Widescreen Matte and Motion

I have put a widescreen matte over my project and it looks great. The only problem is when I try to use motion (zoom in on a photograph for instance) the entire frame zooms, including the widescreen. So essentially the frame turns into fullscreen and it looks very awkward. I don't see a way to put the matte on a higher level than the motion. Does anyone know a way I can solve this? Thanks in advance for any help. -Pat

here are two solutions for your problem:
1) Make your own widescreen bars out of black mattes and place them in the tracks above your video.
2) Nest your edited sequence (the one with the motion) into another sequence and put the widescreen matte on that one.
#2 is the preferred route. #1 would just make for more rendering time.
Worth remembering that when you letterbox a 4:3 movie, for the best result you need to assess each shot's composition as it stands after the letterbox has been added. Each shot may need to be reframed, perhaps a little resizing too to push out distracting edging from otherwise obscured elements. For this reason alone #1 is by far the better approach. As for rendering, you will need to do so regardless of method.
Good luck
Andy

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Widescreen matte and render times

trying to apply a 2.35:1 matte to my sequence using filters/matte/widescreen/2.35... but it seems to require a long time to render even one clip after it's been placed in the timeline... is there a way to apply a 2.35 matte and not have these long render times?... thanks.

here are two solutions for your problem:
1) Make your own widescreen bars out of black mattes and place them in the tracks above your video.
2) Nest your edited sequence (the one with the motion) into another sequence and put the widescreen matte on that one.
#2 is the preferred route. #1 would just make for more rendering time.
Worth remembering that when you letterbox a 4:3 movie, for the best result you need to assess each shot's composition as it stands after the letterbox has been added. Each shot may need to be reframed, perhaps a little resizing too to push out distracting edging from otherwise obscured elements. For this reason alone #1 is by far the better approach. As for rendering, you will need to do so regardless of method.
Good luck
Andy

Applying widescreen matte to still photos in motion

I shot some footage for a documentary using my Canon XL2, 16:9 format. I'm adding some still photos using motion. Is it possible to apply the Widescreen matte effect so the photos match the widescreen look of my footage? I can't figure out how.

Use the Photoshop preset for DV/D1 widescreen as a template and paste your photos into that.
You will need to use Photoshop's Transform controls to frame your photos and have to decide what part of the top and/or bottom gets cropped off.
If you want to zoom or pan, use the original photos in Motion and make sure the photo fills the screen at its smallest size. Again, you will have to sacrifice the top or bottom of the photo to some extent.
If you absolutely must see all of the photo's content, consider using a complimentary background fill, perhaps with some blurring. Place your photo on top and shrink it down to within the safe area.

Widescreen Matte Filter and dissapearing dissolves

If I apply a widescreen matte filter my dissolves dissapear from the monitor (not the timeline). What can I do to keep the dissolves while applying the widescreen matte filter?
Thanks

If you step through the dissolve frame by frame does
it appear to work?
Make sure everything is rendered in the timeline
(option-r).
Everything is rendered but now I have noticed the problem persists in some footage in the edit. This footage has exactly the same specs as the other footage in the edit where this does not occur. I'm confused.
PowerBook G4 12 Mac OS X (10.4.4)

How do i apply a widescreen matt to a rotated clip without the matt rotating too?

Hi,
I'm new to this.... but i have a problem...
Basically some of my footage isn't straight and i rotate it a little but obviously i have the black in the gaps where the image has moved.... but to combat that i want to apply a widescreen matte (which is being applied to the rest of the film anyway)..
BUT when i apply to matte it rotates to the image.... is there anyway to stop this?
Thanks

apply a matte to the layer above.
You can create one in Photoshop,
or download my Letterboxer Plugin (free, and I guess will not work in FCP X. :-(
Or use the one Andy Mees has built. ( http://web.me.com/andymees/Free_and_Easy/main/Entries/2008/1/23_Andy%E2%80%99s_L etterbox_2.html )
Rienk

A question about Frame Rate in FCPX and Motion 5

I use a Canon Legria HV40 shooting at a frame rate of 25fps
Is it essential to set the frame rate in Final Cut Pro X and Motion 5 to 25fps as well?
The reason I'm asking this is that I recently put together a series of clips shot with the HV40 in a FCPX project with the default settings of 60fps and it didn't seem to matter - everything worked as expected..

FCPX automatically 'confirms' any clip rate to the Projects settings.
But ... more rendering to do (=time), 'un-eveness' could lead to blur/quality loss (=how do you divide 25 frames over 60 equally?) ...
Best practice is: cam, project, delivery = same frame-rate.
Exception: for nice slow-mo: HFR on cam, low fps on Project ....

Drop shadow on mattes and fills

Hi folks
I have just composited a matte and a fill graphic over a commecial using the composite mode travel matte - luma, now I need to put a drop shadow on to that comp...but alas drop shadow does not work in the motion tab on either the alpha or fill , nor does a drop shadow effect from the effects tabs...
any ideas ?
tx in advance
peace in africa...

This is really a question for the Final Cut Pro forum as you are talking about Final Cut Pro functionality.
The reason you can't see a drop shadow is because you are using a pre-existing alpha clip (a clip of white and black that serves as your transparency information). The travel matte luma effect can only use the video information in the alpha clip to determine the transparency. The alpha clip is a full-frame clip so any drop shadow applied will appear outside the frame.
The best thing to do is to recreate your fill graphic in its original application, and export it with an embedded alpha channel. Then you won't need to have an alpha clip or use the travel matte-luma to composite. FCP can read embedded alpha channels so you would just place your graphic over your video, render and be done with it. Then you can add drop shadows to your heart's delight.
Andy

Strange 'Ghost Lines' on Widescreen Matte in FCP 5

Since upgrading to FCP 5, I've noticed that whenever I use the Widescreen Matte on a clip in the timeline with another clip layered underneath it (which has the same WS matte on it), I see these strange white fuzzy lines around the edge of the matte. They're very faint, but were obvious enough to have a client point them out. If I eliminate the clip underneath, it usually gets rid of them. But it makes it very troublesome to do layered dissolves and such. At times, I've had to use two black slugs to 'cover up' the edge of the matte, and essentially create my own WS matte. Has anyone else noticed this? FCP 5 bug maybe?

probably better to nest the layered dissolves sequence and apply the widescreen matte to the nest
alternatively, as you suggest, just create your own widescreen matte with slugs, or make a matte in photoshop (or you can download a widescreen matte generator plugin from Dave Slater's ProAppTips website at http://proapptips.com/tips/filemgmt/singlefile.php?lid=23 ... i think you'll need to register to access the page)
hope it helps
Andy

Using Mattes and Masks to add real mouths to stop frame animation.

Hi all, I'm new to Final Cut Pro, having only really used Avid on PC in the past. I'm currently studying animation in my third year at university and I seem to have hit a stumbling block.
Basically I have created a short stop frame animation featuring various characters, movements and shots etc. From here I would like to be able to add 'real' mouths to those characters (by means of filming the lips/mouths of my voice actors in video format and super imposing them). So here's where it gets complicated (for me at least!).. Whilst I have read that it is possible to overlay sections of video upon original video using Mattes and Masks I haven't been able to find any instructions as to how I would be able to accomplish this with images which are moving around the screen (I.E. I would need to add a mouth to a character who is walking along a road, from left to right, and so I would need to be able to manipulate the location of the mouth so that it was always located over my characters face). I hope that my question makes some sense , I wont get my hopes up for a resolution, but this seems to be quite a busy board and I've managed to pick up a few tips from here recently so hey, worth a shot .

Forgot to mention that you'll have to keyframe the mask to move as well.
If the speach shots are not moving then you have definately made things much simplier for yourself.
For a simple example of keyframing. (Don't blame me if I confuse you further)
Load a clip in the viewer. (make sure that you have the canvas set to IMAGE and WIREFRAME.
Click the MOTION TAB in the viewer. Each of the Basic Motion attributes can be controled individually over a period of time. This is done by placing keyframes on the timeline to the right of each attribute.
Place the playhead (in the canvas) at the start of your clip, then press the round button in the Centre attribute section. The black dot added to the timeline is your first keyframe.
Now move the playhead further down the timeline and press the round button in the Centre attribute section again. Now click the imag in the Canvas and drag it to the right.
Now when you play the clip the shot will move left to right, one keyframe to the next.
That's it in a very small nutshell. And remember, almost any effect or motion can be keyframed.
rh

Widescreen matte disappears on export.

i put a widescreen matte on my entire timeline. my project is 1440x1080. if i look at it from desktop preview i can see the letterboxing on the top and bottom. Can't see it in the canvas though. When i export the timeline to 853x480 or anything smaller than 1440x1080, there is no widescreen matte.
i don't know why this does not work. I just want a scaled down version of what can be seen in desktop preview.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for all of you responses. everything is as it should be.
Now i have to go back and redo my music videos titles to fit the letterbox.
I very much appreciate your help.
the answer is
1 create new sequence.
2 drag current sequence into new sequence.
3 drag new timeline of new sequence into the monitor window.
4 go to video filters and choose widescreen matte.
5 set it to 2.35 .1
6 it should be reflected in the canvas window.
be aware that you may have to readjust your titles.

ITunes and Motion don't play nice

My problem is similar to this post from last year: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1699622&#1699622
If I have iTunes playing a song or paused on a song, then switching to Motion from another application causes Motion to stall and beachball for 30 seconds to a minute. If iTunes is quit or if the music is "stopped," there is no problem. My library is about 75 GB.
Can anyone think of why iTunes and Motion might have a conflict?

i have this problem, too and posted a message months ago about it which received no helpful solution (or even corroboration for that matter). http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=475709&tstart=0
in my prior thread, the application switch beachball was an afterthought for a larger issue.
i'm just reaching out to this thread to confirm that someone else has the same issue.
this issue has persisted with all updates of Motion v2 and iTunes v7 to date, as well as all versions of 10.4.
i have no solution other than to close iTunes.

Widescreen Matte to a Sequence

I just cut a sequence however I had to alter the size of some of the cuts. I would like to add a matte(widescreen)over the entire sequence. I've tried selecting all the cuts, double clicking on that entire selection, then dragging the widescreen filter on to that selection, but it just doesn't work. What am I doing wrong?

try nesting first and then applying the widescreen matte filter to the nest
an alternative is to create a matte in photoshop and place that above the other clips in your sequnece, or use a couple of slugs cropped to provide the upper and lower mattes, or just one slug with the mask shape filter applied so as to create a widescreen cutout to your clips below...
or you can use my widescreen matte generator which you can place on a higher track and away you go. you can get it here: http://homepage.mac.com/andymees
cheers
Andy

Widescreen Matte dissolve problem

Bit confused on this.
My dissolves no longer work when a widescreen matte is applied to the clip. When the matte is removed, the dissolve works perfectly.
Any ideas?
Thanks

Marc
Try making your edits without the widescreen matte. When done, nest that sequence in a new one and apply the matte here to the whole nested sequence.
Hope that makes sense !
Alberto

Widescreen matte on rotated shots

I'm shooting on a DVX 100 in letterbox mode. In FCP 5 I enlarge and rotate some of my clips, then wish to apply a widescreen matte so these rotated/enlarged clips conform to the widescreen of all of my other clips.
When I apply widescreen filter, nothing happens.
Any ideas? Or am I missing something?
Thanks.

I bet you enlarged (scaled) the images to for, so that you just don't see the matte anymore. They scale with the clip. As they do rotate also.
Obviously you'll need to build a matte on the top layer to have a consistent matte.
Create one in Photoshop or use my free plugin:
http://www.rienq.dds.nl/fcp.
The photoshop-way renders faster by the way. My plugin is easier in the way that you can use it within FCP. You can decide yourself.
Rienk

Widescreen matte problem

I have some footage that is shot in both 4x3 and letterbox. I planned to do all my editing and then use the widescreen matte over my finished sequences to make them all uniform. When doing a test however I found that in the sequences where I had a dissolve, say a fade to black that the dissolve was messed up after I added the widescreen matte. The footage got blotchy red colored.
Does anyone know why this is happening and is there a work around? What's the best way to work with letterbox and 4x3 footage?

There are probably several good ways, but when I wanted to do aomething similar in a project, I made a luma matte (mine was "sculpted") and composited the footage using Travel Matte - Luma.
As long as your matte for the 4:3 footage matches the 9:16 format, it should be painless.

Widescreen Matte and Motion

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