How do I…?
Narrow the library (filtering)
Once you have tagged, rated, or added custom fields to your videos, filters can narrow the view to just the clips you want: everything rated four stars or higher, say, or every clip with a certain tag. Filtering also protects bulk actions. They work on whatever is in front of you, so if the window still shows the whole library, you could rename or tag the wrong files. Filter first, until the list is the set you mean.
Leave only the files you want to work with
A common pass is “the long clips I have not rated yet,” or “everything with this tag from the folder I added yesterday.” Quick Filter covers the usual cuts. Advanced Filter is for a rule you could not build from those cards.
- Press ⇧⌘F, or click the filter button in the toolbar, to open the filter drawer above your videos. It has two tabs: Quick, a set of cards for the common filters, and Advanced, for building your own rules. Start with Quick.
- Pick a smart library if you want a saved slice of the catalog, such as Missing or Duplicates. Then filter by rating, duration, quality, or tags. Filters on different cards combine, so a video has to match all of them to stay in the view.
- On Tags, Match Any keeps a video that has one of the tags. Match All keeps a video only when it has every tag you selected.
- Press ⌘F if you also know a word. Search narrows whatever the filter already left.
- When the cards are not specific enough, switch to the Advanced tab (⌘⌥A) and add rules. ALL means every rule in the group must match. ANY means one is enough.
- The videos still on screen are the ones later commands will see, including File → Bulk Rename… when you have not selected a smaller set. The window itself is Bulk Rename.
The filter cards, smart libraries, and rule tree are on the Filter page. See Filter.