Apply an Effect to Top Layer Only

[Steve Schoenbaum]

Ronny – you were, of course, spot on. Except it took me about 12 seconds to change my first one. Maybe the next time it will take 10! That’s a big help- but I do wish I could do that in the inspector in FCP X. Thanks!!

FCP X 10.2.2
MacBook Pro 10.10.5

[Bret Williams]

The slide transition should work just as you want as long as you choose the slide transition, and then choose slide in or slide out in the inspector. The other options (push or swap) will grab the whole background.

[Ronny Courtens]

Hi Steve,

I totally agree there should be a way to change this within the FCP X interface. And actually it is possible to include this option when publishing a template. So we might see some changes in this regard in the future.

On the other hand I think it is good to make people aware of the powerful options we have in Motion 5 to customize and change FCP X effects, titles and transitions. Everyone of us has different requirements and it is impossible to include all possible options in a template without making it overly complex and slow. So I am glad you have discovered how easy it is to make a template work exactly as you want with very little effort. I hope this will encourage you to delve deeper in the neary unlimited possibilties Motion 5 offers when combined with FCP X.

Happy holidays!

– Ronny

[John Rofrano]

[Ronny Courtens] “On the other hand I think it is good to make people aware of the powerful options we have in Motion 5 to customize and change FCP X effects, titles and transitions. “

+1

This is the most amazing feature of FCP X for me. The fact that I can modify existing transitions, effects, titles, etc. in Motion and save them as templates in FCP X just blows my mind. This is an incredible time saver once you set things up the way you want. More people should understand this workflow because it’s unique to FCP X and Motion and saves an enormous amount of time when editing. For example, I have a set of custom Lower Thirds that I created and you just drag and drop and change the text and you’re done. It’s amazing.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Steve Schoenbaum]

Bret – then the question is: some transitions will work on the top layer only while others will effect all layers below? Why some and not others? How can you tell? What layer would one look to add or subtract in Motion to make a transition or effect work only on the layer you assign it to? So many questions…

FCP X 10.2.2
MacBook Pro 10.10.5

[Bret Williams]

Some do, some don’t. That’s all. They could have published them all with a checkbox but they didn’t. Apple knows best. Haven’t you figured that out by now? They could’ve fix this 4 years ago but they never will.

But, usually, they make sense. Like the slide effect. If you use it as a slide, it doesn’t affect the background. If you choose push or swap, it affects the background. Background being all other layers.

Some effects don’t affect the background, BUT need an A and a B. If you only give it the A or B (depending if it’s transitioning in or out, then it’ll grab the background and get really wonky.

MOST are of the A/B type and won’t grab the background unless you try to use them only on an A or B.

I use slide all the time because it has built in motion blur and easing. Exactly what you want for a lot of motion graphics flying in. It doesn’t grab the background or require two (AB) sources.

BTW- if duplicating and creating your own versions without the background grab, it’s always a good idea to save them under a new folder and theme. Because you’ll need to back them all up and if they’re all over the place it becomes a pain. Put them all in your own custom named category and it’s easier when you’re reinstalling after a clean El Capitan install for example.

[Steve Schoenbaum]

Thanks again, Bret. Trying to remember back…feel like in FCP7 I could apply any effect or transition to a specific layer and it would only effect that layer. You could copy and paste that effect/ transition to other layers if you wanted, but you had a choice and the control.

FCP X 10.2.2
MacBook Pro 10.10.5

[Bret Williams]

I’d say you are correct. But I tell you, when you want to push 10 layers off the screen at once and you only have to apply the slide push transition to the top layer, it’s pretty useful.

I think there were a few transitions that were screwy in legacy and grabbed the background, but either most or all did not. And if it was an A/B and you didn’t provide and A or B, then it just transitioned an empty layer that was invisible. Certainly didn’t grab the background.

[Don Smith]

Got tired of reading through all the replies so let me (hopefully) simplify what you’re dealing with although someone may have already said this: Some text objects are made with a Title Background. The Title Background takes on anything below it. It’s how we make an Adjustment Layer so anything we do to the Title Background affects anything visual below it. Put the title into a Compound Clip then anything you do to it will be constrained within the CC and not affect what’s below.

NewsVideo.com

[Steve Schoenbaum]

I guess what irks me is that beyond text, some some transition effects grab all layers below and some don’t. If I have compound clip of, let’s say a group of stills, layered over a couple of layers of background and I want to transition only that compound clip off with a flip effect or a reflection effect, it does not simply work on the compound clip but all layers. It forces me to find something else instead of what I want. Why isn’t that control there? I understand some editors want all effects to apply to all layers but that’s not always what we want and we don’t have the choice. Needless to say I could be missing something here. Some have also mentioned that effects can be modified to do what you want in Motion, but I don’t see an answer to this in Motion.

FCP X 10.2.2
MacBook Pro 10.10.5