Apple Final Cut Pro X 10.1.2 User Guide

							 Chapter 11    Keying and compositing 371
Use Transform to position the foreground image
The following steps assume you have already configured a key but need to reposition the 
foreground image.
 1 Select the foreground clip in the Timeline.
 2 In the lower-left corner of the Viewer, choose Transform from the pop-up menu and move the 
image to the position you want. In the above example, you might want to move the woman to 
the left.
You can also resize the image.
 3 Click Done in the Viewer when you are finished repositioning the foreground image.
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Compositing
Compositing overview
Compositing refers to combining parts of two or more video clips into a single image.
There are a number of ways to combine video images in Final Cut Pro:
 •Transitions: All video transitions involve combining the end of one clip with the start of a 
second clip, which results in a combination of the two clips appearing at the same time during 
the transition. 
 •Keying: All keys involve compositing a foreground image over a background image.
 •Alpha channels: Many computer-generated video clips have an alpha channel—a built-in 
mask—that defines precisely the areas of the clip that are composited over a background 
clip. These require no key setup and generally just automatically work. Many effects, such as 
Transform and Distort; generators, such as Shapes and Timecode; and titles use alpha channels.
 •Compositing: Each video clip in the Timeline has a set of Compositing settings. These are used 
when you want to combine clips without using the key effects.
Use alpha channels
Alpha channels provide an easy way to composite one image over another. Using an application 
like Motion, an Apple application designed to work with Final Cut Pro, you can create still images 
and video clips that have alpha channels. Alpha channels can be thought of as having a built-in 
keyer—when you use the key effects you are creating a mask that is used in the same way a clip 
with an alpha channel is used for compositing.
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							 Chapter 11    Keying and compositing 373
Below is an example of a clip with an alpha channel, showing the image that fills the 
alpha channel.
Below is the alpha channel image—the white areas define the video areas that are composited 
over the background. The gray areas (which define the shadow in this example) define parts of 
the image that are partially transparent.
This is what the final composite looks like over a background clip.
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Use a clip with an alpha channel
 1 Position the playhead in the Timeline where you want to add the alpha channel clip.
 2 Select the clip that has an alpha channel in the Browser, and choose Edit > C onnect to Primary 
Storyline (or press Q). 
 3 To see the composited clips, position the playhead within the clip that was just added above the 
primary storyline.
Connected clip (composite foreground)
Primary storyline clip 
(composite background)
The clip is composited over the primary storyline video clip, with the alpha channel controlling 
the opacity of its clip.
You can also use the Opacity adjustment’s fade handles to dissolve the foreground clip on 
and off.
Use Compositing settings
The Compositing settings provide a wide variety of options for combining two images. You can 
make a simple adjustment to evenly combine two images, or you can choose from settings that 
use the video content to determine how to combine the images.
Use the Opacity adjustment
 1 Position the playhead in the Timeline where you want to add a clip above the primary storyline.
 2 Select the clip to add in the Browser, and choose Edit > C onnect to Primary Storyline (or press Q). 
 3 To see the composited clips, position the playhead within the clip that was just added.
By default, the new clip completely obscures the clip on the primary storyline.
 4 To make the new clip partially transparent, select it in the Timeline and adjust the Opacity 
control in the Compositing section of the Video inspector.
The closer you set Opacity to 0 percent, the more transparent the clip above the primary 
storyline becomes. Additionally, you can use the Opacity fade handles in the Video Animation 
Editor to have the composited clip dissolve on and off, or add keyframes to have the opacity 
value change at specified points.
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							 Chapter 11    Keying and compositing 375
Choose a blend mode
 1 Position the playhead in the Timeline to where you want to add a clip above the 
primary storyline.
 2 Select the clip to add in the Browser, and choose Edit > C onnect to Primary Storyline (or press Q). 
 3 To see the composited clips, position the playhead within the clip that was just added.
By default, the new clip completely obscures the clip on the primary storyline.
 4 Choose an option from the Blend Mode pop-up menu in the Compositing section of the 
Video inspector.
There are many blend mode settings to choose from—the correct one to use depends on the 
video content and the sort of look you are aiming for. Additionally, you can adjust the Opacity 
control to make the blend mode setting more subtle.
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							  376
Color correction overview
In any post-production workflow, color correction is generally one of the last steps in finishing an 
edited program. There are a number of reasons to color correct your footage:
 •Make sure that key elements in your program, such as flesh tones, look the way they should
 •Balance all the shots in a scene to match
 •Correct errors in color balance and exposure
 •Achieve a look, such as making the scenes warmer or cooler
 •Create contrast or special effects by manipulating the colors and exposure
Final Cut Pro color correction tools give you precise control over the look of every clip in your 
project, including still images, by letting you adjust each clip’s color balance, shadow levels, 
midtone levels, and highlight levels.
Click to return to the Video inspector.
Click the Reset button to 
remove the adjustments 
in this pane.
Choose the correction 
to work with.
Drag the controls to 
change the values.
Use value sliders to 
change the values.
Use the Action pop-up menu to create or choose a color  correction preset.
Final Cut Pro also includes several automatic tools you can use to quickly balance and match the 
color in clips. You can:
 •Automatically balance colors: With one click, neutralize any color casts and maximize image 
contrast. See Color balance overview
 on page 377.
 •Automatically match a clip’s color and look: With two clicks, make one or more clips match 
the color look of any clip that you choose. See Match color between clips automatically
 on 
page 379.
Color correction
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							 Chapter 12    Color correction 377
 •Manually adjust color, saturation, and exposure: Manually correct a clip’s overall color, or use 
color or shape masks to limit a correction to a particular color range or area in the image. 
You can even add multiple manual color corrections to one clip. See Manual color correction 
overview
 on page 380.
 •Save color correction settings and apply them to other clips: Save a clip’s color correction settings 
and apply them to other clips in the project or in other projects. See Save and apply color 
correction presets
 on page 390.
Although these features are independent of one another—you can turn any of the features 
off and on to see its effect—the order in which you use them matters. In general, you should 
use these features in the order of Balance Color, Match Color, and (if necessary) manual 
color correction.
Final Cut Pro also includes several video scopes you can use when manually color correcting 
your video. The scopes make it possible to precisely monitor the luma and chroma levels of your 
video clips.
Analyze and balance color automatically
Color balance overview
Final Cut Pro includes an automatic color-balancing feature. When you use the color-balancing 
feature, Final Cut Pro samples the darkest and lightest areas of the image’s luma channel and 
adjusts the shadows and highlights in the image to neutralize any color casts. In addition, 
Final Cut Pro adjusts the image to maximize image contrast, so that the shot occupies the widest 
available luma range.
The video frame used as the reference frame depends on whether the clip has already been 
color analyzed:
 •If the clip has been color analyzed, either during import or while in the Browser:  The analysis 
process extracts color balance information for the entire clip. Whether you add a portion of 
the clip or the entire clip to a project, the color-balancing feature chooses the frame within 
the project clip that is closest to being correctly balanced. This means that if you add multiple 
partial clips from the same Browser clip to the project, each clip is balanced based on analysis 
information for its own section of media.
 •If the clip has not been color analyzed and you balance its color:  You can determine the reference 
frame for a clip selected in the Timeline by moving the playhead to that frame in the clip. If 
the playhead is on a different clip or you’ve selected a clip in the Browser, the clip’s middle 
frame is used.
Analyze a clip for color balance
To automatically balance a clip’s color, Final Cut Pro uses a single frame from the clip as a 
reference and calculates a correction for it that is then applied to the entire clip. Analyzing a clip 
for color balance allows Final Cut Pro to choose a representative frame as the clip’s color balance 
reference frame.
You can have a clip’s color balance analyzed when you import it, whether importing from a 
camera, importing a file, or dragging a clip directly to the Timeline from a Finder window. You 
can also analyze a clip’s color balance at any time in the Browser.
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Analyzing a clip for color balance can take from a few seconds for shorter clips to a minute 
or more for longer clips. The analysis process takes longer if you also analyze for people and 
stabilization issues.
After a clip has been analyzed for color balance, you can turn the color balance correction 
on or off at any time. By default, color balance correction is off for clips in the Browser and on 
for clips in the Timeline, if they have been analyzed. For information about turning the color 
balance correction on and off, in either the Browser or the Timeline, see Balance a clip’s colors
 on 
page 379.
Analyze color balance during file import
 1 Choose File > Imp ort > Media (or press Command-I).
 2 Select the files to import, and select “Analyze for balance color” in the Video section of 
the window.
 3 Click Import.
The files are imported and analyzed for color balance issues.
Analyze color balance for clips dragged to the Timeline from the Finder
 1 Choose Final Cut P ro > P references, or press Command-Comma (,).
 2 In the Final Cut P ro Preferences window, click the Import button and select “Analyze for balance 
color” in the Video section.
All clips that you drag directly to the Timeline from the Finder are now analyzed.
Note:  When you change this setting in the Preferences window, the setting is also changed in all 
other windows with an “Analyze for balance color” option.
Analyze color balance for clips in the Browser
When you analyze the color balance of clips in the Browser, any clips that were analyzed during 
import are skipped.
 1 Select one or more clips in the Browser.
 2 Do one of the following:
 •Choose Modify > Analyze and Fix.
 •Control-click one of the selected clips and choose Analyze and Fix from the shortcut menu.
 3 In the window tha t appears, select “Analyze for balance color” in the Video section and click OK.
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							 Chapter 12    Color correction 379
Balance a clip’s colors
Clips in Final Cut Pro have a Balance setting that turns automatic color balance correction on and 
off, whether the clip is in the Browser or the Timeline. The frame used as the reference frame is 
either a frame chosen during color balance analysis, the frame the playhead is on in the Timeline, 
or the middle frame. For more information, see Color balance overview
 on page 377.
Turn a clip’s color balance correction on and off
 1 Select one or more clips in the Timeline or the Browser.
 2 Do one of the following:
 •Choose Modify > Balance Color (or press Option-Command-B).
 •Choose Balance Color from the Enhancements pop-up menu in the toolbar.
 •In the Color section of the Video inspector, select or deselect the Balance checkbox.
Click to turn Balance on or off.
Balance analysis status
Match color between clips automatically
Your project likely uses video from a wide variety of sources. The Match Color feature makes it 
easy to ensure that all scenes that take place in the same location have the same look.
Match color between clips
 1 Select one or more clips in the Timeline that you want to adjust.
 2 Do one of the following:
 •Choose Modify > Match Color (or press Option-Command-M).
 •Choose Match Color from the Enhancements pop-up menu in the toolbar.
 •In the Color section of the Video inspector, click the Choose button next to Match Color.
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The Viewer changes to display the Timeline playhead’s frame on the right and the frame the 
pointer is over on the left.
The clip that the pointer is over is the color match source. 
Click to preview the color match.
The selected 
Timeline clip is the 
color match target.
 3 Skim any clip in the Timeline or the Browser to find a frame with the color look you want to 
match, and click to preview that look applied to the selected clip.
You can click a variety of clips until you find the look you want.
Tip:  You may want to import a still image that has the look you want, even if it’s not related to 
your project, so that you can match its color look.
 4 To accept the current look, click Apply Match in the Match Color window.
The Viewer returns to its normal configuration, and the selected Timeline clips change to the 
new look.
Turn match color corrections on or off
You can turn off the color match corrections that have been applied to a clip. This is useful for 
viewing the difference between the original clip and the corrected clip.
 1 In the Timeline, select a clip with match color corrections applied.
 2 Click the Color Match checkbox in the Color section of the Video inspector.
Adjust color manually
Manual color correction overview
Final Cut Pro includes a powerful manual color correction tool that you can use to accomplish a 
wide variety of color correction or enhancement effects:
 •Apply a color correction to the whole image: Adjust the color tint, color saturation, and exposure 
for the whole clip image. See Color correct the whole image
 on page 3 81 .
 •Choose a specific color in the image to correct: For example, choose a brightly colored object, 
such as a shirt or car, and use the color correction settings to mute or change the color. See 
Target a specific color using a color mask
 on page 383 .
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