Apple Final Cut Pro 6 User Manual
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Under most circumstances, a clip plays back frames from its media file in chronological
order. If you have a 300-frame clip, it begins by playing frame 1 of the media file, followed
by frame 2, frame 3, and so on, until frame 300. Time remapping allows you to adjust
when frames of a clip’s media file are played back by changing their chronological order,
skipping some frames (fast motion), or repeating others (slow motion).
It may help you to think of the process of time remapping as frame remapping, since what
you are doing is mapping the frames of a clip’s media file (input frames) to different times
in the clip (output frames). You only need to set a few keyframes, and Final Cut Pro
interpolates the rest automatically, creating smooth speed changes over time.
For example, consider the following examples when using a 300-frame clip:
 Instead of playing frames 1–300 from the clip’s media file, you can set time
remapping keyframes so that frames 300–1 play instead. This would appear as
reversed playback.
 You can repeat frame 1 from the clip’s media file for the entire 300-frame duration of
the clip. This would appear as a freeze frame.
 You can set keyframes so that frame 1 from the clip’s media file plays at frames 1, 150,
and 300 of the clip. During playback, Final Cut Pro interpolates which media file frames
to play in between the time remapping keyframes, creating smooth speed changes.
To better understand how time remapping works, apply a variable speed adjustment to
a clip and then look at the Time Remap parameters in the clip’s Motion tab or in the
keyframe editor in the Timeline.
To apply a variable speed adjustment to a clip:
1
Select a clip in the Timeline.
2
Choose Modify > Speed (or press Command-J).
3
Choose Variable Speed from the pop-up menu, then click OK.
Two time remapping keyframes are added; one to the first frame of your clip and one
to the last. Each keyframe has Bezier handles, which cause the clip to ramp from slow
to normal speed at the beginning, and then from normal to slow speed at the end.
For information about viewing time remapping parameters, see “
Remapping Parameters Applied to Your Clips
Time remapping allows you to adjust which media file frame is played back (the y axis)
and when during the clip the frame is played back (the x axis).