How to "Nest" Items in Final Cut Pro

When you are editing a digital video project you may want to apply the same video effect to an entire sequence that you have been working on. To do this you will need to “nest” the clips, which means that you will turn the entire sequence into a single video clip. This is an easy process that allows you to address this entire set of video and audio clips as one simple item.

When trying to nest a sequence that is in the Timeline you have to first highlight everything that you want to be nested. You have to make sure that you get every item - otherwise it can be even harder to get them matched up for movement or alteration. Then go up to Sequence and select Nest Items. A window will come up that will ask you to name the sequence, which will then appear as a separate sequence in the Browser. This is done so that if you want to mess with the actual sequence later on you can open it from the Browser and it will appear as its own sequence alone in the Timeline. Once you do this the clips will suddenly be one solid video and audio clip!

If you want to add effects to it you cannot just double click it like you normally would for a regular video clip. If you do this it will just open the nested clip into its own sequence tab in the Timeline, which then allows you to mess with the sequence itself. To add effects you need to drag and drop the nested clip into the Viewer and then drag video effects from the Browser as you would with any video clip.

Nesting items is a simple and effective way to alter clips on a large scale, or move them around as a group. When doing larger projects it is often best to use separate “chapters” where you work on different sequences separately, then put them into a final sequence when you are done. From there you can put video and audio transitions between the nested sequences just like you could do with single video clips. This is an important feature of Final Cut Pro and will allow you to stay organized and make edits that affect larger segments of your final project.