Editing Text in Final Cut

You can create basic text clips in Final Cut and manipulate them on the timeline.

To create text go to the viewer window (top-center) and select at its bottom right a button with a capital "A". From the drop down menu select: text > text. This is your basic text tool.

There are other text options you can play with, but this is the one that will be the focus of this tutorial.

Once you select the basic text option, you will switch to a black video panel that will state "SAMPLE TEXT" To adjust the text, at the top of your Viewer panel, select the "Controls" tab. You will see on the top right an area where you can rewrite the text to your linking.

You will also have the options to choose a font, style, and alignment. Once you are happy with your text, go back to the video window, by clicking its tab at the top of the viewer. You will see your new text. You can then drag this text to the main timeline and place it wherever you like. You can adjust its default time length, which is set to 10 seconds in the same way that you would do for image stills.

You can adjust the size, and movement of the text along with other effects by going to the Motion tab at the top of the Viewer. Adjust by placing Keyframes in the areas where you want the changes to take place.

You can save your text on the bin by dragging it from the timeline to the "Name" area. Remember that you will not be able to save it if you move it to the areas of the bin.