Just as you can trim the edges of a clip, you can trim the edges of a speed transition.
Drag the edge of a speed transition to change timing.
By default, when you change the speed of a portion of a clip (Tip #1352), Final Cut inserts a speed transition to smoothly blend the speed change across several frames.
However, just as you can trim the edges of a clip, you can also trim the edges of a speed transition.
Here’s how:
Put the timeline playhead on the frame who’s speed you want to adjust.
Change the speed of either the upstream or downstream clip segment by dragging the black, vertical “thumb” in the Retiming bar. This also adds a speed transition.
Grab the edge of the speed transition in the Retiming bar and drag it. This changes how the speed transition allocates frames from one speed to another.
EXTRA CREDIT
Tip #1353 shows how to disable a speed transition.
They said it couldn’t be done in a week. We did it anyway.
L to R: The creators and co-stars of The Basics: Chloe Troast, Jamie Linn Watson, Mahayla Laurence, Liz Demmon, and Rachel Horwitz
This article first appeared in NoFilmSchool.com. This is a summary.
This might come as a surprise, but we shot a six-episode improv comedy web series in seven days. We are Jamie Linn Watson, Rachel Horwitz, Mahayla Laurence, Chloe Troast, and Liz Demmon.
After we got in touch with fellow NYU comedians MC Plaschke and Ryan Beggs to direct and produce, Liz took on the role of executive producer. The five of us, with MC and Ryan’s guidance, each wrote an episode centering around our characters, co-wrote the finale, renamed it The Basics, and we were off!
After assembling our team, we put together a budget that would allow us to properly pay our crew, rent equipment, and keep everyone fed and hydrated. Our budget was $13,000, and we raised the entirety of it (in 2019) on Kickstarter.
“Stylistically, we wanted to get away from the idea that comedy has to be either ‘vertical Twitter comedy video’ or ‘Wes Anderson style overload.’ There is so much in between! We think there is a huge range of visual things you can do with comedy that are rarely explored. For The Basics, we relied a lot on improvised performance as well as improvised zooms/camera moves which made everything feel fresh and in-the-moment. The one danger of doing a series about improv is that on-camera improvisation… isn’t that funny. The magic is often lost when you don’t have the stakes of it being live. To get the feeling of spontaneity, much like you would at a live show, we used snap zooms and jump cuts, as well as slow-motion effects and music overlays over the actual improv. We wanted the goofy, improvised nature of the comedy to juxtapose with a very professional look in our cinematography. For these characters, improv is life and death, and we wanted the style to reflect that, pulling from comedic shows like Search Party and Glee.”
The article details how they put this series together in planning and production, and how they promoted it afterward.
https://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpg00Larry Jordanhttps://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpgLarry Jordan2021-01-22 01:30:002021-01-22 01:30:00Tip #1345: Creating an Improv Web Series in 7 Days
Everything starts with a plan. Here’s how to start.
(Image courtesy of Pexels.com.)
This article first appeared in MotionArray.com. This is a summary.
Got a big shoot coming up? Not sure how to prepare? Don’t panic. Here’s the ultimate pre-production checklist at your service!
Familiarize Yourself with Your Set
Create an Equipment Checklist
Get Those Lines DOWN!
Brush Up on Those Filmmaking Hacks!
Create a Shooting Schedule
Account for Extra Time
Account for Flakers
Charge and Check EVERYTHING
Bring Extra Copies of the Script!
Make a Plan B
Let. Them. Eat.
Murphy’s Law loves the film industry. Name anything that could go wrong, and there’s a 75% chance it will go wrong. This article includes more details and links to decrease your stress and improve your productions.
Stencil Luma maps texture from one layer to a 3D object, while preserving its shape.
Properties settings (top), Layers panel and finished result.
Motion doesn’t support texture mapping on objects, BUT, there’s a clever work-around you can use for 3D objects that delivers a similar result.
For this example, I took a 3D object – the bowl – and applied a texture and color to it. Here’s how:
Add Library > 3D Objects > Bowl to the Viewer.
Add a texture from Library > Content > Particle Images > Antique.
Apply Filters > Color > Colorize to Antique and change the color mapped to white to a darker brick red.
NOTE: The middle of the screen shot shows how elements were stacked.
Select the bowl and apply Inspector > Properties > Blend mode > Stencil Luma.
NOTE: Stencil Alpha replaces the bowl with the background. Stencil Lumacombines the shading of the bowl with the texture of the background, allowing the bowl to retain its shape while acquiring a new texture and color.
https://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpg00Larry Jordanhttps://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpgLarry Jordan2021-01-21 01:30:002021-01-16 10:41:17Tip #1341: Add Texture to a 3D Object
Channel blur allows blurring individual color channels.
Channel blur settings (top) and the results applied to a 3D bowl.
In Tip # 1341 we learned how to apply a texture to a 3D object. In this tip, I’ll show you an intriguing way make that texture more believable.
Follow the instructions in Tip #1341, then, remove (or uncheck) the Colorize filter applied to Antique.
With Antique still selected, apply Filters > Blur > Channel Blur.
Based on the settings in the screen shot, disable all colors except for Green, then boost the Blur amount to the end of the slider; 64 in this example.
What Channel Blur does is blur the red, green, or blue channels without blurring any others. The detail in most images is carried in the green channel. By blurring just the green, we get that lovely green “glaze” on the 3D bowl, without losing the highlights that give the bowl its shape.
EXTRA CREDIT
Channel blur is also a quick way to reduce the visibility of skin blemishes. While not as powerful as a dedicated plug-in, blurring the green channel will make faces glow and hide any skin problems.
A Motion path moves an object. Snap Alignment controls which way it faces.
A curved path for an element (bottom) and the two behaviors that make it possible.
Normally, when you create a motion path, an object will follow that path. However, if you add a curve, sometimes you want the object to change its direction as it moves around the curve. This is similar to how a car points in a different direction as it goes around a curve. Here’s how.
Add the element to the Layers panel that you want to move.
Apply Behaviors > Basic Motion > Motion path.
Double-click in the middle of the red line and drag to create a curve.
NOTE: You can adjust the shape of the curve by dragging one of the white Bezier control points.
Select the element in the Layers panel and apply Behaviors > Basic Motion > Snap Alignment to Motion. (The default settings are fine.)
Now, as the element travels along the motion path, it will change direction as it travels around a curve.
https://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpg00Larry Jordanhttps://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpgLarry Jordan2021-01-21 01:30:002021-01-16 10:38:22Tip #1343: Change Direction During Movement
Effects created from practical effects, miniatures, optical compositing and real 65mm film.
Fiber-optic strands are added to the Hades Landscape miniature. At left, Illyanna Lowry uses a caulking gun to secure the cables with silicon. Fellow artists Leslie Ekker, George Trimmer and Jon Roennau also work with the fiber optics.
This article, written by Ian Failes, first appeared in VFXVoice.com. This is a summary.
In 1982, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner set a distinctive tone for the look and feel of many sci-fi future film noirs to come, taking advantage of stylized production design, art direction and visual effects work.
On the eve of the release of Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 sequel, VFX Voice revisits the miniatures of the original film with chief model maker Mark Stetson, VES. He and a crew of distinguished artists helped to craft many of the film’s iconic settings and vehicles, including the opening Hades landscape,
Blade Runner begins with a slow push-in over a heavily industrialized section of Los Angeles. Many were surprised when it became apparent that the endless refinery imagery – known as the Hades landscape – was largely achieved with rows of acid-etched brass silhouette cut-outs in a forced perspective layout.
The ground plane structures were painted quite roughly to make the buildings look ‘aged and crappy’ – instant coffee was even used for that effect. Then, after making an evening flight into Los Angeles, Stetson was inspired to replicate in the Hades landscape the look of thousands of city lights.
A myriad of fiber optic strands – seven miles worth – was added underneath the tables holding the silhouettes and other model pieces. The lights included a mix of different bulbs, too, all filmed in different passes, as were the gas flares captured ‘in-model’ with specially placed projection screens and a synchronized 35mm film projector.
Equally iconic in Blade Runner lore are the flying police vehicles known as Spinners. In visual futurist Syd Mead’s design explora- tions for Blade Runner, he called the flying vehicles ‘aerodynes.’
The vehicles were particularly recognizable for their flaring and spinning police lights. In fact, the larger scale Spinner models were a significant feat of engineering. They were made to include room for cabling, stepper motors, lighting, and even nitrogen plumbing for exhaust.
“Late in the development of the models, Ridley asked for a rack of gumball-style police lights to be mounted on top of the car,” says Stetson. “Getting the lights to spin on the model required a new lighting rig that replaced the rear bodywork on the model and was shot on a repeat pass using motion control. We made little brass cans for each halogen light, with lensed snoots driven through speedo cables by a rack of stepper motors on the back of the car.
This article goes into a lot more detail with excellent production stills of models and sets in construction.
If you are want to extend your effects expertise beyond your NLE, an excellent place to start is Blackmagic Design’s Fusion.
Fusion is built into DaVinci Resolve and features a node-based workflow with hundreds of 2D and 3D tools. Fusion is ideal for everything from quick fixes such as retouching and repairing shots to creating true Hollywood caliber effects.
Fusion uses a flow chart called a node tree that visually maps out how effects are connected and work together. Nodes are like building blocks that represent effect tools, generators, transforms, masks and more. There are no confusing stacks of nested layers and hidden menus! You build effects by stringing nodes together one after the other.
You can also use Fusion to create 2D and 3D text, as well as add and track infographics.
Best of all, you can get started with Fusion for free.
To access Ease In/Out settings, control-click a keyframe and adjust the temporal options.
Control-click a keyframe to adjust timing and movement options.
Motion keyframes in Adobe Premiere Pro support changing the speed of movement as you approach or leave the keyframes. Here’s how.
Control-click a keyframe in the Effect Controls panel, then choose Temporal Interpolation.
Linear means all speeds are constant.
Bezier means that speeds can vary.
Ease In adjusts the animation speed coming into a keyframe, slowing it down on the approach. Selecting this option also selects Bezier in this same menu.
Ease Out adjust the animation speed leaving a keyframe, accelerating as it leaves the keyframe. Selecting this option also selects Bezier in this same menu.
To remove the Ease In / Out settings, simply re-select Linear from this menu.
https://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpg00Larry Jordanhttps://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpgLarry Jordan2021-01-19 01:30:002021-01-19 01:30:00Tip #1335: Add Ease In / Ease Out to Keyframes
Smart Conform is a good start. But you’ll need to use keyframes to make it perfect.
Video Inspector > Transform with keyframes applied to change position.
Smart Conform converts clips in one aspect ratio to fit inside a project using a different aspect ratio. It does this by analyzing the content of the media, then scaling and repositioning it to best fit in the new project.
To create a Smart Conform:
Create a new project with the aspect ratio you need.
Edit clips into the new project, as usual.
NOTE: Do not allow the project to change aspect ratio when you edit the first clip into it.
Finally select all the clips in the timeline and choose Modify > Smart Conform. In just a few seconds, FCP conforms all selected clips.
The good news is that Final Cut scales and repositions the clips quickly and, most of the time, does a pretty good job.
The bad news is that, unlike Premiere, Final Cut does not motion track the image, which means that as the subject moves over time, the framing may need tweaking.
However, you can quickly tweak your shot – even animate the tracking – by selecting each clip, then, in Video Inspector > Transform, add keyframes to reposition the video as needed to correct any positioning errors.
https://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpg00Larry Jordanhttps://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpgLarry Jordan2021-01-18 01:30:002021-01-16 09:58:36Tip #1338: Adjust a Smart Conform
We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.
Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.
Essential Website Cookies
These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.
Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refuseing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.
We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.
We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.
Google Analytics Cookies
These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.
If you do not want that we track your visist to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:
Other external services
We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.
Google Webfont Settings:
Google Map Settings:
Google reCaptcha Settings:
Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:
Privacy Policy
You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.
