Customizing the keyboard
Final Cut Pro X's keyboard shortcuts are greatly revamped and remapped from Final Cut Pro 7. Or, if you're coming from a different editing suite, keyboard shortcuts are going to be very different anyway. Luckily, FCPX has an easy-to-use keyboard shortcut editor.
How to do it...
- Click on Final Cut Pro in the menu bar and select Commands | Customize, or hit Command + Option + K on the keyboard.
- The Command Editor window pops up. To learn what each key is capable of in FCPX, click on it and look below the digital keyboard in the Key Detail box. Every possible command with every possible modifier key is listed! Additionally, the command list at the bottom provides you with a list of every possible command in FCPX and which, if any, keyboard shortcut has been applied to it.
- FCPX doesn't let you modify the default layout, so we must create our own copy first. Click on Default in the upper-left corner of the window and choose Duplicate... Enter in a name for your shortcuts and click on OK.
- Not every command has a keyboard shortcut. Let's say we wanted to make one for Analyze and Fix..., which displays the window where we can tell FCPX to check clips for people, color, sound issues, and so on. A keyboard shortcut using the letter A would make sense.
- Click on the letter A on the virtual keyboard. Notice in the Key Detail box that Option + A has no command assigned to it.
- Use the search box in the upper-right corner to find the Analyze and Fix... command (type the word
analyze). Drag the command from the command list into the Key Detail window right on top of the Option symbol. Click on Save, as shown in the following screenshot:
There's more...
This is a great way for multiple editors sharing one FCPX rig to customize the program for themselves. Each time an editor opens up FCPX, all he/she has to do is click on Final Cut Pro in the the menu bar, scroll down to Customize, and choose the keyboard layout of his/her choice!
If you're happy with the default layout and just want an easy reminder of what keys do what, a few companies produce rubber keyboard covers for FCPX that place the major single key shortcut labels right on top of the keys! Two such companies are ProVantage (http://www.provantage.com) and KB Covers (http://www.kbcovers.com). You can also find physical keyboards with printed shortcuts on them at www.editorskeys.com and www.logickeyboard.com.