Importing media into Final Cut Pro 10.0.6

There have been some changes to the way that you import media into Final Cut Pro 10 in this latest version. Now there is a unified import dialogue window to use. To get this to show, you can press Cmd I and you get a lot more options about how you bring in video clips into Final Cut Pro X. For a start off you can have it show you a list and when you click on one of the files on the list, it shows you a decent sized thumbnail track in the area above that list. You can also have the import window show you your video clips in your folders and devices as thumbnails.

 

Selecting clips and parts of video clips

In the past when I have been importing video clips into Final Cut Pro, I have always brought in the whole video clip. When I had that whole video clip in the bin of video clips in Final Cut, I would then choose the parts that I wanted from that clip to put in the timeline. I see that it is now possible to select sections of your video clips and to have them brought in to Final Cut as separate clips. If you have been shooting a long clip and there is only a couple of small parts of it that you require, then this new way to bring in video clips is extremely useful. You use the letter I on the keyboard to set your first in point and then you use the letter O on your keyboard to set the out point. To set the in points and out points of subsequent portions of the video, you use Cmd shift and I for the in point, then Cmd shift and O for the out point.

FCPX import media

Persistent selections within your video clips

When you select a portion of your video clip, whether it is when you are importing or when you are selecting clips ready to put into the timeline, you will find that if you have selected something, then go off to do something else and then return, those selections will still be there. This can be very useful to speed up the workflow as you no longer have to mark out items again that you have already previously selected.

What are camera archives?

There will be times when you want to connect up your camera or the memory card that you took out of your camera, get the video clips off it quickly and get back to shooting video. You can make a camera archive using the import window in Final Cut Pro and then go back later to selecting the clips or parts of clips that you want to use from that camera archive. Using the camera archive tool is basically a quick way to make a complete full clone of your camera or SDHC, that you can work with later.

Favourite places to import from

Final Cut Pro X clip importIt could well be that you often want to go to a particular folder on your hard drive, network attached storage or other permanently attached storage devices. For example, there could be a folder containing sound effects that you are continually adding to, you can drag this folder into the favourites, to always have quick access to these media files. Within Final Cut Pro 10 it is very easy to set up favourites to enhance your workflow so that you will be more effective and efficient.

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