Why is Keyframing in FCPX so shite?

[Julian Bowman]

Ok, lets add this:

why, when I keyframe the position of a clip, is there movement between two of the keyframes that have the same points?

I move the image to the top left of the screen, for example, and want it to sit there for 5 seconds before I move it back to the middle.

Why does it sit in the top left with a stagger as if it had a bottle of vodka on the way to the top left of the screen?

Why can’t it JUST SIT STILL?

is that too much to ask?

Am I holding it that wrongly?

[Joe Mordecai]

Keyframing in X is probably my biggest gripe with the software. Needlessly convoluted and laggy.

Though, I’ve been editing for ten years, I use a bunch of NLEs and prefer to use X, and I’m making a very nice living with it on some very well known brands. So, can we simmer down a bit and not denigrate people as amateurs because they do find it effective? Many of us would appreciate that. We are all adults after all.

[Julian Bowman]

Do you know what, I use FCPX for paid work too. In fact I made it through the largest job I have ever done with FCPX and made the most money I have ever made on a job with it. Does not mean that it isn’t more crap than good at the moment and doesn’t mean those who blindly champion it and leap down the throat of anyone who farts in its direction shouldn’t be on the end of a tongue lashing now and then.

If this software had a little more common sense applied to it (or perhaps a real world editor or two on the team) and stopped thinking it was smarter than it is and got seriously debugged, then it would be alright it would.

Plus, trying to suggest I be non ranty when my opening post was by description a rant… you’ll probably have more luck reinserting an egg into a chicken.

[Joe Mordecai]

i’m not arguing with your rant about the software. that is all.

[Julian Bowman]

okey dokey.

[Charlie Austin]

[Julian Bowman] “Why does it sit in the top left with a stagger as if it had a bottle of vodka on the way to the top left of the screen?

Why can’t it JUST SIT STILL?”

It’s a bug, thought it had been fixed as I don’t see it these days… You on 10.0.8? After you set keyframes, go to the first one, move 1f forward, set a kf, then delete it. do the same 1 frame before the outgoing kf. Something like that….

Also, if you have transform selected in the viewer you can see your paths and adjust linearity etc by right clicking, which I’m sure you know… One thing I discovered though is that you can select the KF in the clip animation and, if the clip is the focus, you can use the , and . keys to move the kf and the viewer tracks it…

It could be better, and hopefully it will be… 😉

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~

[Julian Bowman]

Thank you Charlie, will test that workaround out. greatly appreciated. And yep, on 10.0.8.

Will try it tomorrow, at the moment I want to feed the app to the dog so probably wisest to unplug and watch re-runs of Britain’s Got Talent (Hungarian, though, it seems).

Many thanks for the pointer.

[Charlie Austin]

[Julian Bowman] “at the moment I want to feed the app to the dog so probably wisest to unplug and watch re-runs of Britain’s Got Talent (Hungarian, though, it seems).”

lol. Yeah, that KF thing is annoying, here’s the youtube vide that illustrates the workaround. He’s doing it to get a truly linear move, but it works for anything keyframed that moves uh… unexpectedly. 😉

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Euyathw6fI4

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~

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[Jason Jenkins]

[joe mordecai] “i’m not arguing with your rant about the software. that is all.”

Easy there. You’re going to give this forum a bad name. Surely you can muster a small personal attack or two.

Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style!

Check out my Mormon.org profile.

[Nick Toth]

Julian

First place your keyframes in the keyframe editor. Place them anywhere in the clip for now. Next, choose each keyframe and set it’s parameters. Now drag the keyframes to set the timing. You are done.

Say I want to go from full-screen to 50% in the upper left hand corner, hold for 2 seconds and then come back to full screen.

Size and position the clip at the hold position. Set 4 keyframes in the keyframe editor. Choose the first frame in the keyframe editor. In the inspector set X and Y to zero and scale to 100%. Choose the last frame in the keyframe editor and repeat. Position the keyframes for the correct timing in the keyframe editor. You’re done and you will not get any drift between the two hold keyframes.

I believe drift is caused when the two hold keyframes are set in between existing keyframes. Keyframing has to be fairly methodical. I learned that in Lightwave 3D.

Hope this helps.

anickt