If you have only just started working with Final Cut Pro or you are starting on a Final Cut Pro training course you might not have had time to get up to speed on all the shortcuts used.
Shortcuts make a huge difference to your speed when editing or training with Final Cut Pro. Since editing projects can take hours or days, shortcuts can mean huge productivity advantages overall depending on the length of the project.
Research shows that using a mouse can mean you spend up to 40% longer on a Final Cut Pro project than if you are using shortcuts. We’ve listed just a few of the ones you are most likely to find yourself using as you start out your Final Cut Pro training.
We all start somewhere and if you have started training in or just bought Final Cut Pro, one shortcut will be needed more than any other; Undo.
Command + Z: Undo
This shortcut will undo your mistake, bringing you back to the state before your last action.
N: Toggle Snapping
During editing with Final Cut Pro you will constantly need to turn on and off the snapping feature. The snapping short-cut will save you an enormous amount of time especially when you are just starting out or training.
So clips don’t overlap or gaps don’t appear between clips it is useful to use Snapping. Similarly, when you want clips to overlap or you want a gap between them you will want to turn it off.
Command + “+”: Zoom In
Command + “-”: Zoom Out
When you are editing in Final Cut Pro you will zoom in and out on your clips a lot. However far along you are in your training you will find you constantly use the zoom function.
These zooming shortcuts work for zooming in and out in the Canvas, Viewer and Timeline windows.
You might use the zoom function when you have the wrong window selected. Zooming in on the Timeline window you might find you have the Canvas window selected and you have zoomed in on that. No matter how much Final Cut Pro training you have had it can happen. Just use:
Shift + Z: Zoom to Fit
Which will return your window to its full size.
Hopefully these short-cuts are enough to get your training kick-started.
If you’re looking for training in Ireland, take a look at Pulse College.
Do you have any others you’d like to share?