Custom Iris Effect

[Louis Stevenson]

In Final Cut it’s a transition. They have a circle, diamond, square and star shape.

[David Bogie]

[Louis Stevenson] “I’m trying to make a custom shaped iris effect, has anybody ever tried this before? “

Of course it’s been done.
How you approach it depends on your concept of “custom.” It is easy to create simple shape and scale it up or down. If you are capable of using Motion, you can even create a custom iris wipe that moves. Or you can use gradient wipe and any grayscale image that does the job for you. Pixelan Spices are fabulous for this but you can build one in Illustrator or Photoshop.

bogiesan

[Nina Hirten]

Hi there! I’m attempting to do this via track matte as you suggest, however I’m having trouble. I know it’s going to end up being one of those “oh duh” moments, but I appreciate the patience nonetheless. Here’s the clearest way that I can explain it:

1. I have my custom shape from photoshop, a leaf in the centre of the screen. It’s black, and the surrounding area is white
2. I have it set up so that the outgoing shot is extended on track V3 to the outpoint, the matte on V2, and the incoming clip on V1. V3 has a composite mode of Track Matte-Luma.
3. So far, so good— it has the intended effect of the leaf shape in the centre exposing the incoming clip. Now to create the transition, I want the leaf to “explode” from nothing in the middle and out toward the camera. I’ve done animated this with the scale keyframes.
4. The Problem: at the beginning the edges of the matte image (i.e. the outer rectangle) also are scaled out, so you see what looks like a canada flag coming out at the screen instead of just a leaf.

What I’ve tried to troubleshoot:
– first I extended the actual size of the matte, but all that did was obviously make the leaf smaller.
– next I tried making it so that the matte is only a leaf, with no white background (transparent). However the same problem still exists.

I’ve scoured the internet looking for a way to adjust one of the standard FCP transitions to instead have a custom shape vs. a star, rectangle, etc. One would think that FCP would have an option to replace a custom matte? I would try a garbage matte but the animation involved with a detailed shape would be a nightmare. Is there a simpler way to go about what I’m trying to achieve? The director wants this to be a motif throughout the feature… I’d rather not have to bring 100s of cuts into motion or after effects unless I absolutely have to D:

Step by step instructions, anyone? Again, thanks for your patience..

Thanks!

——
Nina Helene Hirten
Oh Just Peachy Studios