Titles, Effects, and Generators

In previous chapters, you did everything yourself; the total of your efforts has been created by your hand. In this chapter, we will look at enhancements that are built into the software so that you can add your media to them, adding flair to your edit without any extra effort. Titles are templates of animated routines that you just add text to; some are simple containers for basic text, while others are for short animations that you can also add to your video. Generators are also animations but are usually far more complex than titles. Think of them as little videos that you add to your video. They tell a short story – for instance, as an opening for your video with animations, somewhat like a Hollywood movie intro. There is another element we will cover in this chapter, known as effects, which change the look of your video. You were briefly introduced to audio effects in the previous chapter. With effects, there are also transitions, which smoothen...

What are titles?

When I talk to new students, they know very little about titles in Final Cut Pro. I think this is because self-taught users of Final Cut Pro have just taken titles for granted and have not considered the full implications of what they can do and how to get the best use of them in Final Cut Pro. On that basis, I believe it is beneficial to go back to basics and discuss the intricacies of titles, even though this book is aimed at current users of Final Cut Pro beyond the beginner stage.

You can find the Titles and Generators button above the media browser; this is because titles and generators are treated by Final Cut Pro as clips when they are added to a project in the timeline. The Title button is third from the left at the top of the browser:

Figure 7.1– The Title button at the top left and the Centered title highlighted

Think of a Final Cut Pro title as a container into which you can add your text. A simple title, such as...

Adding text to a title

The first consideration that you need to be clear on is that font and text are different terms; they are not interchangeable. Text includes all the characteristics, such as the size, the color, and the font. The font, which is just a typeface, is only one component of text.

There are clear conventions about the use of text in video, and this is because text in a video is different from printed text, even though we tend to treat them the same. Video is low-resolution compared to text printed on a page. This means that text in video, even 4K video, is pixelated. Also, text on a printed page is there for you to read for as long as you need to decipher it. You can decide how long you need to look at the printed page for your brain to understand the words.

Video is not only lower-resolution and slightly pixelated but also plays for a fixed time, which you have no control over unless you skip back to read it again or pause the screen. This means you have to decipher...

What are generators?

Generators are similar in some ways to titles in that they are computer-generated animations, created in Apple’s Motion app. They are little videos within your video and are unique to Final Cut Pro. They provide animated sequences where you can modify and add your own media, in a similar way to titles. Think of generators as titles on steroids. You will also find drop zones available in the Generator inspector window.

The default generators include backgrounds, elements, solids, and textures.

Backgrounds

Backgrounds are full-screen, generated media that will fit any frame size, rate, or duration. They include the Organic, Collage, Drifting, Clouds, and Underwater types.

Drag the generator to the timeline and, in the inspector, select the Generator tab, where the Title tab was previously located:

Figure 7.8 – The Rays background in the inspector with the Generator tab selected

The next category after backgrounds...

What are effects?

The Effects and Transitions browser is on the right of the timeline and can be activated with the two buttons on the far right of the center menu bar. The browser can show all the installed effects/transitions or just those in selected projects:

Figure 7.13 – Effects for just one project or all installed effects

When effects are chosen in the browser, they contain both video and audio effects. The different titles for effects can be searched for at the bottom of the browser, by selecting All in the sidebar:

Figure 7.14 – The Search field at the bottom of the browser

As you hover your mouse across an effect in the browser, you will see a preview, within the effect thumbnail, of how it will look in the currently selected clip in the timeline. The effect is then dragged inside the clip in the timeline. Effects can also be added by selecting the timeline clip first and then double-clicking the...

What are transitions?

By convention, the use of transitions should be kept to a minimum. The saying goes, “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” When you are new to video editing, it is very tempting to think that you are adding the wow factor by inserting transitions at every edit point. Not a good idea. The concept comes from the feeling that every edit point has a visual jump to the next clip. This comes from being too close to the edit.

If you are relatively new to editing, my suggestion is, after at least a few hours, to sit back and view the exported movie on another screen. Don’t look out for the edits; try to view the movie as a complete story. If the straight cuts are jarring, then you need to do something to smoothen the edit points. That may or may not involve the use of transitions.

As you become more proficient at editing, you will realize that you don’t need a transition effect to move from one scene to the next. There...

What are Plug-ins?

Plug-ins will be discussed in detail in Chapter 11 and 12. Many developers make Plug-ins for Final Cut Pro, along with other Non-Linear Editors (NLEs). Suppliers number in the hundreds; some are big organizations and others are sole operators. They all tend to offer some free Plug-ins, of limited value, to encourage purchasers to visit their websites.

All Final Cut Pro Plug-ins are developed using Apple’s Motion 5 app. If you are a professional Final Cut Pro editor, I encourage you to purchase Motion 5. An introduction to Motion 5 will be provided in Chapter 17, Supporting Software Applications for Final Cut Pro.

Problems with Plug-ins

If there is one area that you should look at first for potential problems within Final Cut Pro, it is the status of Plug-ins. When Final Cut Pro is updated, it is common for Plug-ins to be rendered out of date. If you have recently installed an update and you have issues with Final Cut Pro, check the Plug-ins. Usually...

Summary

In this chapter, you saw how the four different types of Plug-ins – titles, generators, effects, and transitions – can add extra information to your edit. You saw how these effects can save you a serious amount of time in having to build the animations or presets yourself. You saw how to make compound clips from standard titles that have had multiple effects added. Then, you learned that default Plug-ins are supplied as part of Final Cut Pro and that there are also Plug-ins available for purchase, or sometimes for free. You also saw how to add text to the built-in titles and how to use the drop zone feature, which allows you to add your media to the title. Additionally, you learned about the conventions for the two different uses of transitions and how to limit overusing them. Finally, you learned that older Plug-ins can cause problems as new versions of Final Cut Pro are released.

The next chapterwill show you how to combine a multicamera shoot, enabling you...