What's In Your Final Cut Pro Tool Bench?

What good is a tool if you don't use it? Final Cut Pro has a bucket of tools and you don't have to wait until you're finishing your project to put them to use. These tools can help you at many different times during your editing process. Each of these tools opens as a tab in the Tool Bench window, which you can place anywhere in your interface. Don't forget to save that window layout!

AUDIO MIXER

When you find yourself changing volume levels on Timeline clips without much precision, OPEN THIS TOOL. You can enter exact dB changes and see a much better representation of the clip and sequence levels.

FRAME VIEWER

You say tomatoes,I sayto-mah-toes! If youcan't decide between the before and after of a clip, or need to compare the color correction between clips, this is your tool! Choose what you're comparing in the source pop-ups.

QUICKVIEW

Mark a range or area in the Timeline and change your effect, add a new filter or transition, or replace an existing one –– all while FCP churns out an updated view of the effect in real time (once it caches to RAM).

VIDEOSCOPES

Who’s got the final say on your broadcast project? Not the produceror director – the FCC! Use this tool to make sure you’re not sending "hot" video (over 100 % or IRE units) over the airwaves.

VOICE OVER

No need to wait for the narrator to get into studio. Record your own scratch track using the Voice Over tool. Just patch the a2 source control to the track above where you want the new voice over clip to appear.

TIMECODE VIEWER

 

 

Now you can see the timecode number right up close and personal! This floating, resizable window is easily visible when you’re working by yoruself or with your clients and can be use to create notes and logging.