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Home: Video University Forums: Mac Video:
Ken Burns effect in FCE

sean
User

Dec 8, 2005, 1:07 PM

Post #1 of 5 (1009 views)
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Ken Burns effect in FCE	Can't Post

Hi all,
For slide shows I generally use a program called Still Life and export them to .movs and then import into my timelines. However, sometimes I would like to import just 1 or 2 pics and would like to do it in Final Cut (Express HD). I've tried it and its a bit of a pain as you have to set the starting point and a keyframe, then grab a corner to make the picture bigger or smaller, then drag it back to the middle etc. Anyway, just wondered if there were easier ways to add movement to stills in the timeline? I discovered a lot of shortcut keys last night but haven't used them. Maybe zoom in and out are among them.
Thanks a lot.
Sean.

RatVega
Enthusiast

Dec 8, 2005, 4:38 PM

Post #2 of 5 (998 views)
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Re: [sean] Ken Burns effect in FCE [In reply to]	Can't Post

Keyframing is one of the aspects of Final Cut that suffered in the Express version. I've instructed on how to create stills animation in FCE but have always found it "bulky" and inexact. Most of what you appear to want is easy in FCP if you're into numeric keyframing, and the ability to create Motion Favorites is a plus. I'm not sure if FCE supports Motion Favorites, but if it does, a little time invested in creating a library might help a lot.

I've seen a plug-in for adding full keyframing to FCE, but the specifics evade me. Try Googling for it.

Another alternative I think may be attractive is to use iPhoto5 and output as .mov. I was fairly amazed by its capabilities.

Sorry I don't have a simple answer...

______________________________________________________________
Currently on a loaded 2.5GHz G5 dualie/5GB/1TB internal RAID/dual 19" monitors. Final Cut Studio, Adobe Suite, Boris RED. Shooting with Canon.

VU California Crew, Inland Empire Sub-Chapter (paragraph?)

Waldemar
Enthusiast

Dec 24, 2005, 6:55 PM

Post #3 of 5 (922 views)
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Re: [sean] Ken Burns effect in FCE [In reply to]	Can't Post

If you are not happy with keyframing try "StillLife", granted software. It is a great pan and zoom software application.
G5 1.8. Final Cut/QT Pro/iMovie/Still Life. GL1. XL1-s

sean
User

Dec 25, 2005, 3:02 AM

Post #4 of 5 (910 views)
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Re: [Waldemar] Ken Burns effect in FCE [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thanks!
Actually I already have Stilllife. It is a great package but my query was more for adding one picture at a time into the timeline. I'd recently had a lot of issues with it crashing all the time, but I put another gig of RAM into the computer and now it seems to be fine. It's got some nice features like fit to music etc., but when only one picture is needed, I wanted to see if there was something quicker.

Thanks anyway!
Sean.

RatVega
Enthusiast

Dec 26, 2005, 11:27 PM

Post #5 of 5 (866 views)
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Re: [sean] Ken Burns effect in FCE [In reply to]	Can't Post

This may be technically OT, but it's germane to you problem.

Pre- version 5 FCP (and by inference FCE) can have a tough time handling still in the timeline, especially with limited RAM. You'll want to specify a much larger still cache for your project if you plan on a lot of photos. It appears this gets better with FCP5, since it now uses the new Constant Frame store to improve timeline performance (and minimize crashing...)

______________________________________________________________
Currently on a loaded 2.5GHz G5 dualie/5GB/1TB internal RAID/dual 19" monitors. Final Cut Studio, Adobe Suite, Boris RED. Shooting with Canon.

VU California Crew, Inland Empire Sub-Chapter (paragraph?)