No question, but a suggestion RE: Ken Burns

Hey all,
I couldn't find an appropriate place to leave "suggestions" for the Apple software gurus who are working on the next version of Final Cut Pro, so i thought I'd air it out here.
It seems that many people utilize still photo montages in FCP projects, with pans and zooms ala Ken Burns. I myself have used them many times in many different genres of video projects (longform documentary, wedding/birthday videos, etc.) I'm curious why FCP does not include a more intuitive method for doing this, other than Motion keyframes, while lower-grade products like iMovie have the feature built in.
What frustrates me the most is the supposed "control" we get with Motion keyframes; yet we also forfeit some control. This is most evident when zooming in/out of a still image. When you start zoomed in (i.e. put an inpoint Motion keyframe at 100% scale) and then zoom out, no matter how slow (outpoint keyframe at 50% scale), the image will always "accelerate" toward the outpoint. Even when using the Bezier curve handlers to ease in/out of the endpoints, it will always seem to "hurry" toward the zoomed out image.
I know the reasons for this are mathematical: when the image is larger in the frame, parameters become magnified and more coarse, thus a 10% move while zoomed out is much faster than a 10% move zoomed in. Still, it seems unlike Apple to disregard the natural, intuitive, visual, human approach to this tool: our eyes should arrive at both inpoint and outpoint gently, rather than like screeching our brakes at a red light.
I watch quite a bit of documentary television, and I can always spot when the production is using Final Cut Pro to zoom in/out of photos. The rates of acceleration, and the patterns created by the final render, are instantly recognizable for those who have been stared at FCP screens for enough hours.
And while I recognize that there are plug-ins available to make zooms/pans more smooth, I am just curious why Apple did not take the time to incorporate this seemingly simple concept into their flagship video editing software.
Anyone have any thoughts about this? Feel free to post or e-mail me.
-Jared Pike
[email protected]
G5 Mac OS X (10.4.4)

I use both FCP and After Effects for moves on photos, and I will have to agree that the acceleration is an issue. After Effects has "intelligent algorithms" to deal with this visual phenomenon...to slow down the zoom as it gets further away from the image. Avid has a plugin called PAN & ZOOM that does the same thing...used to have to use a third party app called MOVING PICTURE. That plugin is available for FCP as well.
As for the ease in/ease out options...Iately I find that I rarely want the picture moves to start from a standstill and end on one. I want a constant move. However, I do occasionally want the picture to come to rest and sit for a moment from time to time. And FCP does allow for this, you just have to plan for it.
But After Effects does a better job...and as I said, the speed of the zoom could be dealt with better. But post that at the link Pat provided.
Shane

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Not a question, but a suggestion on updating software and best practice (Adobe we need to create stickies for the forums)

Lots of you are hitting the brick wall in updating, and end result is non-recoverable project. In a production environment and with projects due, it's best that you never update while in the middle of projects. Wait until you have a day or two of down time, then test.
For best practice, get into the habit of saving off your projects to a new name by incremental versions. i.e. "project_name_v001", v002, etc.
Before you close a project, save it, then save it again to a new version. In this way you'll always have two copies and will not loose the entire project. Most projects crash upon opening (at least in my experience).
At the end of the day, copy off your current project to an external drive. I have a 1TB USB3 drive for this purpose, but you can just as easily save off just the PPro, AE and PS files to a stick. If the video corrupts, you can always re-ingest.
Which leads us to the next tip: never clear off your cards or wipe the tapes until the project is archived. Always cheaper to buy more memory than recouping lost hours of work, and your sanity.
I've been doing this for over a decade and the number of projects I've lost? Zero. Have I crashed? Oh, yeah. But I just open the previous version, save a new one and resume the edit.

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Making Ken Burns Slideshows that fit screen

I like the Ken Burns effect, and I've used it on my first three Slideshows; however, I need some tips on making the images fit the screen. Most of the time, there is no problem, but with too many images, the person's face is scanted, and that's the most important part. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against knees, hips and laps, it's just that I want the viewer to see the FACE. Also, sometimes the image has writing that is important--to me but not to the Ken Burns effect. How can I limit or focus the effect so that things I consider to be important are not negected. I might add that I now remember that I didn't use the effect on my third Slideshow because of the problems I've outlined.

In the Settings for the Ken Burns slideshow you can choose a start and end point for the effect - in other words decide where is pans from and to.
But that said, it's pretty basic. Other apps have more fine control and might be worth checking out.
Alternatives to iPhoto's slideshow include:
iMovie, on every Mac sold.
Others, in order of price: PhotoPresenter $29
PhotoToMovie $49.95
PulpMotion $129
FotoMagico $29 (Home version) ($149 Pro version, which includes PhotoPresenter)
Final Cut Pro X $299
It's difficult to compare these apps. They have differences in capability - some are driven off templates. some aren't. Some have a wider variety of transitions. Others will have excellent audio controls. It's worth checking them out to see what meets your needs. However, there is no doubt that Final Cut Pro X is the most capable app of them all. You get what you pay for.

Ken Burns: make final crop size same as crop coordinatesin next clip

I have split a clip at a certain point, say 2 seconds in.
I have a Ken Burns crop for the duration of the first two seconds so the final frame is cropped to the (red) end frame. I want this to flow seemlessly into the next frame, which has just had a normal static crop applied. I can see the crop coordinates for this, so I preseume I need my final frame of the ken Burns crop to match those coordinates so as not to get a sudden jump when it goes from the last frame of the Ken Burns crop to the first frame of the static crop.
Alternatively (popssibly better) would be not to have to spliut off the first two seconds, and make the ken burns effect last just for that duration and then stay static on the end crop size.
(I hope I'm making myself clear)
Can anyone help please?

Tom Wolsky wrote:
You can't slip the clips and make the Ken Burns effect seamless. Why are you splitting the clip? If you can avoid that it would be better.
OK, then as in the second part of my question, can I make the Ken Burns last for just the first two seconds. I can't find a way to set the duration, it seems to last the whole duration of the clip, that's why I split it because I wanted to pan/zoom with ken Burns for two seconds then stay with the final crop.

Mixing Ken Burns effected images w/ stills

I'm creating a slideshow that mixes images with the Ken Burns effect on, and images with the effect turned off. I've noticed that when I place a non-Ken Burns'd image immediately after a Ken Burns'd image, the playback isn't accurate. The still image appears black or doesn't accuratly play back what's represented on the timeline.
I've dug through a lot of threads here but haven't found my answer. And help or just links to other threads would be great!

The workaround for this, for people running Snow Leopard, is to insert a smallest possible Cross Dissolve transition between the Ken Burns clip and the still. Actually, probably any transition will work.
The problem seems to be related to Quicktime 7.6.6, and manifests with stills, not movie clips. However, Snow Leopard folks, unlike those running Leopard, have not successfully been able to revert to an earlier version of Quicktime--at least as far as I know. You will notice that the problem does not manifest between Ken Burns photos or video clips, but only when non-Ken Burns stills are involved. Ken Burns stills are really movie clips. Inserting a transition will also turn a still into a movie clip. Thus evolves the workaround.
Hope this works for you.

Ken Burns on photos greater than 60 seconds?

I want to have one photo showing for the full 4:45 duration of a song with a slow, smooth, Ken Burns pan from beginning to end. Is there a way to do this? I tried on iMovie HD and iMovie '08 but can not find out how. It looks like to get greater than 60 seconds you have to import the photo 5 times (4 with a 60 sec duration and 1 with a 45 sec duration). How can you then apply a single Ken Burns effect across all 5 photos as if they were one photo? I tried to make a Podcast in GarageBand and there I could make the photo as long as I wanted with the music but there is no Ken Burns effect available there. I saved the podcast and then imported it into iMovie to apply the Ken Burns effect but it is not available to videos in iMovie, which it what the photo turns into after GarageBand saves it. Any help would be appreciated.

Is there a way to group the photos and apply a KBE across the grouping?
No. The KBE tool can currently only be applied to a single image.
If you are willing to trade quality for time in a Ken Burns Effect, you can always create a new iMovie HD project of the appropriate type/aspect ratio, bring in the photo, create the KBE at the length you want, export it to an iMovie '08 compatible compression format, and then import the file to iMovie '08. Just remember that iMovie HD handles photos at a lower resolution than iMovie '08 and the resulting loss in quality will probably be easy to see in comparison with other photos coming directly into iMovie '08.
Karsten,
Those are beautiful effects. My complements! Will have to try doing more work with stills using pre-edits in Photoshop.

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Ken Burns Effect question

I am using iPhoto 5.0.4. When I select a number of photos (or even one photo) and select slideshow, I get the Ken Burns effect whether the KBE box is checked or not. How do I defeat the KBE? Sometimes it's great-- but I'd like the option for a plain old slideshow as well!
Is there some preference that I need to enable?
Thanks.

Hi Randolf,
Make sure it is unchecked on the toolbar and under the settings button

In 8.1.2 i have un checked the Ken BUrns effect in some individual slides. Sometimes it turns itself back on. At first I thought I'd made the mistake myself, but it has happend many times.

in 8.1.2 i have un checked the Ken Burns effect in some individual slides. Sometimes it turns itself back on. At first I thought I'd made the mistake myself, but it has happend many times. Can I avoid this? Is the software flawed?

Try trash the com.apple.iPhoto.plist file from the HD/Users/ Your Name / library / preferences folder. (Remember you'll need to reset your User options afterwards. These include minor settings like the window colour and so on. Note: If you've moved your library you'll need to point iPhoto at it again.)
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Similar To Ken Burns - But it looks like only the subject is being zoomed in and the background is staying where it is?

Hi there
Obviously I dont know the correct term for this otherwise I'd google it, but I see this effect more and more on "Making Of" special features.
It makes it look like a person, or obejct is moving (in towards the camera/screen) within a static image.
Does anyone know what this is called or how to do it in FCPX?

Luis Sequeira1 wrote:
If I understand what you are saying, this involves a little preparation.
For greater control, I would use Motion for this, but is not really hard to do (or at least simulate) in FCP X.
You'd want to use software like Photoshop or similar (Photoshop Elements is more than adequate - or, if the foreground is clearly contrasted to the background, even the "Instant Alpha" feature from Preview might do it).
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In FCP X,
add the background to your main storyline and add the foreground above it, as a connected clip. Now you can do anything to the foregound (like, for example, applying Ken Burns to it), leaving the background intact.
Note that this effect would be more dramatic in Motion, using a 3D group, to give a feeling of the person standing out. This kind of effect is referred to as 2.5D, as we're trying to simulate the third dimension (depth) by pulling apart two 2D images (the foreground and the background).
Ahh, this sounds something like what I'm after. I will have a look at it. Thanks

Ken Burns - Default to all but 2

I have a slideshow with about 400 slides in it. I have defaulted it use Ken Burns effect for all the slides. Looks wonderful. I love the randomness of the Ken Burns -- works well.
I want to put in two title slides in the beginning, but I don't want them to have Ken Burns. For the two front slides I click the Ken Burns Effect Box so it is on, and move the Start and End buttons so it stays the same for both pictures.
However, when I play the slideshow, it does Ken Burns the two in the beginning, but not with my settings.
Any idea how I can default the entire slide show to use the default Ken Burns, except for my first two?
I don't want to load into Imovie and have control all of the pictures, nor do I want to turn off the default ken burns for all 400 pictures and manually set it.
Thanks,Dennis

Dennis:
You'll have to turn off the KB effect in the Settings pane and then turn it on for each of the slides you want with the KB check box at the bottom and the start and stop slider. The Settings pane overrides the KB checkbox and its settings at the bottom.
You can create the slideshow without the first two photos in iPhoto and export to Quicktime. Then use PhotoPresenter to create a slideshow with the two extra photos and the QT movie file. PhotoPresenter will add play (and export to QT) both movie and still files.
Do you Twango?
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
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Ken Burns Effect Simple Question :)

I'm doing a video slideshow in iMovie '09 and I'm using the Ken Burns effect to pan around the pictures. I'm narrating a childrens book, and as I get to the end of the Ken Burns effect on the photo (zoomed in a little), I'd like to keep the image there, still, not moving, for a few extra seconds. Is there any way to do this?
Thank you very much for your help!
Jordan

YOu can do this by setting the Ken Burns Effect like you want it. Then copy and paste that clip so that your copy is right behind the first clip with the KBE.
Then open the Rotate, Crop, Ken Burns tool. Drag the beginning rectangle so it is the exact size of the ending rectangle. You can let that stay that size for a few seconds. Then repeat the process and zoom out if you want.

Ken Burns question

Is it possible to adjust the speed of the "pan or zoom" within a clip? i.e. If you have a 10sec clip for example...can you make the zoom be completed at say 5 seconds instead of zooming the entire 10 second clip...thanks....(fyi--I am new to iMAC and iMovie so am still learning)

Yes you can do this.
One way is to set the duration of the photo to 5 seconds. Then set the start and end rectangle for the Ken Burns effect. Then select the photo so that the yellow border is around it. THen EDIT/COPY. EDIT/PASTE. YOu now have a second copy of the photo that is five seconds. OPen the Rotate, Crop, Ken Burns Tool and move the Starting Rectangle to be the same size as the ending rectangle. Then switch from Ken Burns to Crop.
This will give you a five second pan and then a still for 5 seconds.

Ken Burn enhancemet - suggestion

The automatic Ken Burns is a neat feature when creating a slideshow. However I have to create my own Ken Burns for over 80% of the pictures because the KB effect cuts of parts that are important for the picture (faces f.ex.). And manually creating a KB for every picture in the slideshow is so time consuming.
It would be an enhancement to have a 'function' that allows to define a part of the picture that is ALWAYS visible (maybe by dragging a rectangle). The automatic KB would try to consider this 'selection'. This would really speed up workflow, no?

Danielle
On here you're only talking to fellow users like yourself. To contact the developers:
iPhoto menu -> Provide iPhoto Feedback
Regards
TD

No question, but a suggestion RE: Ken Burns

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