Steven Galvano

Q: Final Cut to Motion workflow

Hi there...

 

In an edit, I have a group of people gathered around a laptop watching a youtube video.

 

One of the camera angles is over a shoulder looking at a generic youtube video on the laptop screen. I shot the video that I will superimpose separately.... and now want to superimpose it.

I've done this kind of thing in FCP7 and Motion 4 using "Send to Motion" and then corner pinning.

I've never done it in FCPX and Motion 5.

 

The clips (over the shoulder and the video that is to be superimposed) are all trimmed and edited in place (stacked one on top of the other) on the FCP timeline.

 

How do I now get this into Motion to do the effect?

 

Also... how do I best do the effect once in Motion 5?

 

Thanks!!

 

Steve

Posted on Jan 23, 2015 12:47 PM

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Q: Final Cut to Motion workflow

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  • by BenB,

    BenB BenB Jan 23, 2015 2:08 PM in response to Steven Galvano
    Level 6 (9,901 points)
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    Jan 23, 2015 2:08 PM in response to Steven Galvano

    At present there is no Send To Motion function in FCPX.  You'll have to start a generic Motion project, and build it there from scratch.  Or get TrackX from Coremelt and do it inside of FCPX.

  • by Steven Galvano,

    Steven Galvano Steven Galvano Jan 23, 2015 3:05 PM in response to BenB
    Level 2 (289 points)
    Video
    Jan 23, 2015 3:05 PM in response to BenB

    Ok... is corner pinning still the right tool? (the over the shoulder video is handheld)

     

    What is the best way to translate the I/O's?

    Export just the clip? Timecode?... how?

     

    Thanks!!

  • by fox_m,

    fox_m fox_m Jan 23, 2015 3:20 PM in response to Steven Galvano
    Level 5 (5,532 points)
    Video
    Jan 23, 2015 3:20 PM in response to Steven Galvano

    You can do corner pinning right in FCPX.

     

    Add the video as a connected clip. Turn on Distort (there's a dropdown menu under the left corner of the viewer: Transform:Crop:Distort.)

    Start a Keyframe (I recommend clicking the dropdown menu to the right edge of the Distort pane and Add Keyframe -- it will automatically add keyframes for every available parameter.)

     

    Track the video adjusting the corners as needed.

     

    Manual tracking is tedious, but often just as quickly done as auto tracking from other types of software, including Motion. Also, you don't have to track linearly (you can go back in forth in time making adjustments as needed).

  • by Steven Galvano,

    Steven Galvano Steven Galvano Jan 23, 2015 4:40 PM in response to fox_m
    Level 2 (289 points)
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    Jan 23, 2015 4:40 PM in response to fox_m

    This is working out nicely.

    Can I blur the edges? I don't see a "blue edges" effect.

    Like an edge feathering?

  • by fox_m,

    fox_m fox_m Jan 23, 2015 5:50 PM in response to Steven Galvano
    Level 5 (5,532 points)
    Video
    Jan 23, 2015 5:50 PM in response to Steven Galvano

    You can do a little bit of feathering by applying a Keying > Mask to the clip (recommended before you distort) The Mask effect has a feathering parameter (but only works in the negative direction when set up "edge-to-edge" on a clip.)

     

    If you don't need much of an edge blur, you can try this effect: Blur Edges

     

    It's effective up to about an Amount of 40. Beyond that, you might detect an inner edge starting to sharpen back up.  It was a quick hack but might work better than using the Mask feather.

  • by Steven Galvano,

    Steven Galvano Steven Galvano Jan 23, 2015 7:21 PM in response to fox_m
    Level 2 (289 points)
    Video
    Jan 23, 2015 7:21 PM in response to fox_m

    I appreciate you insight and I liked the idea of keeping in in FCP, but after getting lackluster results (even after keying each frame), I tried corner pinning in motion. It took only minutes to set up and the results are incredible. Looks 100% convincing.

  • by BenB,

    BenB BenB Jan 24, 2015 6:48 PM in response to Steven Galvano
    Level 6 (9,901 points)
    Audio
    Jan 24, 2015 6:48 PM in response to Steven Galvano

    SliceX from Coremelt would have been even easier and fasting, and kept you inside FCPX.