Lesson 8. Browser Basics and Project Customization

Lesson Files	Lesson 8 Project and Sample Project
Media	A Thousand Roads > Amanda and Intro folders
Time	This lesson takes approximately 45 minutes to complete.
Goals	Customize Browser columns
	Find items in Browser
	Work with master clips
	Organize project elements
	Customize and save interface layouts
	Change keyboard layout
	Create shortcut buttons
	Choose Easy Setup presets
	Select user preferences
	View clip properties and change sequence settings

Although production practices follow similar guidelines, every production is unique. The beauty of Final Cut Pro is that you might use DV for one project, HD for another, and HDV for yet another. One project might use on-camera slates to identify clip content, while another might include notes entered in the Browser.

No matter what type of footage you use in your project or how the material was originally labeled, two things remain certain. Every project will require appropriate Final Cut Pro settings that support the originating format; and every project will benefit from some kind of organizational structure within the Browser.

In this lesson, you will learn more about the Browser columns and how to use them to organize your clips and material in different ways. Also in this lesson you will make changes to your Final Cut Pro interface by customizing and saving your keyboard, window, Timeline, and track layouts. And finally, you will select the appropriate settings and preferences to make the system fully complement your project.