Simon Ubsdell
6
COW Coins
Forum Replies Created
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I’d say check again with your sound guy and make absolutely sure what he means – if he’s doing it in ProTools and he’s any good at all he’ll want on OMF or an AAF and not, repeat not, sound files whether AIFF or WAV. If you give him sound files only it will severely compromise the final result.
If he does want sound files then you will need to export using Roles … but I’d say don’t go there. Or else you almost better off mixing it yourself inside FCPX!
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
Try using AAF rather than OMF – AAF does not have the file size limit and is generally preferable these days.
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
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There is no drop shadow in FCPX as yet. Try using this simple Effect:
See here for installation instructions:
https://fcp.co/forum/7-how-to-tutorials/2323-faq-how-to-install-fcpx-plug-ins
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
Hahaha (or should that be ho ho ho!?) – hope you find it useful.
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
Thanks, Craig!
For anyone interested in this effect, I’ve made a short video showing it in action and explaining how it works:
There is also now an improved version with the ability to mask around the keyed area (4-point mask with onscreen controls) to eliminate unwanted areas; also controls for adjusting the black/white/gamma balance of the black & white area for extra punch, as well as a tint option to give a colour cast to the black & white areas.
3516_tkypleasantvilleeffect.zip
I should add as a bit of background that (as I mentioned) the original purpose of this exercise was to see how far it would be possible to build a chroma keyer inside Motion 5 for use in FCPX. This is actually a necessary function as thing stand since it is not possible to publish the Motion 5 keyer in any workable fashion, otherwise ruling out effects that rely on a chroma key.
The Channel Mixer (new to Motion 5) has meant that there is almost enough control to build a keyer as seen in this example – but the big limitation remains that it is not possible to use conditional expressions directly inside Motion 5, and hence (as the video explains) it is necessary to use a bit of manual intervention to get the best key in some situations.
Expressions are of course one of the major strengths of After Effects and an absolutely essential feature of all the major compositing applications. In this area more than any other Motion still shows itself to be an application that doesn’t quite know its market. Hopefully however Apple are now taking it more seriously and we may well see some major improvements in terms of higher-end functionality – or we may not!?!
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
If you set the Image Mask to “Stencil” (go to the Image Mask properties in the Inspector to find this checkbox), the mask will stay in place and you can move/scale/rotate the image within it. If it is not set to Stencil then the mask will move/scale/rotate with the image.
This might be another way of solving your problem.
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
[Oliver Peters] “I think that’s a key part. Motion was really developed as a COMPANION to FCP designed for Motion Graphics, not compositing. It was never meant to replace AE (or at least was never publicly positioned that way by Apple). It was intended for editors to use it to create slick graphics and animations without much effort. More as a design tool, rather than a heavy-duty compositor with tons of tweak-ability.”
Exactly so – but the actual hardcore user-base of Motion (as opposed to the very occasional dabblers) must be pretty small (of course I could be completely wrong but it certainly feels that way). It’s a product that’s never really found its niche despite its obvious advantages for certain types of work – despite its actual and intended simplicity a huge number of people (in my experience alone) find it far too “complex” to get to grips with in any meaningful way. A lot of people simply bypass it altogether – if they’re going to make the effort to learn a graphics package then they’re going to make the big step up to AE, but otherwise they are largely going to stick with what they can do inside FCP legacy (or even these days FCPX).
It very hard to gauge what Apple have ever actually wanted from Motion, if indeed they ever did have a clear idea – a bit like the only other pro-video application that they have ever internally developed, possibly!?
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
[Oliver Peters] “Apple wasn’t making a product they could use within the foreseeable future.”
I think that’s the absolutely key point right now – there is no indication at this moment in time that FCPX will satisfy the requirements of the “professional community” (as defined by film and broadcast at the very least) within any “foreseeable” timeframe. The FCPX we are looking at right now differs barely in any meaningful sense from the one apparently demo-ed to the select few in February of last year which was apparently identical to the one showcased in at the SuperMeet and seemingly identical to the one actually released in June.
Nothing since has changed the picture in any meaningful degree (apologies to all those enthusiasts who saw Roles as some kind of major conceptual and operational breakthrough).
The ugprade promised for the early part of this year (June? or is that just too cynical?) may well be a radical rethink that changes everything we know, but then again it may simply deliver what Apple have promised which is multicam and broadcast monitoring. Personally I strongly suspect that that will be as exciting (or otherwise) as it gets – and I can’t see that as being enough to make any significant impact on the drift away from Apple in terms of NLE choices for any of the major players.
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
[Andy Neil] “I thought we discussed this before, Simon. The channel mix filter in Motion 5 does what the channel swap filter did in Motion 4.”
We have discussed this before but I must have missed your pointing out the Channel Mixer which I have been remiss on not checking out before – it’s a really nice and powerful tool, so I take back that part! Thanks for the pointer.
I’ll try to make my case against the Image Mask feature at some point when I can get my thoughts together, but just in passsing, surely Motion groups can be made to work in almost every practical sense just like precomps in AE?? (Only rather more handily becauswe they’re less hidden away.)
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com