Find clips and projects in Final Cut Pro
In Final Cut Pro, you can search for media in two ways:
Quickly filter clips in the browser: Use the Filter pop-up menu to locate clips by rating (for example, clips you’ve rated as favorite). You can also locate unused clips and clips with neither ratings nor keywords.
Search using a combination of criteria: Use the Filter window to perform complex searches for clips and projects, also known as weighted searches. You can search by a wide variety of criteria, including clip or project name, rating, media type, used media, excessive shake, keywords, the presence of people, format information, date, roles, and item type (audition, synced clip, compound clip, multicam clip, layered graphic, or project).
Filter clips quickly by rating
In Final Cut Pro, use the Filter pop-up menu in the browser to quickly find clips by rating.
In the Libraries sidebar in Final Cut Pro, select a library or one or more events or folders you want to filter by rating.
Click the Filter pop-up menu at the top of the browser and choose an option.
All Clips: Shows all clips in the event.
Hide Rejected: Shows all clips or range selections except those you’ve rated as rejected.
No Ratings or Keywords: Shows only the clips or range selections without ratings or keywords.
Favorites: Shows only the clips or range selections you’ve rated as favorite.
Rejected: Shows only the clips or range selections you’ve rated as rejected.
Unused: Shows only the clips or range selections that are not used in a project, compound clip, multicam clip, or synced clip.
Search for clips and projects by a combination of criteria
You can search for clips and projects by multiple search criteria using the Filter window. For example, you can search for video clips or projects that are rated as favorite and contain the text “exterior” or “wide shot” in their metadata.
In the Libraries sidebar in Final Cut Pro, select a library or events or folders you want to search.
Click the Search button
at the top-right corner of the browser. Click the Filter button to the right of the search field.
In the Filter window, click the Add Filter pop-up menu and choose search criteria.
Text: Find clips or projects by their name or any notes applied to them in list view. You can add multiple Text filters to search using more than one word or phrase, as well as exclude specific words and phrases from the search.
Ratings: Find clips based on the rating (favorite or rejected) assigned to them. See Rate clips in Final Cut Pro.
Media Type: Find clips whose source media files are of a specific type, such as video, audio, or still images.
Type: Find items matching one of the following types: audition, synced clip, compound clip, multicam clip, layered graphic, or project.
Used Media: Find clips based on whether they’re used in a project, compound clip, multicam clip, or synced clip.
Stabilization: Find video clips that Final Cut Pro has identified as having excessive shake. See Correct shaky video in Final Cut Pro.
Keywords: Find clips by any of the keywords that you’ve assigned to them. You can select one or more keywords to search for. See Add keywords to clips in Final Cut Pro.
People: Find clips that Final Cut Pro has identified as having people in them. Options include One Person, Two Persons, Group, Close Up Shot, Medium Shot, and Wide Shot. See Video analysis options in Final Cut Pro.
Format Info: Find clips or projects using format information, such as video frame rate or scene number.
Date: Find clips or projects by either the date the item was created or the date the media was imported into Final Cut Pro.
Roles: Find clips by their assigned roles. See Intro to roles in Final Cut Pro.
To remove a filter, click the Remove button
to the right of the filter. To exclude a filter from your search without removing it, deselect its checkbox.Further refine your search by choosing items from the pop-up menus for the filters you’ve added.
Do one of the following:
Specify that an item must match at least one of the criteria or keywords: Click the pop-up menu in the upper-left corner of the Filter window, then choose Any.
Specify that an item must match all the criteria and keywords: Click the pop-up menu in the upper-left corner, then choose All.
The items that match the search criteria are displayed in the browser.
If you wish, you can save your search results as a Smart Collection, which gathers items automatically based on the search criteria.
To clear the search criteria, click the Reset button in the browser search field.
Search for clips or projects by name and notes
In Final Cut Pro, you can use the browser search field to quickly find clips or projects by name, and any notes applied in list view.
In the Libraries sidebar, select a library or one or more events or folders you want to search.
Click the Search button
at the top-right corner of the browser. Click the search field and type the text.
As you type, the search results update in the browser.
Find clips using both searching and filtering
In Final Cut Pro, performing a search and then filtering the results in the browser by rating is a powerful way to quickly find clips. This is also the best way to find specific clips that you haven’t rated and compare them to clips you have rated.
In the Libraries sidebar in Final Cut Pro, select the library, events, or folders you want to search.
Search for clips using a combination of search criteria, as described above.
However, don’t apply a ratings filter using the Filter window.
Filter clips by rating, as described above.
Repeat step 3 until you find all the clips you’re looking for.