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Activity Forums Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy how do I flatten a bunch of clips in timeline?

  • how do I flatten a bunch of clips in timeline?

    Posted by Fred Verdad on March 16, 2007 at 11:35 pm

    Suppose I have five clips on top of each other, with half opacity so it’s a big crazy composite image.

    Now, let’s suppose I want to do a ‘pond ripple’ to the whole thing. I don’t want to apply it five times, so i want to basically ‘flatten’ all the clips down and have one clip which is the composite of the five clips.

    The only way I can think of to do this is to render, export as full res quicktime, then re-import it. There has got to be a better way.

    right?

    I’ve tried the stuff I can think of, like trying to nest, make a subclip, make a merged clip, doesn’t work. I’ve looked through the manuals and poked around boards, but I can’t find a solution. Seems so basic, what am I missing? any ideas?

    thanks, US

    Kevin Monahan replied 19 years, 4 months ago 7 Members · 11 Replies
  • 11 Replies
  • David Roth weiss

    March 16, 2007 at 11:39 pm

    Nesting is in fact the correct way to do what you want… If its not working, its most likely because something is not right with your filter order perhaps???

    DRW

  • Fred Verdad

    March 16, 2007 at 11:42 pm

    my filter order? hmmm. I’ll look into this, don’t know offhand what you mean. Currently when I nest, I get a new sequence with the same clips, layered, in it. thanks, US

  • Ben Holmes

    March 16, 2007 at 11:45 pm

    My guess from your question is that you were able to make the nest (‘cos I can’t see any reason why you couldn’t make one) but couldn’t figure out how to apply a filter to it.

    You can open the nested sequence in the viewer by control clicking on it and selecting ‘open in viewer’. Having the nest selected will, of course, allow you to apply filters to it, however, you need to have the nest loaded to the viewer to see the applied filters and alter them.

    Maybe this helps? Not sure what else your issue is.

    Ben

    Editec Broadcast Editing Ltd

    EVS & FCP specialists for live OB operations.

    New HD edit/slomo truck on the road this month. Dual FCP systems/6 slomo positions.

  • Fred Verdad

    March 16, 2007 at 11:56 pm

    page 419 of the manual is what I had to do.

    It’s still a little annoying, but I’m successfully nesting. I just can’t double-click or it opens the source sequence.

    works ok tho.

    thanks buddies

  • Ben Holmes

    March 17, 2007 at 12:04 am

    [uncle steve] “I just can’t double-click or it opens the source sequence. “

    Absolutely – that’s what I said – you can control click on it to get it into the viewer – not the most intuitive bit of the FCP interface…

    Ben

    Editec Broadcast Editing Ltd

    EVS & FCP specialists for live OB operations.

    New HD edit/slomo truck on the road this month. Dual FCP systems/6 slomo positions.

  • Martin Baker

    March 17, 2007 at 12:16 am

    You can also Option-double click to open a nest into the Viewer.

    Martin
    Digital Heaven, London UK

    Unique plug-ins and tools for Apple Pro Apps
    NEW! Final Print for FCP
    Hot Tips video podcast

  • Fred Verdad

    March 17, 2007 at 12:17 am

    Thanks Ben, I’m still a little confused but getting there.

    If I really wanted a sequence to act l ike an independent clip, I guess I WOULD have to export the sequence and reimport it as a quicktime then?

    Is this true?

    for now at least this is working-ish…

  • David Roth weiss

    March 17, 2007 at 12:34 am

    [uncle steve] “I guess I WOULD have to export the sequence and reimport it as a quicktime then?”

    Bad idea!!! And, like smoking, its not a good habit to get into. Nesting, while imperfect at times, allows you to go back in time to rediscover or change elements. Exporting the comp first is so linear…

    DRW

  • Steve Eisen

    March 17, 2007 at 2:06 am

    Are you trying to do a ripple transition from your nest to another clip? If yes, you will need to have handles on your nested clips.

    Steve Eisen
    Eisen Video Productions
    Director-At-Large
    Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group

  • Bret Williams

    March 17, 2007 at 2:51 am

    Thank you. Nest it. To open it in the viewer (if needed) option + double click it. If you want to add a filter to it, drag a filter to it in the timeline just like any other clip. If you want to add a transition to it, it needs to have some extra media just like any other clip. It’s best to do this before nesting, but there’s no reason a ripple couldn’t be applied to the end. When you drag a transition look at the highlight it’s creating before you drop it. You can center it on the cut (won’t work without extra handles on both nest and incoming clip) or start it on the cut by dragging it a little to the right (won’t work without handles either) or drop it a little left where it’ll end on the cut, which will require extra media from the incoming clip be available.

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