changed how auto-select works
during a copy and paste and this is what I will discuss first.
In the initial release of FCP 4 (versions 4.0 - 4.02), when you copied
a clip to the clipboard (Edit -> Copy or Edit -> Cut) then pasted
that clip back into the timeline, two principal rules determined the
placement of the clip: 1) the playhead determines the clip's location
on the timeline and 2) the patch panel determines which track the clip
lands on.
With the release of FCP version 4.1, the auto-select button now controls
which track, not the patch panel. Additionally, if you set an in or
an out, the Paste function ignores both the in and the out, instead
it pastes the clip at the location of the playhead. (I'm not sure if
earlier versions ignored an in or an out, all my systems have been
updated and I can't test to find out.)
Here's the new rule: When pasting a clip, the playhead determines
the clip's location on the timeline and the track with the lowest auto
select button selected (i.e. with a DARK center) determines on which
track it appears.
Here are three examples:
In this example, all auto-select buttons are selected (dark center),
so the pasted clip shows up on V1. V1 is the lowest numbered track
who's auto-select button is dark.
In this example, the auto-select button for V1 is NOT selected (hollow
center), so the pasted clip shows up on V2.
In this example, the auto-select button for V1 and V3 are NOT selected
(hollow center), so the pasted clip shows up on V2, which is the lowest
numbered track with a dark auto-select button.
Now, there's another use of auto-select buttons, which is in all versions
of FCP 4: use Auto-select to select a range and tracks to which a filter
applies when you have multiple video tracks and you
are also using an In and an Out on the Timeline.
Here, also, are three examples:
In this example above, all auto-select buttons are dark. And I have
three video clips stacked above each other on V1, V2 and V3.
If I select all three clips, then apply the Desaturate filter, all
three clips are now filtered for their entire duration.
Now let's turn off the auto select button for V1. If I select all
three clips, then apply the Desaturate filter then, again, all three
clips get filtered. And, the filter is applied to the entire duration
of all three clips.
However, if, instead of selecting the clips, I set an in and an out
on the Timeline, this will then apply a filter to a portion of a clip
or clips. At this point, the auto-select button becomes important.
If the auto-select button is DARK, the filter will apply to the clip,
or clips, on that track. If the filter is hollow, the filter will ignore
the clip, or clips, on that track. (Again, you can use In's and Out's
to set a range within a clip, or between multiple clips.)
This can be helpful when you want to delete portions of clips on multiple
tracks without deleting all clips at that point. Or, when you want
to apply a filter to multiple clips at the same point in the timeline,
without applying that filter to all clips, or to the entire duration
of a clip.
Lisa Brenneis has written an exhaustive list of how Auto-Select works
in FCP HD. She writes:
The Timeline's Auto Select controls affect a wide variety
of Timeline operations. Auto Select is meant to make the editor's life
easier,
and it would make your life easier -- if only you could remember
how Auto Select works for each edit operation. FCP designers decided
to optimize Auto Select behavior for each type of editing operation,
and that's why we have all these special rules.
Here's a summary
of the current protocols:
- Cut, Copy and Paste: FCP
will paste to the same tracks you copied from unless you change
the Auto
Select controls between
copy and paste. If you do, clips will be pasted starting at the lowest-numbered
Auto Select-enabled track.
- Clip Selection: FCP selects all clips on Auto Select-enabled tracks.
- Match Frame: FCP displays the match frame for the frame at the
playhead position on the lowest numbered Auto Select-enabled track.
- Add Edit: FCP adds an edit on all Auto Select-enabled
tracks.
- Select Closest Edit: FCP jumps to the closest edit point on the lowest-numbered
Auto Select-enabled track (most of the time).
- Apply Filter: FCP applies a copy of the filter to clips between the Timeline
In and Out points on all Auto Select-enabled tracks.
- Previous and Next Keyframe Commands: FCP navigates
to the next (or previous) keyframe on an Auto Select-enabled track.
- Playhead Sync in Open Mode: FCP automatically opens in the Viewer
the Timeline clip at playhead position on the highest numbered
Auto Select-enabled track.
- Search Timeline: FCP searches only Auto Select-enabled tracks
if the Auto Select option is selected in the Find Dialog box.
- Selection Tools Override Auto-Select: The
Tool palette's Selection, Range Selection, and Edit Selection tools can override
the Auto Select feature. No need to click those teeny control buttons: select
a selection tool and then just-select. One exception here: The Add Edit Command
ignores selected clips, and observes Auto Select controls only.
[Larry again] I am a big fan of Lisa's Visual Quick Start Guides
and Lisa will be releasing her latest, a newly revised "Final
Cut Pro HD 4.5: Visual Quickpro Guide," published
by PeachPit Press, in early July.
[ click for printer-friendly
version -- 177 K - PDF]
This tip is from the March, 2004, issue of "Larry's
FCP Newsletter," a
very cool FREE monthly Final Cut Pro newsletter -- subscribe at Larry's
web site: www.larryjordan.biz.
Larry Jordan is a post-production consultant and an
Apple-Certified Trainer in Digital Media with over 25 years experience
as producer,
director and editor with network, local and corporate credits. Based
in Los Angeles, he's a member of both the Directors Guild and Producers
Guild.
Text copyright 2004 by Larry Jordan. All rights reserved.
