Recently published articles for Final Cut Pro for Mac:
I am trying to combine stills and video footage from 3 different phones into a video. I want all the original aspect ratios to be maintained within a frame that can accommodate them all. Have tried various online recommendations but images keep being cropped. I don't want any cropping just pillar or letterboxing.
How do I set this up?
Thank you!!!
Earlier Mac models
Hi again!
Still not getting what I want from settings and spatial conform. If I use 1920x1080, the vertical shots are shorter vertically than I would like. Not sure if it even is a thing anymore, but I tried Academy aspect ratio in Property manager to give verticals more room, but then all the horizontal shots are cropped horizontally regardless of whether I choose Fit, Fill or None. First two images at 1920x1080 - see how small vertical is? Second two images are 1330x1000 (filling the viewing frame). Vertical looks great but horizontal cropped nastily.
In the third shot the landscape image is not set to FIT. If it was set to Fit then it would be letterboxed and fit from left to right in the custom frame resolution you have.
Here's a vertical image in 1330x1000
Here's a widescreen image in 1330x1000
It's, like the vertical image, set to Fit. It fills the frame edge to edge, left to right and is letterboxed.
That's the scale of the Viewer. That adjusts the size of the Viewer in pane. You need to set the size of the image itself in the inspector. Set the Spatial Conform to Fit.
For an excellent introduction to FCP start with Steve Martin’s 60 minute intro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqUP7Zgeuck. For a more in depth introduction use the IzzyVideo tutorials. The version is a bit dated but the principles are the same.
Thanks Tom. It's all phone media, both stills and video, horizontal and vertical. Two androids and an iphone. With different ratios depending on each persons settings. Videos are 1920 × 1080, 1080 × 2400, 1080 × 1920. Stills are a variety.
I don't need to have this look beautiful! I just want to combine the footage in it entirety (no cropping) with pillar and letterboxing to accommodate the different sizes.
Not sure what you mean by project properties. That is what I am trying to get right. Fit, Fill and None don't work. ie I am trying to use a video that is 1920 × 1080 that keeps being cropped to something squarer regardless of what setting I use.
Make sure your project is 1920x1080 if that’s what you intend to output. Post a screenshot that shows the project properties, which you set when you first made the project. The information is displayed in the inspector when the project is selected.
"the vertical shots are shorter vertically than I would like."
What do you mean by shorter? If you use Fit the top of the vertical shot is at the top of the 1080 vertical resolution and the bottom of the vertical is at the bottom of the frame. There is no cut off. The image is small because that what fits in the aspect ratio of a 16:9 image. You have to decide what you want to do. The images are what they are in their aspect ratio and orientation. You can scale smaller or larger, but if you want to see the full image for both aspect ratios then you have to use the Fit function. If you like the non-standard 1330x1000 you can use that and set the landscape aspect shot you have to Fit. Then it will fit from left edge to right edge and will show letterboxing at top and bottom. The one thing you cannot do is make the video change aspect ratio or frame resolution. That's fixed for the duration of the project, whatever you decide.
As my screen shots show, if I set to 1980x1080 the shots are shorter because they are constrained by the 1080 frame. I don't want them to be.
<You can scale smaller or larger, but if you want to see the full image for both aspect ratios then you have to use the Fit function. If you like the non-standard 1330x1000 you can use that and set the landscape aspect shot you have to Fit. >
If I set to 1330x1000 (or 2660x2000), the verticals look great but the 16:9 shots are cropped. Changing to Fit just adjusts the crop to 1330x1000. I want them to be letterboxed and retain their original ratio.
:)
I imported original material as usual. But I had had to rotate one and had cropped another before resetting properties, so I deleted and re-inserted and rotated/trimmed again and now they seem to be working.
Thanks for your patience.
Heres what I want everything to look like, cutting between them. Not sure why this is so hard.
I don't need an introduction really. Have used it lots. Just not with different aspect ratios. Please note previously uploaded image with Property Inspector set to FIt
Could you please give specifics of your media specs and aspect ratios and your project properties? Usually Fit spatial conform works best for what you’re trying to do.
Got it! I had set it originally to the ratio of the very clip I was having trouble with - 4k, I think. Reset to 1920x1080 and the problem is solved! So far. :)
What am I doing wrong? I have pulled the menu down to Fit. It says Fit as you can see in the latest grabs.
final cut pro x
