---
title: Describing Final Cut Pro Items in FCPXML
framework: professional-video-applications
role: article
path: professional-video-applications/describing-final-cut-pro-items-in-fcpxml
---

# Describing Final Cut Pro Items in FCPXML

## Describing Final Cut Pro Items in FCPXML

Describing Final Cut Pro Items in FCPXML Describe clips, projects, and other items in FCPXML to exchange data with Final Cut Pro.

Overview

Your app uses FCPXML to describe media, projects, and other information when it sends data to or receives data from Final Cut Pro. Whether the FCPXML is created by your app for Final Cut Pro or by Final Cut Pro for your app, the descriptions in FCPXML are essentially the same.

The following examples show two FCPXML documents that describe media assets and Final Cut Pro objects. An explanation of what Final Cut Pro does when it receives the document follows each example. These examples, along with the tips in the following section, help you understand what your app needs to do when it receives FCPXML documents from Final Cut Pro.

> Note >  FCPXML describes various aspects of a Final Cut Pro library and the items it contains in a way that is useful to other apps. FCPXML doesn’t describe all possible data, and it’s not a substitute for the native Final Cut Pro project and event data organized in a library bundle.

-     For more information on resources that represents media assets, possibly with custom metadata, see  [Describe Ratings, Keywords, Collections, and Custom Metadata](/documentation/professional-video-applications/describing-final-cut-pro-items-in-fcpxml#Describe-Ratings-Keywords-Collections-and-Custom-Metadata). -     For more information on Final Cut Pro clips that contain ratings and keywords, see [Describe Ratings, Keywords, Collections, and Custom Metadata](/documentation/professional-video-applications/describing-final-cut-pro-items-in-fcpxml#Describe-Ratings-Keywords-Collections-and-Custom-Metadata). -     For more information on Final Cut Pro projects that each represent a sequence of clips, possibly with project markers, see [Describe a Project, Markers, and Assets](/documentation/professional-video-applications/describing-final-cut-pro-items-in-fcpxml#Describe-a-Project-Markers-and-Assets). -     For more information on Final Cut Pro events that contain clips and projects, possibly with keyword collections or smart collections. see [Describe Ratings, Keywords, Collections, and Custom Metadata](/documentation/professional-video-applications/describing-final-cut-pro-items-in-fcpxml#Describe-Ratings-Keywords-Collections-and-Custom-Metadata).