3D composition opacity

As I am building up this project of mine, I have added a pre-comp that includes a neon sign and a brick wall. Regardless of the stacking order in the layers panel and timeline and regardless of their respective positions in the 3D space (I've tried moving the Z axis back & forth for both layers), the animated character that already lived in this scene (as its own composition) keeps showing through the bricks of the wall behind...Bearing in mind that the composition with this character is a 100% opaque and its mode is set to normal, I wonder, what can it be making it somehow 'transparent'?
I'll look forward to your suggestiions!
Cheers

Well Todd, I know it can be a nuisance when people pose real dumb questions even before they take the time to figure things out and I don't know how could I possibly have missed the opacity under the Transform options...anyway, its been a real battle this thing I'm doing, but its coming toghether....AE has got quite a steep learning curve and I know I'm nowhere near its half so you'll probably be hearing from me every now & then

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FCPX - Range Selection in Compositing Opacity

I have selected a range in the Compositing Opacity (video animation) section of an image. After selecting, I tried to drag down the top line of the yellow box to reduce the opacity but it won't drag. It doesn't turn into the crosshair but remains as an arrow. Help!

Hard to post screenshots because I need to show the cursor in the image but I need the mouse to do the screenshot but here is the first step
As soon as I put the mouse on the top horizontal line of the yellow rectangle, the entire rectangle turns into a thin yellow vertical line and as soon as I take the mouse away from the line, it disappears completely.

Compositing Opacity, Fades

When I add a fade to a frame, (control V) then double click compositing opacity, it begins to take a while when you're doing many frames. Is there a shortcut or can I set up FCP to add fades automatically at a chosen preference?

Thanks again guys, this is great. I have a another question. I hope no one minds. I use an external to do all my editing and I automatically duplicate all imports to my Final Cut Events folder. But when I take my external to another computer, some clips are missing. They are in the folder but final cut can't read them, some even have an arrow.
On my desktop, I created a folder named "downloads" for all my photos and clips. I'm guessing final cut is reading some of these photos and videos right from this "downloads" folder and when I go elsewhere, this folder isn't there so I get missing clips. Does this make sense?
Any ideas how I can take my external to other computers without this issue?

Compositing: Opacity - randomly making fade ins to clips

I'm on my fifth FCPX project. This one is a simple two camera shoot of an event - a dance competition. I set up my A camera as the primary storyline, my B camera (which I only shot for the actual dances) as b-roll. Not a secondary storyline, per-se.
When it came time for finishing, I wanted to Overwrite to Primary Storyline to simplify. When I did, I found random fade ins appeared all throughout the project. Always fade in, never fade out, and very inconsistent.
Very annoying to have issues like this at the final stage. QCing becomes a nightmare.
Thanks -
David

MikeAiken wrote:
...what's the absolute best format to export these intermediate files as full 1920x1080 to avoid as much recompression as possible?
Others have answered your direct question. The implied question is about workflow and how to maintain maximum quality. One way is to avoid making an intermediate.
You don't have to work on your footage in separate projects. You can work on separate sequences inside one project. If you do this, you avoid having to create an intermediate and maintain highest possible quality.
What I've done before in similar situations is to create subclips and then create another sequence and work on those subclips there. The subclips reference the original file non-destructively as is PPro's way, so maximum quality is maintained. When you're done adding titles, transitions, audio work, etc. then you just export this sequence just like you normally do.
PPro is a huge and complex program, and there are usually many ways to accomplish the same task. I'm only bring this up as an alternative way of accomplishing this task on the off chance you hadn't thought of it. Clearly, YMMV.

Keyframes - greater control, curves other than opacity

Keyframes and in particular their curve shape can be controlled in the Compositing:Opacity attribute quite easily.
For Transform and most others, I cannot see any way of adjusting the curve shape.
Is this not possible? Should I assume that the curve for Transform is created as linear?
And if I want a "curve" with ease in/out or similar, I will need to add many keyframes to approximate this?

I am refering to the keyframes you see in the viewer after you have done a transformation on a clip. The viewer shows the motion path with the assigned keyframes. See the pic.

Dissolve / Opacity fade problems after nudging

Hi there,
I'm a total newbie in regards to FCP, so please bear with me.
I'm working on a slide show and am trying to adjust the timing of several elements...
I selected the parts that I wanted to move and used "," and "." to nudge them into the desired position...
Now the timing works better for me...
But I had some additional layers on top of my main layer that I faded in and out with Video Animation / Compositing : Opacity...
The parts that were moved now often have this weird flickering when played back... And this seems to be rendered as such as well...
The work around seems to be to manually reset those fades and redo them... But I cannot believe that this is the way it's supposed to be...
What am I missing?
Thank you!
D.

Thank you, Russ!
Here's my screen shot...
When I nudge the images the fades seem to rerender...

How do I make a clip fade in from white, without affecting / overlapping the previous clip?

Hi,
The simple scenario is, I have two clips in my timeline. I have the the first clip that ends on a white flash frame. I want the second clip to fade in from white, so that there is visual continuity between the two clips. I don't want to change the duration of the two clips and add any additional frames.
Whenever I use the Fade To Colour dissolve, and simply switch out the black colour to white, which does exactly what I want, the dissolve always affects / overlaps the first clip when you subsequently put them together. How can I have only the second clip fade in from white and be affected by the Fade To Colour?
I've also tried using the compositing opacity handles in the show video animation dialogue but this only lets you fade the clip in from a black background. If I could change the colour of that compositing opacity background to white, so that it fades in from white instead of black, then that would be perfect but I can't see how you can do it? Can that be done?
I'd like the simplest and quickest possible solution, ideally changing the colour of the compositing opacity background would be best but how else can I have a clip fade in from white?
Thanks,
Clown Guy

I also have this question. Avid lets you change the frame up/down - to/from a dissolve point. In other words, I could have a dissolve go "up" at, for example, 5 frames, and then "down" at, say, 15 frames. As it stands now, FCPX only allows you the same amount of frames on either side of the cross-dissolve. (A 30-frame dissolve is split 15 frames on either side of the transition.)
Other NLE's give you the option for a dissolve to occur at the BEGINNING, in the MIDDLE (STANDARD CROSS-DISSOLVE) or at the END of a transition. (Depending, of course, on if you have the "handles" to execute the transition,)
Can we achieve this in FCPX? Is this where we launch the "precision editor?"

Why is it, if i have one video clip in the timeline, i can't just add a transition at the end of that solo clip to fade to black!?! please help!

hey there, so im making a video for a family event..
i drag in an audio clip all of a sudden this becomes the be all and end all, and i want to sync some vid clips to that audio track, so let's say i drag in a 10 second video clip, at the end of the 10 seconds, i want to add a transition to fade to black.. i go to the transition window.. choose the cross dissolve or fade to colour, but it will not allow me to drag it on that video clip.. it always ends up on the audio track. this bloody application is so confusing compared to final cut. please help!

Ahhh, now I see the problem, Grasshopper. Problem is, we are all Grasshoppers, here.
Yes, that little piece of info is critical. I'd say the biggest difficulty with FCPX is the whole new language.
If I read you correctly, your Audio is in the Main Storyline (Track 1 in plain old Editorese). This makes anything else you add (above or below) a "connected clip", which we can no longer think of as "Track 2" because Jobs sez so. So, yes, you cannot just add a transition to either end of a connected clip.
No argument with Tracy's solution, because I haven't seen any other general solution presented for any attempt to treat connected clips as the main storyline. And, of course, when they were "track 1" and "track 2", you could.
An alternative solution, however, is to highlight the connected clip and press Ctrl-V to bring up the Video Animation Editor. Click the "reveal button" for Compositing: Opacity (bottom, right). Once open, there is a "fade handle" to the right top. Drag it left for however much fade you wish. (there is one on the left as well, but you were only talking about a fade-out.)
A second alternative, perhaps for future projects where everything keys on audio, may be to create a Gap clip (used to be called slug) in the primary storyline before ever dropping in the audio. Then you can add video to the main story line and modify it without having to go thru hoops to do the simplest thing.

Cutaways and Effects in FCPX

I am trying to place a cutaway above the main video, and have that cutaway show full screen for a few seconds then move to a picture in picture in the corner. I can accomplish all of this easily, except I want the cutaway to have a fadeout at the end. I cannot add fades unless I make the cutaway clip a storyline. But when I add a fade to the end of the cutaway, which is now a small video in the corner, the fade works on both video tracks instead of just the cutaway. Does anyone know how to make this effect work only on one video track?
Thanks
Scott

That's right - it appears that transitions only work on the primary track.
You need to change the opacity of your cutaway.
Just add nodes to the compositing opacity and fade the cutaway out that way.

Seeing odd bands when a photo is fading out...

I have a timeline with a sequence of photos in it. The photos appear instantly, and then fade out to black over about 1/3 second (using the compositing opacity).
The problem I'm having is that I just exported the master file and watched it, and when the photos fade out, I see horizontal banding that shouldn't be there. I'm inserting some screen captures of the playback of the video that shows what I see as the photo fades to black. The screen captures just show a portion of the screen, but the problem occurs across the screen. It is very noticeable as the video plays, and it occurs as each photo fades away.
What is causing this? If I go to the timeline and advance frame by frame as the photo fades away, I don't see any of this banding in the viewer. There the photos all fade away evenly as they should with no banding.
Thank you for any information/advice.

Those screen captures that show the banding are from the exported master, which I exported in ProRes 422, and played back in Quicktime Player.
If I watch the video play back in the viewer inside FCPX, I do not see the banding at all. Given that, changing the playback preference from Better Performance to High Quality isn't necessary or advisable, is it?
The still images are different sizes (because I cropped them, I guess). They are all around 550 x 825 or so. They look good in the video (I don't see pixelization like I'd expect to if they were too small).
I'm not sure I understand what you're suggesting when you say "set it up with transiton in progressive and see if it works better." Are you saying to change the timeline to progressive? Is that possible at this point? As far as the transitions go, I could try a transition with each, but the instant each photo pops into view is aligned with the sound of a camera shutter, so I don't want to screw that up.
As far as the camera goes, I think the advice I found early on for my HF10s was to shoot in 1080 60i (I guess because the HF10s don't have 1080 60p) and I didn't even know that it's possible to work in a progressive project. I really don't have any idea why that might be better, but I'd like to know. If it is better, I definitely want to do it the best way.

Can't pull a clip onto the end of my timeline ... (1st time on iMovie) One of the clips has an orange highlight on it. Is this causing the problem?

Can't pull a clip onto the end of my timeline ... (1st time on iMovie) One of the clips has an orange highlight on it. Is this causing the problem?

Ahhh, now I see the problem, Grasshopper. Problem is, we are all Grasshoppers, here.
Yes, that little piece of info is critical. I'd say the biggest difficulty with FCPX is the whole new language.
If I read you correctly, your Audio is in the Main Storyline (Track 1 in plain old Editorese). This makes anything else you add (above or below) a "connected clip", which we can no longer think of as "Track 2" because Jobs sez so. So, yes, you cannot just add a transition to either end of a connected clip.
No argument with Tracy's solution, because I haven't seen any other general solution presented for any attempt to treat connected clips as the main storyline. And, of course, when they were "track 1" and "track 2", you could.
An alternative solution, however, is to highlight the connected clip and press Ctrl-V to bring up the Video Animation Editor. Click the "reveal button" for Compositing: Opacity (bottom, right). Once open, there is a "fade handle" to the right top. Drag it left for however much fade you wish. (there is one on the left as well, but you were only talking about a fade-out.)
A second alternative, perhaps for future projects where everything keys on audio, may be to create a Gap clip (used to be called slug) in the primary storyline before ever dropping in the audio. Then you can add video to the main story line and modify it without having to go thru hoops to do the simplest thing.

Matching Color

Hi,
Is it possible to match the color of a sepia clip in fcpx if i don't know where the sepia filter for that clip came from as in AE, Motion, etc.? that would be on a 422 mov clip. I ask because i tried using the Match Color option and although it changed the color it wasn't even close to the sepia color i was trying to match. Thanks

There should be a Sepia filter in Effects > Basics.
I have one that offers a little more control.
1) it desaturates the media (so the Amount value goes from B&W to sepiatoned)
2) it adds Brightness and Contrast controls
If you decide to use it, don't save it in the same category as the original!
You can download it here: http://fcpxtemplates.com/fxexchange/Sepia.zip
(if you need help installing: http://fcpxtemplates.com/install4fcpx/)
You can build your own color toner by
1) using the color corrector to remove all saturation (make the media grayscale)
2) overlaying a generator > Solids > Custom and picking a red—red-orange color (or any other color you're "toning")
3) going into the video inspector > Compositing and change the blend mode to (I would use) Color Burn
4) make adjustments to Compositing Opacity and Color Correction > Exposure on the original media clip and probably go back and adjust the "lightness" of the color of the Custom solid.
The Sepia filters are a fixed "grade" of color.
If you need to compare clips side by side, you can select the original in the Event browser and type Command-Control-3 (or go to the Window menu > Show Event Viewer.)
HTH

Can't get the right animation in Simple Blur - Help on How To

Ok. Opening shot of a project.
Going from black to a photo still. About 5 seconds total duration of the intended effect.
I drop Simple Blur onto the front of the clip containing the photo.
There's a nice transition from black to vague blobs to a focused, clean image.
But what I want is 4.5 seconds of very slow fade into unrecognizeable blobs, and then a quick half-second focus into the image. You don't recognize what's coming into focus until the very last moment.
Setting keyframes and curves on the simple blur and compositing opacity video animation parameters does not seem to be enabling me to get the desired effect. Even if I set both parameters to "maximum blur" and "maximum opacity" until the final half-second. The result is not what I'm after.
Moving the blur parameter doesn't do much but adjust from kind-of-blurry-but-recognizeable to perfect focus.
The opacity parameter just seems to change the brightness of the image (but not from total black to 100% image.
There seems to be another aspect of this transition that I'm looking to control, but can't.
Ideas?

I hope, I'm not lost in translation … what I would do:
split your clip at the position from 'blurred' to 'keyframed blurr':
it allows you to create a looooong dissolve
and a rapid blurred>>sharp effect
is that what you're trying to accomplish?

Controlling Speed of Transitions (& Titles)

I've searched on this & even called FCPX Tech Support, but still feel like I'm missing somthing.
For the example of wanting to start a Project fading from black into a still image, I can't seem to controll the fade in speed as much as I'd like.
Example:
If I place a "Fade to Color" Transition first, and then the Image, and then open the Video Animation box & in "Compositing Opacity" move the slider all the way from left to right, it slows the transition a bit, but I feel I should have more control to slow it further.
For my intention, would you configure as I described?
I believe that extending the times of the Transition & Clip will slow the fade in, but I'd like to have more control within a set length of time. One approach I can imagine would be as in Audio Fade, where one can choose a linear, or curved fade in - I imagine a curved video fade in would be slower than the defualt linear one.
Does that make sense?
Maybe it's just not an option, and I'd have to use Motion, or some such for the degree of control that I am looking for?
As for Titles, if I use the Fade Title, in Inspector I see that one can adjust the "In Spread" and "In Duration"
Can you tell me how you think abut these settings?
Is this what you'd use to control the speed of a Title fading in?
I'm about to play around with it more & will get a better feel, but always appreciate opinions of those with experience.
Thanks!

I'm now playing around with "Midpoint" and "Hold" settings for the Fade to Color Transition.
Again, I'm sure I will get a better feel for how to use these settings, given time, but i would appreciate opinions of those that already have experience.
How do you think of & use these settings?

Keyframe troubles

Im trying to keyframe an image to follow a really small ball but when im trying to do this all the little blue things that let me move the image is in the way of the small ball so i cant see where it is going which means i cant move the image to follow the ball as i cant see the ball if you understand me
is there anyway i can get rid of the little blue guides?
heres an image of what i mean i just want the image i can move not all the little blue circles around
[IMG]http://i46.tinypic.com/286ra1f.png[/IMG]

You could just use the Tranform controls in the inspector (you can click, drag up or down on any number to change its value.)
However, it is much easier to keyframe an object on the canvas and you can't get rid of the controls if the Transform tool is selected. So, grab a corner - and scale up the item (2-300%). Set the Compositing > Opacity to about 30-50% (so you can see your "target") - then keyframe using the center onscreen control (OSC). When you're done, go back to Transform > Scale and from the disclosure triangle that appears on the right edge when you mouse over the paramter click and select Reset Parameter. Do the same for Opacity. You'll have a keyframed object, and reset to its initial "look". It's not as "obnoxious" as it sounds.

3D composition opacity

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