Hidden Shortcuts in Final Cut Pro

There are hundreds of shortcuts hidden in Final Cut Pro, provided you know where to look. Before that, though, here are two I had forgotten that I discovered while doing some recent research.

SELECT THE EDIT POINT

• Put the playhead on an edit point.
• Type [ (left square bracket) to select the Out
• Type ] (right square bracket) to select the In
• Type \ (backslash) to select both the In and the Out.

Now, you can use comma, period, or Shift + comma, Shift + period to move the selected edit point without ever touching the mouse.

MOVE MARKERS

As you know, we can’t drag a marker to change its position. Sigh… But! Here’s a trick that moves markers anyway.

• Put the playhead on a marker.
• Type Control + [comma] to move the marker left one frame at a time.
• Type Control + [period] to move the marker right one frame at a time.

HIDDEN SHORTCUTS

There are something like 600+ shortcuts programmed into Final Cut. However, only about 250 or so are assigned to specific keys. Here’s how to find what’s missing.

• Go to Final Cut Pro > Commands > Customize.

• If you haven’t done so yet, duplicate the Default Command Set so you can make changes. If you already have a custom Command set, select it from this menu in the top left.

• Look at the list of shortcuts at the bottom center. Those that don’t have a key assigned are available (red arrow). There are multiple ways to create a shortcut. Here’s one.

• Select the modifier keys you want to apply to that key. Blue means enabled.

• Look at the keyboard. Gray means a key that does not have a shortcut assigned to it using those modifiers.

• Locate the shortcut (Add Chapter Marker in this example) that you want to add to that key.

• Drag the name of the shortcut on top of the key to which you want to assign it.
• Repeat this process to create as many shortcuts as you want.
• Click the Save button in the bottom right to lock in your changes.

Done.

EXTRA CREDIT

Here are some search terms to locate unconnected shortcuts: Color, Select, and Move. Or, click any of the categories on the left.