Video Editing With Final Cut Pro X – Course Review
An in-depth 3-hour, 15-minutes tutorial with step-by-step directions on how to use Final Cut Pro and change your video editing game.
Description of the Course on Skillshare
Here’s an exciting thing: Even with the demanding schedules that come with working in the medical field, some buddies go out of their way to do extra things they love on the side.
I am talking about people like Ali, today’s course instructor.
Ali is an FY2 junior doctor but spends most of his evenings creating YouTube videos and has been doing it for the past seven or so years.
He has been using Final Cut Pro as his primary editing program and decided to share its ins and outs and how to take your skills to the next level.
It is a short 3-hour 15-minutes course with detailed instructions on how to properly use the program and a few sections explaining its features.
The course is divided into 34 lessons, and each class covers a different topic, with the shortest lesson lasting about two minutes.
Thanks to Skillshare, you can take as many courses as you wish at the same time and complete them at your pace.
There are no timelines or deadlines for completion so log in to cover a few minutes of a course when you feel like it.
You don’t have to be a YouTuber to use Final Cut Pro.
Use it for any video, whether for business or personal use.
Also, the course is geared towards the beginner videographer, video editor, or Final Cut Pro user, but the advanced chaps have proven to pick a few gems from Ali.
Ali is eloquent, has a good mastery of his craft, and is responsive.
I went through the reviews to read what students said about his course, and I was overwhelmed.
Even amateurs love his tips and tricks.
On loving the course, the statistics are incredible.
Over 59,500+ students have enrolled in the course as I write this review, and 1100+ are currently watching it.
The discussion section looks impressive, with students sharing their projects for feedback from Ali and fellow students.
More so, you can go through the section and see questions asked by students to learn a few more things that Ali perhaps didn’t mention in the course.
There is so much to do as a fully practical course to ensure you are at par with him.
The tasks after some lessons are for practice and sharpening your skills to allow you to work confidently on Final Cut Pro without referring to the course often.
You might be here because you want to edit a few videos that have been in your gallery for a while and have never used any video editing program before.
Or, you could be in dire need of better software and are looking to switch from your current one.
Ali has the right course with all the information you need to use Final Cut Pro with ease.
Plus, he is a responsive chap, and from the discussion area, he responds to his students in a day or two, which is quite fast than most online instructors.
Although the interface of this program might look different from software like iMovie, don’t fear!
All the basic video editing skills you will need can be learned in a few minutes, and Ali’s tutorial will teach you how to go about it from beginner to pro level.
The course is systematic and begins from the importance of Final Cut Pro to its features and use.
Over the 33 lessons in the course, you will learn how to open the program for the first time, use it, and share your final video project.
Once you complete the course, you should be able to confidently use the techniques, tips, and tricks you have learned to do basic and advanced edits using Final Cut Pro for your projects.
NOTE: The course title says from Beginner to YouTuber, but this isn’t a YouTube course.
It only explains how to use the Final Cut Pro software, which is common among YouTubers, however, if you want to learn how to use YouTube, there are detailed courses on the site that you can check out.
Course Content and Overview
Ali, in this course, teaches everything you need to know about Final Cut Pro and use it for simple and complex video editing tasks.
It isn’t a sit back and enjoy course since you have to work with him to create a YouTube video following the three-part workflow he recommends below.
1. A-Cut Assembly – Here, you will create your project, import your footage, and start assembling the A-cut.
You will learn how to effectively use the in and out points and append footage to your timeline.
When cutting out all inevitable pauses and mistakes, there are steps to take to give a sharp and
snappy edit.
You will learn the necessary keyboard shortcuts you need to know to make using Final Cut Pro
as efficient and fun as possible.
2. B-Roll Things – Before getting here, you should have sorted all you’re A-cut.
You will learn to make your edits more fun by adding B-roll second camera clips, transitions,
titles, images, lower thirds, handwritten animations, and screen recordings.
3. Coats of Polish – You will add background music to sound more professional.
Also, you will learn how to add sound effects to your transitions and titles and vocal effects to
your audio track using compression and EQ.
There is more on color grading to give your edits the feel and look your viewers are craving.
If you are a complete novice to Final Cut Pro, Ali will ease you with fundamentals to familiarize yourself with the interface before going fancy with animations and transitions.
Advanced or intermediate users will find the iPad handwritten animation trick useful.
You will make your Monthly Favourites video for your practice task using the techniques, tips, and tricks you learn.
Put together a beautiful snappy edit by following the steps in the B-roll section.
While filming, you are required to speak about four things you have found out and enjoyed during the month.
You could be brand new to video editing or want to wet your feet and can choose one item to speak about on camera.
Ali reminds you that this is an editing and not a filming class, so the focus should be on editing but don’t compromise on filming if you can do better.
For novices not to worry about professional filming equipment and setups, they can film using their phones – something that most advanced and pro YouTubers do even if they have professional sets.
Turn the phone landscape and use the default camera application to film a selfie video talking about your monthly favorites.
If you can grab good video quality without stress, that’s fine, but if you can’t, no worries since you can improve on that later.
It would be best if you were more interested in knowing how to edit using Final Cut Pro and make your edits exciting and snappy.
Be keen to have your face on camera, but it is alright if you can’t.
You can download the raw footage from Ali’s August 2019 Favourites video and use it to edit along in the program.
The instructor has been using Epidemic sound for all his music needs for royalty-free music and shares his affiliate link with a 30-days free trial.
Ali uses several templates and plugins for color grading, transitions, and titles, most being from
VideoHive.
If you want to improve your video editing skills and make your clips snappy and exciting like a pro, this course will come in handy.
Who is the Course for?
- Beginner and advanced Final Cut Pro users
- Anyone who wants to learn how to edit their videos with no stress
- Those looking for alternative video editing software
- Videographers
- Video editors
- Digital marketers
- Freelancers
- Brands and corporations
What you will learn
- The anatomy and interface of Final Cut Pro
- The libraries, events, and organization
- How to sync external audio with video
- How to create new projects in the program
- The in and out points in the A-cut section
- How to speed up your playback
- How to use the in, out, and append keyboard shortcuts
- The philosophy of pauses
- How to assemble the A-cut
- How to tighten up your edits using trim deletes
- Q and W keyboard shortcuts
- Saving time with markers
- How to create full-screen transition titles
- How to make essential titles
- Lower thirds
- How to add images
- What you need to know about the Ken Burns effect
- How to screen record on iPhone
- How to screen record on a desktop
- Camera B-roll
- How to add timestamps to your video
- How to create animated handwriting using iPad
- How to add background music
- How to extend your music with audition
- How to add sound effects to your video
- How to use Limiter and EQ
- How to color grade
- How to export your video
Lessons
- An introduction to the course
- The class project and resources
- Final Cut’s anatomy and interface
- Libraries, events, and organization
- Synchronizing external audio with video
- Create new projects
- An Introduction to A-cut
- In and out points
- Speeding up playback
- Keyboard shortcuts – in, out, and append
- The philosophy of pauses
- Assembling you’re A-cut
- Tightening up your edit and trim deletes
- Keyboard shortcuts – Q and W
- Save time using markers
- Full-screen transition titles
- Basic titles
- Lower thirds
- Adding images
- The Ken Burns effect
- iPhone screen recording
- Desktop screen recording
- Second camera B-roll
- Timestamps
- Animated handwriting with iPad
- Background music
- Extending your music with audition
- Sound effects
- Timing the music
- Limiter and EQ
- Colour grading
- Exporting
- Conclusion
Course Requirements
A computer with an internet connection
Willingness to learn and practice
No prior video filming and editing expertise or experience using Final Cut Pro or similar programs.
FAQs – Questions on the Video Editing with Final Cut Pro X
Q) Do I get a certificate of completion once I am done with the course?
A) No, Skillshare is yet to introduce this feature on its platform. But if you want courses that offer certificates of completion, try Udemy’s paid options.
Q) Does the course explain how to share your videos once done editing?
A) Yes, there is an exportation section where you will learn how to share your clips with the world through various social media and video platforms like Vimeo, Facebook, and YouTube.
Q) How do I go about finding a track if I can’t get the perfect one from Final Cut Pro?
A) You can use Ali’s 30-days free affiliate link to see the selection on epidemic sound.
Q) What are some of the plugins that the course talks about?
A) The instructor shares some of the plugins he uses with the program including the YouTuber pack –comic edition version 3.0, YouTube essential library, infographics builder, FCP YouTube essentials, 90
Final Cut X lower thirds pack, Ryan Nangle’s Final Cut Pro plugins, and channel EQ settings for audio.
Wrap Up
When you listen to creators speak about their journeys, they complain about editing being the most dreaded task.
I think it is because they are yet to get the right program to use, master the correct techniques, tips, and tricks.
Ali created a detailed tutorial to help you drop this notion in less than four hours.
He explains the fundamentals of Final Pro Cut and how to become a better video editor in the simplest way possible.
Enrol in the course to see how easy and fun it is to use the program but you might alter the step sequence as you create your rhythms for various tasks.
Learn his plugins and add-ons and see the magic you can do with Final Cut Pro X.
What Students Say About the Course
I am getting started with influencing and I needed how to learn video editing as I will be doing
everything on my own and would like to smash it.
This course was the only one I have ever enrolled in since I began my YouTube career and am currently receiving good feedback from my subscribers.
Such a thorough course with simple explanations and an engaging instructor who ensures you nail each edit.
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