applying effects to multiple clips in browser

I read an older post reporting that this is not possible to apply filters to groups of clips in the browser. I need to apply a 2.35 matte to lots and lots of clips (since adding a matte on its own track in my sequences equals lots of rendering). Any ideas? I also get all my media neatly organized in bins, so its not exactly a "shortcut" to drag clips to the timeline and back to all their respective folders. Surely there is a way to do this quickly?

> I read an older post reporting that this is not possible to apply filters to groups of clips in the
> browser.

Not true. I'm assuming you mean a 2.35 Widescreen Matte filter?

1. Apply the filter to one clip and open the clip into the Viewer with the Filters tab visible, then select the other clips in the timeline and drag that filter from the Viewer into the timeline group; or

2. Apply the filter to the one clip, then select that clip and press APPLE-C (Copy) in the timeline. Now select the other clips and press OPTION-V (Paste Attributes), then check Filters and click OK; or

3. Apply the filters you want to the one clip, then drag that filter into a bin in the Browser. Name the bin something you'll recognize, like "Scene 01 Widescreen with Colour Correction". Now select any number of clips in the timeline to which you want to apply this combination of filters, drag the bin from the Browser onto the group. This is called filter packing.


www.derekmok.com

yes, I use paste attributes all the time, then adjust the filters in the individual clips as needed (like when I'm doing color correction in FCP.)

I paste attributes everything from cell position to audio levels, I love it!

www.markdavid.tv

[(since adding a matte on its own track in my sequences equals lots of rendering)]

There are a few different ways to accomplish this and reduce quality ot see the result in realtime without rendering-- assuming your engine is robust. I think the FAQ has some ideas.

The problem with applying a widescreen filter to each clip is-- you can't adjust clip verticals for best composition within the mask! Inevitably somehting composed for 4:3 doesn't work in 16:9 or narrower. It's a good reason to apply a single mask to a nest.

It is tough to get away from rendering for highest quality.

- Loren
Today's FCP keytip:
Toggle Audio Scrub with Shift-S !

Final Cut Studio 2 KeyGuide? Power Pack.
Now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

any approach will require rendering. some more than others

best solution, i believe, is using a photoshop mask placed over the other clips in the timeline.


nick

There's is also nesting or exporting a reference movie and bringing it back in.

My last job the client sent me letterboxed footage(for broadcast too, i don;t know why its LB) and asked me to integrate a whole grip of stills and website screen-capture footage. I nested that timeline so i can design the still movements etc in the full screen sequence and then quickly check their position back in the nest with the widescreen matte. Gives you more flexability, like Loren said, to make the images look just right.

So far my solution has been to apply the effect, which at this point is the only effect I use so its an easy keystroke (last effect), to each clip as I view it. My scenario is that every clip has been shot with a 2.35 matte in the viewfinder so the shots have been framed assuming this matte, which means 99% of the shots need no adjustment. I have to view each shot anyway, so as I open, apply filter. I need to know right away if the boom is in the shot, so I need the filter as I select shots - can't wait to see it in the timeline. I also don't want to drag the contents of folder (1a, 1b up to 141F) and deal with maintaining the file structure - too much time. So, add them one by one. I would think that since you can add a filter to one clip in the browser, being able to add a filter to a thousand clips in the browser would be sort of a logical next step, but I'm just your lowley end-user type so what do I know?!?!?

Thanks for the suggestions - I think if I need to do a sequence matte I'll first try the photoshop technique as the nesting sequences stuff scares the heck out of me.

Z

You're doing it the hard way. The best method is still to use a widescreen matte on a higher track. That way you can disable it if you just need to edit and don't need to check framing. Using the filter, aside from the inability to adjust framing left and right (vertical framing can be adjust, albeit using a clunky "Offset" value in the filter parameters), also will give you nightmares when you need to add more filters for colour correction, effects, mattes etc., because the Widescreen Matte will get in the way when you want to use Copy/Paste Attributes on the clips' other filters. Hard to explain, but it'll be self-evident when you do get into that problem.


www.derekmok.com

there are a few things to discuss:

1) I don't need to adjust left or right. If I get into a left or right adjustment, it will be for 1 or 2 clips out of my 11 or so hours of footage, so I'd rather handle those rare instances individually and remove the filters as needed and start from scratch on an as needed basis. I may need to adjust vertically, but again, I think I can limit those to a handful too, so working on an as needed basis is OK. Is the widescreen matte still really a bad way?

2) The knowledge that the matte will get in the way of other FX is HUGE - thanks for that. Is there a way to remove the widescreen matte from ALL clips is a timeline? Once I have a cut and move on to a polish stage then I would prefer to work as you say, but for now, its really critical for me to be able to see the shots before I drop them into my timeline with the matte. Saves a LOT of time. So my next question is can't I remove all of the FX (remove attributes) once my edit is ready to take that step?

> Is there a way to remove the widescreen matte from ALL clips is a timeline?

See, that's precisely the problem, and probably what the original post (the one you had researched) was talking about.

Say you have 100 clips in the timeline. Twenty of them have just Widescreen Matte on them; 50 have Color Corrector 3-Way and Widescreen Matte; and 30 of them have Color Corrector 3-Way, Strobe, Widescreen Matte, and Lyric Shadow-Highlight, all scattered throughout. There's no way to select all the clips and say, "Just remove Shadow-Highlight". There isn't even a way to pinpoint exactly which filter is on which clip en masse. If you use Remove Attributes on all the clips, you'll kill all the filters...and now you have to figure out which clip needed which effect, at what settings.

So if you really want to do it your way, refrain from using any type of filter effects (Motion effects are fine) and just use Widescreen Matte as the only filter in the timeline. When you do colour correction, kill all the Widescreen Matte filters with Remove Attributes - Filters, change to a widescreen mask on a top video track, then do colour correction and other filtering.

I don't think there's a way to apply filters to a group of master clips in the Browser, but there's a workaround. Before you do any editing, take all your master clips (or master clips from a certain bin) and stick them all into a timeline. Use Paste Attributes or the drag-and-drop method to apply the Widescreen Matte filter to all of them. Now drag those clips from the timeline back into a Browser bin. You're basically creating new master clips with the effect already applied. Now use those new master clips for editing. I don't use this method often because I hate having filters on my master clips, but if you want this approach, it's doable.

This method can also be used to apply global levels to your master clip (eg. -20dB on all your sound, if you know everything's too hot and you don't want to shock your ears), and almost anything you can do in the Timeline but not the Browser.


www.derekmok.com

I see. OK. Well, I think I can safely say that for 90% or more of my cut the only filter I will be applying is the wdescreen matte. There will be some occasional color correction, and the less occasional motion FX, and then the rare frame adjustment. Going into the edit with the knowledge that the widescreen makes CC and other fx a nightmere is great - so here's my plan:

I'm going to color any clips in my timeline that have anything other then the widescreen matte so when all is said and done I can preserve those clips and remove attributes from the rest, add the top layer with the matte and hand it over with all widescreen matted removed and any other FX preserved. Beside the personal preferences against adding filters to masters, can you see any potential pitfalls that I'm overlooking?

thanks for the help Derek - hugely appreciated.

I agree with Derek on this one. I have created several widescreen mattes in photoshop as pict files, and just lay one on the top-most track in FCP. Most systems can play this back in real-time with no need to render. The drawback is you can't adjust the matte size like you could with a widescreen filter.

k. Gonna give this a try. Thanks all.

Quote

I would think that since you can add a filter to one clip in the browser, being able to add a filter to a thousand clips in the browser would be sort of a logical next step,

you're adding the filter to a clip in the VIEWER, not the Browser.

i see where you're coming from with the "add filter" shortcut. (that puts you in the power user league )
but i don't see it saving you LOTS of time.

cutting into the timeline is only one keystroke (F10) and easy to undo.

here's a thought:
do you like editing from a SEQUENCE of rushes?
sometimes having a SEQUNCE of scene clips loaded in hte viewer is a good way to edit.
saves loading each single take individually.

you could put your organised rshes into timelines and add the WS overlay.
then load that into the viewer.
to edit from a sequence, use Apple F9 and apple F10 instead of F9 and F10


of course the SIMPLEST way is to tape some black bars over your viewer window!


all the best,
nick

ha! I did attempt the tape bit, but figured I'd pick the brains of the more experienced folks here to see if there's a better way.... Cutting from the sequence is a good route. I'll play with that a little. thanks again all!

And on a closer look - right - you can't add filters to clips in the browser. Still its a step up from Avid that you can apply an effect to a master clip at all IMHO.

oh, and you can re-map Apple F9 and Apple F10 to the normal F9 and F10 keys.

(Tools > Keyboard > Customise, look for "Content" in the search field)

the cool thing is that you dont lose the usual F9, F10 functions.


another instance of this "value added" functionally:
you can upgrade f to "show match frame in multiclip" and normal match frame still works, too


nick

if it helps, there are a number of widescreen matte generators/filters about that'll save you creating the matte in photshop:
[www.lasserij.nl]
[homepage.mac.com]

of course...but making a pict in photoshop and placing it in the top layer should play back without rendering. Placing a slug in the top layer and applying a widescreen matte filter and invert filter may not play back in real time. Just 2 ways of doing the exact same thing....depending on your system, mileage may vary.

Here's another way:

- Add slug to the top track (remember you can make generators longer than 2 mins by typing into the Viewer's duration field before editing it into the sequence)
- Add Video Filters > Matte > Mask Shape
- Make the horizontal scale more than 100
- Change the vertical scale to whatever you like
- Check the Invert option
- Voila! An adjustable letterbox mask on a single clip.

Martin Baker
[www.digital-heaven.co.uk]
Unique plug-ins and tools for Apple Pro Apps

you pay for that adjustabilty...

i still get an orange render line with that on a 2.4G Intel machine

but i get the Grey "Full" render line with a Photoshop mask.
(or two slugs shifted up and down for that matter.)

i assume you'd get longer render times with the mask?



nick

Nick just hit the nail on the head...I guess I didn't explain myself very well.

Quote
derekmok
Before you do any editing, take all your master clips (or master clips from a certain bin) and stick them all into a timeline. Use Paste Attributes or the drag-and-drop method to apply the Widescreen Matte filter to all of them. Now drag those clips from the timeline back into a Browser bin. You're basically creating new master clips with the effect already applied. Now use those new master clips for editing. I don't use this method often because I hate having filters on my master clips, but if you want this approach, it's doable.

Wouldn't that create media management problems?

> Wouldn't that create media management problems?

Not really. It is similar to master-affiliate relationships. Two clips in the Browser referring to the same media file on disk. The issue that will come up is that you may end up with a messy Browser if you have too many duplicate items. This is why I don't recommend adding filters to master clips. However, if you do it prior to editing, you can delete the old versions of the master clips.


www.derekmok.com

That's a great tip.

Though I would also not recommend it to the widescreen filter, this is a neat solution for the now common situation of clips shot on the hvx200 (or any other camera, for that matter) with lens adaptor, which records the image upside down.

As you said, the trick is to delete the clips in the browser before dragging the modified clips from the sequence back to the browser, so as not to have duplicate items.

I guess I am not understanding what the difference is between using this method to apply a widescreen matte to footage that was framed and will screen in widescreen format, no exceptions, and footage that was shot with a lens that records an upside down image? I have been in both situations, and in both situations was really glad that I can apply filters to master clips so I can see what the DP saw instead of get distracted by booms in the shot, etc.

My bins arrive neatly organized by shot and everytime I view the dailies I can hit a key to apply the widescreen filter. I have come across maybe 3 or 4 scenes where the footage was so off color that I needed to apply a temp cc to make it play smoothly but it was only one step longer then your suggestions, which was to select the clips that need the color effect, and remove attributes. Then I have a clean slate. In the end, its really only a matter of having to re-order the filters if one or two clips get more FX. Am I still missing something? Are the edit police going to get me for doing this?

G

>>Are the edit police going to get me for doing this? <<

I think they're too busy hunting down those menaces-to-society using gratuitous star wipes on children's ballet performances.

If it works for you, go for it. Unless it involves a star wipe. That's the law. Judge Jude.

Old post, but I think it's related so I'll bump the whole thread - I think this is why you all held this opinion of affecting masters.

So. I've got my 110 minute film cut, screening to external eyes this week. All of my Masters have a widescreen filter, though here and there I've needed to blow up a few things so there are sporadic mattes on V2, or V3, whatever as needed. For screening, I'd like to remove the WIDESCREEN filters only and apply a single matte across the whole thing to avoid the occasional bleed from the individual filters (slight compositing proved to allow bleed around the matte from lower layers). I know, I know, "I told ya so". But really, there is no way to remove a specific filter from the EVERY clip? Just wondering. Not critical though it would cut down on the render time.

> For screening, I'd like to remove the WIDESCREEN filters only and apply a single matte across
> the whole thing to avoid the occasional bleed from the individual filters

That's what you should have done in the beginning -- a single, easiliy disabled (CONTROL-B) matte on its own track, covering the entire timeline. If you have more than just the Widescreen Matte filter on the clips and only want to remove Widescreen Matte, there's no way in Final Cut to do that -- you'll be removing all the other filters at the same time.

Sorry for the "I told you so". But there's a reason why all of us -- me, Martin, Nick, Loren -- recommended that first method to begin with. There was literally no downside to using it, and there were many, many downsides to using a Widescreen Matte filter. Even the old-school method of taping up your external monitor for the letterbox was better than applying the Widescreen Matte filter to all your masters. Especially since you ignored the whole thing about not adding further filters until you've removed the Widescreen Matte.

I believe Andreas Kiel, our resident XML master, mentioned using an XML to smart-bomb only that filter across the timeline. Hopefully he'll chime in and let you know if that's doable, and how.


www.derekmok.com

yeah yeah. I was pretty sure that was gonna be the answer. Still, up until this point it has served me much better to not have to render the matte layer each time I want to playback the sequence for the director, who has proved very incapable of previewing cuts with any kind of matte discrepancy (resized shots sprinkled in and the boom is all over the matted parts of the screen). Each little shift anywhere in the timeline seems to undo my renders, which at HD res take lots of time and space.

BUT - now it would be good to have that control, but not critical. I think if I didn't have so much coloring and sizing on the clips that the matte would play realtime all the way through, and THEN it would be MUCH better. Am I still missing something?

If all your clips have the exact same filters on them, you could choose one clip, open it up and remove the widescreen filter, then copy the clip (for safety, I would also drop the clip in a fresh timeline) Then select all the other clips and remove filters, then paste attributes, filters - since your clipboard should be remembering the 'copy' that you did a few moments ago.

This will add all the filters from the first clip, sans widescreen.

If the filters are different - it's a one-at-a-time job.