Digital Media Tutorial:Environment, Part 1
In this tutorial you will learn about the browser and viewer components of Final Cut Pro. 1. The box in the top left corner is your Browser. This is where all of your media is held and is often compared to a library or file cabinet. Notice the project’s name in the upper lefthand corner and the folders holding info in the Browser. These folders are called “bins.”
2. The middle box is the Viewer, through which you can preview material that is stored in the Browser. Here is also where you can examine your material’s audio waves, apply filters and do other advanced mixing.
3. Stretching across the bottom of the screen is the Timeline. This is where you’ll do the actual editing.
4. To the right of the timeline is the tool bar, which contains everything necessary for the editing process. Please see the tool bar tutorial to learn more.
5. Below the tool bar is a window that displays audio meters, which tell you how loud or soft your audio levels are.
6. The contents of your timeline is referred to as a sequence and Final Cut Pro automatically labels your first sequence as “Sequence 1.” You can see the file in the browser and it’s corresponding tab in the timeline window. To learn how to change the sequence name, see the file organization tutorial.
7. Different types of media are displayed with different icons. The audio icons look like bullhorns and the video icons like screens. To preview a clip, double click on it. It will appear in the Viewer window, to the right of the Browser.
8. In the Browser, beside the file names are several rows of columns. The first three provide information about the length of the media: “Duration,” “In,” “Out.” Duration is split into Hours:Minutes:Seconds:Frames. In and Out points are the time parameters wherein the clip fits within the larger footage. Scroll right to see more stats about your media, such as dimensions, formats and more.
9. You can preview your clips, images and audio files in the Viewer window. Later, we will learn to do more advanced work in this window, including color correction, filter application and motion key framing.
10. At the bottom of the window, there are commands for play, rewind, return to beginning, fast forward and skip to the end. To play and pause the clip, you can also hit the space bar on your keyboard. You can also use your mouse to drag the playhead where you want the clip to play.
11. At the top of the Viewer box, there are two windows with time values. The window in the top left corner displays the total duration of the clip. For example, five seconds and twenty-four frames is displayed 00:00:05:24. The window in the top right displays where the clip appears within the timecode of the overall footage.
12. The tabs at the top of the Viewer window indicate other ways of viewing your material. The Mono tabs display the audio waveforms, while the filters and motion provide ways of enhancing and mixing your footage’s visuals.
13. To bring the clip from the viewer to the timeline, you can either click and drag the image in the Viewer, as seen below, or you can drag the clip’s icon from the Browser window (bottom image).
14. Once a clip is in the Timeline, you can open it in the Viewer by double clicking.
15. If at anytime you accidentally close one of your windows, you can reset the display by going to the “Window” drop down menu, then to “Arrange” and then to “Standard.”