[This article was first published
in the January, 2006, issue of
Larry's Final Cut Pro Newsletter. Click here to subscribe.]
I was going to write about creating keyframes in LiveType -- but, in
researching this technique, I discovered a whole flock (that's a technical
term) of other neat tricks, so I changed the title.
Here's what we are going to do: I want to animate a background graphic
to use behind a lower-third super in LiveType. I'll create the background
in PhotoShop, import it into LiveType, where I'll make it look beautiful.
Or, um, at least make it look better....
Fasten your seatbelts, here we go...
1. Open PhotoShop, any version will do, and create a new image with
a resolution of 720 x 150 x 72. This creates a graphic that goes the
full width of the video frame, but only about 1/4 of a frame high. You
can leave the background set to White.
2. This screen then
appears. We are going to use this as the basic shape into which we
will put moving video. But, first, I want to fade the right edge so
that it looks less "block-like."
3. Click on the QuickMask button on the Tool palette. This switches
PhotoShop from image editing mode to mask editing mode.
4. You can tell you are doing it right when the Channels palette highlights
the QuickMask channel.
5. Select the default gradient tool and drag a gradient from the right
edge to the left. This creates a mask that fades the right side to transparent,
while leaving the left edge solid. If you want less fading, draw the
gradient line shorter. If you want more fading, draw the gradient line
longer. if you want the fade to come from the top, or bottom, or anywhere
at an angle, change the direction of the gradient line.
6. Here's what our image looks like, in Quick Mask mode, with the gradient
drawn.
7. Save the file.
Remember to keep it in PhotoShop format, with the alpha channels on.
(Alpha channels store the transparency information for an image or
clip.) In our example, I called the file "Shape
Mask.psd".
8. To bring the file
into Livetype, select File > Place (if you want
to bring the file in on a background layer, select File > Place
Background.)
9. The Shape Mask image is displayed centered in the Canvas. Notice
that the Quick Mask we created faded the right side of the image to transparency
automatically when LiveType imported it.
10. In the Timeline, I stretched the clip by dragging the right edge
so that it runs 4:00 seconds, rather than the default 2:00 duration assigned
by LiveType. Notice that I also dragged the Out indicator so that it
touches the end of the clip. This tells LiveType how long a file to export.
11. Now, we want
to add a colorful animated fill to the graphic. Go to Media
Browser > Textures > Smoke and select the Embers animation (or any other animation you prefer).
12. Click the Apple
to Matte button at the bottom of the Media Browser.
13. Sha-zaam! The embers clip totally replaces the white background
of the PhotoShop clip, but it retains all the transparency information.
Very cool! Preview this and notice that the clip also retains all the
animation from the embers clip.
14. Except, um, the
animation stops about 3/4 the way thru the clip. Sigh... It's still
not perfect. The reason for the stop is that we stretched the PhotoShop
clip so that it runs 4:00, however, the embers video only runs about
3:00. We need to slow down the embers clip.
To do this, go to
Inspector > Attributes > Matteand change the speed to 75%. This slows down the embers clip so it
runs 4:00.
15. But, we aren't
done yet. Our image is in the wrong place and at the wrong size. Select
the clip in the Timeline and go to Inspector > Attributes > Glyph.
Click the Scale lock icon to unlock it.
Change the
Scale Y to 70% to make the clip
less tall. Then, unlock the Offset lock,
and change the Offset Y to 155, to
move the image to the bottom portion of the screen.
16. When that's done, your image looks like this.
17. One last set
of things to do -- we want the image to move in from the left side
of the frame. To do this, we will create two keyframes which represent
it's starting and ending positions.
18. Move your playhead
to the beginning of the Timeline. Select the Shape Mask clip. Go to
Track > Add New Effect. LiveType creates a
new effect track immediately below the Shape Mask clip, with a default
duration of 1:00. You can change the speed of your effect by changing
the duration of this clip.
19. With your playhead
at the start of the Timeline, select the Effect clip. Go to Inspector > Attributes > Glyph.
Unlock the Offset lock, and change Offset
X to -700. (You can't move the slider this
far, you'll need to enter the number.) This moves your image off-screen
left.
20. Preview your image and watch as it flies on screen. The time of
the move is controlled by the duration of the effect clip.
And, just show show off, here's a small
QuickTime movie (1.1 MB) that
shows what we just created.
This tip is from the January, 2006, issue of "Larry's
Final Cut Pro Newsletter," a very cool FREE monthly Final Cut
Pro newsletter -- subscribe at Larry's web site: www.larryjordan.biz.
Larry Jordan is a post-production consultant and an
Apple-Certified Trainer in Digital Media with over 25 years experience
as producer, director and editor with network, local and corporate
credits. Based in Los Angeles, he's a member of both the Directors
Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America.
Any references to trademarks or products are used for
editorial purposes only. Text copyright 2005 by Larry Jordan. All
rights reserved.
