Another change comes within the Clip Browser, where you now skim through your video files at a speed never before possible--making the JKL keyboard method positively lethargic by comparison. I have never personally used clip views, preferring to rely on the list view in my browser when editing. Yet this skimming function is so incredibly fast and functional that it has changed my mode of operation. The power behind skimming also allows real-time preview of your filters and effects in both the viewer and as thumbnails.

With a new feature called Auto Content-Analysis, FCP X automatically analyzes your media during import and archives critical information from the camera's metadata, such as color balance, movement, and rolling shutter artifacts, while the application adds tracking and stabilization information and checks for the presence and number of human faces in each shot--all on a clip-by-clip basis. This feature then populates and labels the Smart Collections (color coded in purple) in the Event Library, with your media flagged indicating each category.

By handling all of this analytical information at ingest, FCP X tags the files with additional metadata in a manner that speeds file processing, delivery, and rendering capabilities and vastly accelerates workflow.

The power does not stop there. After ingest, your media is processed in the manner of an assistant editor, with the application automatically grouping shots based on close-ups and wide shots, for example.