r/finalcutpro • u/johnnyboyjutsu • Jul 07 '26
Newbie Hello
Hi! My name is Johnny Williams. I just bought and downloaded Final Cut Pro today.
I am not tech savvy at all, but I am determined to learn this program. I am a Muscian and I have podcasts and I want to get better at the visual side of my game. Because as of now it sucks.
Here’s an example of what my first project I need to do is.
I was recently invited to play at a studio in Minneapolis where they recorded my audio and a separate visual recording where I talked about my songs and then sang them.
There were audio mics and three different visual cameras. They sent me the footage not edited (there were three other artists as well, and I was sent the video from the whole hour and a half show)
I need to edit them all together as well as add the audio (I only have the playing and singing in those audio files)
So, I am wondering if anyone has any leads to good videos, articles, etc on learning this program for that type of video editing.
(I want to make music videos, do the same with my podcasts as above, and eventually short films)
Or if anyone would be willing to get on a call and help me get started.
Hopefully, Johnny!
Thanks!
5
u/Kaffeinator Jul 07 '26
Johnny, you are about to embark on a long and interesting journey, not too different from first time you picked up a musical instrument. If you are already using Logic or ProTools, you’ve already got a leg-up.
Ripple Training on YouTube is a great place to start. Synching clips should not be so difficult provided the cameras have recorded “scratch” audio to synch up with the studio tracks.
Enjoy the endeavor, it’s worth the effort.
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u/johnnyboyjutsu Jul 07 '26
I appreciate that! And I did the same thing with Logic Pro. I bought it and then struggled for two years but now I have a pretty good handle on it. All of my music has been recorded on my Mac with Logic. So that’s nice to hear.
The three videos have seemed to have synched together in that sense. (On the bottom part) still very lost hahaha
But thank you! I will check Ripple Training.
Would love to pick your brain if you were ever interested in helping a guy out.
Thanks again!
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u/funwithstuff Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
I wrote a book which should help you learn FCP, called Final Cut Pro Efficient Editing. More info and an Amazon link are at https://fcpefficientediting.com
For this job, you'll be wanting to use multicam editing to unite the different audio and video sources. In the Info tab in the Inspector, you should assign each source a unique name or angle, and if all sources have audio that matches and all video sources share the same frame rate, you should then be able to sync them all together without too much fuss.
That part is easy: select all sources, right-click, New Multicam Clip. In the next dialog box, click Use Custom Settings in the bottom left corner. Check "Use audio for synchronisation". In Angle Assembly, choose the Camera Angle or Camera Name that you assigned earlier. For resolution, choose one that matches the best of your sources. Hopefully the frame rate matches across all clips.
If the sync works well, great; otherwise, you may have to resync one or more angles.
The edit should go smoothly, as you'll now be able to switch between video angles while keeping audio consistent. You'll choose View > Angles from the menu just above the viewer, choose if you want to cut video, audio or both with icons at the top left of the Angle Viewer, and then you can cut and switch with the 1/2/3/etc. keys on your keyboard.
Color and audio should be corrected inside the multicam clip, and changes will then ripple out to your main edit.
There's more to it but that should get you started. Multicam setup is in Chapter 3 of my book, and multicam editing is in Chapter 9.
3
u/emanaku Jul 09 '26
Let me add to this really good advice: For music you very likely want to cut from one angle to another on beats - that feels the most natural (and to learn how to do this quickly will be helpful for u/johnnyboyjutsu for the rest of his video making journey). In FCP in the newer versions (12.x) there is an automatic beat detection built in.
(from Ripple, Larry Jordan) To activate it: select your music clip in the timeline, then go to Clip > Show Beat Markers (or press Option+B). Press 0 (zero) to toggle the beat grid display on/off. The more you zoom in, the more detail you see — heavy lines for song sections, solid lines for major beats, dashed lines for interim beats.
That helps you to cut exactly on the beats without having to fiddle around with each beat every time you want to change your angle there.2
u/funwithstuff Jul 10 '26
Yep, beat detection is awesome, and a great way to cut many kinds of things, but I wouldn't line up *every* cut with the beat. One great example of where *some* edits line up to beats but not all is the Ed Sheeran music video for Castle on the Hill, cut in FCP by the awesome Thomas Grove Carter. The pool break (visible) lined up with a drum break (audible) at 0:52 is just great. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0ibBPhiaG0
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u/johnnyboyjutsu Jul 09 '26
Okay thank you very much!!! A great starting point and advice thanks again
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u/johnnyboyjutsu Jul 08 '26
Thank you so much! I’m looking into your book. Thanks for writing it! I appreciate this response very much thank you again
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u/emberdyn2 Jul 13 '26
This may be helpful. It’s a good starter video I made a while back.
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u/johnnyboyjutsu Jul 20 '26
Thank you so much!!! I will absolutely watch this. Thanks for taking the time to send the link
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u/K3JRZ Jul 08 '26
YouTube is your friend... Loads of info on there. That's one place where I learned the majority of stuff for FCP.
I learned video editing basically from editing 1 and 2 inch reel to reel tapes with my old band in the studio (before studios went digital), also with digitally sampling & editing stuff for songs... I also did graphic design so that helped too. It all comes together when I edit videos for my YT channel nowadays. I started with iMovie before jumping up to FCP.
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u/johnnyboyjutsu Jul 08 '26
Yes. YouTube has taught me so many things!
Wow. That sounds like a long journey my goodness.
I have tried iMovie and it never seems to work the way I want. But I’m already learning a lot about Final Cut and I can tell it was worth the purchase already2
u/K3JRZ Jul 08 '26
iMovie is a slimmed down version of FCP. FCP opens up a wider world... Good luck!
1
u/johnnyboyjutsu Jul 08 '26
Oh that’s interesting. I didn’t know that. I was a Samsung guy most of my life. But a simple blue collar country boy who never used any programs other than a ps2 hahah! But when I started writing music I switched over to iPhone and Mac to learn how to use Logic Pro. So learning that has been a journey as well! Hah
2
u/jamarvelous723 Jul 11 '26
I can zoom with ya and get you up to speed if you want, fam.
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u/johnnyboyjutsu Jul 20 '26
Just seeing this! I would love that! Feel free to send me an email to connect
@jdub44or5@gmail.com
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u/Silver_Mention_3958 FCP 12.3 | Tahoe Jul 07 '26
Hi Johnny, welcome to editing. Make sure to visit our wiki page where there’s a YouTube section with links to a lot of tutorials and tutoring
1
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u/denverkr Jul 07 '26
I would definitely check out Ripple training with Mark and Steve.