My "begginer's" AHA moment

I am new to FCP and never used v7, but I had been struggling to get the basic concepts until today. I thought I would share my new understanding, in case it is wrong(!) or if I am right, it might help some other newbies.

Basically the discovery was that the Apple terminology is different compared to how I thought of the words meanings. Let me explain:

Apple: Library = My: Project e.g. making of a documentary about motorcycling
Apple: Events = My: Clip Category e.g. Event 1 is Bike Cam, Event 2 is Interviews, etc.
Apple: Project = My: Movie i.e. the assembled edited clips

So until now, I had only one Library, based on my HDD for storage, and had events based on external events, like going to a race meeting. But now I've switched so that I have a Library for each video project, and I move my video clips into events that are named according to the content rather than the time/date event.

So, using the example of a motorcycling doco:

Library: Motorcycling Doco
Events:
1) Source clips - where new clips are first loaded
2) Audio
3) Track shots
4) Cut-aways
5) Interviews
6) Static shots
So I go through the source "event's" clips and drag each clip to the event that best describes its contents. I then mark Favourites and Rejects, and then hide Rejects. Next create a major timeline by creating an Apple Project (I would call this a Movie), and put in the rough clips of talking clips.

Then add cut-aways on the secondary tracks, and also work out multicam clips, then add soundtrack, and fine tune trimmings. Lastly add titles and credits and any special effects, and color grading.

Now bear in mind that I am a total novice, so this is not meant as a recipe for Hollywood productions, just a simple outline of my workflow.

I would appreciate any constructive feedback, so over to you!

ok, two blind guys discussing color ... ('m a beginner too )

imho, you're still way too deep-seated in 'drawers' = thinking in folders, manual sorting, creating piles of clips ...

pszilard wrote: … So I go through the source "event's" clips and drag each clip to the event that best describes its contents. …

You're using Events as 'folders' for a single sort of shot; but Events are out-of-the-box more meant as 'Dailies' = any recording of the same day slips automatically into the same Event. You completely miss the advantages of META-TAGS (which are more than just 'technical' data, but allow your personal sorting).

In your sorting-scheme: where do you place a clip, showing an interview-partner watching a bike go by while talking? is that audio? cut-away? static?

Now meta-tagging: tadaahh - it's all!

tagging allows to put and find the same SINGLE clip into SEVERAL categories!

you actually use 5 diff. categories, but you cannot combine them. Nor can you filter by more specific, 'rainy day', 'highlight', 're-use/generic', 'title sequence', 'VIP', 'bike CU', 'old bikes'.......... you got the idea.

Watch how a Ninja works, effective, fast, with deadly precision:
www.fcp.co/final-cut-pro/tutorials/1436-...-with-michael-garber

Michael Garber's demo is, imho, one of the best videos to demonstrate the superiority of tagging vs. 'drawers' (=manual folders)

Watch it - it's a real eye-opener!

.. and btw: it saves you tons of time: You import once into a single Event, you scrub, pre-watch and categorizing each clip anyhow! What do you do with parts of clips? Apply several tags to several parts, that easy. Tagging creates automatically (!) playlists = your 'folders' of your categories, just type filter/keyword criteria - and presto! everything's on screen - without switching 'sources' (=Events), and for sure just the parts of the clips you need, not the whole clip; or overlapping parts, which fall in two/several categories.
I do have an Event for each weekly report, one Event for my 'Standards' = elements I'm using in every show. Over the season, my Lib grows, when season's done, close Lib, drag it to some cheap usb2 external hard drive, bye-bye. End of the year: connect hdd, choose 'highlight' material in Events, edit, done. hdd back into box, dig it into cellar, and forgotten the next 30y ... :woohoo:

.. yepp, 'Project' aka 'movie' ... when done.

Hi Karsten,

With 410 posts, I hardly think that you are a beginner, but I appreciate being kind to me. You are absolutely right, I not only missed the benefit of meta tags in FCPX, but I was completely unaware of their existence. I am grateful for directing me to this and will look at the link you gave me.

So thanks again 10⁶ times

pszilard wrote: ... With 410 posts, I hardly think that you are a beginner, ...

haha, thanks for the flowers … but concerning FCPX I am really just a 'enthusiastic hobbyist' ... I started with iMovie, participating busily at the Apple Support Community, I was an iMovie expert, I have to admit, always looking for 'dirty tricks' (my old website is still avail ... ) to teach my app the impossible.

After a short and vain episode with FC/express, I finally, 2y ago took the plunge to FCPX. Lucky me, a year before Apple published that weird chimera iMovie08 ( was one of the loudest nay-sayers!), which was nothing more than a first public alpha of the new GUI metaphor. After swallowing that toad, I'm meanwhile a huge fan ...

Keep posting! There are some Ahas in the pipeline!
(keyword "keyboard shortcuts"....)

Glad to be helpful ... :lol: