Export Chapter Marker List from Apple Final Cut Pro

I just finished writing a tutorial on how to export chapter markers from Adobe Premiere Pro when I looked up the same procedure for Final Cut on my website. Only, hmm…, I’ve never written about it. Time to fix that.

I use this technique with every one of my webinars, but you can’t do it directly in Final Cut. FCP needs help. Here’s how.

BEFORE YOU START

Final Cut does not support exporting markers – or anything else – displayed in the Timeline Index. However, an indispensable utility called CommandPost fixes that. I’ve used it for years and I’m a huge fan.

Go to CommandPost.io and download this free utility. In fact, spend time reading their webpage – this extends the power of Final Cut in ways you would never expect.

Installing the app is the same as installing any other application downloaded from the web.

Once installed, it will either launch when you restart your Mac or boot whenever you launch Final Cut. You’ll find a variety of configuration options by clicking its icon in the menu bar (red arrow above).

NOTE: The contents of this menu changes depending upon whether you are in the Finder or Final Cut. This is a portion of the Finder version.

During installation, CommandPost will ask for access to your screen in order to control Final Cut. This is OK and should be approved.

EXPORTING MARKERS

Here’s my edit. Unlike Premiere, all markers are attached to clips, not the timeline (red arrow above). Orange indicates a chapter marker.

All markers – clip, to-do or chapter – are displayed in the Timeline Index. To see them:

• Click the word Index to open the Timeline Index (top red arrow)
• Click Tags to display markers and other elements (middle red arrow)
• Click the Chapter marker icon at the bottom (lower red arrow)

The Timeline Index is now filtered so only chapter markers are displayed. Once the display is set, I also verify that markers are spelled correctly and formatted the way I want. (A double-check never hurts.)

With Final Cut Pro selected and the Timeline Index open and filtered, click the CommandPost icon in the menu bar. (This is a portion of the Final Cut menu.)

Select Save Timeline Index to CSV.

CommandPost displays a File Save dialog where you to choose a location for the file. However, it will always name this exported file “Timeline Index.csv.”

This file can be loaded into any application that can read a CSV file; i.e. Excel or Numbers among many others. Here’s what it looks like in Numbers.

SUMMARY

While it would be nice to have Final Cut export markers directly, CommandPost provides that feature in a powerful and free utility which makes the process easy. At the very least, even if you don’t plan to export markers, do check out how CommandPost can benefit your next edit.

NOTE: I should mention that CommandPost also adds a scrolling timeline to Final Cut. Yay!

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