Using Keyboard Shortcuts in Final Cut Pro - Part 2 of 3

Quick keys can be the most useful shorthand for editors using Final Cut Pro. It can make your projects go by with more ease, and really allow you to approach your project in a new way. Here are more quick keys that will be useful to you depending on the program functions you wish to use.

When setting In and Out points on master clips, sub-clips, or sequences, quick keys can be very handy. To set an In and Out point press Option and X, or simply select I for an In point by itself or an O for an Out point by itself. If you want to clear an In point press Option and I, and if you want to clear an Out point select Option and O. When working in a sequence you can jump to the next In point by pressing Shift and I, and the next Out point by pressing Shift and O.

If you want to open the speed change menu on a specific clip you select that clip and press Apple and J. If you want to link video or audio tracks together you select all of them and press Apple and L. If you want to make a freeze frame of an image within a video clip you select that clip, place the playback monitor to the point in the clip that you want to capture as a single image, and press Shift and N.

Periodically you may have to render clips to get exactly the type of playback you want. To render both audio and video from a clip select what you would like and then hit Apple and R. If you want to render just the audio press Shift, Option, and R.

If you need to cut a clip, only to paste it later, select Apple and X. To just make a copy of the clip select the clip and press Apple and C. To paste that same clip you press Apple and Apple and V. To duplicate a clip you will press Option and D.

Since you will be working quite a bit with trial and error, and simple moves can alter your project drastically, you will need to be doing quite a bit of undoing. To undo an action, or several actions, you just press Apple and Z the appropriate number of times you need to undo. To redo what you just undid you press Shift, Apple, and Z.

If you need to do an action to the entire sequence, such as move it, you will need to select every clip. To Select All in the Timeline you press Apple and A, and to Deselect All you press Apple, Shift, and A. For just the Linked Selection you press Shift and L.

When you are editing with clips you may have to reference other aspects of the project. To reveal a sub-clip’s master clip you select Shift and F. If you want to loop the playback of the sequence in the Timeline or of a clip in the Viewer just select Shift and L.

Since these are all functions that you will probably be working with in Final Cut Pro, it is important to know how to execute them as quickly as possible. Try and keep them around as a reference tool when editing, and see if you can’t begin to memorize them.