Select two or more connected clips, then choose Clip > Create Storyline or press Command-G. This tutorial shows how to organize a neutral graphics sequence, control its connection, and preserve the boundaries between storylines, compound clips, and Motion templates. Apple’s storyline instructions.

Choose the grouping method that matches your edit

For this walkthrough, the task is to arrange three original geometric graphics above a background, then move and revise their sequence together. Use a circle, square, and rounded rectangle, without imported artwork. The example timings below are illustrative editing choices.

A secondary storyline suits a sequence whose individual clips you want to edit in the surrounding project. Apple documents support for transitions and ripple, roll, slip, and slide edits within connected storylines. Add storylines in Final Cut Pro for Mac.

Before grouping, decide whether the graphics appear consecutively or simultaneously. A useful decision sequence is:

  • Consecutive graphics: create a secondary storyline.
  • Overlapping graphics that should become one edited sequence: consider the collapse command, then inspect the result.
  • Simultaneous layers that must remain together as a reusable composition: consider a compound clip.
  • A reusable graphic design with adjustable controls: create a Motion template, then arrange its instances in Final Cut Pro.

These choices describe different editing structures. Apple describes compound clips as nested collections that function like individual clips, while Motion templates provide effects, transitions, titles, or generators through Final Cut Pro’s browsers. Intro to compound clips; Template workflow in Motion.

Create the secondary storyline

Start with a project containing a background in the primary storyline. If your graphics are already connected above it, proceed directly to selection. Otherwise, drag each graphic above the primary storyline. For browser media, you can position the playhead, select the source, and press Q; an active timeline skimmer takes precedence over the playhead for that shortcut. Connect clips in Final Cut Pro for Mac.

Use this illustrative arrangement to make the intended sequence unambiguous:

Graphic Start relative to sequence Duration
Circle 0 seconds 2 seconds
Square 2 seconds 2 seconds
Rounded rectangle 4 seconds 2 seconds

The planned sequence lasts six seconds, with no intentional pauses or overlaps.

  1. Select the three connected graphics.
  2. Choose Clip > Create Storyline, or press Command-G.
  3. Look for the gray border around the sequence.
  4. Click the border at the top to select the entire storyline, then drag it horizontally to reposition the sequence. Apple’s creation and selection steps.

If the source clips have spaces between them, Final Cut Pro inserts gap clips. Grouping therefore preserves those pauses. For overlapping selections, Apple separately documents Edit > Collapse to Connected Storyline, or Shift-Command-Down Arrow: at least two selected items must overlap, and the selection cannot include audio-only clips. Apple’s storyline conditions.

For the six-second example, review playback at two seconds and four seconds. Each point should introduce the next shape. This simple timing check helps distinguish an intentional pause from an accidentally retained space.

Position the connection and verify movement

Connected clips and storylines attach to the primary storyline at their first frame by default. To change a storyline’s attachment, hold Command-Option and click its gray border at the desired point. Moving the connection point is useful when a particular moment in the graphics sequence should stay associated with a particular background moment. Adjust the connection point.

For example, suppose the square should appear when the background changes. Place the sequence so those moments coincide, then position its connection at that moment. This is an illustrative choice of anchor, derived from Apple’s documented connection behavior.

Check the association before continuing: rearranging or deleting primary storyline clips ordinarily also moves or deletes their connected items. Apple documents holding the Grave Accent key during supported primary storyline edits to preserve connected items’ timing and position. Use that modifier deliberately when you want such an exception. Edit primary clips without affecting connected clips.

Also check the picture itself. An opaque graphic above the background can cover it; transparency or compositing settings allow underlying content to remain visible. If your intended result is a small shape over a background, inspect the graphic’s background as well as its timeline position. Apple’s connected-clip compositing explanation.

Use Motion when you need reusable original graphics

You can complete the grouping task entirely in Final Cut Pro. Motion becomes useful when the same geometric design needs repeatable controls, such as adjustable scale or color. Apple’s supported integration publishes templates to Final Cut Pro’s browsers; the documented workflow does not turn Motion layers into a secondary storyline. Arrange the resulting clips in Final Cut Pro. Template workflow in Motion.

Build a simple generator

In Motion, choose File > New from Project Browser, select Final Cut Generator, choose a preset, and click Open. Build the graphic with original shapes. For this example, use a single centered circle; a 1920 × 1080 project at 30 fps is an illustrative setup for a matching desktop project. Apple advises creating templates at the highest resolution needed for the Final Cut Pro project. Create a generator template in Motion.

Keep the first version static so you can evaluate placement and duration independently of animation. To expose a control, select the relevant layer and Control-click the parameter name in its inspector, then choose Publish. Save the template. That parameter becomes available in Final Cut Pro’s inspector when you apply the template. Publish controls to Final Cut Pro from Motion.

Choose File > Save, name the template Neutral Circle v1, assign a category such as Neutral Graphics, and click Publish. In Final Cut Pro, open Titles and Generators, select Generators, locate the template, and drag it above the background. Adjust its duration using its timeline edges. Apple’s generator creation and application instructions.

The template supplies the graphic; the storyline supplies its arrangement among other clips. Test one generator instance before building a longer sequence, checking its transparency, published controls, and intended duration.

Preserve template version boundaries

When modifying Final Cut Pro generators in Motion, Apple distinguishes Open a copy in Motion for supplied presets from Open in Motion for Motion-created templates. For a custom template, File > Save overwrites the original, while File > Save As creates a copy. Use a new name such as Neutral Circle v2 when you need a separate design revision. Modify a Final Cut Pro generator.

Do not assume every existing timeline instance is isolated from a template revision. Apple’s generator documentation distinguishes instances placed before a preset is customized from instances using the modified template, which subsequent Motion changes can affect. For a revision intended only for future placements, create a separate template copy and inspect the affected project before replacing anything. Apple also requires compatible, updated apps of matching distribution types: both Apple Creator Studio or both one-time purchases. Apple’s generator modification boundaries.

Keep compound clip instances independent when necessary

If your circle, square, and rectangle must overlap as a layered composition, a compound clip provides another supported path. Select the timeline clips and choose File > New > Compound Clip, or press Option-G. Apple states that timeline selections retain their layout inside the new compound. Create compound clips in Final Cut Pro for Mac.

Compound clips have a shared parent relationship. Editing their internal contents changes all instances referring to that parent, including instances in other projects. Before creating a unique variation, select the relevant timeline compound and choose Clip > Reference New Parent Clip. This creates a new parent and breaks its relationship with the original parent. Create independent compound clips.

If you add material inside a compound, check its outer duration too. Content extending into the crosshatched area outside the compound’s boundaries does not appear in the project until you adjust the contents or extend the outer clip. Edit compound clips in Final Cut Pro for Mac.

Finish with a timing and portability check

For the illustrative six-second sequence, review the three shape changes, the connection to the background, and any deliberate pauses. If the grouping needs to be undone, select the storyline border and choose Clip > Break Apart Clip Items, or press Shift-Command-G. Break apart storylines.

When moving a library that uses custom Motion content, select the library, open File > Library Properties, click Modify Settings, and set Motion Content to In Library. Then use Consolidate in the inspector’s Motion Content section before moving the library. Apple documents a separate destination-library procedure for copying individual items between libraries. Manage Motion content.

The finished result should match the editing task: three graphics with deliberate timing, a connection placed where it belongs, and a clear choice about which reusable elements may share future changes. Keep the sequence simple until those decisions are settled, then add animation or additional graphics as the project requires.

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