Splice

By popular demand here is a list of the more useful keyboard shortcuts in Final Cut Pro. These shortcuts will help you increase your editing speed and get more work done in less time. These tips are brought to you by HDvision Studio.

Even if you’re an expert with FCP this will be a good read for you because there are always one or two shortcuts we forget about over the years.

There are four main windows in FCP. The Browser, Viewer, Canvas and Timeline. We’ll take a look at the keyboard shortcuts for each window.

Remember that by using the keyboard shortcut layout, you can change these commands to something that better suits your needs or workflow.

Browser

Close Bins   â†
Close Tab   CTRL+W
Find   CMD+F
Find Next   F3
Import File   CMD+I
Item Properties   CMD+9
Logging Columns   OPTION+B
New Bin   CMD+B
New Project   SHIFT+CMD+N
New Sequence   CMD+N
Open Bins   â†’
Open Bin in New Tab   OPTION+ENTER
Select Next Item   â†“
Select Previous Item   â†‘
Sequence Settings   CMD+0
Show Browser   CMD+4
Show Effects   CMD+5
Show Favorites   CMD+6
Standard Columns   SHIFT+B
Toggle Browser View   SHIFT+H
View Item in Editor   OPTION+RETURN
View Item in New Window   SHIFT+RETURN

Viewer and Canvas

Fit to Window   SHIFT+Z
Zoom In   CMD+=
Zoom Out   CMD+-
Show Overlays   CTRL+OPTION+W
Show Timecode Overlays   OPTION+W
Show Match Frame   F
Mark Clip   X
Add Motion Keyframe   CTRL+K
Mark In   I
Mark Out   O
Go to Previous Edit   ; or ↑
Play In to Out   SHIFT+\
Play Forward   SPACE
Play Around Current Frame   \
Go to Next Edit   ’ or ↓
Open Text Generator   CTRL+X
Close Tab   CTRL+W
Show Viewer   CMD+1
Toggle Wireframes   W
Nudge Down (Wireframe view)   OPTION+↓
Nudge Left (Wireframe view)   OPTION+←
Nudge Right (Wireframe view)   OPTION+→
Nudge Up (Wireframe view)   OPTION+↑
Insert Clip   F9
Overwrite Clip   F10
Replace Clip   F11
Add Level Keyframe   OPTION+CMD+K
Clear In   OPTION+I
Clear In and Out   OPTION+K
Clear Out   OPTION+O
Fit to Fill   SHIFT+F11
Insert Clip with Transition   SHIFT+F9
Mark Audio In   OPTION+CMD+I
Mark Audio Out   OPTION+CMD+O
Mark Video In   CTRL+I
Mark Video Out   CTRL+O
Overwrite With Transition   SHIFT+F10
Show Canvas   CMD+2
Superimpose Clip   F12

Timeline

Close Tab   CTRL+W
Linked Selection   SHIFT+L
Snapping   N
Lock Video Track   F4+track number
Set Video Destination   F6+track number
Set Audio Destination 1   F7+track number
Set Audio Destination 2   F8+track number
Lock Audio Track   F5+track number
Toggle Filter/Motion Bars, Speed Indicators and Keyframe Editor   OPTION+T
Toggle Clip Overlays   OPTION+W
Toggle Timeline Track Height   SHIFT+T
Add Audio Transition   OPTION+CMD+T
Add Edit   CTRL+V
Add Video Transition   CMD+T
Clear Audio Destination 1   SHIFT+F7
Clear Audio Destination 2   SHIFT+F8
Clear Video Destination   SHIFT+F6
Create or Break Link   CMD+L
Extend Edit   E
Fit Sequence to Window   SHIFT+Z
Go to Beginning of Media   HOME
Go to End of Media   END
Go to Next Edit or In/Out   â†“
Go to Previous Edit or In/Out   â†‘
Mark In   I
Mark Out   O
Paste Attributes   OPTION+V
Go to Previous Gap   OPTION+G
Remove Gap   CTRL+G
Render All   OPTION+R
Ripple Cut   SHIFT+X
Ripple Delete   DELETE
Select In to Out   OPTION+A
Select Nearest Edit   V
Show Master Clip   SHIFT+F
Show Timeline   CMD+3
Toggle Stereo Pair   OPTION+L
Toggle Waveform Display   OPTION+CMD+W
Trim Minus   [
Trim Minus Many   SHIFT+[
Trim Plus   ]
Trim Plus Many   SHIFT+]
View Item in Editor   OPTION+RETURN
Add Marker   M
Delete All Markers   CTRL+`
Deleter Marker   CMD+`
Extend Marker   OPTION+`
Go to Next Marker   SHIFT+↓
Go to Previous Marker   SHIFT+↑

General

Open File   CMD+O
Save   CMD+S
Save All   OPTION+CMD+S
Undo   CMD+Z
Redo   SHIFT+CMD+Z
Select All   CMD+A
Deselect All   SHIFT+CMD+A
Copy   CMD+C
Cut   CMD+X
Paste Insert   SHIFT+V
Paste Overwrite   CMD+V
Duplicate   OPTION+D
Print to Video   OPTION+M
Show User Preferences   OPTION+Q

This concludes my Final Cut Pro Tips article on Keyboard Shortcuts. After learning some of these shortcuts you’ll notice your editing speed will dramatically increase. Happy splicing!