Apple Final Cut Pro X 10.1.2 User Guide

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Add keyframes automatically across a selected area
If an effect appears in the Video Animation Editor with a disclosure button, you can use either 
the Select or Range Selection tool to add keyframes automatically across a selected area.
 1 Do one of the following:
 •Select a clip in the Timeline, and choose Clip > Show Video Animation (or press Control-V ).
 •Control-click a clip, and choose Show Video Animation from the shortcut menu. 
 2 Select an effect, and click the disclosure button to expand it in the Video Animation Editor.
Disclosure button
 3 In the Timeline, choose either Select or Range Selection from the Tools pop-up menu in the 
toolbar (or press A for Select, or R for Range Selection).
 4 Drag across the area in the Video Animation Editor where you want to adjust the effect.
Tip:  To deselect the range, click anywhere on the Timeline background.
 5 Adjust the effect within the range by dragging the effect’s horizontal control up or down.
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Keyframes are automatically created along the adjustment points within the range.
Adjust keyframes in the Video Animation Editor
You can move keyframes left or right in the Video Animation Editor. If an effect appears with a 
disclosure button, you can expand the effect view and move keyframes up or down to change 
the parameter value.
 1 Select a keyframe.
 2 Do one of the following:
 •To change its position in time, drag a keyframe left or right.
As you drag, the timecode value appears.
Drag the keyframe 
left or right.
 •If an effect appears with a disclosure button, click the button (or double-click the effect) to 
expand it.
Disclosure button
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With the effect expanded, you can drag the keyframe up or down to change the effect’s 
parameter value.
Drag the keyframe up or down.
To add another keyframe, Option-click (or press Option-K) at a point on the effect control 
where you want to add the keyframe. To add a keyframe and change the effect’s parameter 
value at the same time, Option-click while dragging the effect control up or down.
If an effect appears with a disclosure button in the Video Animation Editor, you can also fade 
video effects in or out, or change the shape of the effect curve between keyframes.
Adjust keyframes in the Video inspector
For many effects, you adjust the parameter value of individual keyframes using the 
Video inspector.
When you move the playhead in the Timeline, arrows appear next to the Keyframe button in 
the Video inspector to indicate which side of the playhead has keyframes. To go to the previous 
keyframe, click the left arrow or press Option-Semicolon (;). To go to the next keyframe, click the 
right arrow or press Option-Apostrophe (‘).
Arrows
 1 Select a keyframe or position the playhead on a keyframe, and adjust the parameter value in the 
Video inspector.
 2 To change the value at the next keyframe, go to the next keyframe and adjust the value again.
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Delete keyframes
Do one of the following:
 mSelect a keyframe in the Video Animation Editor, and press Option-Shift-Delete.
 mNavigate to a keyframe in the Video inspector, and click the Keyframe button.
After navigating to 
a keyframe, click the 
Keyframe button to 
delete the keyframe.
View only one effect at a time in the Video Animation Editor
You can collapse the Video Animation Editor to view only one effect at a time. This can be useful 
if you have multiple effects applied to a clip and want to preserve screen space.
 1 Choose Clip > S olo Animation (or press Control-Shift-V ).
 2 In the Video Animation Editor, click the triangle next to the displayed effect’s name to choose an 
effect from the pop-up menu.
Note:  When Solo Animation is turned on, you can’t delete effects from the Video 
Animation Editor.
To turn off Solo Animation, choose Clip > Solo Animation (or press Control-Shift-V ).
Hide video animation for a clip
Do one of the following:
 mSelect the clip in the Timeline, and choose Clip > Hide Video Animation (or press Control-V ).
 m Click the close button  in the upper-left corner of the Video Animation Editor.
 mControl-click the clip in the Timeline, and choose Hide Video Animation from the shortcut menu.
Modify groups of keyframes
There are many ways you can modify keyframes to create simple or complex animations. In 
addition to modifying individual keyframes as described in the previous section, you can also 
modify keyframe groups, effect curves (the line segments between keyframes), or the entire set 
of keyframes for a given parameter, and you can make all of these changes with great precision.
Select and modify multiple keyframes
 1 To select multiple keyframes in the Video Animation Editor, the Audio Animation Editor, or 
directly in the body of the clip (for audio level keyframes), do one of the following:
 •Shift-click more than one keyframe.
All intermediate keyframes are selected. You cannot select nonadjacent keyframes.
 •Drag a selection rectangle around the keyframes you want to select. 
Note:  In the Video Animation Editor or Audio Animation Editor you can select a range by 
dragging with the Select tool or the Range Selection tool. To select a range of keyframes 
displayed in the clip body (such as audio keyframes) you must use the Range Selection tool.
 2 To modify the selected keyframes, do any of the following:
 •To move the group to a different place in time: Drag any individual keyframe horizontally.
 •To change the value of all the keyframes: Drag any individual keyframe vertically.
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Keyframe values remain relative to one another while dragging; however, if you “flatten” the 
curve by dragging all the way to the top or bottom of the graph, the keyframe values remain 
in that flattened state with all keyframes sharing the same value.
 •To increase the relative values by 1: Press Option–Up Arrow.
 •To decrease the relative values by 1: Press Option–Down Arrow.
 •To move both keyframes earlier in time by 1 frame: Press Comma (,).
 •To move both keyframes later in time by 1 frame: Press Period (.).
Tip:  You can also modify any two keyframes simultaneously by selecting the line segment in 
between them, then performing any of the steps above.
Adjust all keyframes on a curve
 m In the Video Animation Editor, the Audio Animation Editor, or directly in the body of the clip (for 
audio level keyframes), hold down the Command and Option keys, and drag either a keyframe or 
a curve up or down.
All keyframes are adjusted by the same amount, preserving the original shape of the curve. 
However, if you “flatten” the curve by dragging all the way to the top or bottom of the graph, the 
keyframe values remain in that flattened state with all keyframes sharing the same value.
Before
After
You can also copy specific keyframes between different attributes or between different clips. See 
Copy and paste keyframes
 on page 246 .
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Adjust effect curves using fade handles or keyframe animation
Some effects in the Video Animation Editor include fade handles, which allow you to adjust how 
long it takes for an effect to fade in or out. For example, you can use fade handles to adjust how 
long it takes for an opacity effect to fade in, how long it takes to fade up from black, or how long 
it takes to fade to black.
You can also move keyframes up or down to create a curve for the effect parameter and change 
the curve shape (interpolation) between keyframes.
Creating a fade or an effect curve smooths the transition so that the effect changes appear more 
natural when the clip plays.
Change an effect using fade handles
 1 Click the disclosure button to expand the effect in the Video Animation Editor.
Disclosure button
Note:  If an effect doesn’t have a disclosure button, it doesn’t have fade handles.
 2 Drag the fade handle to the point in the clip where you want the fade to begin or end.
Fade handles from the beginning of a clip create a fade-in, while fade handles at the end of a clip 
create a fade-out.
Fade-inFade-out
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Change an effect using keyframes 
 mClick the disclosure button to expand the effect in the Video Animation Editor, and do any of the 
following:
Disclosure button
Note:  If an effect doesn’t have a disclosure button, you can’t move keyframes up or down.
 •To add a keyframe: Option-click (or press Option-K) at a point on the effect control where you 
want to add the keyframe.
Tip:  To add a keyframe and change the effect’s parameter value at the same time, Option-click 
while dragging the effect control up or down.
 •To change the effect’s parameter value at a particular keyframe:  Select a keyframe and drag it up 
or down.
Tip:  To adjust values with greater precision, hold down the Command key while dragging the 
keyframe up or down.
Drag the keyframe up or down.
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Change the curve shape (interpolation) between keyframes
Do one of the following:
 mCommand-Drag the line horizontally between the keyframes to create a curve.
 mControl-click the line between keyframes, and choose a curve option from the shortcut menu.
 •Linear: Maintains a constant rate of change over the duration of the fade.
 •Ease: Eases in and out of the fade with the midpoint set between the beginning and 
end values.
 •Ease In: Starts quickly from the beginning value and then moves slowly toward the end value.
 •Ease Out: Starts slowly from the beginning value and then moves quickly toward the 
end value.
Note:  You can change the curve shape between keyframes for video effects only. For audio 
volume only, you can change the curve shape for fades created using fade handles, but not 
keyframes. See Fade audio in or out
 on page 17 6 .
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							  269
Group clips with compound clips
Compound clips overview
With Final Cut Pro, you can create compound clips, which allow you to group any combination of 
clips in the Timeline or the Browser and nest clips within other clips. 
Compound clips can contain video and audio clip components, clips, and other compound clips. 
Effectively, each compound clip can be considered a mini project, with its own distinct project 
properties. Compound clips function just like other clips: you can add them to your project, 
trim them, retime them, and add effects and transitions. Icons appear on compound clips in the 
Browser and the Timeline. 
Compound clip icon for a clip 
in the BrowserCompound clip icon for a clip 
in the Timeline
Compound clips have many uses. You can:
 •Simplify a complicated project by creating a separate compound clip for each major section.
 •Synchronize a video clip with one or more audio clips and then combine the clips into a 
compound clip, to avoid inadvertently moving them out of sync.
 •Open any clip, edit its contents in the Timeline, and then close it. 
 •Quickly create a compound clip containing the clips in an event, based on the Browser 
sort order.
 •Use a compound clip to create a section of a project with settings different from those of the 
main project.
Advanced editing
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The following diagram shows how a project in the Timeline could be simplified using 
compound clips:
Selected clips in the Timeline 
New compound clip
Compound clips have the following characteristics:
 •You create compound clips in the Browser or in the Timeline. 
 •Every compound clip in the Timeline has a “parent” compound clip in the Browser.
Browser clips
Project 3Project 1
Child clipChild clips Child clip
Project 2
Parent compound clip
 •When you edit the contents of any compound clip, you are in fact editing the parent 
compound clip from the Browser. Any changes you make to the compound clip are inherited 
by all of its child clips. For example, if you delete a title clip from the contents of a parent 
compound clip, the title clip is deleted from all child clips.
You can create an independent compound clip from an existing compound clip. For example, 
you might have a compound clip of a standard title sequence for your TV or podcast series. 
You can create unique (independent) instances of the compound clip for each episode 
without affecting other instances of the title sequence.
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