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

1.

If Final Cut is not running, start it and open Chapter 11 Lesson. Double-click Seq Video Open start to load it into the Timeline. You may need to render it to play it.

This is the same exercise you worked with inChapter 10," Motion Effects," a potential open for the Snowboarding sequence. The problem is, the background needs more excitement. You need to create a more unusual look.

[View full size image]

2.

Play the sequence to get a sense of what it looks like.

Hmmm… To me, the foreground images are so interesting that my eye goes to the text title and the foreground; I'm not seeing the background at all. It feels flat. Since this is the open to my show, this needs to be fixed.

3.

Select the clip Track Pink Sun and choose Effects > Video Filters > QuickTime > Color Tint.

4.

Not ideal. A black-and-white shot of a snow scene just doesn't make it. However, all Final Cut filters can be adjusted, so double-click Track Pink Sun to load it into the Viewer. Click the Filters tab to make it active.

5.

To toggle between applying and removing a filter from a clip, uncheck and check the blue check box near the name of the filter.

The benefit of using this check box is that you don't lose any settings on the filter when you toggle it on or off.

Sigh… the Black and White filter just isn't working.

6.

Change the pop-up menu from Black and White to Sepia.

Oh, my goodness! Far worse!! Quick, delete it before somebody sees what you are doing.

7.

Click the name of the filter in the Filters tab to select it, then press the Delete key. (As usual, you "select something, then do something to it.")

Whew! Although sepia tone images are wonderful for giving an image a romantic, nostalgic feeling, extreme snowboarding is not generally considered part of that category. Try again.

8.

With Track Pink Sun selected in the Timeline, choose Effects > Video Filters > Stylize > Posterize.

9.

Whoa! Much better. Press Option+P to play the sequence without waiting for it to render.

Now, my eye is jumping all over the screen. The background clip is much more predominant, due to this effect. This really makes the beginning of my program seem exciting.

10.

Double-click Track Pink Sun to load it into the Viewer, if it isn't already. Click the Filters tab to make it active, and change the Red, Green, and Blue settings to 5, 5, and 5.

The lower the slider values, the greater the poster effect. The higher the slider values, the more the image looks "real." You can also experiment with different, and unequal, Red, Green, and Blue settings to get an even more pronounced effect.

11.

Much better. Select the entire Timeline using Edit > Select All (or press Cmd+A) and render it using Sequence > Render Selection (or press Cmd+R).

You could just choose Sequence > Render Sequence (or press Option+R). That, too, will render your sequence. But I prefer to select what I want to render, rather than always rendering everything. So, for me, my habit has always been to select what I want to render, then just render that selection, whether it's a transition, clip, or group of clips. You can use whichever system you prefer.

OK. So far, you've learned how to apply a filter, delete a filter, and modify a filter. And, just as you can create a Favorite motion, you can also create a Favorite filter. Here's how.

12.

Select Track Pink Sun on the Timeline. Choose Effects > Make Favorite Effect.

13.

Look in the Effects tab of the Browser. Your Favorite effect is created and stored in this folder.

14.

To apply this filter to another clip, select the clip and choose Effects > (Video Filters) Favorites > Posterize. (The name of the filter changes, depending upon which effects you are using. The Favorites folder is empty, until you create your first Favorite motion or Favorite effect.) You can apply a Favorite effect to a single clip or a range of selected clips.

15.

That's it for this exercise. Save your work, if you wish. Quit Final Cut, if you need to take a break. Otherwise, keep it open; you'll use it again in the next exercise.

NOTE | Favorite Effects vs. Paste Attributes

In Chapter 10, "Motion Effects," you learned how to paste attributes for motion effects. The same process applies here: you can paste attributes for filter effects as well.

Favorite effects, like Favorite motions, are convenient, but I rarely use them for all the reasons discussed in Chapter 10.

For me, the biggest negatives are that Favorites always scale keyframes, whereas Paste Attributes gives me the option to scale or not to scale. Also, Favorites are lost when I trash Final Cut's preferences files. Then, again, if the effect doesn't use keyframes, scaling is not an issue.

Just to be clear, when you trash preferences, you are not deleting any filters applied to any clip; you are only deleting the reference to the filter stored in the Browser, under the Effects tab, in the Favorites folder.

I think Favorites are a great idea and, in the future, when Final Cut preferences are more stable, I look forward to using them more, but for now, I'll stick to Paste Attributes.

NOTE | A Quick Way to Copy a Filter

OK, notwithstanding what I just said about Paste Attributes, here's a fast way to copy a filter to another clip: