Final Cut Pro X – Rename parts of clips used on timelines

One of the best unheralded features of Final Cut Pro X is the ability to rename the parts of a clip used on a timeline.

For example, imagine you have an interview clip with a couple of sections you’d like to try in a project. In 10.0.6 you can define multiple ‘selection ranges’:

The first range was set by pressing the I and O keys when the playhead was at the start and of the first range. The second range was set using the Shift-Command-I and Shift-Command-O keyboard shortcuts.

These ranges were added to a timeline using the W shortcut to insert at the start of a timeline:

Each instance was then renamed. The first using Control- or Right-click to show the contextual menu for the clip:

The first clip was renamed in the timeline:

This new name was only assigned to that first clip. You can also rename clips by double-clicking their names in the timeline index:

When you press return, the clip is renamed in the timeline:

The name of the source clip in the event remains the same:

You can also rename timeline clips in the inspector. Go to the info tab and double-click the name of the clip:

As well as event clips, you can use the same methods to rename title and generator clips also.

A very useful feature that makes timelines easy to organise and for others to read.