Help!! Can you cut footage automatically every second?

Hello all,

I'm quite new to FCP X and would desperately like to know if it is possible to use numerical info (time) to cut footage in timeline, without having to do it manually with the razor blade.

I'd basically like to create a video which is a sort of mix of two clips: 1 second (or less) of clip 1, 1 second of clip 2, one second of clip 1 and so on. Like stripes of video!

So if there is a way to do this in a quicker and more precise way than manually, I'd love to know!!!

Please help!

Thanks!



Naomi

Make the selections in the browser. Select one, tap e. select the other, tap e. Back and forth till you fill the timeline. Probably the quickest way. If they're side by side in the browser you can use the keyboard to quickly switch between them.

Hi, thanks for your help but I don't think that does what I want it to do
I would like to have 1 second of one clip and 1 second of another clip, then 1 second of that first clip, then 1 second of that second clip. So you'd be watching two videos "interwoven" and cutting between eachother every second... I don't know if this is understandable!

But not the same one second each time? In which case you have to do it manually.

Put clip 2 on top of clip 1 in the Timeline.

Using the blade tool (or Cmd + 'B' ) add an edit every second on clip 2 for as long as the clips last.
Select ALTERNATE edits on Clip 2 using Command and reduce the opacity to 0 for those clips in the inspector.
Clip 2 will now 'Turn on/off' to reveal Clip 1 every second.

To automate this you could use this free effect:



Stack your clips one above the other on the timeline and apply this effect to the top layer - then set the speed to your liking. The effect turns the clip on and off revealing the clip beneath.

It might be what you're looking for.

Visit my YouTube channel

Hi! this sounds great! Thanks so much!

I'm sorry I'm no expert but how do I use the effect you sent me? How do I "import" it in Final cut?

naomikn wrote: I'm sorry I'm no expert but how do I use the effect you sent me? How do I "import" it in Final cut?

Unzip the file and copy the entire resulting folder t your User/Movies/Motion Templates/Effects folder.

It will then show up in your Effects Browser in FCP X.

Hi again, I found how to import it in Final Cut. This effect is perfect!! Thank you so much!

naomikn wrote: Hi again, I found how to import it in Final Cut. This effect is perfect!! Thank you so much!

That's good to hear - thanks for letting me know.