ProVideo Coalition.com: the EDITBLOG on PVC by Scott Simmons

I’m sure it will be quite controversial to champion the idea of changing the default Final Cut Pro keyboard layout to one that more closely matches that of Avid. One major argument that I have seen over the years of the Avid vs. Final Cut Pro debate is that one should not attempt to make their new FCP system behave like an Avid; that they are different systems and an editor should learn how each system works. Don’t try to make Final Cut Pro into something that it is not! While I agree with that in principle (you have to learn the differences when moving from one to the other or you will become very frustrated) when it comes to keyboard settings I think that argument misses the point. It’s not an attempt to make FCP behave like Avid but more of an attempt to find the most efficient keyboard layout that allows easy one-stroke access to the most frequently used keys. It’s an attempt to put the keys in a more economical position rather than trying to make the various tool’s corresponding keys easier to remember by assigning them by the first letter of their name. How dumb did FCP’s programmers think editors are? How often do you really need to toggle the Viewer’s wireframe display?

So often that it needs its own dedicated W key? I turned it on once and never turned it off. For 95% of editors I would guess the answer is no. Just think about how often you “toggle wireframes” vs. how often you need to GO TO an OUT point. If you can make going to the out point (a task you might do hundreds of times during an edit) easier and faster then why not do it? The most difficult thing about using a different FCP keyboard layout is that many people bought (or the system came with) a FCP specific keyboard with FCP keycaps. Ditch this keyboard and grab that blank one that came with the system. Having those icons and colors on the keyboard are a crutch anyway when it comes to learning what keys are what. Remember when you took typing or keyboarding class and the teacher wouldn’t let you look at your hands? Same idea here. When you can access the keys on your editing keyboard without looking at your hands then your speed will increase as well.

Here’s how I’ve remapped my FCP keyboard (hover over the image for notes about the keys):

While I have made my FCP keyboard more like my Avid keyboard the default Avid keyboard isn’t perfect either:

I’ve remapped the entire 1 - 9 keys to mimic how they are on my FCP layout. 1 - 9 toggles video tracks 1 - 9 and Shift + 1 - 9 for toggling audio tracks. Avid has always defaulted toggling video and audio tracks to the 7, 8, 9, 0, - and = keys but that only allows for two video tracks and four audio tracks.

In this day and age how often do you ONLY have two video and four audio tracks? One thing the Avid keyboard doesn’t do is try to associate the first letter of a particular function with the letter on the keyboard. Other than I for IN and O for OUT, that’s about it. If you don’t think about the letters on the keys in relation to their function but look at how they are grouped together then it makes the most sense. FCP’s drag and drop overlays in the Canvas, while nice for beginners, is probably the single most time consuming way to get material into a timeline that exists in an NLE today.

One stroke of genius on the default Avid keyboard was to place two of the most commonly used functions, INSERT and OVERWRITE on the V and B keys, respectively. It seems strange at first but by placing those commands there at the bottom of the keyboard they are directly under your left index finger for very easy and very fast access. Sure V and B don’t make a lot of sense from an easy-to-remember-standpoint but that’s where you can get creative. I heard a funny thing from That Post Show’s creator John Flowers about this very topic. These are easy to remember if you just change the function’s name: VINSERT and BOVERWRITE! I like that. So I propose two new terms in the non-linear editing lexicon:

The other thing that an editor can do to increase their productivity is to create different keyboard maps for different tasks. Final Cut Pro attempted this by including both their default keyboard layout as well as a Multi-camera Editing layout. This was a good start but the multi-cam layout only changed the numeric keypad. Plus it defaulted to the ‘switch’ camera angles keys. Don’t you usually want to cut to another camera angle when using true multicam style editing as your timeline plays along? Also, they put the camera numbers in the wrong place. Check out this QuickTip for what I think is the more logical arrangement of the keypad for multicam editing. I enjoy different layouts for audio editing, effects work and multicam. If you don’t rely on the color-coded keycaps then you can learn a lot of different keyboard layouts without much trouble.

Since this is a manifesto let me lay out a few ideas for good keyboard based editing:

Lastly, a long time ago I posted my newly created Avid-like FCP keyboard layout on Flickr, complete with notes as to what the keys do. The Avid keyboard is there as well. I then forgot about it. Since then there have been a number of comments asking for me to email them this FCP keyboard layout. Instead I’ve posted the FCP keyboard layout file here for anyone who wants to give it a try. Keep in mind that this is a layout that is perfect for ME. It can (and should) be changed to meet your specific needs and make your own workflow as efficient as possible. For example, I remapped the default SNAPPING toggle button from N to H as I wanted the Play Around Current on the N key. In hindsight I should have just put Play Around Current on the H key but I’ve been using it the other way for so long that I don’t want to change it now. So use the layout as is or feel free to tweak it to your liking.

If you give it a chance and remove the mindset that the FCP default is best you will come to love the meat of this keyboard layout. The beauty of it is that it is still so customizable. All of the F keys are meant to be mapped to your favorite, frequently used keys. And there’s always my friend F13 to map to whatever command needs easy access to at the moment. Give it a try, spread it around. Just remember, there’s really only one perfect keyboard layout, the one that makes you as an efficient editor as possible.

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It’s really quite amazing when you really look at all the commands that FCP allows one to map. A lot more than Avid does. And if you study the keyboard in detail there’s tons of stuff that you might not even know existed!

Posted by Scott Simmons on 04/03 at 07:41 AM

I had already tweaked my keyboard layout to be more like avid. Works well and makes it easier to switch between NLE’s. I have changed the y key to “select edit point” and then U to toggle edit type(default) and P for trim edit(opens up trim window) Seems more efficient with my workflow.

Above, Jon Chappell does make an excellent point about backing the keyboard layout and throwing it on a USB thumb drive. Otherwise, working on another machine will slow you down a lot because you forget where the default keys were or force you to remap all of the keys manually.

Great article. Thanks.

Posted by salvador jaramillo on 04/03 at 12:06 PM

Extremely helpful - thank you. Quick question - I have the aluminum Apple keyboard (wired), and so in order to use the function keys in FCP without the system performing the special functions assigned to those keys (brightness adjust, expose/dashboard, iTunes control, etc.), I have to go into my Keyboard & Mouse Preferences Pane and do the following:
1. Under the Keyboard tab: check “Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys”
2. Under the Keyboard Shortcuts tab: Uncheck “Dock, Exposé, and Dashboard”

This will presumably become quite annoying. Do you or does anyone know of or have a quick way to toggle these function keys on/off globally so that when I’m using FCP, they’re disabled easily, and when I quit FCP, they resume or I can easily make them resume normal function?

Thanks!

Posted by Jared Scheib on 04/08 at 12:26 AM

You don’t actually need to perform Step 2. If you select “use as standard function keys”, you can access the secondary functions by pressing the Fn button.

Posted by Jon Chappell on 04/08 at 01:44 AM

Your link, “my friend F13” with URL http://www.scottsimmons.tv/blog/2008/03/31/my-friend-f13/ leads to a page which says you’ve been hacked!

Posted by Rob on 04/09 at 12:12 PM

Here’s a screen grab of that page:

http://screencast.com/t/6rFBOUOfd

Posted by Rob on 04/09 at 12:14 PM

This FCP is really something new to me, i never heard about it before, i guess i never needed it so i never came acroos it here! but is surely looks like a handy tool

Posted by mikejons on 04/20 at 04:43 AM

Great article, well argued.

I really enjoy it when someone using clear and deliberate logic, manages to change my mind.

I have always resisted similarly mapping my FCP & Avid keyboards - leaving each as default (plus a few extra mapppings), believing that they require a different mindset in use. While this is true in part, i think you have easily convinced me to ditch FCP’s *ridiculous* key placement (four button presses for “all tracks forward”?) and start from scratch as if no keys at all had ever been mapped. (Goodbye you multicoloured siren!)

I’ve got 2 weeks till my next project to figure out the ULTIMATE cross platform layout and then get used to using it

Here goes…

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/08 at 03:30 PM

Good luck with that mchart. I’d be interesting to see your ULTIMATE cross platform layout. When you get it just perfect let me know and I’ll share it with readers.

Posted by Scott Simmons on 08/10 at 08:21 PM

Scott—just saw that this is an old thread, so doubt if you’ll see this, but as long as you’re reconfiguring, you should go all the way. Use a Kensington Turbo Mouse trackball with programmable buttons and you will hardly ever need to more your hands.

Move all your basic functions to your left hand (eg jkl becomes sdf) and with six speed buttons and six possible combinations of mouse clicks you can do just about anything. I’ve been using this since early days of Avid and just reconfigured for FCP. ( I used to use the wireless turbo, but it suffered from numerous breakdowns and isn’t made anymore, but the usb one works fine. )

I don’t think it’s a question at all of trying to make fcp more like avid, just program what you use the most. The only thing I miss is that on old Avids I could hit the jog button and spin the trackball and fly through the timeline at 30x.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/29 at 09:45 AM

Thanks Mike70. I do use the Turbo Mouse as well. Looks like you’ve taken it to the next level!

Posted by Scott Simmons on 12/29 at 10:20 AM

Hi Scott: FWIW, Here’s the config I use on the Turbo Mouse Pro:

Bottom Left: click
BR: right click
both: Audio levels
TL Insert Clip
TR Save
both Batch capture

Direct Launch Buttons
1 render all
2 all audio (toggles tracks on & off)
3 voice over tool
4 mixer tool
5 zoom out
6 zoom in

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/30 at 02:00 PM

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Keyboard Manifesto