Apple Final Cut Pro 7 - Manual (Page 1194)

Methods of Compositing
Once you’ve layered clips in the Timeline, you can adjust how each one blends with the
layers below using the following methods:
• Opacity levels: This adjusts the transparency of a clip. You can adjust the Opacity
parameter to subtly blend two or more layers together, or you can animate this
parameter over time to create fade-ins and fade-outs. For more information, see
“Adjusting Opacity Levels of Clips.”
• Composite modes: This determines how the brightness and color values of one clip
visually interact with those of clips beneath it. Composite modes are sometimes called
blending modes. For more information, see
“Working with Composite Modes.”
• Alpha channels: In some cases, a graphic or video file includes an additional channel
of grayscale information that determines the transparency of the image. Unlike a simple
opacity control, an alpha channel specifies a unique transparency value for each pixel
in the image. Alpha channels can be used as masks to hide parts of an image (such as
blue-screen footage) or to create transparency that varies throughout the image. For
more information, see
“Using Video and Graphics Clips with Alpha Channels.” For
information about enabling or disabling alpha channels in sequence settings, see
“Confirming Alpha Channel Status.”
As an editor, you’ll find compositing useful for creating montages, abstract images, and
titles over video. You can also use Final Cut Pro to make a rough arrangement of layers
and then export those layers to Motion or Shake for even more advanced motion graphics
and compositing effects. The more layers you have, the more creative you can get.
However, you should aim to keep your designs as simple as possible, using the minimum
number of layers necessary to achieve your visual design or effect.
Different Ways to Layer Clips in the Timeline
There are several ways you can layer clips in the Timeline.
• Create a new track in a sequence, then edit clips into the new track.
You can add one or more tracks to a sequence, depending on the effect you are creating.
For more information, see
“Working with Tracks in the Timeline.”
• Drag a clip into an empty area of the Timeline, so a track is created for the new clip.
You can drag a source clip to the unused space above (or below) the current tracks to
create a new track for that clip. If you drag a clip above the tracks already in the Timeline,
you’ll create a new video track. If you drag a clip below the tracks in the Timeline, a
new audio track is created. For more information, see
“Working with Tracks in the
Timeline.”
• Perform a superimpose edit.
1194 Chapter 71 Compositing and Layering