Final Cut Pro HD | H•O•T Hands-On Training [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

1.

Open Chapter 10 Lesson, if it isn't open already. Double-click Seq Text start to load it into the Timeline.

This sequence is identical to the one you just finished, except I deleted the last shot on V5, created a text clip on V6, and added some keyframes to the text clipall using techniques you learned earlier in this chapter.

[View full size image]

2.

Double-click the text clip to load it into the Viewer. Choose the Motion tab and widen it so you can see the keyframe section. Slide the Zoom slider to the left to zoom in a little on the keyframe section so that you can easily see the keyframes that are already set.

3.

Switch the Canvas to 25% view (use the Scaling pop-up menu) and widen it to give you room to move the text clip around.

4.

With the text clip selected and the playhead at the start of the clip, hold down the Shift key down (to constrain movement to only horizontal or vertical) and drag the clip to the right until the text disappears off the screen.

5.

Put the playhead on the first marker of the text clip. Since the sequence needs rendering, rather than wait for rendering when you are only previewing the initial part of the effect, choose Tools > QuickView. This opens a window (the same size as the Viewer) that allows you to preview effects without rendering.

Use the default Range setting of 2 seconds and play your effect in the QuickView window.

6.

Now you need to set keyframe positions for the text to exit. Position the playhead on the last keyframe and drag the text clip down and left until it exits screen left (Center coordinates 628, 215). Play the ending of the sequence.

Hmmm…. It's OK, but not great. The text makes too straight a line, and travels right over the body of the snowboarder in the video clip. What you need to do is get the text to curve, so that it misses the snowboarder.

Notice how Final Cut displays keyframes in the Canvas as green dots? Knowing this is helpful in finding keyframes.

7.

Ctrl+click on the last (far left) keyframe and choose Linear from the shortcut menu. (It makes no difference if the playhead is on the frame or not. The important point is to click the correct green keyframe.)

Two new blue dots now appear along the motion path. The one nearest the keyframe controls acceleration, the other one controls the shape of the curve. This keyframe provides Bezier curve control for the motion path. I call it the Bezier controller. The Bezier controller is always the outside dot and the acceleration controller is always the inside dot.

8.

Grab the furthest keyframe, the Bezier controller, and drag it down and to the right. See how the motion path converts from a straight line to a curve?

9.

Next, move the playhead to the third keyframe. Your text image moves back to the center of the frame. (Positioning the playhead makes sure you are changing the correct keyframe, since there are two keyframes at this position.) Ctrl+click the keyframe and choose Linear from the shortcut menu.

10.

Drag the Bezier controller down and to the right so you form a smooth curve for the motion path. Hmmm…. that's really hard to see.

11.

Sometimes, its easier to adjust an image when you can't see it. Click the View pop-up menu and choose Wireframe.

This hides the image, but displays the wireframe. A wireframe shows the shape and position of an image without showing the image itself. Wireframes never require rendering, so previews are always in real time.

Setting Bezier curves is an art, because you can't type in specific keyframe numbers. When the motion looks right to you, you are done. Here's the motion path I created for this sequence. You can view it in Seq Text finished.

12.

There's a lot you can do with Bezier curves and motion paths, so feel free to experiment. At least now, you know where to click and what to do. Save your work. Quit Final Cut if you need a break.

In the next three exercises, you will learn several quick techniques that also relate to motion.