Creating Favorite Effects

[ This article was first published in the January, 2008, issue of
Larry’s Final Cut Pro Newsletter. Click here to subscribe. ]

Charlie Wilson, from BBC-America, writes

I am in the process of overhauling the edit system at CBS for Face the Nation which is now getting a new home right next to the control room. There is one thing in AVID that I have not been able to figure out an equivalent in FCP. In AVID when you need a group of pictures to be zoomed in to fit a graphic, there are several effect tabs, picture in picture, or 3D Effect that you can save in your FX bin. What I have been doing is saving a dummy clip out of the active area of the timeline, and copy / paste attributes. Is there a way to save zoom and position as a effect tab? I have tried dragging the clip or the motion tab.

Larry replies: Charlie, Final Cut has what are called Favorite Effects and Favorite Motions. They are stored in the Favorites folder in the Effects tab in the Browser.

To create a Favorite Effects (filters) or Favorite Motion (motion tab):

1. Create the effect you like
2. Make sure the clip is loaded into the Viewer and that the Viewer is selected
3. To create a Favorite Effect, make sure the Filter tab is selected in the Viewer, then choose Effects > Make Favorite Effect.



4. To create a Favorite Motion, make sure the Motion tab is selected in the Viewer, then choose Effects > Make Favorite Motion.

You can create an unlimited number of favorites, plus, the first five in each category are automatically assigned keyboard shortcuts.

Keep in mind that all favorites are stored in your preference files. Which means when you trash your preferences, your favorites will also be erased.

Here’s an article that tells you more.

And here’s an article that is a VERY cool tip on how to backup your Favorites folder.

 

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