Scale in Final Cut Pro

Hi, just a question about the scale function in the motion tab.
Let's say I want to simulate a slow zoom-in on my footage by scaling up from 100 to 110 over the course of a few seconds. The footage is 720p. Obviously, this isn't ideal because I'll lose some quality by up-scaling my source footage past 100%.
Here's something I've done in the past to try to work around this issue:
My footage is 1280 x 720 but my delivery resolution will be 640 x 360. So, I edit my video in the 720p sequence, and then when I'm ready to do some "zooming in" by changing the scale, I go to the sequence settings window and change the sequence size from 1280 x 720 to 640 x 360. Then, I scale my footage down from 100 to 50. Now, if I want to simulate a zoom-in, I can change a clip's scale size from 50 to 55 (rather than having to scale it above 100).
This seems to work okay most of the time, but it's a hassle to do. My question is, has anyone else used this method? If so, what do you think? Is this the ideal way to accomplish what I'm trying to do or is there a better process?
Also, I'm wondering, is Final Cut Pro intelligent enough to recognize when I'm exporting to a frame size smaller than my source footage, and then complete this process for me?
Thanks!

You've got the correct way to do it. Just make sure that you are adjusting correctly for differences in pixel aspect ratio. Sounds like you're delivering for the internet so your target pixel aspect ratio should be square.

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I have Video camera movies that are HD format.. I am doing editing work on them using Final Cut Pro, but using DV PAL format for the projects I am editing. When I then tried to copy my work done in FCP Project that's originally DV PAL , into a new FCP Pro

I have Video camera movies that are HD format.. I am doing editing work on them using Final Cut Pro, but using DV PAL format for the projects I am editing. When I then tried to copy my work done in FCP Project that's originally DV PAL , into a new FCP Project that is HD, and tried reconnect media with original HD movies (video), the sequence project got distorted for all the text, shapes used and all.. everything changed its orientation and scale.. Is there a way by which I can preserve my work done on DV PAL and switch it preserving its proportions, scale and orientation, but on a HD project sequence?? Appreciate your help and advice..

Yes. A couple of ways that might work.
First Way
What you need to do is load one of your hd clips in the viewer and edit into a new HD sequence. Does it display correctionly?
OK, select the clip in the hd timeline and copy (command-c). Now go to the HD sequence with the material that's distorted. Select all (command-a) and paste attributes (option-v) and choose basic motion and distort. That should maek things work. What won't work is anything that you've adjusted as far as basic motion or distort in your PAL sequence. That I'm pretty sure you'll have to redo.
Second Way.
Choose your original PAL sequence and do a Media Manage changing the sequence preset to the appropriate HD paramenters with the media offline. You then should be able to reconnect these clips with your original HD media.

A Case Study Question in the Use of Stills with Final Cut Pro

Believe it or not, for the last week I have been reading endlessly about pixels, resolution, aspect ratio, Photoshop resizing, the bloody battle over the usefulness of the term "dpi" in video discussions, and generally about what one should do in order to use still images in a film edited in Final Cut Pro. And yet, though I have a PhD from an Ivy League university, and can understand a lot of things, I am sorry to say I am still at a loss.
Much of the discussions of photos on forums like this one are either quite technical or broadly philosophical. But my questions are completely practical and specific. I am not a photographer or a printer, nor am I an experienced editor. I am just a fairly smart person trying to use photos in his film. So I am going to ask some specific questions and hope for specific answers, without any philosophical waffling or technical mumbo jumbo.
I have one of those HP all in one printer/fax/scanner machines. I am told this device, while not fancy, is perfectly adequate to the task. Some of my photos I scan with this device from prints. Some of them I get from other people. (I have stopped downloading photos from the web, as the quality is nearly always poor.) I have Photoshop Essentials (not Photoshop). I am making a 90-minute HDV documentary, 16x9. The doc is mostly HDV footage with a still here and there. I want to be able to move on the photos (zoom, pan, etc.). I want, obviously, for them to look good. My sense is that the work flow is: (a) scan the photo (or obtain from some source as a digital file); alter the photo in some way in Photoshop; and (b) import the photo into your FCP project.
Question #1: If I have a 6x8 print, what settings should I scan it in with -- is it possible there really is no difference between scanning in it at 72dpi and 300dpi? Is it really all about the dimensions of the image? Isn't a photo whose dimensions are enlarged in Photoshop to make it available for panning and zooming in my sequence going to look fuzzier and more pixelated if it was originally scanned at 72dpi than at 300dpi? Also: Does it matter if I save it as a jpeg or tiff? Bottom line: What settings do I use in my scanning software when I scan a photo for this purpose?
Question #2: Once I have the image file on my hard drive, I suppose I now have to load it into Photoshop Elements and do something to it. What is it exactly I am using this program for? I'm going to take a wild guess. I use PS Elements to (1) crop the photo so that it has a 16x9 aspect ratio, and (2) resize it so that I can do pans and other Ken Burnsy moves on it in FCP. Bottom line: What exactly do I do in PSE to the photo and what settings do I use to both (a) make it available for moves and (b) not injure the quality of the photo by increasing its dimensions?
(In passing, I will say that I have done experiments that show that if I increase a photo's dimensions to, say, 4000 pixels by 2000 pixels, the photo's quality definitely and obviously suffers. I don't understand how a picture can be increased in size without losing sharpness. So, what am I doing wrong? Is this a function of it having been scanned in improperly to begin with?)
Question #3: If I am obtaining a photo from an outside source -- say, a professional photographer -- what are the specifications I ask for in both a hard print and a photo file? If the former, what dimensions do I ask for? If the latter, do I specify resolution and dimensions and file type?
These are my questions. At this point, I really don't want to know WHY any of this is the way it is. I just want someone to say: "Do this; do this; and then do this."
Thank you very much.

Studio X is absolutely correct; while DPI has no meaning in the video world, it often has significant meaning in scanning (and, of course, printing). If your scanning program only allows image size adjustments in DPI, then you'll have to adapt to that ... keeping in mind that the scanner's DPI setting directly relates to pixel resolution. And it is pixel resolution (not DPI) that will make all the difference in the world for images used in video. You can test this yourself by scanning an image at 1000 x 1200 @ 72 DPI and again at 1000 x 1200 at 300 DPI. They will look identical on TV or projection as long as the pixel resolution remains the same.
As an example, my Epson scanning software allows me to adjust image size by DPI or pixel resolution. Wanting to maintain the correct aspect ratio for the image area that I'm scanning, I adjust the DPI setting which in turn adjusts the pixel resolution automatically. But it doesn't work the other way around; if I adjust the pixel resolution settings manually, the DPI setting does not change. Your software may vary.
As Jim Cookman suggested, a scan setting of 300 DPI works well for most images ranging from 3 x 5 to 4 x 6 (typical snapshot size) in a DV Sequence. I may scan smaller images at 400 or 600 DPI and larger images (8 x 10 and up) at 150 DPI. Other size images fall in between those numbers. But I'm constantly watching the pixel resolution numbers to make sure I'm getting what I'll need to support the animation I intend to apply to the images once in FCP. Also bear in mind that I don't always scan the entire image. I only scan the area of an image that I intend to use in my program.
So the answer is that it all depends on your scanner's software and how far you plan to push into an image once in FCP. Do a few experiments ... you're a bright fellow so it shouldn't take long for you to find the formula that suits your purposes.
I haven't edited an HD Sequence using images yet, so I cannot offer definitive pixel resolutions for you there.
On to your specific questions:
1. See above. There is no one correct answer It all depends on what you intend to do with the image once it's in FCP. If you only plan to push in about 10%, you won't need much higher resolution than the equivalent of your FCP Sequence resolution. If you plan to push in further, you'll need a higher resolution to support that move.
2. I've been doing these for many years (SD Sequences only) and I've never loaded them into Photoshop first. I import the entire folder into FCP and drop it on the Timeline so I can see what the images look like on TV; unless your program is for CD-ROM or web delivery, that's where it counts. When you place them on the Timeline, FCP will automatically scale to your Sequence settings and pixel aspect ratio. If I see that some of them need adjustment using an external editor such as Photoshop, then and only then do I use that program. And by the way, if you have a vertical image and a 16 x 9 aspect ratio in FCP, how do you propose to crop it to fit? Perhaps you meant another term instead of "crop."
3. If it's a print, it won't matter what size they supply because you'll control the image size when scanning. If it's a file ... once again, the size (pixel resolution) depends on what you intend to do with the image once in FCP.
I really don't want to know WHY any of this is the way it is. I just want someone to say: "Do this; do this; and then do this."<<</div>
With that attitude, how did you ever earn a PhD from an Ivy League university? But if that is truly all you want, you might consider hiring an experienced editor to do it for you.
-DH

HT4769 How to open a FULL HD video file with extension .mpeg2 in Final Cut Pro X ?

I would like to know How to Import or Open a Video FULL HD in Final Cut Pro X or Final Cut Pro 7.0.3 . . . I only can Open a HD video but not a FULL HD.
May need some codec ??? May some setup . . .
Whithout info , I have to RECODE a file to downgrade resolution . . . using a software like a Hand Brake to CONVERT to another extension like .mov, m4p, mkv, etc . . .
Same problem occur with a " iMovie " software comming with OS Lion . . .
So, why ?
Double work . . . double file occupied in hard drive . . . lost time !
Someone can Help Me ?
Thanks,
jbgodoy

@daguerratype
The Spatial Conform is one of the things I tried. Unfortunately none of its settings fixed the aspect ratio. When I choose "Fit", it simply shows it as 4:3 and leaves left and right black borders on a 16:9 timeline. When I choose "Fill", it zooms the 4:3 video and chops off the top and bottom parts.
@Thomas Emmerich
This is a decent workaround. Fortunately my clips are named in such a way that I can easily drop them all in the timeline and do a Command-F (Find) to search by clip name, highlight all of them in the search results, then use the Inspector to modify the properties of all the clips at once. I have to change X-scale to 133% and Spatial Conform to "Fit", and now at least it fits the 16:9 timeline properly.
Thanks to both replies. I still hope Apple adds a way to fix the clip in the Event browser so that I don't have to do this workaround.

How to change DV/DVCPRO video to 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio in Final Cut Pro X?

I shot some DV video footage on a Canon XL2 in 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio mode. I captured it on a Firestore and imported it into Final Cut Pro X, and it is now being displayed in an incorrect standard 4:3 aspect ratio.
How can I change the aspect ratio of the video within FCPX once I've imported it?
I've tried playing with the Spatial Conform setting for the video file, but that keeps it in a standard aspect ratio and fits or fills the video into a different aspect ratio. So that's not the answer.
I've tried an old trick I used when working with DV widescreen video and iDVD, but this process doesn't fix the aspect ratio in FCPX. Here's the article for your reference:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2179
Did Apple forget that DV/DVCPRO video--although standard def--can be displayed in 4:3 or 16:9? It seems to force it to 4:3.
Thanks.

@daguerratype
The Spatial Conform is one of the things I tried. Unfortunately none of its settings fixed the aspect ratio. When I choose "Fit", it simply shows it as 4:3 and leaves left and right black borders on a 16:9 timeline. When I choose "Fill", it zooms the 4:3 video and chops off the top and bottom parts.
@Thomas Emmerich
This is a decent workaround. Fortunately my clips are named in such a way that I can easily drop them all in the timeline and do a Command-F (Find) to search by clip name, highlight all of them in the search results, then use the Inspector to modify the properties of all the clips at once. I have to change X-scale to 133% and Spatial Conform to "Fit", and now at least it fits the 16:9 timeline properly.
Thanks to both replies. I still hope Apple adds a way to fix the clip in the Event browser so that I don't have to do this workaround.

Moving from Linux to Final Cut Pro, Need Help Creating Same Mpeg-4 videos

I am seeking to move into Final Cut Pro to develop these types of videos that I have previously been creating in Linux.
How can Final Cut Pro make these videos in the format specified below (OR VERY CLOSE TO IT)?
Please let me know what settings with screenshots, etc. will make final cut pro output in this way.
MINIMUM output requirements Video codec: Mpeg-4 (divx) with 2400 vbitrate, Audio Codec: MP3 and File container .avi
I look forward to your help, below are the details I've used in Linux, so please help me create these videos using Final Cut Pro.
I need this information by the end of the week.
Thanks!
To Convert from a captured uncompressed video to MPEG-4 (Divx) with MP3
audio at 2400 bits using mencoder
http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/man/en/mplayer.1.html
mencoder -ffourcc divx capture002.avi -oac mp3lame -ovc lavc -lavcopts
vcodec=mpeg4:vbitrate=2400:v4mv:mbd=2:trell:cmp=3:subcmp=3:mbcmp=3:autoaspect:vp ass=1
-vf harddup -noskip -mc 0 -o test.avi
-------------VIDEO ------------
Video Encoded to Codec (MPEG-4) with ffourcc divx (divx4)
Video Bitrate = 2400 (vbitrate=2400),
Allow 4 motion vectors per macroblock (slightly better quality) (v4mv)
Motion estimation=2 (mbd=2)
Trellis searched quantization. This will find the optimal encoding for
each 8x8 block. Trellis searched quantization is quite simply an optimal
quantization in the PSNR versus bitrate sense (Assuming that there would
be no rounding errors introduced by the IDCT, which is obviously not the
case.). It simply finds a block for the minimum of error and lambda*bits.
(trell)
Sets the comparison function for full pel motion estimation (cmp=3)
Sets the comparison function for sub pel motion estimation (subcmp=3)
Motion Search Algorithm (mbcmp=3)
Same as the aspect option, but automatically computes aspect, taking into
account all the adjustments (crop/expand/scale/ etc.) made in the filter
chain. Does not incur a performance penalty, so you can safely leave it
always on. (autoaspect)
Activates internal two (or more) pass mode, only specify if you wish to
use two (or more) pass encoding. (vpass=1)
duplicate frames (harddup)
no skipping (-noskip)
------------- AUDIO ------------
Audio Encoded to Codec (MPEG-3)
------------- FILE CONTAINER ------------
File Container (.avi)
DOCUMENTATION FOR MENCODER
http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/man/en/mplayer.1.html#GENERAL%20ENCODING%20OPTIONS% 20(MENCODER%20ONLY)

I need this information by the end of the week.< </div>
Not likely.
Easiest solution is to produce your edited material in FCP and then move the fully rendered, self-contained movie, in whatever format you are producing, to your Linux machine and use its encoder/transcoder.
Compressor will do the job for MP3 and MP4 but you will need to purchase the DIVX codec or transport it to your Mac. You need to talk to DiVX and you need to open the manual for Compressor. Compressor is not easy to learn how to use i na day but whatever you were using on your Linux box was much more difficult to learn.
bogiesan

How to achieve the distort motion effect ala Final Cut Pro in Premiere CS4?

Newbie here.
I have just recently started with video editing. In Final Cut Pro I have the option to distort a still image in the motion/effects panel. In premiere cs4 I only find the option to scale it up/down without the option to individually distort the four corners. Does anyone know how this can be done in premiere cs4?
The effect i am going for is the same as in Apples presentation of iPad. http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/specialevent0110/
I have an presentation wich I need to insert all the slides from the powerpoint presentation in the video.
Any help would be appreciated. ( I have searched around for an solution, but without results)
Regards T

Here is a resource, that deserves a bookmark, the PrPro-Wiki. Plenty of great FAQ articles and tutorials.
I see the "Distort" part of the Effect in FCP, but the "Motion" aspect was throwing me. I kept thinking Posterize Time, and that is anything but what you were looking for. That's why I was going to head to Google for the FCP Help files, or similar.
Good luck,
Hunt

How can I publish the "levels" effect to final cut pro x?

Hello,
I'm trying to publish all of the color correction plugins from motion into final cut pro x, the "levels" effect in particular. I have read the instructions in the manual and published all the parameters and then saved it to send it over to final cut pro x but the problem that I'm having is when I open it up in final cut pro x all the parameters are there except for the histogram and its controls, what am I doing wrong and how can I fix it? Thanks.

The short answer is you can't publish the levels graphic UI (you can, but it doesn't work in FCPX - all you get is the collection of the individual slider controls.)
You can create a shape with a gradient fill. Set a middle color tab and a second opacity tab. You can use Link parameter behaviors from the color/opacity tabs to the the filter > Levels parameter controls. Use the color tabs for Black In, Gamma and White In. Use the Opacity tabs for Black Out and White Out.
You can publish the shape's gradient.
The problem is, to publish this UI, you're publishing an actual gradient and people will be able to make alterations to the gradient (it won't change how it operates the levels controls.) The other problem with it is that it is possible for users to accidentally pull off or add new tabs which will immediately break the effect (and immediate "undo" should repair it though). Then, figuring out how to manipulate the Gamma control is going to be a trick (I haven't figured out yet.) The values go from 5 (all the way left) to 0 (all the way right - with 1 the 50% mark) for the Gamma control itself, but the UI controller (the middle tab on the gradient) moves the control in the opposite direction and the values are logarithmic in scale. You can use the mid-tab control on the gradient linked to the gamma parameter value, but it won't behave the same way as you would expect a genuine levels control to behave (left to right goes from black to white when the expectation would be the opposite.)
A gradient with links into the filter is about the only way to go if you want it give it a shot.

I recently acquired Final Cut Pro and my concern is that when attempting to download old footage from cine or standard 8, that is 4:9 aspect. There does not appear to be a way of instructing F C Pro to automatically convert images to 16:9 ratio?

Mac Book Pro version (10.6.i) Snow Leopard.
I am an inexperience user and recently acquired Final Cut Pro to supplement my Imove application.
My question is - How can I instruct F C Pro to automatically convert 4:9 aspect material (old cine and standard 8 recordings) to 16:9 aspect.
At the moment I am adjusting each clip manually to fit 16:9, not a very good way to proceed! I have no problem with Imovie in this respect and wonder if
F C Pro offers the same facillity? Can not find any clues either from Apple store or elsewhere.

You mean 14:9, right?? 8mm film frame aspect ratio is 1.58. I find it hard to believe that your telecined video has the same aspect as the original film unless it has been explicitly trimmed to those dimensions. If that's the case, it's pillarboxed in the 16:9 format or letterboxed in the 4:3 format.
You could try to select all your clips and in the Video Inspector > Spatial Conform, select Fill. This will cause your clips to expand to fill the 16:9 "space". This also means that portions of the edges will "overflow" the boundaries of the modern frame (most likely the top and bottom edges.) It shouldn't be that much and if you're telecined film is letterboxed in 4:3, it will be a lot less so afterwards!
You can also select all your clips, assuming they are all the same dimensions, and adjust the (Video > Transform > ) Scale in "one throw" (if you turn down the disclosure triangle you can adjust width and height independently—I am assuming that since you want it to fit, you don't mind minor stretching.)

Retina mac book pro and Final Cut Pro x

retina mac book pro and Final Cut Pro x is crashing when I use any keying filter. It doesn't should color wheels or grey scale sliders and when I click where they should be they crash. Any ideas?

I actually trashed the prefs three times before I reinstalled the whole app. Here is the screen shot. Notice under color selection sub menu no color wheel. Everytime I click in that general area, it crashes.

How to get past Final Cut Pro X hanging at 95% exporting to YouTube?

Final Cut Pro X takes hours to process a project to share through YouTube and then hangs at 95%. What can I do to fix this?

See if you can first upload the video in lesser quality, so if it is HD 1080p, try to scale it down SD or large 540p. You can do that by unchecking the "set size automatically" and choosing the size. Also ensure first that the faster encode (single pass) is on. Then upload the video and see what happens. By the way, how long is your video?

Playback Lag when sending from Color to Final Cut Pro

Hi,
Im currently editing a video in Final Cut Pro 7, everything is fine i have everything layed out perfectly in my sequence, and it plays back fine etc.
I then send it to Color, once i have finished in color, i choose to render every clip, then once that is done i try to send back to final cut, but it tells me some of the clips arent rendered, yet i try several times with choosing them all to render and rendering them.
so after a while i ignore the warning and send it back to final cut, however once back in final cut the clips play extremley laggy, almost asif its about 10% the speed, but the audio is fine?
PLEASEEEEE help, this has never happend before
thanks
phill

I mean IN FINAL CUT, not Color. In FINAL CUT, load the clip into the VIEWER, THAT is where you check the SCALE.
Shane

Mini-Dvi to Video out from Final Cut Pro working

Thanx Everybody for posting reply for my post regarding running video out to external TV from Final Cut Pro in MacBook.
It's working fine.

@ Studio X : The files were originally created with Final Cut Pro, rendered out to QuickTime, then are being played back with Final Cut Pro. The file that has the most noticable studdering is a 60-minute timeline sequence in Final Cut. All files are being stored and played back from the Mac Mini's internal hard drive. Everything was originally shot on DV and formatted for a 4:3 aspect ratio.
@ Shane Ross : Are there any settings in the MacOS or FCP where I can improve the HDMI video signal? Or do you know of / have any experience with Firewire to HDMI converters? Unfortunately, my new signal path relies on HDMI from the video playback.
My current setup uses the Firewire output, which is then converted to composite video & analog audio using a pair of ageing DV tape decks. That setup is becoming troublesome due to age.

I have recently purchased MacBook Pro with Mac OSX 10.7.3 Lion and I would like to install Final Cut Pro 6 Studio2, and it came up with this error: 'you can't open application FinalCutProStudio.mpkg because PowerPc apps are no longer supported..pls advise

I have recently purchased MacBook Pro with Mac OSX 10.7.3 Lion and I would like to install Final Cut Pro 6 Studio2, and it came up with this error: 'you can't open application FinalCutProStudio.mpkg because PowerPc apps are no longer supported......Is there a way to run FCP6 on lion withoput this error? Any help would be appreciated.....

Hi Shane,
Just one more quesiton re: this topic, I am looking to get rosetta but do not have Leopard or Snow Leopard...
I read that it is not on Snow Leopard only on Leopard....so do I need to get only Leopard? Can u advise?
Alternatively I do have Mac OS X Tiger so is it on this and can I install it from here?
Please excuse my lack of knowledge here, just trying to get my FCP 6 up and running asap....
Best Rgds.

How to use Final Cut Pro with multiple user accounts?

Hi,
I want to use Final Cut Pro on a clean user account. How do I set it up? How can I access my old FCP library and still work on it from multiple users?
Also, I want my DropBox account to back-up my media. Any tips?

I use external drives as backup. But I don't trust them. And in case of fire or what ever...It is of no use...
But I agree on your comment about DropBox. It would have been the perfect solution though.
What else is there?
I have a 2TB HD but these projects are huge and still growing - so I have to move my projects to several external drives. So maybe I should just work directly from external drives and skip the partition of the computers main drive? I am thinking of the disadvantage of reducing the total storage of the disk.

Scale in Final Cut Pro

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