Using Automator’s Watch Me Do function to automate FCP commands

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I thought you all might be interested to know how I’ve managed to use Automator’s new “Watch Me Do” feature to automate a rather complex sequence of events.

It’s pretty useful for repetitive tasks like the one I’m doing now which is replacing a set of 4 pictures in a simple animated sequence.

The steps executed are as follows.

• opening the inserted picture’s properties page,
• copying each picture’s filename (which has been strictly standardized for the execution of the next step, for more details check my post on standardized filenaming conventions)
• pasting it into LiveType
• stripping away the .jpg to make it a “title” (ie Alexandre Pato.jpg becomes Alexandre Pato)
• saving as the same filename but replacing .jpg with .ipr,
• returning to FCP, importing the newly created LiveType file
• inserting it into the graphic sequence
• repositioning and proceeding to the next item.

Because of certain ways that FCP works it is sometimes necessary to have certain conditions in place before the scripts work (eg auto-select tracks are toggled by cmd-numpad0).

There is no absolute deselect or select, so if a sequence has all, none or some auto-select tracks enabled, you do not know how the shortcut cmd-numpad0 will react, either selecting all or deselecting all. In my case, I made it such that all working sequences had all auto select track disabled.

That said, it opens a vast array of options which I think is very exciting in an incredibly nerdy way.

Here is a full list of the commands automated in this script.

Note that certain commands are not bound by default and my recommended non-default FCP keyboard binds are listed more completely in Get Fast FAST

Prerequisites

• Playhead on first frame of first image
• Image sequence with 4 images to be inserted placed directly after it
• Each nested sequence has image to be replaced selected

Command	Result
Cmd-5	Select Effects palette
Cmd-3	Select Timeline.The timeline needs to be selected, but if I only put a cmd-3 when it’s already selected, it deselects. Hence the cmd-5 first, as deselecting the effects palette does not affect the execution of the script.
Cmd-numpad1	Auto-select video track1
x	Select image1
Cmd-x	Cut image
Ctrl-g	Close gap.This brings the next image in the sequence into place to be processed
left arrow	Playhead to the last frame of the 5-layer image sequence.
cmd-numpad1	Deselect auto-select video track 1
cmd-numpad1	Deselect auto-select video track 2
opt-enter	Open video nest
Opt-v	Paste attributes of copied picture to pre-selected placeholder picture
click	Select contents
Enter
Cmd-9	Open picture attributes
Cmd-c	Copy filename.
Escape	To clear any open dialog boxes
Mouseclick LiveType in Dock
Escape	To close any open dialog boxes
Cmd-2
Cmd-1	This is the same as selecting the Effects palette, then the timeline: selecting a non-crucial window first to ensure that selecting the desired window does not deselect it if it is already active
Cmd-A	Select all text
Cmd-V	Paste copied filename. In episode 1, this is Alexandre Pato.jpg
Down	Go to end of text
backspace x4	Pressing backspace 4 times removes “.jpg” from the end of the file name: Alexandre Pato.
Up x2	Go to start of text
Opt-delete x3, then Delete	This deletes the file label. (“Episode 1: Connections”)
Cmd-shift-S	Save As
Cmd-V, backspace x4, enter	Pastes filename, deletes “.jpg”
Escape	Clears any dialog boxes
Click FCP in dock
Cmd-I	Import
Cmd-shift-G	Go to folder. Automator is set to then navigate to /Volumes/disc/folder/livetype
Cmd-2	Switch to Detail mode. You should set it to sort by Date Modified, with newest at top
Up	To select newest
Cmd-3	Switch back to 3-column view
Enter
Cmd-5	Select Effects Palette
Cmd-4	Select File Browser
Enter	Open imported LiveType file in Viewer
Cmd-3	Select Timeline
Home	Move playhead to start of sequence
Cmd-numpad3	Autoselect video in Track 3
x	Mark placeholder LiveType clip on Track 3
F6-3	Set Viewer Video Patch to Video Track 3
F10	Overwrite placeholder LiveType
Home, Enter	Select and Open LiveType file
Cmd-shift-]	I’ve bound this to Navigate tabs, this opens the Motion tab
Tab, 100, tab x3, 250	Set scale to 100, locate to x=0, y=250
Cmd-5	Select Effects Palette
Cmd-3	Select Timeline
Ctl-w	Close nested sequence tab
Cmd-numpad2	Deselect autoselected video track 2
Right	Move to next image

The cycle repeats with the next image but selecting a different track in the image sequence.

This process takes 8 minutes 26 seconds for Automator to execute. I only take about 3, but with more than 80 of these to do, it is very tedious. I scripted it to do about 12 episodes at once, then left to do other errands.

The hard part creating an automated workflow is that even your pauses are recorded. You can’t take too long to think about the next step, or you’ll have to manually edit the pause duration after the record.

Also, you sometimes need to pause longer so the software can catch to the steps executed, eg. opening a complex sequence, moving from a single video layer section to one that has many layers, etc.

Building custom workflows yourself isn’t complicated. You just need to be clear the exact steps required.