Find Footage Faster with Final Cut Pro's Find Window

I'm continually surprised by what some editors I talk to don't know or know about but for some reason don't do or use.

When a deadline permits or there's just a vast amount of footage that was shot while I wasn't around I go through all the clips and even before pulling "selects" I label, color label and comment on bunches of it.

Why?

Because when you're sitting down with the script or director or both and are looking for footage you can now search for clips very quickly. Let's run though the ways:

1) In FCP, in a bin you know you can rename a clip. You can also second-click on it and rename the file to match the clips name and vice-versa. I have some naming conventions I have become attached to over the years when people forget slates: INT-S02-Bob-Single for Interior, scene 02, Bob's Single Shot or something like EXT-Building-Pan Left-Wide.

So go through and name all your clips to something helpful and descriptive. If you don't know what something is or who someone is give 'em a nickname: Yellow Building, Ball Cap Hammerer, Short Pants, whatever, just as long as you know what you're talking about.

2) Highlight a clip and hit Command + 9 for the Item Properties window. You'll see four tabs: Format, Timing, Logging and Film.

Format has a lot of helpful info about the clip.

Timing is what you'd expect. Length, In point, Out point, Duration and some other stuff which is also shown in other tabs.

Logging is the most helpful for organizing. We'll get into this in a little more detail in a little bit.

Film is again, similar to the others but a lot of these should be filled in when you ingest.

Now, go to the Logging tab and see all the blank space? You can fill that up with helpful and searchable info. Take Description for example. Click on the gray area where text should be to the right of the word Description. You'll see a text box magically appear with a happily blinking cursor. Type your description into here.

Be aware that since the OK button is the default, if you type then hit return you'll save your change and close this window. Try and get into the habit -if you're going to modify more than one field- of hitting the Tab key until you've filled in everything you want to.

Bizarrely enough unlike most other places in Mac OS X, hitting Shift + Tab does not go back to the previous text entry box. I have no idea what it doesn't.

3) Close the Item Properties window and then add some info for other clips. Any field that you want to. Close the Item Properties window. Now, with the Bin as the active window tap Command + F for the Find window.

Search: Set this to whatever suits your needs. Usually the default is enough though.
For: All Media. Again change this if you need to. This is actually a quite powerful setting as you can search for All, Used or Unused Media.
Results: Replace Find Results starts your results out anew upon each search. I find this one most helpful.

Below those you'll see "Any Column" and "Contains". This is just like Find in the Finder. But, take a look at all the things listed under Any Column. Anything you change in the Item Properties Window you can search for here even if it's not listed. If it's not listed just use "Any Column."

4) Hit Find All. Why not Find Next even though it's the default? It's a personal preference for me; I like the little window of everything found in that search to pop up. I wish Find All was the default button actually.

So you can see that once you fill in some basic info into the Item Properties window or at the very least name all your clips something helpful, you can search and find them all at once quickly and easily.

I've found this to speed up editing overall tremendously. At the bare minimum I'll name all the clips, green label all the stuff I think is best, red label everything I think is useless then with a quick Command + F and a search term I have all the EXT or INT or CU or ECU or Wide or Tilt or Pans listed. Or "Bob INT" or "Building Pan" or whatever.

The search is a handy way to exploit your own organizational styles. I've been startled by some client's reaction to how quickly I can find a very specific clip seconds after they ask for it while we're editing together.

Explore around the Item Properties window in conjunction with the Find window and see what suits your organizational method best.

Name Clips while They're Playing in the Viewer

You can begin playing a clip in the Viewer and while it continues to play you can rename the clip in the Browser which can speed up organizing a project.

I'll double-click a clip in the Browser, then tap the spacebar to play it.

Click on the clip in the Browser, type in the name I want then (for once you shouldn't use a keyboard command to return to the Browser as it will stop playback, use the mouse here. Yeah, I know…) hit Return.

Then hit Down Arrow to highlight the next clip then Return to load it into the Viewer, then Spacebar to begin playing it.

Use the mouse to click on the file's name in the Browser and begin naming…wash, rinse, repeat.

So the pattern is:

1. Double-click clip in the Browser
2. Hit Spacebar
3. Use mouse to click on file name in Browser and (re)name
4. Hit Return
5. Hit Down Arrow
6. Hit Return then goto step #2.

To stop playback after you name the last file I have the habit of hitting Command + 1 to highlight the Viewer but you can stop playback many other ways without using the mouse.

Sort the Bin by Date Modified

Similar to sorting the Log and Transfer window by Date Created, you can sort a Bin in Final Cut Pro by Date Modified to show some pesky footage in the order it was shot.

Not all cameras log date created but most will transfer in chronological order via numerical order. So, in this case if you right-click on a column header in List View in a Bin you'll see Logging Columns. Select that, then go back and select Date Modified to have your footage (hopefully) listed in chronological order in your Bin.

Search Folders

If you're reconnecting a lot of media in your projects or have Media Managed a lot of them it helps to tell FCP where to search first. In FCP hit Shift + Q to bring up the System Settings and then click on the second tab marked Search Folders.

Tap the Set... button and select the folders and drives where your media is. It may help a bit it may not, try it and see how it does for you.

Re-Arranging Tabs

If you want to re-arrange the tabs in a window, for example you have your Effects Tab and your Project Tab both in the Browser and right now it's in the order of Effects and then Project Name but you'd rather have them in the opposite order, just drag the one you want 1st out and then drag it back in and they should be in the order you want.

Usually the one you drag out and then drag back in is listed first. Lame tip I know, but it helped one of the editors here today while he was getting organized.

Flash Drives & Freelance Editors

I'm a freelance editor which means when I am working I can never be sure if I'm going to be working on my setup or sitting in front of someone else's Mac.

So, I keep a small toolbox of apps and plug-ins that I use a lot or am very used to using on a tiny flash drive I keep with me.

On it I have a complete set of plug-ins that I use because you never know what the client will or won't have or what versions they'll be as well as several must-have apps like VisualHub, Handbrake, Mactheripper, Toast, FCPRescue and so on.

This way if they ask for some effect or look or want me to rip a bit from this disc or burn a disc with that or convert this to that I can generally do it.

Organizing The Browser

I like to keep things fairly tidy when I'm working on complex projects and one thing I do 99.99% of the time is set up my Browser a fairly specific way using bins like this:

Sequences - obviously, all of the projects sequences go in here.

Stills - for still images.

Music - for music.

Footage - for your hero footage (usually this has several bins within it).

Backgrounds or Library Footage - In here, if there are animated backgrounds that will be used I dump them into here so I don't have to hunt for them in the Footage bin.

Audio or Sound F/X - In here I put any audio cues or sound effects that the project needs.

Voice Overs - if there are a lot of them or they are really long.

Video F/X - Sometimes, if there are a lot of Motion (.motn) effects files I'll make this folder to keep them all in.

Title Cards - If I'm using LiveType .lpr files for title cards I'll put them in here.

Remember that you can have bins within bins as well to further organize everything. The point is if you start out organized you'll tend to stay organized and that'll save time later on when you need some specific bit of media.

Leftover Footage

Ever wondered what footage is sitting in your bin which you have not used? There's an easy way to find out and label them.

01) Hit Command + 4 to hightlight the Browser window. (if it's already highlighted then hit it again to bring it back :)

02) Highlight the sequence you're working on. (I type it's name once the Browser is the active window to highlight the sequence since it's faster)

03) Hit Command + F

04) In this find window (which is quasi-contextual so it'll look different depending on what's highlighted when you bring it up) set it to:

Projects: Set it to the project you're working on (up to you though, depending)
For: Unused Media (in selected sequences is up to you, again, depending)
Results: Ususally set this to Replace Find Results.

05) Hit the Final All button.

A list pops up with all the unused media that's in your Browser that has not yet been used in that Sequence.

What's cooler is that you can label them with colors right here.

01) Hit Command + A to highlight them all.
02) Hit Command + Option + any number from 1 through 6 to color label them.

Close the window and now all your unused clips will be color labeled in your Browser.

Be careful though. This is a broad way to find out what you haven't used. If you've used DV Start Stop Detection to make subclips or have made subclips of your own in a clip in the Browser and used one then that clip is considered "used" by FCP and won't show up in the search.