Apple Final Cut Pro 5 - Manual (Page 1142)

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Compositing and Layering
Compositing is the process of stacking and blending
multiple video or graphics clips over one another in a
sequence to create multilayered motion graphics and
special effects shots.
This chapter covers the following:
 Compositing Strategies and Modes (p. 355)
 Working With Layered Photoshop Files (p. 368)
 Using Video and Graphics Clips With Alpha Channels (p. 371)
Compositing Strategies and Modes
Compositing involves stacking two or more video or graphics clips in a sequence on
multiple video tracks. You can have up to 99 layers, or tracks, of clips in Final Cut Pro.
Once you’ve layered a group of clips in the Timeline, you can also adjust the
transparency, or opacity levels, of the clips. Both tasks affect your final compositing
result. The more layers you have, the more creative you can get. (This can also cause
problems, however, and leave you with a potentially more confusing image in your
program.) The key is to achieve a balanced effect.
Two video clips and one
graphic are layered in a
sequence.