Stack 'Em, Pack 'Em, and Rack 'Em!

by Diana Weynand

That line is a little tribute to Die Hard 2 fans..this trick is completely original and is a testament to FCP's amazing ability to combine different functions with ease and flexibility. To perform this trick, you don't need a safety net! Instead, you will need the Superimpose editing function which will magicaly add In and Out points to a group of clips at one time. I created this tip to make a group of stills the same length. Then I edited them to music where they fit perfectly to each beat.

PROBLEM: What if you simply forget to change the Still/Freeze Duration in the User Preferences (Editing tab) BEFORE you import all your still images. If you do forget, you end up with a lot of clips that are marked with a default duration such as 10 seconds.

SOLUTION: You can change your User Preferences and re-import all your stills. But, there's another option. Group your stills and edit them using Superimpose. This will change the durations of all the clips to match the marked portion of hte Timeline or the base cliop.

1. Place all the images you want to mark inside a bin of their own. Edit the music track into the Timeline and mark an In and Out to identify the length of a sample beat. If you already have a video clip of the desired length, park the playhead on that clip.

2. Drag the bin of clips from the Browser directy to the Canvas and release it over the Superimpose option in the Edit Overlay. The clips stack up within the marked portion of the Timeline.

3. Now drag each clip from the stack into position in the sequence. Or save these marked clips by dragging the group from the Timeline into a new bin in the Browser.

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