How do you use Auditions in Final Cut Pro X?

This week on MacBreak Studio, Steve Martin from Ripple Training shows us some novel and practical ways to use auditions that you may not have considered.

Auditions are kind of like single “multiclips” that obviate the need to stack clips on top of each other and turn them on and off to look at alternatives. Typically you would create an audition when you want to see how a different clip would look in place of the current clip in a project.

Dragging a clip from the Event Browser over a timeline clip and releasing the mouse button reveals several options including the “Replace and add to Audition” command.  Using this process, you can add as many clips as you like to an audition. You can then, either by clicking the audition badge or by using keyboard shortcuts, easily switch the currently active clip to see how each looks in context of the edit. And because of the magnetic timeline, the clips can be different lengths and the project will adjust accordingly.

In this episode, instead of different clips, Steve looks at how you can use auditions to look a different versions of the same clip. First, he takes the scenario in which you'd like to look at a different cut of the same clip – a short or longer version, or a different part of the clip. Rather than trimming and/or slipping it, playing, and then undoing to go back, you can use the Duplicate as Audition command found under the Clip menu. Trim the duplicate, and then you can switch back and forth between the two versions, even while the project is playing, to see which works better. And of course you can add as many versions of the clip to the audition as you like.

For a second example, Steve shows how auditions can be used again on the same clip, but this time with and without effects applied – for this case, the Duplicate from Original command can be quite handy.

Finally, if you'd like to see a method for creating auditions right in the Event Browser, check out the free preview movies for Ripple Training's new Creative Editing tutorial.