Can't get background to be white anymore (and "proxy" shows up)

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Level 1

135 points

Can't get background to be white anymore (and "proxy" shows up)

I did this before (set the background to white instead of black) and it worked fine, never forcing me to render any clips I laid down on the sequence. Yet something I did in trying to replicate what I did the once now has landed me with the black background staying (except when the marker is ON the text which I placed on the white background) black in playback only, AND anything I place has the yellow "proxy" render line which I have never EVER seen before.

As you might guess from reading I am strictly Easy Setup and I cannot fathom what I must "undo" to at very least return to not getting this yellow render line, if nothing else.

FC Pro Help is useless. It merely points to menu items. 😟

Please can someone educate this numpty? Please and thanks

Final Cut Pro 7

Posted on Dec 30, 2011 6:20 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Nick Holmes

Level 7

30,018 points

Dec 31, 2011 4:41 AM in response to MacBraveheart

FCP's text generators use an Alpha channel. The clip contains the letters and transparency, so if you made the text black, you aren't going to see anything.

Changing the display background to white is not the answer. You need to generate a Color Matte (a flat frame of the color of your choice) place that on a a track below your text.

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Answer 2

MacBraveheart Author

Level 1

135 points

Dec 31, 2011 4:53 AM in response to Nick Holmes

I think you are right! 😀

I think that is what I did before but I don't remember not using that background option... Which is what puzzles me.

What is it (the option to change the background) for if not for changing the background over which to see the transparency (yes, I made the text black as before)? Life would be much simpler if it did what one instinctively assumes it ought to do because adding the matte under the whole video is a pain in the proverbial.

Also- is that why I suddenly had "proxy" pop up? Just that I even deleted the project and created a new one and STILL get that everytime I place a clip now. I just want to go to back to how things were because the extra rendering is going to be another pain in the proverbial if I cannot undo whatever I managed to mess up. 😟

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Answer 3

Nick Holmes

Level 7

30,018 points

Dec 31, 2011 5:04 AM in response to MacBraveheart

Changing the displayed background is only relevant inside FCP. Any unfilled area of the frame will be black on export.

One example of a use for it is to check the integrity of a chroma key -it sometimes makes it easier to see blue spill or unwanted holes against a solid white background. This might go unnoticed using the final background -until it changes as the keyed subject moves around.

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Answer 4

MacBraveheart Author

Level 1

135 points

Dec 31, 2011 5:08 AM in response to Nick Holmes

Of course. Makes perfect sense. Thank you.

Any thoughts on the "proxy" thing? What does it mean, and why might I be getting it now? Just that if I understood that I might be able to undo whatever I did in my stupid fiddling. I do not want to have to reinstall Final Cut just to undo my own stupidity! 😝

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