We don’t often suggest online video tutorials…there’s some great commerical ones out there…but often the free ones online are ho-hum at best.

However, we really dig this FREE tutorial that was recently sent to us. Jeff over at SuiteTake.com outlines his top 10 things about Final Cut Pro that he wish he knew 10 years ago…and there’s some good ones in there. He says, “If I had these often simple tricks in my pocket from day 1 I would have saved myself countless hours and heaps of frustration.” We couldn’t agree more.

The video runs a bit on the long side (45 min) but if you’ve got the time, it’s well worth it. Throw it on during your lunch break or during a long render!

Here’s Jeff’s list (he throws a couple shortcuts and other tricks as he goes along) as well as link to the video:

10. Shift and option dragging

9. Quick Ken Burns effect

8. QuickTime vs Quicktime Conversion.

7. The Black and code button.

6. Option 1,2,3 for transition alignment

5. Esc, tab, spacebar to navigate windows

4. Apply normalization to audio in FCP

3. Disable dropped frames warning.

2. Disable rendering with caps lock.

1. Map your keyboard.

The Top-Ten Things I Wish I Knew About Final Cut Pro…Ten Years Ago.


*You may remember SuiteTake was the site that pulled the best post-production related April fools joke of all time!  If you’re not a regular SuiteTake reader, bookmark the site…they’ve got tons of great post-production and FCP related info!