Guide
What FCPX Headstart asks you when you set it up, and how to choose. Everything here can be changed later in the app, under Settings, and for every single Project.
- Getting started
- Transcription
- The AI editor
- Which model for which Mac
- Keys and privacy
- Final Cut Pro
- Changing your mind
Getting started
- Install and open the app. You have 7 days free from the first launch, with no payment details.
- Set up in two choices. The setup asks where transcription runs and where the AI editor runs. Both have a recommended answer, so you can click through.
- Drop in your video files. They are read where they are and never copied. Add a short note, for example who the video is for and how long it should be, and the AI plans around it.
- Review and send. Play the result on the timeline, change what you like, then send it to a Final Cut Pro library.
A Project is the top level and can hold several clips. A clip is one edit built from the strongest passages of your interview.
Transcription
Transcription turns the speech in your video into text. Everything else, the choice of passages, the subtitles and the cuts, builds on it.
Built-in engine (recommended)
FCPX Headstart comes with its own transcription engine. It runs on your Mac, so your video and audio never leave it, and it is free. It needs a one-time download of 1.4 GB, which the setup offers right on the page. You can carry on with the setup while it downloads.
On Apple Silicon there is also an optional Fast speed in the new Project form, about 8 times faster than real time. It is a one-time download of about 4 GB and finds more of the ums and uhs it is sure about.
ElevenLabs API
Transcription in the cloud, with your own ElevenLabs account. Only the audio of the Project is sent, about $0.22 per hour of footage. It hears ums and uhs more reliably than the Mac can. Saving the key means you agree to the audio being sent when you choose it. Create a key at elevenlabs.io.
On an Intel Mac, transcribing on the Mac works but is slow. ElevenLabs is the better choice there.
The AI editor
The AI reads the transcript, chooses the strongest passages and puts them in order. It never sees your video.
Claude API
Anthropic's Claude, with your own key from console.anthropic.com. It is tuned to balance cost and quality, about 10 cents for a 4 minute interview. Only the transcript text is sent. Tip: create a key just for this app and set a spend limit in the Anthropic console.
On this Mac
Free and private. The model runs inside the app, with nothing else to install. We recommend a model of 27B or larger, which needs a Mac with 32 GB of memory or more. The minimum is a Mac with Apple Silicon and 16 GB of memory, which runs a 9B model. The app picks the largest model that fits your Mac and downloads it once.
Already use LM Studio, Ollama, Jan or another local AI program? Choose One I already have on the AI editor page. The app looks for them on your Mac, lists their models and can start the server for you. You can also type an address. Models in MLX format that are already on your Mac, in LM Studio's folder for example, are found and used directly.
Which model for which Mac
The setup checks your Mac's memory and preselects the largest model that fits. A model is only offered when its files take at most about half of your memory, so macOS, Final Cut Pro and your footage still fit.
| Memory | Model | Download |
|---|---|---|
| 16 GB or more | Qwen 3.5 9B | 6.0 GB |
| 32 GB or more | Qwen 3.5 27B (the size we recommend) | 16.1 GB |
| 48 GB or more | Qwen 3.5 35B-A3B (a faster alternative to the 27B) | 20.4 GB |
| 128 GB or more | Qwen 3.5 122B-A10B | 69.6 GB |
| 512 GB | Qwen 3.5 397B-A17B | 223.9 GB |
Models that do not fit are listed in the app with what they need, so you can see what a bigger Mac would unlock. Below 16 GB, or on an Intel Mac, use the Claude API.
Run one large model at a time. If you also use LM Studio or Ollama, unload its model before using the built-in one, or the two compete for the same memory.
Keys and privacy
- Your keys are stored in your Mac's Keychain, never in a file or a Project. The app sends each one only to the provider it belongs to. We never see them.
- Video files are read in place and never uploaded. With the built-in engine and a model on your Mac, nothing from your footage leaves your Mac.
- With the Claude API, only the transcript text is sent. With ElevenLabs, only the audio.
- You can remove a key at any time in Settings.
The full details are on the privacy page.
Final Cut Pro
The app writes a normal Final Cut project (FCPXML 1.13, tested with Final Cut Pro 12). A Project with several clips becomes one event, with one Final Cut project per clip. You can also export a transcript, subtitles, audio or an MP4.
- Library: you choose the Final Cut library the first time you send. It must be open in Final Cut Pro.
- macOS asks once: the first time you send, macOS asks whether FCPX Headstart may control Final Cut Pro. Choose OK.
- Your drives: macOS may ask for access to Documents, Desktop or external drives. Allow it, so the video files can be read where they are.
- Nothing is copied. Your video files stay exactly where they are.
Changing your mind
- For one Project: the new Project form lets you pick the transcription and the AI editor again, under Advanced settings.
- For everything: Settings, Transcription and AI.
- Run the setup again, or the tour: Settings, Help.
Still stuck? Write to hello@fcpx-headstart.com and you will get a human. More answers are in the FAQ.