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NEW FCPX Adjustable Frame Effect
Now this ought to be useful to someone finally. It’s a fully adjustable framing device …
Brendan made the good point that my multiple split screen effects made for a cluttered FCPX interface because there were just too many controls – and he was right of course. They also used Drop Zones which in my epxerience of FCPX are really poorly implemented and erratic to use, to say the least. Finally, you weren’t able to affect the clip inside the frame once you’d put it in the Drop Zone.
Much better to have an effect that you could apply to your individual image layers and stack them up on the timeline, where you can still step in and add as many other effects to your clips as you want as well as easily being able to edit the content.
So here it is with animatable controls for:
– Position and scale of the framed image (animatable obviously for sliding it on and off);
– Drop shadow opacity;
– Position and scale of the image inside the frame so you can pan and scan to get the best result;
– Scaling control for the mask itself to you can have any aspect ratio of frame you like;
– Corner roundness for the frame;
– Border width and border color for the frame.You can see from the frame grab that all these controls don’t take up too much screen real estate.
Now by stacking any number of clips above each other you can make the most elaborate split screen composites you like, and all very quickly with loads of control of all the parameters of scale and position.
Note that the effect uses the clip you have selected as the source and will “see through” to the layer beneath it. In the screen grab I have used a Paper effect generator, but you could use the default black of the timeline (assuming you’ve set it to black in the preferences!) or any other source including another clip.
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
40 Replies
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This is the business!!
Nice work!
CHeers,
BG
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It was you that put me on the right track – simpler is better!
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
You guys are awesome! great work! Thanks
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In previous versions of FCP this required an awful lot of work for not nearly as nice a result. Thanks!
NT
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Thanks, Nick. That’s exactly why I wanted to persevere with this, as I think it’s now a massive labour-saver over any other way of doing this kind of work.
Motion templates are simply amazingly powerful now and the number of great ideas people have already come up with in such a short time is a really good sign.
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
I think this is the kind of stuff that people overlook about FCP X. There’s more than meets the eye and this is just one example. Keep them coming!
NT
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Simon, this is great… Thank you.
A suggestion… can you add a check box to turn off the border, or let the border control go down to zero. Also, it looks like the image shows (bleeds) through between the border and the edge of the “adjusted frame.” I am editing some DVCPRO HD 720p. (I realize that the bleed between the border and the edge of the frame may not show up in other video formats).
(Also, is there a way in Motion to to actual on-screen dragging control, as opposed to sliders and “X,Y” positions, etc.?)
This is a perfect tool for creating complex split screens and being able to edit images within each screen.
I am very thankful to you and to Brendan for enriching our (peaceful) arsenal.
Best,
Eli -
Hi Eli
Glad you like it – I think you’ll find it much easier to use than what I gave you before.
You can turn to border down to zero and it will disappear but I can also add a checkbox.
I have checked again here and I can’t see the bleed-through you are talking about in either Motion or FCPX. Are you sure you’re not just reducing the scale of the source image a bit too much, which is what would cause this?
I’ll certainly see what I can do with onscreen controls – that’s a good idea and would make it even quicker to use.
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
Simon, you’re right, if I drag on the “numerical control” of the border, it goes to zero, but the slider doesn’t–it only goes to 1. I tried to get the “bleed” again, but it’s not there… I may have done something weird before.
Robbert-Jan van der Does’s “Multi-Gradient Blur” filter, at the top of this forum, has nice on-screen controls for the blur control… works beautifully.
And yes… this IS the most useful implementation of split screen–allowing full control. Now, if FCP X allowed simple dragging of individual filters (that have been already set) to other clips, it would make the process easier (the “Paste Effects” is too global).
Thanks again.
Best,
Eli -
Simon – how difficult is it to convert these to 1080i 29.97? I was using your 3-Way Assymetrical with a talking head and the video played back slow. I opened the effect in Motion and saw that it was 720p 59.94. I’ve fooled around with Motion a little but not enough at this point. Is it simply a matter of resizing the elements into a 1080i project? If I break it I probably can’t fix it! LOL
NT
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