Fixing Sensor Dust in Final Cut Pro X

[Robert Jenkson]

I am seeing the same problem in FCPX version 10.2. The Red Dot exists, as does the “right hand control” (which is how Simon describes it in his video). But the “left hand control” is missing. And that is a huge problem because without the left hand control, you cannot set the Source for the clone.

I opened the TKY Clone Effect in Motion 5.2 and resaved it. Now I see 3 controls and the Red Dot! And the “right hand control” seems to be the Source tool now, but the other two don’t seem to do much of anything.

I assume this problem won’t be fixed anytime soon, so I would like to ask if anyone knows of a Spot Remove tool whereby I need only click on a spot I want to remove and that’s it? That’s how it works in Photoshop and similar apps. It’s drop dead simple, even more so that using TKY Clone Effect (if it worked). I just want to click on a spot and make it vanish. If TKY Clone Effect worked, that would be a solution, but it no longer works as shown in the video.

Thank you.

[Robert Jenkson]

Since the dots I wish to cover don’t move, I thought that exporting a still (in PSD format) and editing in Photoshop might work, but after importing back to FCPX, the color profile doesn’t perfectly match. I thought FCPX exported sRGB, and that is the profile I used when saving in Photoshop, but to no avail. I reserved a dozen times, each time with a different profile. Some profiles are closer than others, but none match perfectly, which means my edits in PS are pretty obvious.

How do I match the FCPX color profile? Again, I am exporting a still from FCPX, editing in PS, then reimporting back to FCPX.

UPDATE: I exported a frame in TIFF format from FCPX, edited in PS and saved (no compression), then reimported to FCPX. The colors match perfectly. So there appears to be some PSD incompatibility here. But TIFF works. Even so, it still would be nice to perform spot removal within FCPX so PS is not needed.

[Edward Levinson]

“then reimported to FCPX. The colors match perfectly. ”

How do you get the spotted TIFF to affect (copy to) all the frames in the clip which have the dust in the same non-moving spot? Any link to how to do this would be fine…so you don’t have to write an answer.
Thanks in advance, Ed

[Robert Jenkson]

Sorry for not seeing your post until now, Edward. But as you can see, except for my remarks, this poor thread is pretty much dead. In my previous two posts I was basically talking to myself! Not a single person answered me or shared any thoughts at all.

You said “spotted TIFF” but I think you meant to say “despotted TIFF,” because that is precisely why I exported a frame from FCPX. I removed the spots from that frame in Photoshop and then reimported the frame back into FCPX.

An imported still can be spread out to be as many seconds long as you want it to be in FCPX. That’s how I covered the spots in my application. But again, it would be better if there is a FCPX tool that can do the job perfectly, so we no longer need to export frames and clean them in Photoshop.

Best wishes.

[Edward Levinson]

Thanks Robert for the clarification. Of course I meant de-spotting, just an old habit to call it spotting (from brush on print days). I’ll give it a go. But if the “still” image changes from clip to clip, or for example moving clouds. moving people , I can’t see how fixing one frame (which I know how to do) and “stretching” it would work. In Adobe Lightroom you can extract a jpeg from a film clip, fix exposure and a few other things, then “sync” that jpeg with the original movie clip and it adjusts EVERY frame in the clip. Unfortunately the “healing and clone tool”, noise reduction and many other adjustments are NOT available to use that way. Just simple exposure and contrast and those you can probably do better in FCPX. If you find something interesting you can contact me at edoATedophoto.com if you like.

Ed