[ There are more than twenty significant new features in the 10.0.6 update to Final Cut Pro X. This article looks at one of them. Check out our latest training covering the Final Cut Pro X 10.0.6 update here ]
One of new features in Final Cut Pro X that drove me the most nuts was the inability of any clip to remember the In or Out when you clicked to another clip.
This made comparing clips really, really difficult. (Yes, I know, you could set favorites and keywords and all sorts of other shenanigans, but all that was really necessary was for the clip to remember the In and the Out.)
Now, they do. In fact, Apple took this one step farther, which provides even more benefits, as you’ll see in a minute.
Brace yourself.
Select a clip in the Event Browser. Set an In. Set an Out. Click anywhere else. Click back to the first clip.
Ta-DAH!!!
The In and Out are still there! Whew… Even better, these selected ranges remain until you get rid of them.
NOTE: You can not set multiple ranges in the Timeline.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE…
This ability to set, and retain, ranges exists in the Event Browser and the Import window. However, we can now:
To set multiple ranges in the same clip – this is especially useful when importing multiple portions of the same source clip – press Command while dragging to select a range within a clip.
Each time you drag, you create a new selection range. (There were initial reports that Apple included keyboard shortcuts for this function, but they do not seem to be in the released version.)
NOTE: If you edit the selected ranges into the Timeline, they will be placed in the Timeline in the order you selected each range; not in Timecode order. Cool.
Notice here, the top clip still retains its three selected ranges, while the bottom clip has a single selected range. However, only the currently selected clip will edit to the Timeline. In other words, you can have lots of ranges set, but only the selected clip’s ranges edit to the Timeline.
Apple removed the keyboard shortcut that deletes individual ranges – it used to be Option+X. So, to delete all selections:
Select the clips from which you want to delete the selections and choose Mark > Clear Selected Ranges. You can use this menu to remove ranges from a single selected clip, or a group of selected clips in the Event Browser.
This ability to select multiple ranges within a clip is especially useful when importing. Now, we can select multiple ranges within a single clip, or multiple clips each containing a range. Prior to the 10.0.6 update, we could only import one range at a time. Which made importing portions of multiple clips really tedious.
Here’s the secret you need to know to make this work:
I’ll write more about importing shortly, when I write up all the new changes Apple made to the Import process.
NOTE: You can’t set ranges when importing from the Finder, or from some DSLR cameras using PTP protocol.
35 Responses to FCP X: Select Multiple Ranges
← Older Comments-
Anthony says:
October 22, 2013 at 5:42 pm
-
Larry says:
October 22, 2013 at 6:35 pm
-
Anthony says:
October 22, 2013 at 6:50 pm
-
Anthony says:
October 23, 2013 at 11:26 am
-
chris says:
October 30, 2013 at 9:42 am
-
Larry Jordan says:
October 30, 2013 at 9:57 am
-
chris says:
October 30, 2013 at 10:46 am
-
Richard Boland says:
September 8, 2016 at 3:42 am
-
Larry says:
September 8, 2016 at 9:39 am
-
Richard Boland says:
September 8, 2016 at 10:04 am
-
Max says:
November 10, 2017 at 7:25 pm
-
Larry says:
November 10, 2017 at 7:53 pm
-
srinivas says:
May 4, 2018 at 2:58 pm
-
Larry says:
May 4, 2018 at 4:04 pm
← Older CommentsHello Larry,
You are the sole reason I decided to give FCP X another go, and temporarily ditch Adobe Premiere upon the release of FCP X. I’ll admit, I was a bit “freaked out” once I saw how similar it looked to iMovie. Your videos on youtube have been an immense help and i’ll reiterate by saying they were the sole factor on me clicking the purchase button in the App Store… I thought I must give credit where credit is due although I am sure you are used to the verbal accolades by now.
That being said, I have been encountering an issue that has been excruciating given that it involves an addition to FCP that I would consider to place it above the other NLE’s. When attempting to append multiple range selections to the storyline, they are ALWAYS arranged in the order opposite of how i’ve selected them. I’ve tried clearing my selection ranges, and re-selecting them mindful of the order I want them to appear, and they are still in reversed order. I’ve found others with the same issue and aside from seeing a polarization of users who either encounter the same issue and those who have versions of FCP X that have never encountered this issue, the only recommendation that I find is to delete FCP X preferences or to re-install. I’ve tried deleting 2 files (com.apple.FinalCut.plist and com.apple.FinalCut.LSShardFileList.plist) both in the library>preferences folder to no avail. I’ve yet to reinstall software but am doing that on a last resort basis….
Hoping you might be able to save me on this one! Regardless, thanks again for all your priceless info!
Anthony
Anthony:
You are not going to like me.
I just tested this on my FCP X 10.0.9 system. And, for me, multiple selected segments edit in the order that I selected them.
Here’s my procedure:
* Create all the ranges I need, including ranges within a single clip and from multiple clips
* Select them in the order I want them edited.
* Type “E” to edit them to the end of the project.
This has always worked for me, and, as I just tested it, works today as well.
Larry
P.S. I have not tried dragging the clips and, for this purpose, do not recommend it.
Larry,
Thanks anyways for the prompt response and for your immense help in the past. If you find it useful and I am able to find a solution to this strange annoyance I will post it on here as follow-up response in case others are encountering the same issue. Hopefully Apple can work something out with you for the amount of “converts” you create, I know of 2 other friends in my small network who give you and the videos you create the same amount of credit in causing FCP X a revisit… Thanks again!
Anthony
Hi Larry, here’s a quick followup with some responses from the Apple Support Communities, a little fidgeting with the issue (of reverse clip order when appending) and my two workarounds:
I failed to realize when first posting that this ONLY happens when trying to append multiple selections in LIST view. It does not occur when making the selections in Filmstrip view. Not sure if you have the same problem when trying to append these multiple selections working within list view.
Workaround #1: Tag these selections as favorites, then select the sub-clips and drag to timeline. They then appear in the order I select them.
Workaround #2: I can chose to make these selections in filmstrip view, or if I am in list view, make the selections there and then revert to filmstrip view before appending.
More of an annoyance than anything and most would agree saving my selections to favorites would be preferable, but hoping a future update will fix it nonetheless. Sometimes I wouldn’t mind sacrificing the permanence of having to save my selections as favorites when working in list view in exchange for speed, especially for trivial, non-critical promo stuff (like Instagram videos or Twitter/Facebook posts). It was only after making that realization that it only occurred in list view that others also noticed the problem. This appeared to be more prominent to me initially since it was one of the very first things I tried when finally purchasing the full version and attempting to add clips to the storyline via multiple selections…
Hope these workarounds help anyone else encountering this issue.
Anthony
range question: is there a way to display the range duration? similar to the “in to out” box in the old viewer?
Yes. Select the range and type Control+D.
Larry
genius!
Hi Larry,
Many thanks for all your help with this.
Do you know if there is there a way to permanently display the selected range duration without needing to hit Control + D each time?
This is for when I’m going through all my footage and just want to quickly see the duration from an in and out point.
All the best,
Richard
Richard:
At this point, that feature does not exist. Hopefully, it will be added in the future.
Larry
Hi Larry,
Many thanks for your reply and confirming that.
Richard
Hey Larry,
Thanks for sharing all you tuts.
This is an old thread, still wanna ask; I marked ranges for many clips, now i want to add them all to the timeline. When i cmd+a obviously all clips get selected, also the ones i did not mark with a range. They get selected as a whole. I left them out bc i didnt want them in the timeline. Is there a way to not have to select each range again?
Hope you know a trick.
Best,
Max
Max:
Yup.
Command-click INSIDE the selected ranges. When you type “E” all selected ranges will edit to the timeline IN THE ORDER they were selected.
Larry
Is there a way to overlap multiple in and out point in a clip ( within an event )? I like a clip range for reason A and i would like to overlap my new selection from a previous selection in the same clip.
srinivas:
Maybe. You can’t set an Out before an In. However, you can have multiple Ins and Outs in the same clip by setting the first In and first Out, then Command-dragging to set additional Ins and Outs.
Or, you can set an In and an Out, then drag either edge to change the duration of the selected area.
Larry