This week on MacBreak Studio, Steve Martin from Ripple Training shows us an awesome and super-useful tip related to using stock images, video, and audio in Final Cut Pro X.

Have you ever downloaded a comp from a stock site to use temporarily in your project? Perhaps to experiment with different music options, or image options, or video options? Perhaps you’ve used Final Cut’s powerful Auditions feature to try out the different options in the context of your edit, which allows you to try the different options out without even stopping playback?

Well, once you’ve decided which stock photo, video, sound effect, or music clip to use, what happens next? You need to purchase it of course, and replace the temporary, watermarked version. But often, finding that clip to purchase can be tricky business because although the stock company name is usually embedded in the watermark, the file name may not help you locate it on their site – or perhaps you’ve changed the file name to make it easier to organize your stock media assets.

Either way, this tip will save you the headache of tracking down the source of your comps by leveraging the metadata that you can add to a clip. As the video demonstrates, all you need to do is copy the source URL from your browser, and then in Final Cut Pro X, select the clip in your timeline, go to the timeline index, and add that URL to the Notes field. You now have the source information tagged to the clip directly in the timeline.

When it’s time to purchase the full asset, you simply right-click that field and choose Open URL from the contextual menu, and you are taken straight to the site. It couldn’t be easier.

Of course, you can use this idea of storing source URL for timeline clips in other ways as well, such as referencing statistics or quote sources. Watch and enjoy.