Editing Software: Tools & Transitions

The editing software we used for our Preliminary Task was called Final Cut Pro. This software is installed on the iMacs and caused issues when we came to edit the Preliminary Task as we had not used it in the past and was not familiar with its tools and features which it had to offer.
I have completed research on this software and how to use the iMacs more efficiently. This will help increase the pace at which we will work and help complete the editing quicker. This will then give us more time to look over the final sequence and look for any errors made in editing so we have time to fix them, so the sequence looks more professionally done.

Editing Tools
The select tool allows the user to grab and move a clip around the timeline to the place which they want. Also the select tool can shorten or lengthen a clip at any time when its in the timeline.

The Trim tool allows the user to change the duration of the clip, however it can be used to trim what footage the user needs. Also within the Trim tool, a slip edit can be done which allows the user to change what is being shown but the duration stays the same.

The Position tool allows the user to move a clip in the timeline, however even though the select tool does this there is a difference. When moving a clip with the position tool it doesn't alter the timeline and leaves the duration of the entire footage the same without automatically moving other clips together.

The Range Selection tool allows the user to select a portion of the clip and help add a element such as a transition or a colour effect.

The Blade tool allows the user to cut a clip into sections and choose which parts they want to cut out and delete and which to keep.

The Zoom tools allows the user to help either zoom into a section of the timeline or help enlarge the entire timeline to edit clips more closely to achieve more effective results.

The Hand tool allows the user to move easily through the timeline to see the whole of the users work and to see where errors are. Also any sound added can be seen where it finishes and any missing transitions can be added using the hand tool.

Transitions
A Transition that can be added in Final Cut Pro is a Cross Dissolve. This transition is done by the user selecting the select tool from the tools menu and then clicking one of the edges of a clip of footage. The footage has to be already in the timeline in order to do this. Next the user has to choose the edit button and then click add cross dissolve or a quicker way to do this is to use the shortcut on the keyboard which is to press 'Command & T'.

Within the Final Cut Pro software there is a large range of transitions that can be chosen in the transition browser. This can  be used to either add or change a transition. First the user must go to the toolbar and then select the Transition button. This will open a library full of transitions for the user to choose, the user can even preview these transitions, simply by moving the cursor over the desired one. Once the user has chosen his/her transition they then drag it to the desired place onto the timeline section or if they want to replace a transition they simply move it on top of the existing transition.