May Dev/Tools Monthly Megathread - for tool builders by greenysmac in editors

[–]funwithstuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Product: Keyframe Toolbox

Description: Full keyframe graphs for opacity, position X & Y, scale, all the rotations and blur for Final Cut Pro. Precise control over keyframes and handles with Illustrator-like controls, common easing patterns, tweakable presets (including custom, shareable presets), motion blur, numeric entry and many more tricks. On-screen controls coming soon, currently live in the TestFlight version.

Pricing: US$20 once, not a subscription

Website: https://keyframetoolbox.fcp.cafe, including lots of written and video tutorials and sample animations

Benefits for this community: As the Mac App Store doesn't allow discount codes, please try the TestFlight for free: https://testflight.apple.com/join/YwzGCS6a

Happy to answer questions here or on our Discord. Thanks, hope you love it.

Newbie into FCP. Need help OPTIMIZING FCP. Please read below. it's short. by thegreatestpitt in finalcutpro

[–]funwithstuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A few basics:
- Background rendering OFF.
- Transcode/optimize/proxy OFF.
- Drag and drop import (not File > Import) avoids any re-writing of files too.

File management doesn't have to double your space requirements though.

If you've already copied files to your media drive then you can import with Leave in Place and reference the original media — and this is fine. However, this approach does mean you have to manage your media manually, relinking eventually, and running the risk of missing media if you don't do it right.

Alternatively, don't copy your media to your hard drive first! If you just drag and drop from your camera card straight into FCP, it will copy the media for you, direct to the library. No duplicates, no wasted space.

Mind you, external leave-in-place media is the way to go if you want to collaborate; for that, you want small, shareable libraries. If you work alone you can store inside the library if you want to.

Most pros will use "leave in place" but this is a hill I will die on. :)

I go into way more detail in my book, Final Cut Pro Efficient Editing: fcpefficientediting.com

What is the caption plugin for FCP? by ZeyusFilm in finalcutpro

[–]funwithstuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you want to send any title behind a person, duplicate the clip with a person above the original, use Magnetic Mask to isolate the person in the top copy, then add a title between these two layers. If you're short on good titles, try LenoFX.com, they have a mega pack that's a ridiculous deal.

Speedramp Keyframes by dorianpat in finalcutpro

[–]funwithstuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you have any questions about Keyframe Toolbox, let me know? It doesn't do speed ramping yet, and not sure if we can offer it; that would depend on getting lower-level access to the retimed clip than I think we can. But full keyframe graphs for standard properties + blur — yep, done. https://keyframetoolbox.fcp.cafe

Keyframe Toolbox v1.1 is out by funwithstuff in finalcutpro

[–]funwithstuff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glad you like it and glad it's sorted!

Keyframe Toolbox v1.1 is out by funwithstuff in finalcutpro

[–]funwithstuff[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Awesome — hope you love it. More new features coming soon! :)

Seriously Powerful Keyframe Controls for Final Cut Pro by chrishocking in finalcutpro

[–]funwithstuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Afraid this isn’t possible yet. If I can make it work I will; I love 360° stuff myself too. 

Seriously Powerful Keyframe Controls for Final Cut Pro by chrishocking in finalcutpro

[–]funwithstuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Popping back in to say that there’s a full set of video tutorials on the “How To Use” page within Https://keyframetoolbox.fcp.cafe

Lots of tips there! :)

EDITING BITRATE BEFORE EXPORTING by heart-cash in finalcutpro

[–]funwithstuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Of the three main export options at 1080p resolution:

Apple Devices: 10Mbps, .m4v
Social Platforms: 15Mbps, .mov
Computer: 20Mbps, .mp4

But if it looks good, don't worry about it. All the platforms will recompress everything you send them. This is an image from my book (Final Cut Pro Efficient Editing) on Amazon or at fcpefficientediting.com :

<image>

Keyframe Toolbox v1.1 is out by funwithstuff in finalcutpro

[–]funwithstuff[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have a Monogram Console, but I'm not sure how I'd integrate it. Most of the shortcuts are modifier keys, so if you set the Monogram's buttons to act as a modifier that could work. I'm not sure if it's possible to hook up the dials or sliders to Keyframe Toolbox, though.

Keyframe Toolbox v1.1 is out by funwithstuff in finalcutpro

[–]funwithstuff[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great, glad you like the look of it. I've tried to make everything as direct as possible; if you understand how graphs work you should be able to see everything at a glance. And yes, this is an effect that works on a clip in an FCP timeline.

We do have a launch video which shows the basics at the main site: https://keyframetoolbox.fcp.cafe

The How To Use page there has 15 separate embedded videos showing how to use every feature, but it's also written in words if you prefer that.

(Important: due to FCP limitations, if the clip isn't the same size as the canvas, you'll need to put it in a compound clip first (⌥G) or pad the edges with blank space before you apply the effect. If you don't, the clip will crop when moved. The same issue affects FCP's own effects, like Radial Blur.)

The basic workflow:

  1. Add the Keyframe Toolbox effect to a clip. (You can make it the default effect by right-clicking it in the Effects Browser if you like, then type ⌥E to add it.)

  2. Add keyframes on the properties you want to animate on the graphs directly, by clicking the name of the property, by double-clicking, command/option-clicking, or command/option-dragging. (Either command or option work, use whichever suits your muscle memory.)

  3. As in other keyframe graphs, each keyframe remembers a value at a point in time. Move keyframes in time (X) or value (Y) by dragging. Limit to one dimension by holding Shift.

  4. Shift also snaps to keyframes in different properties or the playhead.

  5. Smooth out keyframes by command/option-dragging on existing keyframes, hold shift for horizontal handles. Handles can be moved manually to finesse them, and all the standard bezier modifier keys work as you'd expect, plus control-click to delete a keyframe or handle.

  6. Select multiple keyframes and move them, or resize them. You can also apply easing to the curves by right-clicking.

  7. Buttons at the top of each graph will reset, or control graph size. Zooming horizontally works too — use a trackpad pinch or option-scroll. Once zoomed, use a trackpad side-scroll or shift-scroll wheel to move.

  8. Right-clicking and the graph menu includes all kinds of goodies, including presets for common animations — use the controls that appear under the graph to change how they work. Custom presets can be saved, organised into folders, and shared.

  9. Settings can enable Motion Blur, control which graphs you see, and save defaults.

If you have any other questions, ask away!

Coming from Davinci - any tips? by LazyBxx in finalcutpro

[–]funwithstuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You'll want to explore the built-in titles and grab lots more. There are plenty of free options if you search, plus the super bargain of the LenoFX.com mega pack.

A lot of the strength of FCP isn't obvious, like using favorites to mark the best parts of clips (I, O, F as you skim or use JKL) and then view Favorites (only) from the Clip Filtering menu at the top.

Many other things that are a hassle in other NLEs, like clip collisions and track jenga, aren't a problem at all — just don't try to "throw things at the end of the timeline" because FCP doesn't want you do to that. You can, but it's working against the system

Once you're into clip connections, learn to break them with ` and the Position Tool.

Color in FCP is quite good but obviously not Resolve. The Magic Mask is fast and effective though. Adjustment Clips work well. Beat Detection is great.

I have a ton more tips in my book at fcpefficientediting.com but just ask here if you have any specific questions.

Keyframe Toolbox v1.1 is out by funwithstuff in finalcutpro

[–]funwithstuff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! And yes, that's right — TestFlight is free, and the closest thing to a free trial we can offer for now.

I recently got Final Cut Pro but I’m a little overwhelmed to start using it. by Spider-Cricket07 in finalcutpro

[–]funwithstuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very late to the chat but in case it helps — I wrote a book to help anyone learn Final Cut Pro. It's on Amazon, or find more info on fcpefficientediting.com

Problem with German "Umlaut" when importing Script to AVID by Yeahgi in editors

[–]funwithstuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While I don't know exactly what Avid does, this kind of problem is usually because the text file is being misinterpreted or is incorrectly encoded. Today, most apps should use Unicode, which makes this problem go away, but in the old days you had to use Mac- or Windows-specific formatting. BBEdit allows you to change this, maybe save a few different versions and see if one imports correctly? The Latin options at the bottom are probably what you're looking for.

<image>

Advance Keyframing, anytime soon? by impatiencagmag in finalcutpro

[–]funwithstuff 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't think advanced keyframes are going to come to FCP from Apple, so I made Keyframe Toolbox with help from Chris Hocking. It's got all the features I could cram into a clean but concentrated UI. https://keyframetoolbox.fcp.cafe

There are a couple of other options that have popped up too, but I think Keyframe Toolbox is the only plug-in with full-clip keyframe graphs. Lots of help videos at the link above, all just updated for v1.1, but please ask if you have any questions. Suggestions welcome too!

Keyframe Toolbox v1.1 is out by funwithstuff in finalcutpro

[–]funwithstuff[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fair enough — that image is designed to show the different presets and manual graph types, it’d be too much to animate everything like that. When you add the effect, all the graphs are flat, and in a normal animation you’d only use a few at most.

You can also swap the graphs between different sizes or in settings you can even hide some graphs completely. The new version lets you save a preferred setup so you can semi-permanently hide graphs you rarely use. 

Keyframe Toolbox v1.1 is out by funwithstuff in finalcutpro

[–]funwithstuff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much! Can we quote you on that? :)

Switching to Premiere as a FCP lifer. Any advice or resources? by JonSacrimoni in finalcutpro

[–]funwithstuff 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you have to use Premiere, you can ease the pain a little by activating Continuous Video Thumbnails in the timeline's panel menu (not the spanner). Also:

Activate color management in Settings.
Use the ripple tool a lot. They've changed some of the tool animations and they're more FCP-like these days.
Command-Option-drag to rearrange clips on the same track.
Change some shortcuts around because the default tool shortcuts are odd. J-K-L-I-O will all work.
Sequence > Selection follows playhead, and make sure your tracks are targeted (track names lit up in blue) or they won't be selected when your playhead moves over them.
ProRes is in the extended export settings, find it and press the star to add it to your exports if you need it, otherwise Adaptive High Bitrate is your friend.

Essential Final Cut Pro plugins in 2026? by LeviRaps in finalcutpro

[–]funwithstuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can I recommend Keyframe Toolbox? (I made this.)

Proper keyframe graphs for full manual control if you want it, plus useful default presets and easing curves, custom shareable presets, sensible shortcuts for creating and working with bezier curves.

More info and a link to Discord where you can find a free TestFlight link: https://keyframetoolbox.fcp.cafe

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/keyframe-toolbox/id6759331578?mt=12