03 Feb Tip 1 – Time Metadata

This is a powerful time saver in FCPX. This “tiny” tip will save you countless hours while editing in FCPX.

Simply sync all your camera and audio time to one time. You don’t have to be 100% accurate, but the more accurate you are the better it is in the long run. This will help you a ton while editing and organizing your project.

Here is an example:

Here you can see where have 2 different cameras (cameras P and Camera S – odd names, but they work). Note that the shots from that mini-session of the bride are right next to each other. And more importantly, event he shots that were filmed at the same time from multiple angles, they are next to each other. This helps me as and editor (who has also filmed this wedding), to really be able to see the available shots I have from a sequence of shots. It really allows me to be able to see the FULL spectrum of what we captured as a team and tell a perfect story.

This works even better (the video details it a bit) when you have 2 cameras and an audio track. It really does save me a ton of time as I always get to see what is available for me in Final Cut Pro.