3 Final Cut Pro Hacks That'll Save You Hours

Unlike similar videos, these are actual hacks: they make you edit faster, improve your workflow, and they're just cool to set up. They take a little time, so stick with me. Once they're set up, you'll be happy you did.

Hack 1: A favorites folder for your plugin presets

Sound familiar? You own quite a few plugins but only consistently use a few presets from each: a favorite title from one pack, an effect from another. Remembering which pack holds which preset, and scrolling to find it, is a pain.

Head to your Motion Templates folder (Movies, then Motion Templates). Start with Titles: create a new folder named Favorites, and to pin it to the top of the titles list, put a star emoji before the word (press Control Command Space for the emoji picker). Now open a second Finder window, browse your installed titles, and Option-drag your most-used presets into the Favorites folder to copy them. I do this with the Pro Zooms presets I use in every video. Back in Final Cut, there's your starred Favorites folder at the top of your titles with everything you actually use. Repeat for effects and transitions.

A few companies' presets don't allow this, but most do. And honestly, tell me this shouldn't just be a built-in FCP feature.

Hack 2: Your sound effects, inside FCP's browser

Leaving Final Cut to drag sound effects in from a Finder folder is slow, and you can't see waveforms or preview sounds properly. Fix it for good: take your master sound effects folder (make one if you don't have one), control-click it, and hit Make Alias. The alias and the original are best buddies that tell each other everything: add a new pack to the master folder, like my Filmic Crisp collection, and the buddy folder gets it too.

Now open your hard drive and go to Library, Audio, Apple Loops, Apple, Final Cut Pro Sound Effects, and drag the alias in there. Every sound you own now lives directly in FCP's sound effects browser, and it keeps your folder structure, so finding a sound inside a specific pack stays easy.

Hack 3: Keyboard shortcuts for your custom roles

This one I learned from my good buddy Brad West. Custom roles let you see at a glance what's B-roll, voice over, foley, or ambience on your timeline. The problem: FCP only gives keyboard shortcuts to the default roles. Custom roles mean right-clicking through the menu system every single time, which is agony when you have tons of clips.

First, do your future self a favor: create a new library called Custom Roles Template with one project in it, so your roles carry across all future projects. In that project, add a few basic titles (Control T, then Option-drag to duplicate) and a random sound effect. Control-click, Assign Video Roles, Edit Roles, and create what you need: B-roll, screen recording, graphics for video; ambient sound effects, foley, voice over for audio. Set colors, hit apply, then assign each role to something in the project so they're all in use. Keep this library somewhere handy like your Movies folder. When you start a new project, drag the roles template project into the new library and all your roles come with it.

Now the magic: open System Settings, Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts, App Shortcuts. Hit plus, choose Final Cut Pro, and type the EXACT name of each custom role. FCP's built-in role shortcuts are Control Option plus the first letter (dialogue, effects, music), so follow the pattern: Control Option A for ambient sound effects, and so on for each role.

From then on: select clips, hit Control Option and a letter, and they're assigned. Huge timesaver, great for staying organized, and I wish I'd known it sooner.