Saving and Recalling Window Layouts

When you perform different types of functions within Final Cut Express, you may need to resize or rearrange the interface windows, as you did with the Browser columns in the previous exercises. Once you create a custom layout, you can recall it using a keyboard shortcut.

Since you currently have a wider Browser layout displayed that might be useful for adding additional clip information, let's save this as Custom Layout 2, and then save another layout you might use more frequently for editing as Custom Layout 1.

1.	Choose Window > Arrange and look at the options at the top of the menu. Unless you have already saved a layout on your own, the Custom Layout 1 and Custom Layout 2 options are dimmed because no custom layouts have been saved.
2.	With the Browser still in its wide layout, press Option and choose Window > Arrange. Now the Arrange options include two Set Custom Layout options. Using the Option key to choose this menu indicates you want to set a custom layout, not recall one.
3.	Set Custom Layout 2 and make sure you release the mouse before releasing the Option key.
4.	To return to the Standard editing layout, choose Window > Arrange > Standard, or press the shortcut Ctrl-U. Let's make some changes to the standard interface and save it as Custom Layout 1 so that you can get to it easily using a shortcut.
5.	Move the pointer over the intersection of the Browser and Viewer windows. When you see the resize pointer appear, drag left to make the Browser more narrow. Make the Viewer and Canvas windows larger by dragging down on the Timeline window boundary line.
6.	Press Option and choose Window > Arrange > Set Custom Layout 1. Release the mouse and then release the Option key.
7.	To work with your wide Browser layout (Custom Layout 2), choose Window > Arrange > Custom Layout 2, or press Option-U. Tip The Browser window is so wide that it may have come up behind the Viewer and Canvas windows. Click any portion of the Browser window you see to bring it to the front. Or press Cmd-4 to make the Browser the active window.
8.	Choose Window > Arrange > Custom Layout 1, or press Shift-U, to return to the saved layout.
9.	Press Cmd-S to save the project with its current Browser and layout settings. Note Changing the track height in the Timeline is not a saved layout feature.

Project Tasks

1.	Take a minute to set up your Browser columns the way you would like to work with them.
2.	Press Ctrl-U to restore the Standard window layout, or choose that option from the Window menu.