5.1.1

Chapter 11 Final Cut Pro X templates 434
Template les and media save location
When you save a template, the project and all associated les are saved in your /Users/username/
Movies/Motion Templates/ folder, organized by template type. The template types include
Compositions (templates created in Motion for use in Motion), Eects, Generators, Titles, and
Transitions.
When a Final Cut Eect template is saved, it is saved to /Users/username/Movies/Motion
Templates/Eects; a Final Cut Transition is saved to /Users/username/Movies/Motion Templates/
Transitions, and so on.
When you save a template in Motion, you assign a category. For example, when you save a
Final Cut Eect, choose an option from the Category pop-up menu in the save dialog, such
as Blur, Distortion, or Stylize. After you save a template into a category, that category’s folder
appears in the corresponding folder on your computer (Eects, Titles, Generators, and so on).
Categories represent the how the eects are organized in the Final Cut Pro X media browsers.
For example, in the Final Cut Pro Eects Browser, video eect categories include Basics, Blur,
Distortion, Keying, Light, Looks, Stylize, and Tiling. In Motion, a Final Cut Eect template saved
to the Blur category is placed in the Finder in the /Users/username/Movies/Motion Templates/
Eects/Blur/your template name folder.
You are not limited to the preset Final Cut Pro browser categories. You can create a template
category by choosing New Category from the Category pop-up menu in the template save
dialog. Custom categories also appear in Final Cut Pro browsers.
You can further organize templates using Themes. A theme is a metadata tag attached to a
template that assists in categorizing dierent templates as being part of a single family. For
example, you may have dierent template types that are related to the same project, such as
a transition, an eect, and a group of titles. By tagging the templates with the same theme, all
templates, regardless of their template type, appear in the Final Cut Pro Themes Browser.
Themed templates also appear in other eects browsers. For example, a themed Final Cut
Title template appears in the Final Cut Pro Themes Browser as well as in the Titles Browser
(underneath the nonthemed templates).
Assigning a theme to templates is optional.
In the Finder, templates are stored according to the following folder hierarchy: template type/
category/theme. For example, a Final Cut Eect template saved to the Blur category and the
News theme is stored in the Finder in the /Users/username/Movies/Motion Templates/Eects/
Blur/News/your template name folder.
Note: You can also sort by theme in the Motion Project Browser using the Theme pop-up menu.
Each template folder contains the following items:
•
large.png: This le is used for the preview in the Motion Project Browser and as a preview in
the Final Cut Pro browser when the project loads in the background.
•
small.png: This le is used for the thumbnail preview of the template in the Final Cut Pro
browser. The current frame when the template is saved in Motion is used for the
preview frame.
•
yourtemplatename.mov: This le is used for the movie preview of the template that plays when
the template is selected in the Motion Project Browser. This le is created when you select the
“Save Preview Movie” checkbox before saving.
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