The 10.1 update to Final Cut Pro X included several improvements for manipulating keyframes. For example, it's now possible to select multiple keyframes, and to copy and paste keyframes.
In this episode of MacBreak Studio, Mark and Steve from Ripple Training demonstrate how these new features can be applied in real-world situations.
In particular, these features makes working with audio much easier. For example, when you need to adjust the volume of a background music track so that it doesn't interfere with on-camera audio, such as an interview subject speaking, you did so previously by setting two keyframes near the start of the on-camera audio, two keyframes near the end, and then adjusting the volume level in-between so that it lowered before the speaker began, stayed at a consistent low level while they spoke, and then returned to the original volume as they finished – a process known as “ducking” the audio.
Well, in Final Cut Pro X there has been a better way to do this for quite a while: just press R for the Range tool, drag a range over the area to be ducked, and drag the level bar – this action automatically sets all 4 keyframes for you. What's great in the 10.1 update is that you can now copy and paste those keyframes to the next section that needs to be ducked, so there's no need to manually lower the volume each time. And because multiple keyframes can be selected (by Shift-clicking or using the Range tool), it's easy to adjust the start or end of the volume change.
These copy-paste operations work on video as well, making it easy to repeat the animation of video parameters like opacity, scale, or position, or to repeat the animation of applied effects. Overall these are much needed and welcome additions to FCP X.