Tech Tip Tuesday: Paste Attributes

This week's tech tip is for all of you Final Cut Pro editors out there. If you don't already know about pasting attributes on your clips, then get ready to jump for joy. This is one awesome tech tip!

Pasting attributes is when you take something that you have added to or changed about a clip (like filters, motion, audio levels etc.) and paste it on to one or more other clips. Here's how you do it:


• Step 1: Select the clip that has the attributes you want to use on your other clips. Copy that clip.

• Step 2: Select the clip or clips to which you want to add the attributes (you can do many clips at once).

• Step 3: Right click anywhere on your selected clips (or if you don't have a dual-click mouse, click while holding down the "control" key), and choose "paste attributes" from the pull-down menu.

• Step 4: In the dialogue box that pops up, click the boxes next to each attribute you want to paste.

"Basic motion" refers to scale, rotation and location (center & anchor point). Keep "scale attribute times" checked if you are pasting keyframes to clips of different lengths (it keeps the keyframes scaled to each clip, meaning that if you're pasting from a longer clip with keyframes at the start & end, the shorter clip you paste to will have the keyframes scaled down to its beginning and end). If you don't have keyframes to paste (or don't know what they are), uncheck that box.

Note that you can also paste the levels and pan for your audio. This is a great help for audio equalizing!

• Step 5: After checking all the attributes you want to paste, hit "OK."

• Step 6: Jump for joy at all the time you've saved!