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Long-term FCPX user, but still have 5 newbie questions.
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An Adjustment Layer and the Chroma Key I made do the same thing.
But, each of my clips has its own 2.34 crop vertical position so it windows the desired area of a clip. Examples: to leave the same amount of air above heads OR when implementing a “common-top” crop.
In these cases the crop area is not typically centered vertically. Somehow, after cropping, the video contents must be “moved” to be vertically centered. I suppose some kind of animation could move a clip up/down.
I also thought of making a 1920×840 Project but it seems one can’t make a Custom sized project. And FCPX rejects a first clip that’s 1920×840. When exporting I’d use 1920×1080 which should simply letterbox the 1920×840 video.
Lastly, it seems a double-click on a clip would be far simpler than holding an option key. Then the Option+click could do something really useful–pop-up a list of all FX that have been actually applied to the clip. This would enable quick delete(s) as well as sliding the order-to-be-applied.
Best Regards,
Steve Mullen
Digital Video Consulting–Las Vegas
http://www.mindspring.com/~d-v-c
==========================
“Sony V1 and FX7 HANDBOOK” at http://www.knowledge-download.com/V1-FX7
“Sony HVR-Z1 and HDR-FX1 HANDBOOK” at: http://www.knowledge-download.com/SonyHDV
“EDITION 2: JVC GY-HD100 HANDBOOK” at: http://www.knowledge-download.com/JVCHDV
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If I understand you then you may not understand that the Adjustment Layer does not lock where the video below is positioned. Once you have a crop on the Adjustment Layer you are free to select each clip below and move it up and down so that the area ‘showing through’ the mask is what you want yet the mask stays locked in the same position. You did say you wanted a uniform mask that’s the same across all clips didn’t you? Using a cropped Adjustment Layer leaves you free to move each clip as you see fit so that the right area is visible.
Making a double-click on a clip to move the playhead to the clip would set up all sorts of problems with other functions. For example, you could no longer double-click on a Compound Clip to go into the nest. You could no longer double-click on a MultiCam clip to expand into its components. It would be easier (and I haven’t tested this) to use a mouse Preference pane to program, say, the wheel click to emulate the Option click so you could get what you want one-handed.
Don
NewsVideo.com
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I often use one or two layers of color solids or a gradient generator cropped so they create a stripe across the top and/or bottom of the screen as a background for graphics. I crop them to fit the graphic overlay and the video is on a layer under generators.
If I need to I adjust the y position of the video to move it up or down as necessary. It does not need to be cropped because it is masked by the generator. If it needs to be animated due to motion within the frame it’s a simple matter to keyframe the y value but often it’s not necessary.
You can also use a cropped adjustment layer as Don says but in my case I use generators because I may want a color or gradient. For instance a client wants their website and logo up throughout the video on the lower third or maybe logo at the bottom and website at the top of the frame.
In your case, the cropped adjustment layer sounds like all you need.
anickt
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Too lazy to read the entire thread, so sorry for any redundancies. 😉
1. OPTION-click on the clip. It used to be the other way around. Glad it changed.
2. Simply click them off and you’ll know if you changed anything. If they were OFF by default, you’d have to remember to turn them ON first before making changes to actually have them apply. The way it is is the only logical way IMHO.
4. You should be using PASTE ATTRIBUTES instead.
5. CTRL-Z doesn’t undo *anything*, only COMMAND-Z. And there are a few exceptions to what falls into the area of an undoable action, but “critical visual changes” certainly shouldn’t be one of them and aren’t as far as I can see. Unless I don’t in fact know what you mean by that. Any and everything I do in the inspector is undoable.
P.S. Something you need to talk to the Natress people about. The fact that visuals are exported if left on is THEIR decision/programming, not FCP’s/Apple’s.
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[Steve Mullen] “3) I’m trying to create a Widescreen look (2.34:1) and have cropped each clip. Then I’ve slid the wide image up/down to keep action within the wide frame. But, how do I get all crops to line-up in the vertical center of the 16:9 frame for a Project?”
Don’t crop each clip. Then..
OLD SOLUTION:
Get free Alex4D Widescreen Matte, an adjustment layer effect with about 25 different presets for ratios. (2.35:1?)
https://blog.alex4d.com/2011/07/22/fcpx-widescreen-matte/
Place on timeline above your clip as Don Smith suggests.
When you export, use a Compressor preset (which you need to make) to crop off the black bars – or select Share > Master File… to keep the black bars.NEW SOLUTION:
Create a custom project with the dimensions you want. You can shift your clips up and down on the timeline. When you select Share > Master File…
You get a master with the correct dimensions, ready to go. No Compressor preset necessary. (If you want black bars in the master, use the old solution.) -
Thank you Brad, it works perfectly. For others who might follow this thread, you move the video under the matte using the Transform FX.
Two simple questions:
1) When moving a clip up/down in a Transform, how does one constrain movement so the clip doesn’t move horizontally? Shift didn’t work.
2) It seems like it should be simple using the Inspector, but how does one alter the Video/Audio parameters of a clip(s)? A matte came in at 60fps and I wanted to change it to 25fps. HELP was no help. Likewise, to change a Project’s Properties, there seems no way overriding FCPX presets to create a unique resolution. Is this not possible?
Best Regards,
Steve Mullen
Digital Video Consulting–Las Vegas
http://www.mindspring.com/~d-v-c
==========================
“Sony V1 and FX7 HANDBOOK” at http://www.knowledge-download.com/V1-FX7
“Sony HVR-Z1 and HDR-FX1 HANDBOOK” at: http://www.knowledge-download.com/SonyHDV
“EDITION 2: JVC GY-HD100 HANDBOOK” at: http://www.knowledge-download.com/JVCHDV
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1. Simply click and drag the value in the inspector. Or drag the layer by its anchor point which snaps it to the guides.
2. Use the retime menu to set the clip in the timeline to “automatic speed” which will (obviously) slow it down accordingly. That’s assuming your project is set to 25fps. And if you’re not seeing custom resolutions, then you must not be using 10.1.x.
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[Robin S. Kurz] “2. Use the retime menu to set the clip in the timeline to “automatic speed” which will (obviously) slow it down accordingly. That’s assuming your project is set to 25fps. And if you’re not seeing custom resolutions, then you must not be using 10.1.x.”
Prior to 10.1, “Automatic Speed” was called, “Conform”
If you aren’t using 10.1, it’s worth doing some research on it before upgrading. Libraries and events are quite different. New projects are a breeze, but only convert *one* project – one not-very-important project – to figure out how it works, what FCPX is going to do converting it, and how you need to amend things to make them make sense again. (I still haven’t finished re-organising my pre-existing projects.)
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Simply go here and follow the recommended workflow, if it’s in fact an issue, and you’re fine:
And if you in fact haven’t updated, I’d have to ask WHY, since it’s something you most definitely want to do.
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“And if you in fact haven’t updated, I’d have to ask WHY, since it’s something you most definitely want to do.”
Actually not. I’d have to upgrade my OS which would kill Media Composer. Since MC is more important to me–at this point–than FCPX, it’s not a good trade-off. It’s not that I like MC, but I know how to do precise edits with it. So far I use FCPX only for stringing clips together, fast. Honestly, I’m not sure I want to learn a whole new set of Apple concepts just to do what I’ve been doing almost 40 years. Perhaps slowly over time. However, I was recently surprised to find my old copy of Premiere Pro CS6 edited 4K XAVC without any need for proxy. So, if I left MC it might make more sense to go to Premiere, which oddly I started with in about 1993.
Best Regards,
Steve Mullen
Digital Video Consulting–Las Vegas
http://www.mindspring.com/~d-v-c
==========================
“Sony V1 and FX7 HANDBOOK” at http://www.knowledge-download.com/V1-FX7
“Sony HVR-Z1 and HDR-FX1 HANDBOOK” at: http://www.knowledge-download.com/SonyHDV
“EDITION 2: JVC GY-HD100 HANDBOOK” at: http://www.knowledge-download.com/JVCHDV
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