time remapping 101

amazingly enough, searching for 'time remap' yields exactly 1 hit, in the FCPX department, so here i go:

i have a clip that i would like to slow down quite a bit at the very end. in the motion parameters, i set the clip to variable time and the clip gets all messed up. in the manual i see that the overall duration needs to stay the same, so if i slow down in one part, it speeds up somewhere else. may sound logical, but that's not what i want. i want the normal speed and a slowdown at the end, even if that means the clips ends up being longer. how do i do that?

thanks,
stefan

--
macpro 2x3 ghz dual core intel, 10.6.8, FCS 2

Cut the clip into two pieces and then do a regular speed change on the second clip.


www.derekmok.com

derekmok Wrote:
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> Cut the clip into two pieces and then do a regular
> speed change on the second clip.


what is a regular speed change - do you mean constant?

stefan

--
macpro 2x3 ghz dual core intel, 10.6.8, FCS 2

Yes.


www.derekmok.com

ok. well that's not quite the same, of course.

do i gather from your post that dynamic tempo changes are better left alone because they are simply a messy affair/better left for pros/buggy...?

stefan

--
macpro 2x3 ghz dual core intel, 10.6.8, FCS 2

Part of the point is, FCP is an editing program, not an effects program. There are things it simply doesn't do well. There are workarounds, but at the end of the day, some effects are just better off done with specialized tools.


www.derekmok.com

Yea, the original speed tool is a little unintuitive and frame blending isnt so cool when doing variable speed ramps. That said, you can try using the ease in/out function in FCP 7, which made the speed tool more useable.



www.strypesinpost.com

If you have FCP7 then you have Motion4 which has a pretty decent time remap function.
inspector>properties>timing>time remap>variable speed
Then the out point refers to the frame count in the effect. You can make it as large as you please.
Click the diamond-shaped marker. Choose: show in keyframe editor.
This gives you a graphical display of which frame of the original appears at which frame of the effect. The values can be fractional.
Granted, raising and lowering the values at the keyframes yields a broken line rather than a smooth curve, but it is easy to add keyframes by double-clicking on the curve and to do semi-smoothing by eye.
Motion4 is weird and requires some hours to get used to. It's bugginess provides added adventure.

Dennis Couzin
Berlin, Germany

ok thanks for the insights. i have motion3 and while i've never really got into it, i probably just go with the constant change for now, just to be done.

derek, the point of 'misusing' an editor as an effects program is well taken. fcp just seems to cross these boundaries on several ends so that's an easy misconception to make.

stefan

--
macpro 2x3 ghz dual core intel, 10.6.8, FCS 2

I found I got more control over the Time remap tool by dragging and holding down Option while drgaging. The result as I recall was a little more intuitive and understandable. Try it.

- Loren

Today's FCP 7 keytip:
Advance to next/previous keyframes in a clip with Shift/Option-K !

Your Final Cut Studio KeyGuide? Power Pack
with FCP7 KeyGuide --
now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

Motion / FCP Time Remapping tools stink IMHO...especially for ramping and super slomo. You need a higher end tool: Twixtor

[www.revisionfx.com]

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

joey, you may well be right, but i wasn't so concerned about the quality of the remap tool as about its usability. of course, you may have been referring to this also.

since video editing is not my bread and butter job, twixtor is out of range for me. i wouldn't think twice about buying something in this price range for audio, however

stefan

--
macpro 2x3 ghz dual core intel, 10.6.8, FCS 2

Stefan.

Just double click on the clip that you want the end to slow down on. Go into the Motion tab, down to speed. Go to the point in the shot where you want it to start slowing. Mark a keyframe. Go to the point in the footage that you want the slow down to end at and mark a keyframe. Then drag that keyframe down until you get the slow down that you want. Command/drag is a more gradual way to drag the keyframe down. Then if you want more control over the animation curve of the speed down (like make a "ease in", control click and do a "Send to Motion". Much better animation curve controls in Motion. And, in the properties tab at the bottom where the "timing" section is you can choose a higher quality "optical flow" blending. In the Render settings you might want to change the default normal to best. You could leave it in your fcp timeline as a motion project clip, but I find that to be clunky. Just export a render out of motion and replace your clip.

Somewhat of a ramble. But, that's the way my brain works.

Geo

wow, thanks for the step-by-step instructions. i'll try be sure to that!

stefan

--
macpro 2x3 ghz dual core intel, 10.6.8, FCS 2