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#1 2003-01-08 7:25 am
- Xstatic
- Member
- Registered: 2001-07-15
- Posts: 194
The Ken Burns effect in FCP
I'm new to Final Cut Pro. And when I watched the keynote yesterday, I saw the Ken Burns effect in iMovie 3. Is there a way I can do this in FCP?
Thanks-
Who puts out those "Thin Ice" signs?
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#2 2003-01-08 9:49 am
- videoartguy
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- Registered: 2001-05-03
- Posts: 646
- Website
Re: The Ken Burns effect in FCP
piece of cake in FCP!
just bring in an image...
in the 'viewer' click the 'motion' tab.
from there you can increase the scale and noodle with panning across the image....or the video as the case may be.
sorry i'm being a little vague.
but as everything in FCP you've got a billion options at yer disposal.
noodle around and you'll surely find many interesting things
good luck!

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#3 2003-01-08 10:32 am
- fuzzynormal
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- Registered: 2001-03-26
- Posts: 1083
- Website
Re: The Ken Burns effect in FCP
FCP can do it, but as a dude working on a civil war doc my-own-self, I find AE much more useful as it has spline controlled keyframes. This makes the pan and scan moves much more fluid. Also, setting up the keyframes is incredibly simple and intuitive in AE. With FCP it's a numbers-input-game that gets tiring rather quickly.
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#4 2003-01-11 10:21 pm
- avkills
- demyelinated brain matter

- Registered: 2001-05-09
- Posts: 7107
Re: The Ken Burns effect in FCP
FCP can do it, but as a dude working on a civil war doc my-own-self, I find AE much more useful as it has spline controlled keyframes. This makes the pan and scan moves much more fluid. Also, setting up the keyframes is incredibly simple and intuitive in AE. With FCP it's a numbers-input-game that gets tiring rather quickly.
What he said. AE (AfterEffects) just can't be beat for tasks of this nature...well unless you can afford Shake or Combustion.
-mark
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#5 2003-01-11 11:30 pm
- Dartmouth Guy
- Member
- Registered: 2001-02-17
- Posts: 1091
Re: The Ken Burns effect in FCP
With FCP it's a numbers-input-game that gets tiring rather quickly.
not true at all.
Xstatic (the name of the person who started this thread), you can do any number of layer manipulations in FCP without punching in any numbers or doing any guessing whatsoever.
here's the easiest way to do it IMO...
first off, whatever picture you're going to be panning and scanning around, make sure it's on your computer at a higher resolution than DV, which is 720x480. If it's not at least that big, the picture won't be that clear when you blow it up and move around inside the image. don't worry about making the picture the right aspect ratio, though, FCP does that automatically.
okay... let's begin with the stuff you can do in FCP:
1. After you've imported the picture into your project's bin, drag it into your sequence.
2. Set the length of your clip in the sequence to however long you want it to be. (do this any way you're used to doing it, as there are a number of ways)
3. Okay, now here's the fun part. Drag the yellow scrub line to sometime before the clip. then double click on the clip. That'll open the clip in your viewer at the very first frame.
4. See those two buttons at the top of the Viewer, one that allows you choose how zoomed in you are in the viewer, and one with a square on it? Click and hold on the one on the right, with the square on it.
Highlight "IMAGE WITH WIREFRAME"
That'll bring up a green wireframe X over your image in the viewer. This "X" is what allows you to move the picture around.
5. With that done, now you set your first keyframe.
Control-click and hold onto the diamond button at the bottom of the viewer. it's the one that is the third from the left.
A pop-up menu will appear giving you options of what aspects to keyframe. I always just select "keyframe all"
6. Good, your first keyframe is set. Now by clicking on and manipulating the wireframe, you can set how you want the clip to look on the first frame.
note: You might want to make the window bigger, to give you more of a work area.
By clicking and dragging on the various parts of the WireFrame, you can manipulate the picture's center on the screen, how big it is, and even it's rotation.
7. With your first keyframe set to how you want it, now go back to your sequence and move the sequence's scrubber (the yellow line) to the other side of the clip. This time when you double-click the clip, the clip will open in the viewer to the last frame.
With the last frame open in the viewer, make another keyframe, this time to what you want the final look of the picture to be.
8. Now just render it and see the motion in real time.
These eight steps are really just three -- 1. set keyframe on first frame 2. manipulate wireframe 3. repeat with last frame -- but i expounded on them a bit just in case you're completely unfamiliar with keyframing.
basically, as long as you're working with Wireframes, you never have to worry about punching in any numbers yourself. you can do it all visually.
hope this makes sense... if not, post back here and let me know. I can try to be a little clearer.
the best part of all this is: no need for After Effects! and even if you have after effects (like I do) you'll like doing all this in your FCP anyway, because doing it all in one program always makes for a quicker workflow.
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#6 2003-01-13 8:34 pm
- fuzzynormal
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- Registered: 2001-03-26
- Posts: 1083
- Website
Re: The Ken Burns effect in FCP
Xstatic, eh? I'm not familar with it. Who makes that plug-in?
I'm pretty speedy in AE tho', and the preview mode works rather well in the lower resolutions, good for design feedback. At any rate, I'll try and find out some more info on this Xstatic of which you speak, could be useful...does it have spline control?
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#7 2003-01-13 9:27 pm
- videoartguy
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- Registered: 2001-05-03
- Posts: 646
- Website
Re: The Ken Burns effect in FCP
i'm pretty xstatic is the name of the person that posed the original ????

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#8 2003-01-13 10:50 pm
- Dartmouth Guy
- Member
- Registered: 2001-02-17
- Posts: 1091
Re: The Ken Burns effect in FCP
Xstatic, eh? I'm not familar with it. Who makes that plug-in?
funny
(to prevent any real confusion, my previous post has been amended)
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#9 2003-01-14 3:35 pm
- Xstatic
- Member
- Registered: 2001-07-15
- Posts: 194
Re: The Ken Burns effect in FCP
Wow! Thanks guys for all the help! I've tried the different suggestions in FCP, and it's working really well. I also realized I could do this with video and titles. So it is all coming together for me. Thanks again-
Who puts out those "Thin Ice" signs?
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