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498Final Cut Pro User Guide
Edit compound clips in Final Cut Pro
You can open up compound clips and edit their component parts in a separate timeline,
and you can easily navigate up and down a series of compound clip levels. You can also
open and edit a compound clip from within an event.
Note: When you edit the contents of a compound clip (for example, by trimming or adding
effects to clips within the compound clip), you are in fact editing all instances of that
compound clip, including the parent compound clip in the browser. Any changes you
make to the internal parts of the compound clip are inherited by all of its child clips, in
all projects. These changes can include added or deleted clips, trimming adjustments,
and video or audio effects such as color correction, clip speed retiming, and so on. For
example, if you delete a title clip from a parent compound clip, the title clip is deleted from
all child compound clips.
Open a compound clip for editing
In Final Cut Pro, do one of the following:
• Select a compound clip in the timeline or the browser, then choose Clip > Open Clip.
• Double-click the video portion of a compound clip in the timeline or the browser.
• Click the compound clip icon in the top-left corner of a compound clip in the timeline.
The compound clip opens in a new timeline view, with its contents ready for editing.
Note: Because editing in Final Cut Pro is nondestructive, any changes you make to the
contents of standard or compound clips do not affect the corresponding source media
files, which remain unchanged on your Mac or storage device. See Media files and clips in
Final Cut Pro.