Final Cut Pro X - 1: Get Started

1.  An external hard drive is highly recommended for storing all of the contents of your video project (ie. video clips, pics, music files, project file etc.)
Without one, the automatic location where files are saved will be the 'Movies' folder on the computer you are working on, which will not be accessible from other machines if someone else is using that particular machine the next time if you have to come back later.

2.  Connect an external hard drive to the Mac with a USB cable.

if a message asks to use drive with Time Machine, click “Don’t Use”.

3.  Open Final Cut Pro X by going to the dock and then clicking on “Final Cut Pro”. If Final Cut Pro is not in the dock, click the finder and go to the applications folder.

4.  To setup your project on the hard drive go to “File” then “New” then “Library”. Choose a name to save your project file as and under the where dropdown box select the DMS hard drive # and click save.

You may have to browse to the hard drive on the column on the left in the Finder.

5.  The new “Library” is created in the top left corner of Final Cut. Here I called it Tutorial.

The tab under the “Library” is where all of your imported clips get stored in folders called “Events”. It’s a good idea to change the name of your events because the default is today's date.

Here the default events folder was 2/16/17. To change the name, click on the folder once and wait about 1 second until the text is highlighted.

The Smart Collections folder folder sorts your content by: video, audio, favorites, projects, and stills.

6.  Next it’s time to create a timeline. Go to “File” then “New” then “Project”.

7.  Give the “Project” a name and make sure the project is saving under the correct “Event”. Then click “OK”.

The default automatic setting will set the timeline based on the first video clip you add. It's best to choose the setting yourself if you are mixing media from other sources. If you know the settings your camera uses you can adjust by clicking “Use Custom Settings”.

We recommend these settings:

Video: Format 1080p, Resolution 1920x1080, Rate 30p
Rendering: Apple ProRes 422
Audio: Stereo, Sample Rate 48kHz

Click OK

8.  Saving your work.

Note: Final Cut Pro X will automatically save your work after every move you make.

There is no file then save option.

*When returning a hard drive please ask the DMS staff about backing up your work.