Tom Baker1

Q: Can't get smooth pan/zooms using keyframes

I’ve just bought FCPX (10.2) and am trying to learn it and switch over from FCP 7. In playing around with X so far, I was disappointed to find that Apple apparently still hasn’t found a way to do smooth pan/zooms using keyframes—unless there’s some control or technique I haven’t discovered yet.

 

The Ken Burns Crop feature is OK, but it runs the full length of a clip. What I want to do is open on a still shot (a photo), hold on it for a while, then gently zoom in on some detail of the picture and stop and hold there for a while, all done smoothly.

 

Trying to do this with keyframes (keying both scale and position) does not give me a smooth result—the motion path waves around near the beginning and end, in a sort of S-curve., and the starts and stops are abrupt. (The “smooth" control seems to make no improvement).

 

Assuming that this is the best FCPX can do, can anyone recommend any third-party plugins that can provide smooth Ken Burns-style pan/zooms in FCPX?

 

Tom

Posted on Nov 10, 2015 8:06 PM

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Q: Can't get smooth pan/zooms using keyframes

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  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Nov 10, 2015 8:25 PM in response to Tom Baker1
    Level 10 (118,107 points)
    Apple TV
    Nov 10, 2015 8:25 PM in response to Tom Baker1

    WWith a still image it's relatively easy to do using Ken Burns and splitting the clip. Split the clip where you want the motion to start. Apply Ken Burns to the second portion. Split where you want it to end. Copy and paste the crop attribute to the next section and swap the start and end. The end of the first Ken Burns becomes the start of the next segment. Set that segment up how you like, maybe have it hold with the start and end the same. Repeat the procedure as often as you like.

  • by Tom Baker1,

    Tom Baker1 Tom Baker1 Nov 10, 2015 9:19 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 3 (589 points)
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    Nov 10, 2015 9:19 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Thanks Tom. But I’m having some trouble doing that, because the “Start” frame of the Ken Burns effect doesn’t fit the full frame of the image in the viewer, if you get what I mean, and I can’t adjust it to fit.

     

    I’m using high-res scans of old historic photos, and my project is in the 4:3 aspect ratio (720 X 480) because that is the shape that best matches most old photos.

     

    So the first thing I do when I load one of these old photos into the Timeline is adjust the image to best fit in the Viewer. Often the photo doesn’t quite fill the viewer in height or width, so a bit of zooming-in is necessary to fill the frame all the way around.

     

    After I do that, and then cut the clip into thirds, so that I can do the Ken Burns thing in the middle third, the “Start” frame of the Ken Burns effect doesn’t fit the full frame of the Viewer, and I can’t figure out how to resize it to fit.

     

    When I drag it so the sides of the green frame fill the viewer, the top and bottom are out of sight, but if I make the top and bottom fit the viewer, the sides are indented. Is there any way to make the green “Start” frame of the Ken Burns effect fit the 4:3 aspect ratio?

     

    Tom B.

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Nov 10, 2015 11:59 PM in response to Tom Baker1
    Level 10 (118,107 points)
    Apple TV
    Nov 10, 2015 11:59 PM in response to Tom Baker1

    Rather than manually scaling the image, set the spatial conform to Fill. That should move the Ken Burns start position to the edge of the frame.

  • by fox_m,

    fox_m fox_m Nov 11, 2015 1:34 AM in response to Tom Baker1
    Level 5 (5,502 points)
    Video
    Nov 11, 2015 1:34 AM in response to Tom Baker1

    Give this a try:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-oB2fCT_N8

    It's called ZPR (Zoom/Pan/Return). It's similar to Ken Burns but the animations should be linear.

     

    HTH

  • by Tom Baker1,

    Tom Baker1 Tom Baker1 Nov 11, 2015 9:59 AM in response to fox_m
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    Nov 11, 2015 9:59 AM in response to fox_m

    Thanks Fox. I downloaded it and installed it as directed, but I can't make it show up in FCX. Probably I'm so new to the program that I don't know how to.

  • by Tom Baker1,

    Tom Baker1 Tom Baker1 Nov 11, 2015 10:20 AM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 3 (589 points)
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    Nov 11, 2015 10:20 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Thanks Tom. I tried it, but I can't get it to work right. I set the conform to Fill, but the green Start rectangle doesn't appear to enclose the image exactly. It's slightly offset to the left, and seems "magnetically" stuck there. If I try to pull it slightly to the right, where it needs to be in order to fit exactly around the image, it pops right back to the left. The left side of the green rectangle is slightly off the image, into the black background area, and the right side of it is slightly into the image.

     

    Besides that, when the playhead passes from the still image to the piece of clip with the Ken Burns effect applied, there is a jump to a slight zoom.

     

    Tom B.

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Nov 11, 2015 10:35 AM in response to Tom Baker1
    Level 10 (118,107 points)
    Apple TV
    Nov 11, 2015 10:35 AM in response to Tom Baker1

    Not seeing why there'd be a shift off center. Don't know why it would do that. Can you post screenshots.

     

    Set the image to Fill, and then set it back to Fit for the segment with Ken Burns. I have done this before, and it does work.

  • by Tom Baker1,

    Tom Baker1 Tom Baker1 Nov 11, 2015 11:13 AM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 3 (589 points)
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    Nov 11, 2015 11:13 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

    My guess is I'm not doing something right. I cut the clip into three pieces and am trying to apply the Ken Burns effect to the middle one. The first segment is set to Fill. The center one, the one that I'm trying to do the Ken Burns thing on, is set to Fit. Below are screenshots.

     

    I created a fresh clip for this try, and this time, as you see, the green Start rectangle is now offset to the right, but it still doesn't enclose the image. When you click Done on the Ken Burns window and play the clip, the image appears to jump to the left when it gets to the middle segment.

     

    Tom

     

    first segment-Fill.png

     

    Middle segment-Fit.png

  • by Tom Wolsky,Helpful

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Nov 11, 2015 7:18 PM in response to Tom Baker1
    Level 10 (118,107 points)
    Apple TV
    Nov 11, 2015 7:18 PM in response to Tom Baker1

    The first image is offset to the left. I can see that position inspector. The start frame should be centered. It will look smaller than the frame but will look correct when it plays back.

     

    The technique's not going to work for you, but it should look like this

     

    http://www.fcpxbook.com/KenBurns.mov

  • by fox_m,

    fox_m fox_m Nov 11, 2015 1:51 PM in response to fox_m
    Level 5 (5,502 points)
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    Nov 11, 2015 1:51 PM in response to fox_m

    FCPX had a little change after that effect was released—it now requires "localized" folders. More specific install instructions here:

    http://fcpxtemplates.com/install4fcpx/latest.htm

  • by Tom Baker1,

    Tom Baker1 Tom Baker1 Nov 11, 2015 2:11 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 3 (589 points)
    Video
    Nov 11, 2015 2:11 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Thanks again for your help, Tom. It is much appreciated. I guess the way I'm doing things, it won't work in this case, but I can see how well it does work in the example you provided, when the circumstances are right.

     

    In my case, the trouble is that many of the old photos that I'm using cannot usually be left centered as they appear when first dropped into the Timeline. Often they were shot slightly off-center by the original photographer, or the item of interest is not dead-center in the photo, or some other reason requires the image to be repositioned slightly before any panning and zooming begins.

     

    Apparently, as you noted, the FCPX Ken Burns effect as we've been trying to do it is not able handle a picture that is slightly offset like that.

     

    In this particular case, three of the men in this photograph are still alive (well into their 90s), and I have interviewed them on-camera, and now I'm letting them tell their wartime experiences in this video I'm creating, using photos such as this one to illustrate what they're talking about. I need to find some way to start out with this photograph full-frame (slightly adjusted as noted), and continue to hold the full frame long enough for me to say something about the crew in a voice-over narration, then zoom in smoothly on the first person I interviewed (the pilot, front row, far left), then pan smoothly across to the next person I interviewed (the navigator, front row, far right), then up to the third person (waist gunner, back row, second from right).

     

    And after that, throughout the video, whenever one of the men describes the actions of some other member of the crew, I need to bring this picture back up and zoom smoothly in on the face of the person he's talking about.

     

    And of course, I have many other photos in this project to do similar things with, some showing details of the aircraft, others showing such things as the tents the crew lived in on the ground, and many other illustrations for their stories. Whatever is of interest in each photo needs to be zoomed in on, and in addition often panned across to show other details in the same photo.

     

    I tried, but I just can't do this in FCPX with keyframing. I ran into the same old problems I did in FCP 7---the jerky starts and stops, the wavy motion paths at beginning and end (which are not eliminated by the "Smooth" control), and once again I had to give up on FCP's keyframing.

     

    So since this video depends so much on the panning and zooming on old photos, it looks like I'm going to have to find a third-party plug-in somewhere that can handle that. I'll do a search for one, but if anyone reads this who can recommend a good one, I'd appreciate it.

     

    Thanks again.

     

    Tom B.

  • by Tom Baker1,

    Tom Baker1 Tom Baker1 Nov 11, 2015 2:17 PM in response to fox_m
    Level 3 (589 points)
    Video
    Nov 11, 2015 2:17 PM in response to fox_m

    And thanks again to you, Fox. I'll get those instructions and install that plugin correctly and see what I can do with it.

     

    Tom B.

  • by Tom Wolsky,Helpful

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Nov 11, 2015 7:18 PM in response to Tom Baker1
    Level 10 (118,107 points)
    Apple TV
    Nov 11, 2015 7:18 PM in response to Tom Baker1

    TThe other way I use is to animate the Crop/Crop function. Smooth, no snaking, but no easing either.

  • by Tom Baker1,

    Tom Baker1 Tom Baker1 Nov 11, 2015 7:18 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 3 (589 points)
    Video
    Nov 11, 2015 7:18 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Thanks Tom. I guess Crop/Crop is not the answer either, then.

     

    On the FXFactory website I found and downloaded (here: <http://tinyurl.com/neu8ll4>) a free "Pan and Zoom" plugin that works as a generator inside FCPX. I installed it and tried it out, and it does a very nice job, but it can only do one motion per session. In other words, you can zoom in (or out), but once it gets to the end of that motion, it's all over---there's no moving on to another place on the photo if you wanted to. However, when you only need a single motion, it's fine.

     

    Back in Final Cut 7 I was using a stand-alone program called Photo-to-Movie to do multiple pan-zooms on photos, and it worked very well and was able to do an unlimited number of motions in one session. But it wouldn't work inside of FCP 7. I had to create the pan-zooms in Photo-to-Movie, and then export them as a Quicktime movie that I dropped into FCP. There was no adjusting the clip in FCP-7. If I wanted to change anything later, I had to go back out to Photo-to-Movie and start all over again. It was slow, but at least it was do-able.

     

    So what I'm looking for now, ideally, is a plugin that gives FCPX the ability to do internally what Photo-to-Movie could do externally.

     

    Fox, I followed the new directions for installing the plugin, but it still didn't show up in FCPX. No doubt I did something wrong.

     

    So my search for a really versatile (capable of multiple moves) pan/zoom plugin for FCPX continues. . .

     

    Tom B,

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