Applying Matte to entire project for Aspect Ratio

Greetings,

I was trained and have used Avid for several years, and have been broadening my horizons (not necessarily by choice) and am getting my hands dirty with FCP.

The Avid interface allows me to take a matte and apply it to a video track over my entire project to create my aspect ratio.

I can not seem to get FCP to perform the same function. The only way it allows me to apply a matte, is to apply it to each individual clip, which is a total pain in the butt. I want to apply the matte to the entire project, with out having to attach it to each separate clip.

I am assuming that there is a way to do this, but my incompetence as to the program interface is causing for a hitch.

I greatly appreciate any help I can be given on the matter.

T



Thanks for your help.
Tbone

Nest the entire sequence and apply the matte to that nest.

Nesting isn't quite the same in FCP as in Avid.

Even better to build a Mask that you can put over the whole timeline -- that way you don't need to nest or to apply a filter to every clip, and you can disable the letterbox with one keystroke. Use an inverted Mask Shape filter on a black colour matte, then adjust the vertical scale to size the letterbox bars.

I prefer the mask over the whole timeline too because it lets you adjust every shot individually underneath the mask for best effect while still keeping the borders accurate from shot to shot.

Just drop your mask on V2, extend, and it's done.

And if you want to take the letterbox off temporarily, you don't need to delete anything. Just use Clip Enable/Disable (CONTROL-B). If you need to make edit changes that involve shortening or lengthening, just drag the matte out, or razorblade, and you can make infinite copies.