Chris Northcross
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Apple Final Cut Pro X Coins
23
COW Coins
Forum Replies Created
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Smiling for just 5 minutes a day helps reduce your chances for cancer AND cynicism…
“Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.”
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[Mitch Ives] “If you think that the trimming functions in FCP X are pathetic, then you might feel otherwise. BMD’s first attempt shows real genius.”
I’m guessing that you do find the trimming functions in FCP X pathetic? What about the trim tools do you find lacking or not up to par?
“Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.”
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Ran into this problem with PNG image sequences from Blender. Apparently, there’s a bug in compressor that wrecks the alpha channel in an image sequence if you export out to ProRes4444.
If you have access to Motion, (or Quicktime 7 or After Effects) use that to import your image sequences and export them as your ProRes clips. Not nearly as efficient if you’ve got a bunch of image sequences as there isn’t a batch export available in Motion that I’m aware of, but at least you get to keep your alpha channel.
“Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.”
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Was the project started in an earlier version of FCP X and converted for use in 10.1 or was it created in 10.1?
“Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.”
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You might-MIGHT-be able to have your colleague export an XML from 10.1 and try pulling it in that way. Possibly you could use Xto7 to bring it into FCP 7 and then export from FCP 7 to FCPX using 7toX.
“Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.”
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What version of FCP X are you running?
“Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.”
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“Very few of us are Andy Kramer-style geniuses whose brains are wired in the sort of way that lets us work out how to do amazing stuff from scratch – we need to gain knowledge from somebody else. Show us how to build the basic effect and we can then build on that and develop our skills.”
I don’t think that’s an unfair comment at all Gareth. You’re asking how to make your work look good and the way to do that is the same way Andy Kramer, Andy Neil, Mark Spencer, Simon Ubsdell, Nick Campbell, and a whole host of others did it. They put a lot of time and effort into learning how to make their work look the way it does.
Andy Kramer’s brain wasn’t “wired’ to be good at After Effects from birth. Mark Spencer wasn’t born with a Motion design gene (future science may well prove me wrong but until it does, I’m sticking to my guns on this one.) They experimented, asked questions, learned from their mistakes, built upon their mistakes, experimented, experimented some more and and kept working until they came up with a workflow that worked well. I’m willing to bet that if you talked with any of the motion graphic “gurus” they’d tell you a similar experience.
I started in video around 2000 when there were next to no “proper” tutorials on how to create motion graphics. I had to spend a lot of time asking questions, playing with parameters and effects controls and making a lot of stuff that I didn’t like before I started to create things that I enjoyed looking at. I’m still nowhere near where I’d like to be with my work. But I’ve improved dramatically and the time I have put in has helped me learn how I might approach building an effect or creating a look. I still ask questions and I almost always miss what I’m going for on the first try (and frequently the second, third and forth try as well) but I have a much better understanding of what works and what doesn’t because of all of my previous efforts.
At the end of the day, Simon’s words still hold true:
“You’re not going to get good at it until you put in the hours.” There is no path around trial and error that leads to mastery.
Now, if you simply are looking for a way to create an effect that looks good and you need it immediately, there are other avenues-perhaps faster ones to achieve what you’re looking for. Commission someone to create it for you or just buy some pre-made photorealistic particles off the shelf. There may be plug-ins or applications that will create what you are looking for.
Good luck in your endeavors.
“Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.”
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You could also try exporting an XML out of FCP X and importing it into FCP 7 using Xto7 and then export your XML from 7 into after effects. Not free if you don’t already own Xto7 but it works fairly well.
“Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.”
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Outstanding! Still learning all the joys of the replicator. I was trying to paint individual strokes and use a wiggle shape behavior, but wasn’t getting the results I was looking for. This looks much better. Many thanks!
“Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.”
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How would you handle the fill texture Simon?
“Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.”