Using blade to seperate a clip causes a skip in video

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Level 1

8 points

Using blade to seperate a clip causes a skip in video

I am editing a travel video and have a few questions for using FCPx:

1) I have a clip that has varied exposure throughout the clip segment. To solve this, I used the blade to cut the clip in two parts where the exposures differ, then I adjusted the colors so they match. However, the blade causes the video to skip in the part where it's cut. I tried cutting it in different places, but same result. I have also used a compound clip which preserves the settings but the skip is still there. I also tried joining the two clips together which eliminates the skip but it also eliminates the two different settings.

How can I fix the varying exposure without having to use the blade? Is there something that will balance the exposure and contrast through out the video automatically?

2) Let's say I am using several edits for the same clip such as filmconvert and just the basic color adjustment, how does fcpx treat several settings that may correct the same thing (i.e. color)? Does it lessen the quality if it is more than one? Sometimes I add some desaturation on the basic color adjustment, then again on filmconvert.

Help is much appreciated! I am new at color grading and it's driving me crazy. I think it's taken me about 30 hours in the past 3 days to get to where i am 😟

Final Cut Pro X

Posted on Jun 30, 2016 8:03 PM

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Answer 1

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,816 points

Jun 30, 2016 8:21 PM in response to Escapaway

1) put a cross dissolve between the two clips with different corrections. A fairly slow dissolve usually works well.

Don't know what 2 means, but if I understand it correctly probably not. The application starts from the original/optimized media and builds each effect from the top down one after the other calculating on the highest quality available media. It does not make multiple intermediate copies to build the final output file.

Sounds like you're making it too complicated. Multiple adjustments with similar effects may give you a slightly different effect, but you should be aware that most viewers will never ever see the subtleties in your correction. The subtleties in the shadow detail in Game of Thrones' murky scenes are lost to 99.99% of viewers whose sets only see black.

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Answer 2

Escapaway Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 30, 2016 8:21 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

1) I tried a cross dissolve but it doesn't seem to hide it. There's still a skip. It's a continuous zoom out / outward motion with a drone. The clip is quite short at about 4-5 secs, so there's not TOO much room for a longer dissolve. Any other ideas?

2) I see your point. Well I was doing it out of pure laziness sometimes and also the fact that the i5 is incredibly slow at editing 4k video. So I'd make a correction like desaturation on basic color adjustments, then another one in a plugin. It's kinda pointless, but I then realized if this was affecting the quality of the video.

Thanks for your help thus far. And funny enough, I am making a Game of Thrones themed video of Portugal 😀

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Answer 3

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,816 points

Jun 30, 2016 8:25 PM in response to Escapaway

UUnless you cut frames out when you bladed the continuous shot there shouldn't be any skipping in the dissolve.

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Answer 4

Escapaway Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 30, 2016 8:26 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

I will try again right now.

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Answer 5

Escapaway Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 30, 2016 8:32 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

It actually worked, but now the shot looks blurry as it's blending two clips that are part of the same continuous shot :/ I tried shortening the dissolve but it's still quite noticeable.

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Answer 6

Escapaway Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 30, 2016 8:41 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Is there no better way to save a shot with different exposures through out? Unfortunately I had exposure set to automatic 😟

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Answer 7

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Jul 1, 2016 4:39 AM in response to Escapaway

An alternative: Typically I don't use the blade method (which is nonetheless a popular approach). Rather, I duplicate the clip and stack it directly above the clip with the exposure problems…adjusting the exposure to the extreme value needed and then key framing the upper clip's opacity as needed.

Good luck.

Russ

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