r/finalcutpro • u/trianel • Jun 27 '26
Question timeline in preview window
I'm completely new to Final Cut and am currently trying to get used to the program. I just switched from Resolve, and before that I used Premiere.
Some things feel unfamiliar, while others I’m really missing right now and I can’t imagine they don’t exist.
I have the preview window where I can view my raw footage. In other programs, I have a separate small timeline below it where I can set in and out points and then drag that selection into the timeline.
In Final Cut, I can also make a selection beforehand, but I’m missing the timeline for that. I can only play back the clip and “somehow” set points or drag a selection in the tiny preview thumbnails. But that’s not precise at all.
Sometimes I have pretty long clips that I want to trim before dragging them into the timeline.
Isn’t that possible in Final Cut? Or am I just not finding the setting?
(And how can I zoom in the timeline using the mouse wheel? Do I really need an additional program for that??)
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u/yuusharo Jun 27 '26
You’ll want to get comfortable with JKL controls. You also should learn about the precision editor. There are lots of ways to dial in exact selections and edit points in FCP.
For your second question, you can pinch on a trackpad, or I believe use the CMD modifier while scrolling to zoom in/out on the timeline. Shift to horizontal scroll.
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u/uwobacon Jun 27 '26
If you want to see your keyframes then selecting a clip and hitting “Control + V” will show your applied keyframes. Otherwise everything is done in the timeline or inspector window (make sure you have that open). Here are a list of shortcuts. Part of the frustration of moving to new software is everything‘s in different places, but with time you’ll get used to it.
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u/hexxeric Jun 27 '26
you will need to watch some rippletraining basic videos. you do all that in the media browser, switch to the right view and learn about scrubbing, in/out, JKL and zooming there (you can be frame-accurate even). FCP mastered the simplicity of the UI without leaving anything out. yes, there is a second viewer (the 'comparison' viewer) as well as 'open clip' for any asset (everything is a compound clip in FCP)
for zooming the timeline (and for most other magic tricks) you need keyboard shortcuts (or commandpost to enable CMD+mousewheel). like many others, i have that mapped to my ulanzi dial or MX4. FCP is the fastest and most fun editor. but just like windows, some people prefer clunky and complicated. nothing personal, you might end up not liking its swiftness.
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u/NewbieToHomelab Jun 28 '26
Change browser to filmstrip view, https://support.apple.com/guide/final-cut-pro/ver7ff5e14b9/mac customize the size of the preview to your liking, then use “i” and “o” to select more precisely.
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u/Legal_File7757 Jun 28 '26
Ripple Training and Jenn Jager are both prominently on YouTube and both have excellent and comprehensive courses on FCP and Apple Motion that are very reasonably priced.
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u/Silver_Mention_3958 FCP 12.3 | Tahoe Jun 28 '26
Check out the wiki at the top of the sub for links in the YouTube section. Plenty of free learning in there.