| In Lesson 6, you rearranged clips by dragging to reposition them in the sequence. But if you want to use a different clip in the sequence, other than the current clip, you can simply replace it. The Replace edit function in Final Cut Pro appears as an option in the Canvas Edit Overlay and in the edit button area as well. Using it places a new clip into the sequence the same length and position as the previous clip. An important consideration when making Replace edits is where the playhead is located in both the source clip in the Viewer and in the sequence clip in the Timeline. 1. | In the Timeline, move the playhead to the first frame of the fourth clip, johnny runs. Unlike other types of edits where you marked an In and Out point in the sequence, here you don't have to use In or Out points to identify clip duration. Identifying the clip with the playhead and using the Replace edit function saves these steps for you. Since the clip has a specific length, only that portion of the sequence will be affected. | 2. | From the Intro Clips NOT Marked tab in the Browser, open the girl on plane clip, and play it. Scrub through the clip to where the girl is looking back over her shoulder. Park the playhead just before she turns her head forward. You will begin using this clip from the playhead location. Imagine the playhead as an In point for the edit. With Replace edits, you just use the playhead; you don't use edit points. | 3. | Drag the source clip from the Viewer to the Canvas into the blue Replace section in the Edit Overlay. Release the mouse, and play the edit.
The entire video portion of the Timeline sequence clip is replaced by source content starting at the Viewer playhead position.
| 4. | To replace the tall buildings clip, place the playhead on the first frame of that clip. | 5. | From the Intro Clips NOT Marked bin, open the ruin steps clip, and park the playhead where the camera starts to tilt up. This time, click the blue Replace edit button. Play the clip in the sequence. TIP If you don't like the edit you made, you can press Cmd-Z to undo the edit, readjust your playhead positions, and perform another Replace edit.
You can also use the two playhead positions to backtime a clip into place. | 6. | From the Browser, open the healer cu clip. Move the playhead toward the end of the clip where the healer is walking out of the frame. This is the frame you want the clip to end on in the sequence. Since the Replace function works off of synchronized playhead positions, you will need to position the Timeline playhead at the end of the target clip. | 7. | In the Timeline, move the playhead to the last frame of the totem against mtn clip. Look for the lower-right last frame indicator in the Canvas. Click the Replace edit button, or press the shortcut key, F11.
In this case, rather than replacing from first frame forward, the sequence clip is replaced from the last frame backward from the playhead location to fill the existing clip duration. You can also use this function to sync an action to a music beat. | 8. | In the Timeline, move the playhead to 1:00:26;10. This is the final music beat where the runner currently jumps. You will choose an action point in a source clip and use the Replace edit to sync it to this location. | 9. | From the Browser, open the ice floes clip, and position the playhead where the snowmobile goes over the first big bump. Press F11, and play the clip in the Timeline. Although not a dramatic action, you see that the bump in the source clip is aligned to the music beat in the sequence. | 10. | Press Cmd-S to save project changes. |
NOTE If you try to replace the sequence clip with a shorter source clip, or position the playhead in the Viewer too close to the head or tail of the clip, a message will appear saying "Insufficient content for edit." |