FCP X: Change Project Settings

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Larry

Recently, I got an email from a reader asking how to change Project Properties in Final Cut Pro X. It isn’t hard, but there are a couple of hidden steps.

Most of the time, when you create a project, the settings are fine; especially when you let your Project auto-configure itself based upon the first clip you edit into it.

However, every so often, you edit the wrong type clip in first and the Project configures incorrectly, or you want to change the image size, or the render format. Here’s how.

Select the Project you want to change in the Project Library.

Then, either right-click the name of the project, type Command+J, or choose File > Project Properties.

This opens the Properties tab in the Inspector.

Clicking the Modify Event References button allows you view which Events are storing the media used in your Project. If you are using multiple Events, you can change their priority by dragging them up or down.

NOTE: Personally, I’ve never used this feature. However, it is nice to know it is here.

Click the Wrench icon in the lower right corner to open the Project Properties panel.

Here, you can change many of the settings of your project; including starting timecode and image size. However, once you have media edited into your Project, you are not able to change frame rate.

If you need to change the frame rate, the easiest thing to do is create a new Project, then copy the clips from the old Project and paste them into the new one.

NOTE: The best time to change project properties is when there are no clips edited into the sequence. When a sequence is empty, any property can be changed.

When you are happy with your revised settings, click OK.

Done.

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51 Responses to FCP X: Change Project Settings

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Richard says:

December 20, 2013 at 11:47 pm

Dear Larry,

I often find myself on your site when searching for solutions to FCPX issues. You’ve helped me so many times I felt compelled to let you know and say thanks. That doesn’t really do the subject justice but I’ve only got words and this box to convey the appreciation. Thank you for the time you generously put into this public site. I am happy that you reap what you sow and you will get compensated somehow and in some way.
Larry Jordan says:

December 21, 2013 at 12:44 am

Richard:

Thanks for the very kind words – they are much appreciated!

I enjoy what I do — especially when it has a chance to help someone else.

Thanks,

Larry
Ricardo Rico says:

January 29, 2014 at 1:15 pm

Larry, you’ve done it again! This is exactly the answer I was looking for as well! Just came over to FCPX and purchased your complete training. If this was mentioned in there I might have missed it.

Point is that I used this same method (using a 1080 clip in 720 timeline) to be able to make frame changes (such as shooting an interview with only one camera) and I’ve been banging my head against a wall trying to figure it out.

So long story short… THANK YOU LARRY for all that you do for Final Cut users!

Ricardo
Chris says:

February 25, 2014 at 5:14 am

Hi Larry,

I have a project in FCP 7 that I mistakenly set at 720 in the sequence settings. I’m told I can’t copy and paste the clips into a new 1080 sequence and have those clips be in 1080, but would have to re-edit the whole thing (it’s 25 minutes long). Is that correct?

Thanks!

Chris
Larry Jordan says:

February 25, 2014 at 3:16 pm

Chris:

Not correct.

Create a new project. Edit ONE clip that has the correct frame size and frame rate to lock the sequence.

Copy and paste clips from the old to the new project.

Delete the placeholder clip.

Done.

Larry
Chris says:

February 25, 2014 at 5:01 pm

Great, thanks!
Ryan says:

July 19, 2014 at 7:59 am

Hi Larry!

First of all, thank you for doing what you do! You are truly an editing genius! I’ve encountered one problem though that is driving me crazy… I’ve been editing a film and realized that this whole time it’s been NTSC SD/30fps, but I wanted to change everything to 720p/60fps. I used the above steps to copy my media over to the settings I wanted. However, my projects have been getting tweaked by Final Cut and I’m having to go back in and move everything back to the way it was! Is there any way to not have to do this? I’m surprised that this software can’t seem to copy everything EXACTLY the way it was.
LarryJ says:

July 19, 2014 at 1:24 pm

Ryan:

If FCP X copies everything “EXACTLY” you’d be creating a new NTSC project.

In your new project, you need to change scaling because the images are different sizes, and, if you set preferences to Pixels as your measurement system, then all your keyframes are off because the images are different sizes between SD and HD.

However, any settings that don’t involve geometry – blurs, transitions, and color grades, for example – copy and paste between different projects with no problems.

Larry
Ryan says:

July 19, 2014 at 9:54 pm

Thank you for the swift response good sir! I learned the hard way on this one. From now on, I’ll set frame rates beforehand.
Ryan says:

July 19, 2014 at 10:27 pm

So you recommend changing Pixels to Percentages? And by scaling, are you referring to Spatial Conform?