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How to export a transcript-based edit to Final Cut Pro with FCPXML
By Eran Strassburg · Updated 2026-10-10
The short answer
Final Cut Pro reads a rough cut through FCPXML, a text file that describes a project: which clips, which ranges, in which order. Export FCPXML from your pre-editing tool and import it into Final Cut Pro, and the cut appears as a project linked to your original media. FirstCut exports FCPXML directly, with real source timecodes for every clip.
What FCPXML is
FCPXML is Final Cut Pro's own interchange format. It is plain text. It describes the media a project uses and a single line of clips in order, with each clip's range in its source file, resolution and frame rate.
It is a different format from FCP7-XML, the older Final Cut Pro 7 format that Premiere Pro reads. Current Final Cut Pro wants FCPXML.
Export from FirstCut
- Open the sequence and choose Export. Exporting needs a signed-in account.
- Pick FCPXML and download the file.
- Put the file in the same folder as your footage. The file relinks by filename, so keeping them together makes the next step shorter.
The export follows the revision and the pace level you had open, and saves any unsaved edits first.
Import into Final Cut Pro
- Open Final Cut Pro and the library you want the cut in.
- Choose File > Import > XML and select the .fcpxml file.
- Final Cut Pro adds the project and the clips it uses to the library.
- Open the project in the timeline.
Menu names are from recent versions of Final Cut Pro and can differ in yours.
Relinking
The file names each source file without a full path, because a browser is not told where files live on disk. If clips show as missing, select them and choose File > Relink Files, then point at the folder with your originals. Final Cut Pro matches the rest by name.
What arrives and what does not
| Arrives | Does not arrive |
|---|---|
| The clips, in story order | Effects, transitions and color |
| Source in and out points for every clip | Captions, titles and graphics |
| The pacing you chose, as separate shorter clips where words or gaps were cut | B-roll or extra camera angles |
| A reference to each source file by name | The media itself |
FirstCut makes none of the things in the right-hand column. They are the work you do in the editor.
Troubleshooting
- Missing media after relinking: a file was renamed after it was imported into FirstCut. Relink that clip by hand.
- The import is refused: Final Cut Pro only reads FCPXML versions it knows. Update Final Cut Pro, or bring the cut in through DaVinci Resolve, which reads all four of FirstCut's formats.
- Clips sit slightly off the picture: FirstCut's timecodes come from the audio timeline, and a few files offset audio from picture. Slip the affected clips.
Questions
Does FirstCut run on a Mac?
Yes. It runs in the browser on any OS, with nothing to install.
Does the import copy my media into the library?
The FCPXML only references your files. Whether Final Cut Pro copies media depends on your library's import settings.
Will my footage be re-encoded?
No. The project references your original files.
Related guides
- EDL, FCP7-XML, FCPXML and OTIO: which timeline format to use
- Importing an AI rough cut into DaVinci Resolve
- From a transcript edit to a Premiere Pro sequence
- Try the export on sample footage
Try it on your own footage
FirstCut is free to try with no install and no credit card. Start a rough cut → · Or open the live demo, which needs no account.