Final Cut Pro For Beginners 2024 - Getting Started Tutorial

[@PLANETWATERMELON]

I am a 1000% newbie to FC and have seen many videos and this was by far the easiest to follow along. I have a hard time learning new skills, but once I do I get it. This was really good. Thanks!

[@NickKendall]

That's awesome to hear! Glad you found it helpful! :)

[@Liberty_Ranch]

I could not have said this better! As a complete newbie who felt overwhelmed opening FC, this video really helped me discover that I actually can understand it and use it. And I’ve watched plenty of FC videos. This is the only one that gave me hope 😂

[@asan1050]

Nick Kendall ! Thank you for posting.

[@NickKendall]

No problem! :)

[@NayNay-f6e2w]

great tutorial Nick, i love it and it really help me as a beginner. greetings from Indonesia.

[@NickKendall]

So glad it helped! :)

[@Beiunsshepherds]

Jo Nick! I have been using Premiere for over 20 years. Now was the time to switch to Final Cut and your video was basically the first I watched. I can't say how helpful this was coming from Premiere. Thanks a lot and keep up the good work!

[@NickKendall]

Excellent choice to jump over, glad it was helpful! I know a lot of people are making the move; I'm planning a full tutorial specifically for people moving across from Premiere! :)

[@Kieran-ky9dp]

@@NickKendallplease do this and quick 😂

[@NickKendall]

@@Kieran-ky9dp noted! haha

[@mancerrss]

You literally is the God of straightforward tool teacher. I hope you get to do this same, super straightforward crash course videos to Apple Motion, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects and Davinci Resolve too. Because I just wanna be proficient on any video editor tools out there.

[@NickKendall]

Hey so glad you found it useful!! I definitely have plans for lots more content like this so keep an eye out! :)

[@danieldonovan6686]

thanks, for this helpful tutorial

[@NickKendall]

No problem :)

[@NicholasPiparo]

Great video! Extremely helpful how you explain your entire workflow and give analogies. I like Final Cut and I’ve been using it for a few years but I never got a solid understanding of if.

[@NickKendall]

Glad to hear it was helpful! :)

[@angusbabb4913]

Excellent ,thank you !!

[@NickKendall]

No problem! 😊

[@angelofthelight6650]

Yeah, I'm definitely downloading this one. This is everything I need, everything I've been looking for. Appreciate the video.

[@NickKendall]

Have fun :)

[@RobertEddowes]

watching for refresher to see if i missed anything, but this is SO refreshing seeing the ease of use of the FCPX interface vs the ridiculously convoluted davinci resolve nle that is impossible to use without a masters degree in physics.

[@NickKendall]

Haha Final Cut is the way to go! :)

[@musgroveandthepumi1604]

Thanks for talking at a normal pace. Many of the other tutorials I've seen are different. They talk real fast, like they're under some kind of time restraint. Add to that quick jump cuts between sentences and I'm forced to move on to somebody else. Glad to have found your channel. Great work!

[@NickKendall]

I appreciate it! I try to keep things relaxed and easy to follow so thanks for the feedback! :)

[@angelaapproved]

Wow! This was an excellent tutorial. I wish the cheatsheet didn't have a black background because I wanted to print it....but not bad enough to blackout some paper with ink. Loved the information!

[@NickKendall]

Thanks for the feedback!

[@superamario6464]

Nick...this is brilliant. Thank you!

[@NickKendall]

Hope it's helpful! :)

[@superamario6464]

@@NickKendall very. Putting this kind of content out there....thank you

[@vidabee8672]

I am familiar with FCP but I think this was a great refresher! Thank you!

[@NickKendall]

You're so welcome!

[@michellevirgilio4024]

thank you times a million! helped so much. also side note, ur energy is so comforting

[@NickKendall]

So happy to hear that! :)

[@Rosewolf29]

I’ve been thinking about getting FCP for a while but not sure how good it would be for Nightcore videos. Anyone know?

[@MrBryanberry]

Fantastic -- thank you so much! The video will save me oodles of time, and so much trial and error. So clear and concise without going into the weeds too much.

[@NickKendall]

Awesome, glad you liked it! :)

[@cherygibson]

Soooooo Helpful!! I have been using imovie and have been struggling with final cut. I kept going back to imovie but this video has cleared up a lot of my confusion. TYSM!

[@NickKendall]

So happy to hear that! Once you get the hang of Final Cut it's a really powerful tool :)

[@anferneecooper]

I dont normally comment on videos, but this one was really informational and well done

[@NickKendall]

Hey thanks for taking the time to comment! I appreciate it and glad the video was helpful! :)

[@MrEhannah]

Thank you, for the great information. Really helpful!!!

[@NickKendall]

Glad it was helpful!

[@garryhughes3837]

Thanks. Very helpful.

[@NickKendall]

Glad it was helpful! :)

[@mapleskunk]

Thanks. Easy to follow.

[@NickKendall]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ismaelarriaga1223]

Beginner here 🙋🏻‍♂️ I love your tutorial, very easy to follow along and natural. Thank you!

[@NickKendall]

Awesome! Glad it was helpful! :)

[@tradeincenterprises583]

Straight to the point thanks

[@NickKendall]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Satizzfiedbeatz]

just got final cut pro and i never used it i used a bunch of editing subscriptions but they never work as i want them to this is the only video that help me get to work ASAP

[@NickKendall]

Great to hear!! :)

[@Areya-Sunshine]

Transitioning from Premiere back to FCP after many years of being away so thank you for this! I feel ready to download the program and explore! 😊

[@NickKendall]

Welcome back!! :D Glad it was helpful!

[@garycard1826]

Great concise video. Well done. Thanks. What resolution should I select for KZbin and do I export using Social Media from my MAC?

[@NickKendall]

I have another video on best export settings, but for KZbin go 4k if you can, and for vertical videos, 1080p will do the job.

[@mustafaalobaidy4317]

love your video mate, watched it a couple of times, big like and a big subscribe. Thanks

[@NickKendall]

Appreciate that! 🙏

[@nigelandsueadventures]

thanks so much Nick, this is a great starter tutorial. And from a fellow Aussie! Cheers.

[@NickKendall]

Glad it was helpful! :)

[@MicahTek]

Just switched from fcp for iPad to fcpx I’m glad I found this video

[@NickKendall]

Nice!

[@totoroutes5389]

What is that curved monitor/display that you use?

[@NickKendall]

It's an LG 38WN95c :)

[@Gamerlingual]

Is the new base model M4 Pro Chip enough for Final Cut Pro? I considered Davinci Resolve, but I don’t want to spend an extra $400 for 48GB of RAM.

[@NickKendall]

100%! I'm still using an M1 Pro Macbook with 16gb of ram and FCP runs perfectly :) The M4 Pro will breeze through 🙌

[@DJDEEM1]

Thank you for the refresher. I haven't used FCPX in a while since Apple upgraded me out of most of their products with the M1 chip. Anyway, I'm back up and running thanks to Open Core Legacy Patcher. I'll ride that until the wheels fall off and hopefully a have a new MacBook Pro by then. Thanks for sharing.

[@NickKendall]

Glad it was helpful! :)

[@randyromanmusic]

Nick, just moved from Windows Magix Movie Studio to FCP. Thanks for the head start. Right now my footage and music are grouped and locked. How do you separate them for editing? Did not see that in workspace setup.

[@tamilcoupleinlondon]

hey Nick!! Thanks for this video. Can U please tell us how did you connect your macbook to that large curved Monitor?? If you can make a video on that it would be nice Please. I have a macbook pro and Im thinkin to buy a monitor screen.

[@NickKendall]

Hey! It just connects via USB C. I actually have a 2 or 3 videos talking about my ultrawide so feel free to check them out :)

[@GigawattGarage]

I really need to try and either learn FCP or DavResolve, and I've been using Vegas Pro for over 10 years. I just want to be able to edit on the mac vs a PC. Vegas is just so easy and all the others have so many things that just seem backwards to me coming from vegas.

[@NickKendall]

You might find that FCP is much more intuitive than you'd expect, but at the end of the day it's always good to use what you're most comfortable with 😊

[@donnyp462]

i see you don't have a studio display either. when i plug my macbook into my samsung odyssey g5 (3440x1440), i have a super small font at the standard resolution. sometimes very blurry too. i have already bought “betterdisplay”, but i can't see any real improvement here. i can reduce the resolution, but then everything is really big. do you have any tips or how did you solve the problem?

[@NickKendall]

Dang that's really frustrating! It might be a limitation of your monitor unfortunately. I have heard of people having this issue when connecting macs into non-Apple displays. Thankfully I don't have this issue on my LG monitor.

[@donnyp462]

@@NickKendall thanks for your reply! I figured out thats indeed a monitor issue.. :)

[@finalcutpromastery]

Nice video !

[@NickKendall]

Thanks!

[@benjaminpastrana9662]

More than excellent tutorial, peaceful voice🙌

[@NickKendall]

Glad you enjoyed it! :)

[@Joey-n-Kiwi]

Good vlog, very informative…👍

[@NickKendall]

Glad you found it helpful!

[@fahim9501]

Thank you Nick. It was really helpful. Nice, easy and on point.

[@NickKendall]

Glad to help! :)

[@FeniaMM]

Hey awesome this was so helpful 🎉❤ My video of 20 minutes is 54GB. Just followed your instructions but this is tooooo much for KZbin. I am German and sometimes I don’t get the words had to replay more often. Would be nice if you don’t swallow so many word 😂😅😮❤ love your content

[@NickKendall]

Glad it was helpful! I'll try to be more careful with my words! 😄😅 Also, a video that's 20 minutes should be closer 10gb. 54gb is probably too big. I have another video on export settings, I recommend giving that a watch! :)

[@Neazzy]

Super useful! thank you so much! I am currently transitioning from Da vinci resolve to FCP and this helped a ton! Subscribed :)

[@NickKendall]

Nice, good luck with the transition! :)

[@melinamacdonald3048]

Hi Nick, I found as I followed your tutorial that when i got to the Transform section all the options for all the headings dont open up for me to adjust at all. I'm trying to problem shoot this however not sure if this has to do with when I imported the footage thats 4K at the beginning of the project (first time i've used final cut as an imovie baby so just did it all oon auto pilot instead of how you did it). Any suggestions?

[@NickKendall]

Hey Melina, do you have a timestamp of the section of the video you're struggling with? :)

[@Rob_Beynon]

Frustrated by Filmora and their preatory approach. Baffled by Fusion in Resolve. Not going to do enough to warrant Premiere. So, looking at FCP> THis was a hugely useful introduction - thank you.

[@NickKendall]

So glad it was useful! :)

[@MikeBarnhill]

Great video thanks!! Can you crop horizontal movies into vertical clips to use for Instagram or TikTok?

[@NickKendall]

Yes, you can! I might make another video about this. Just right click your project and then hit 'duplicate project as' and then select the vertical video format. Make sure 'smart conform' is selected and it will automatically resize everything!

[@MikeBarnhill]

@@NickKendall awesome thanks so much for the reply!

[@marknorfolk1316]

Hi Nick, I'm moving from FCP7 to FCPX and am concentrating hard on your tutorial. Any tips in how to change the layout using an additional monitor?

[@NickKendall]

My personal favourite setup with a second monitor is to full screen my preview window on one and have my timeline and controls on the other. There should be a button in the top right when you connect the second screen to be able to do this!

[@marknorfolk1316]

@@NickKendall Thank you I'll give that a go. Is there a way to include the timeline as well? I sometimes like to get right inside the audio waveform cutting music. Thank you.

[@rogerhummel3023]

I noticed that you are using a stand for your MacBook. What is the name of the particular stand you are using and where do I get one?

[@NickKendall]

It's just a basic foldable one from Amazon :)

[@aaravpopli9499]

can you please share all the third party effects, transition, titles, etc?

[@manogar817]

Please make more videos on FCP

[@NickKendall]

Noted! :)

[@InTodaysVideo]

Thanks Nick for this video. What is the best third party source for Final Cut Pro effects, titles and transitions?

[@NickKendall]

The best one I've used in the past is Motion Array :)

[@kenzalewski591]

The video was very informative. Went to download the "cheat sheet", all I ended up with was a bogus invoice saying my credit card had been charged even though I had not entered a credit card. But no PDF cheat sheet. yet another you tube scam.

[@NickKendall]

Hey glad you enjoyed the video. If you open the invoice email, there will be a button that says 'View Order'. Click that and you'll be taken to a page where you can download the PDF cheat sheet. Hope that helps!

[@AlwaysBolttheBird]

awesome tutorial thank you. one question. when you import media into the library does it copy the video files into the library or keep them in the original location

[@NickKendall]

Great question; if you go to the menu bar and select Final Cut Pro > Settings > Import, there is an option at the top to either copy files into the library or leave files in place. I personally leave them in place so it doesn't double up my storage. :)

[@AlwaysBolttheBird]

@@NickKendallthanks. I keep my video files on a nas and wanted to make sure the didn’t copy to my laptop. Again great video and thanks for the reply

[@videogal33]

Thanks for great audio man, I am concerned about upgrading my mac to Big Sur because I shoot AVCHD. What operating system are you using on your mac? Can you us AVCHD files?

[@nonamebrojones5545]

I only miss the V1 A1 A2 A3 A4 labels since I mix 8 tracks of audio with all my projects. Other than that, I love the new FCP!

[@anjaligadekar3000]

Thanks

[@NickKendall]

No problem :)

[@xxviking1999xx]

Really good video

[@NickKendall]

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@benedictcoltman1983]

Superb, thank you

[@NickKendall]

Welcome 😊

[@RoxanneDisla]

How do you add your face to the clips that show the software?

[@hahahorse-sv7mr]

I just wanna say thank u and It helps a lot

[@NickKendall]

So glad to hear it helped! :)

[@Silverhorse32]

What kind of keyboard do you use?

[@NickKendall]

Logitech MX Keys and a Nuphy Air96 v2

[@Lostinthemoors]

If a 'Keyword selection' is a 'folder'...then what's a folder for?

[@mikamulperi]

Think Event as global media folder across projects

[@ItsEzlan]

Thanks for this, I just needed some good simple pointers , I've recently just got my M3 Macbook Pro, I've been using DR on my windows system but found a torrent for FCP, so thought I'd give a try 😊

Great video thanks

[@NickKendall]

Glad it was helpful! :)

[@Ezduztube]

Thank you great video 👍🏻

[@NickKendall]

Glad it was helpful!

[@mancerrss]

17:26 So apparently, you don't need Apple Compressor just to export a video from Final Cut Pro X all this time?? (cue the Drake Lil Yatchy Apple Store GIF)

[@rec7582]

FCP is so clunky and user unfriendly. Great tutorial. Thanks.

[@NickKendall]

Glad it was helpful!

[@richarddenton7724]

If you put all your footage into the 'event' - what on earth do you have a 'library " for? I am utterly confused. Why is there a ;library', a 'project' AND an 'event'? What on earth is the point of 3 areas which don't seem to have any specific function?

[@MannyPack-v5m]

I want to learn how to put together all files into one video .. I’m a noob lvl1

[@90sBaby415]

nice

[@NickKendall]

Thanks for watching!

[@sparky3869]

thank you for the information. I wished you went a little bit slower.

[@NickKendall]

Noted, thanks!

[@Treborray]

Thank you!9

[@NickKendall]

You're welcome! :)

[@lavinchi6709]

Спасибо🎗️

[@WeAreBloxBros]

Thank very useful btw I’m a editor

[@NickKendall]

Glad it was useful! :)

[@WatchingtheWorldBurning]

Thanks for illustrating that I'm not the illogical lunatic. Who designed the FCPX Library/Event/Project idiocy? Good lord. Totally illogical. Just like whoever designed Apple Photos. Thanks for the video - useful.

[@NickKendall]

haha glad it was helpful!

[@dutch33guy]

I like your style much better than the other FCP tutorials I have tried, but you also talk way too fast (I play your clips at 50% speed). And the screens you are showing do not match the ones I am seeing on my screen, even though we are using the same version! You make it look simple, but it is impossible for me to follow along. I repeatedly scored >140 on IQ tests, so (according to most people) I should be able to figure stuff out, but I am 62 years old and until I retired last year, the university where I worked provided assistance to old farts like me who are not fully IT-literate. Can you please create a "geriatric" version of your tutorials?

[@NickKendall]

Thanks for the feedback! I have many more tutorials planned so will take this into account!

[@Adam-jj9ql]

nice vid surprised u have no viewest

[@NickKendall]

Glad it was helpful!!

[@richarddenton7724]

Aaaaagh! You didn't put in in Event - you created yet ANOTHER space called 'footage' WHY???? Wouldn't it be much more intuitive to put all the footage in Library? And if you don't, what on earth is the 'library' for - it's currently empty and seriing no function???

[@crjgmej3868]

It is difficult to learn from this video as he speeds through things he seems to think are irrelevant like creating the folders and the "event" thing and the steps after that. I guess he assumes people know how to do this

[@NickKendall]

Thanks for the feedback, I'll keep that in mind for future videos :)

[@jekartists1536]

I am a a super beginner, I am not seeing this to be beginner friendly, you go so fast at the most importatn parts. !!!! I dont want to put my video on social media I want it on my computer where I can access it for multiple things. I have not seen where I can do this in your video. I did not find this helpful for what I need.

[@NickKendall]

Thanks for that feedback! I'll keep it in mind for future tutorials! :)

[@petersolomon5227]

The problem I find with many KZbin software tutorials, is that with the very best of intentions presenters are not necessarily “natural” educators. This young man has a pleasant, unpretentious presence, but I was not convinced learning Apple’s idiosyncratic video editing app’ can be achieved in minutes.

[@hottamaletallahassee]

please do not label this "for beginners" - i am not a rank beginner, i have been using iMovie for years , but FCP is brand new to me. By the time I got to around 3 minutes in to your video, i was thoroughly confused about what the heck all those folders, collections, events, etc. were, could not figure out how to "select all" my content and move it into the event as you did, i went over this section many many times, but no matter what ...I simply could not get past about 3 and a half minutes without being totally lost. I am a retired accounting instructor, and i know something about teaching, and I can tell you, this video is not designed for beginners. you assume the viewer knows way too much stuff from the beginning because it is all second nature to you, but it is ground zero to a real beginner.

[@NickKendall]

Noted, thanks for the feedback! :)

[@micrology3350]

It’s very self explanatory, it is basic modern computer knowledge

[@Chiefbrat]

Probably because all you’ve been using is iMovie you have to experiment with different softwares

[@dfilliernl]

I think that you should apologize to the creator of this video. He uses his own personal time to help the community. And you criticize that act of community building? Seriously? People need to stop their flippant comments...

[@KevKevAllen]

To select more than one file in a list, open Finder navigate to the folder of your footage, click on either the top or bottom clip once, hold down the shift key and then click the clip at the opposite end of the list. If there is a clip selected that you do not want, hold the Command key and click on the file you don’t want to deselect it. The inverse is also available, hold Command and click on the clips you want selected. Then click and hold on any selected clip, without releasing the mouse button drag it from the Finder window into Final Cut Pro, releasing the mouse button once the stack of files is over the Event. The creator of this video reasonably assumes that you have a basic understanding of how to use modern computers, if you’re looking at pro level video editing software. Selecting multiple files, and drag-and-drop, are what I would consider computer basics, since I learned it in elementary school back in the 90’s.

[@user-vy1tr7te6e]

Beginners??????

[@pekerhed101]

I had to tap out after 5 minutes. I couldn't take the chronic upward inflection.

[@2424rocket]

If you're new to Final Cut (and I'm not) your explanations are too fast and to un-detailed. As a teacher, you leave much to be desired.

[@andrewforshaw7846]

Greetings from Wales:.... Superb Nick,... I like your relaxed style of presentation. The speed of delivery is good for me and the number of basic topics you present are just right to assist newbies like me as I endeavour to migrate from iMove to FCP. Thank you.

[@NickKendall]

So glad it was helpful Andrew! Thanks for the feedback! :)