Organizing can be a pain and people often skip this step at first and move right into cutting their footage. This quickly becomes a problem as your project grows and you spend more and more time trying to find “that one clip”. In this post we’ll look into some tips on how to keep your project organized and your mind sane.
The Browser Window
Much like the Finder helps you navigate the files and folders on your hard drive, the Browser helps you navigate and organize the files in your Final Cut Pro projects. The five basic file types that you work with are Bins, Sequences, Images, Sound Clips and Video Clips. The last three function within the browser in pretty much the same fashion so we will focus on bins and sequences.
Bins
Bins are Final Cut Pro’s version of folders. You can store any number of different files and other bins within a bin. When you click the little arrow to the left of the bin it will open up and show you it’s contents. You can also double click a bin and Final Cut Pro will open a new floating window with the contents of your bin. When this window is open you can click and drag the tab with the bin name up by the Effects tab to add a new tab in your browser for that bin.
How you use bins will depend on the type of project you are working on, but here are a few examples of how you might utilize these bad boys:
- Organizing files by having a bin for each type. For example, images, sound effects, music, sequences, and clips.
- Having Bins for each scene that you are working on (Scene 17 or INT APT for example)
- Bins by date. This is especially useful when you are capturing footage into a project on the fly and don’t have time to organize before hand
Overall you want to organize your bins in a way that you will quickly and easily be able to find the media you are looking for.
Sequences
Sequences contain the media files of a given edit. You can put any media files within a sequence, including other sequences. Double clicking a sequence opens it in the timeline and allows you to edit the enclosed files.
Sequences, much like bins, can be used in many different ways depending on the desired outcome. Here are some examples:
- Using separate sequences for each scene. This is especially useful for longer projects, such as a feature film.
- Creating duplicate sequences every time you make big changes. This serves as a quick and easy way to back up previous edits. Especially useful if you are editing for someone else. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard “Let me see that edit from two days ago”, but with dated sequences this is no issue.
- Use nested sequences for complex effects. You can create a complicated animation in a sequence, then nest that sequence and animate all its parts at the same time. Very handy.
- Having multiple versions of a scene. Say you have a 5 minute version and a 10 minute version of the same video, this is an easy way to keep them organized.
Notes
A few closing remarks:
- Use sequences and bins liberally. You can create as many as you want and nest them within one another. You can also delete or rename them later if you don’t need them. Don’t be afraid to make more.
- Keep the project in mind when you organize. There is no use in using the date in your project if it is not date sensitive. Also, if you are not the only one who will be using the project, make sure your associate is on the same level as far as the organization goes. Every project is different.
- Experiment. If none of the tips I’ve given you in this article help, then try your own path. That is one of the great things about the organization is that you can almost always get back to where you started.
Let me know if you have any tips on organization in the comments.
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