Rotating video in final cut pro x

When I wrote my reply (all those years ago) I was unaware that if footage is shot with an iPhone in portrait mode, even if you rotate it with Final Cut Pro X, the orientation stays the same (so much of your footage is cropped).

The only workaround I have found for this is to use Quick Time Player > Edit > Rotate Left (or right, etc) and then quit QT Player and you'll get the option to save the file.

I'd be interested to hear of a better workflow!

andynick wrote:

When I wrote my reply (all those years ago) I was unaware that if footage is shot with an iPhone in portrait mode, even if you rotate it with Final Cut Pro X, the orientation stays the same (so much of your footage is cropped).

The only workaround I have found for this is to use Quick Time Player > Edit > Rotate Left (or right, etc) and then quit QT Player and you'll get the option to save the file.

I'd be interested to hear of a better workflow!

If you record video with your iPhone in a vertical orientation, the resulting video's dimensions will be different than the usual ones.

For example, your clip may end being 1080x1920 instead of 1920x1080.

If you choose Open Clip and rotate, it will be cropped, because the clip size does not change.

A few options:

1) just leave the clip as is. When you add this to, say a 1080p project (1920x1080), rotate the clip in the timeline; you should change Spatial Conform to None.

2) make a 1080 compound clip, add your vertical clip there, rotate; also change Spatial Conform to None. Then use this compound clip in a project instead of the original.

Right-click the clip and choose 'Open in timeline' then select the clip in the timelne and open the inspector.

Select Video at the top and under 'Transform' you can adjust the rotation to whatever you want.

If you need to adjust the size etc, you can do that too.

Andy

andynick wrote:

Right-click the clip and choose 'Open in timeline'

<snip>

FYI This should be done in the Event Browser, so that it will then apply to all clips you edit into a regular project timeline.

If you right-click a clip in the Browser and "Open In Timeline", you are working on that Master Clip, the changes stick. Then it appears with corrections in all timelines, be the cip, compound clip, or project timelines. You often have to open it in it's own Timeline as the Inspector doesn't always give you all functions directly in the Browser.

Then, how to output 1080*1920 ?

Start here

http://www.fcpxbook.com/CustomProjectSize.html

That's half of the solution but now what I've got is a video facing the right way but with two black rectangles above and below and the project overall is still portrait.... how do I fix that?

TThis is a really old thread for older versions of FCP. Why do you start at the beginning? What's the problem and what are you trying to do?

Thanks Luis - very helpful!
Presumably the QT option recompresses the clip..?

andynick wrote:

Thanks Luis - very helpful!
Presumably the QT option recompresses the clip..?

I think so.