Customize playback settings in Final Cut Pro for iPad
In Final Cut Pro, you can play video in full-screen view or in picture-in-picture view. You can also prioritize image quality or performance during playback, change the viewer background color, and add visual alignment guides to help you when placing text and graphics or cropping an image.
Play video in full-screen view
In Final Cut Pro for iPad, open a project.
Tap below the viewer, then tap Full Screen.
The viewer fills the entire screen.
Do any of the following:
Play the video: Tap or double-tap the center of the screen.
Pause the video: Tap or double-tap the center of the screen.
Rewind 10 seconds: Tap or double-tap the left side of the screen.
Fast-forward 15 seconds: Tap or double-tap the right side of the screen.
Leave full-screen view: Tap .
Play video in picture-in-picture view
In Final Cut Pro for iPad, open a project.
Tap below the viewer, then tap Picture in Picture.
The viewer appears in a small inset window that you can drag to any corner of the screen to free up space in Final Cut Pro for other tasks.
Do any of the following:
Play the video: Tap .
Pause the video: Tap .
Leave picture-in-picture view: Tap , then tap Exit Picture in Picture.
Set playback quality
You can adjust settings in the viewer to manage visual quality and playback performance. For example, you can increase playback performance by displaying video at reduced resolution.
In Final Cut Pro for iPad, open a project.
Tap below the viewer, tap Playback, then tap an option:
Performance: Displays video in the viewer at reduced resolution, maintaining playback performance even for very large media files.
Quality: Displays full-resolution video frames in the viewer. This setting may decrease playback performance for high-quality, large-frame-size video.
When you’re finished, tap outside Viewer Options.
Set the viewer background color
The background color you choose will be visible if clips in the timeline are partially or completely transparent, or when clips don’t fill the frame completely.
In Final Cut Pro for iPad, open a project.
Tap below the viewer, tap Viewer Background, then tap Black, White, or Checkerboard.
When you’re finished, tap outside Viewer Options.
This setting does not affect exported media files. To add a background that will be visible in your exported video, see Add backgrounds and objects.
Use guides in the viewer
You can use alignment guides and onscreen controls when placing text and graphics, or when cropping an image.
In Final Cut Pro for iPad, open a project.
Tap below the viewer, tap Guides, then turn on any of the following options:
Snap to Edges: Forces the onscreen control handles of clips, titles, backgrounds, and objects to snap and align to the edges of the video frame as you drag them in the viewer.
Snap to Center: Forces the onscreen control handles of clips, titles, backgrounds, and objects to snap and align to the center point of the video frame as you drag them in the viewer.
Center & Horizon Lines: Displays alignment crosshairs that intersect at the center of the video frame.
Safe Area: Displays the classic title-safe and action-safe overlays from the days of analog TV.
When you’re finished, tap outside Viewer Options.
For more information about using onscreen controls, see Resize, reposition, and rotate clips, Adjust a title’s layout, and Adjust backgrounds and objects.
Tip: To temporarily change the size of the image in the viewer (for example, to examine a detail), pinch open to zoom in or pinch closed to zoom out. To reset the image to fit the viewer (the default size), double-tap the viewer.