Introduction

As video editors, we need to be flexible. Changing deadlines, various video file formats, backseat editors (a.k.a. directors and producers); they all make us have to constantly adapt our workflow. In turn, we need flexibility in our editing software. Luckily, Final Cut Pro X (FCPX) has plenty of tools to adjust to our needs and different working environments.

For Final Cut Pro 7 users, FCPX's one-window interface seems restrictive at first compared to FCP7's multiwindowed layout. This is misleading, however, as almost all the different areas of the interface can be hidden or resized easily based on our needs. Keyboard shortcuts have also changed, but we can alter those as well. And thanks to the 10.0.3 update that arrived in early 2012, we have much more flexibility in connecting to additional broadcast-quality hardware.

In addition, FCPX vastly exceeds FCP7's media management capabilities. Cross-referencing media is a piece of cake, thanks to the introduction of keywords and favorites.

Although none of the recipes in this chapter are essential to use FCPX, taking the time to go through them and make the program work the way you want it to can save countless hours of work in the long run.