No widescreen matte generator? Any workarounds? at DVinfo.net

Matt Portwood · June 24th, 2011, 02:40 PM

Where I would usually use the Widescreen Matte generator in FCP 7 to apply a 2.35:1 matte and offset my clips accordingly I can't seem to find that generator or its equivelent in FCP X. Has anyone found a work around for this? The key for me is being able to easily offset my clips as needed.

William Hohauser · June 24th, 2011, 03:41 PM

Pick a clip on the timeline, go to effects and find letterbox. You can choose "stylize" to reduce the number of filters. Drag the effect onto your clip. The ratio choices are available in the inspector window.

Matt Portwood · June 24th, 2011, 06:19 PM

I find it interesting that they have implemented this as an effect rather than a generator. As a generator it was just a matte which you could offset the image underneath. As an effect unless I am missing something there is no way to fine tune your framing for each clip.

Tim Dashwood · June 24th, 2011, 07:53 PM

I can probably whip something up pretty quickly for you. However, in FCP3-7 this was a filter, not a generator, that could be applied to each clip so that you could shift the underlying image up and down.

Tim Dashwood · June 24th, 2011, 08:14 PM

I made an effect template for you that works exactly like the Widescreen filter in previous versions of FCP with Offset, Border Size, Border Color and Opacity.
Just unzip it and drop into your ...Movies/Motion Templates/Effects folder and it will show up in effects when you search for "widescreen."
I've attached a screen grab as well so you can see how it should look.

Matt Portwood · June 24th, 2011, 11:38 PM

Tim you are a wizard! Thanks so much for that it works great! I don't know how the hell you did it, but big props to ya!

Tim Dashwood · June 25th, 2011, 12:52 AM

For everything that went "missing" in FCP X, there was actually a lot of cross-compatibility added to Motion 5 so it is fairly easy to put together basic geometric effects for FCP X or even tunnel FxPlug plugins back into FCP X. That's basically what I did since the Widescreen filter was FxPlug and still existed in Motion 5.
This same technique can be used to port over lots of the old FxPlug plugins. Just let me know what seems to be missing and I can do it quickly.
I've spent the last three days doing the same thing for all my own plugins.

William Hohauser · June 25th, 2011, 11:40 AM

Then it's time to finally learn Motion for me.

Pierre Alt · June 29th, 2011, 04:02 AM

Thank you, Thank you very much Tim, for you matte generator.

2 questions:

Which offset must need to have a matte : 1: 2,40 ?

And how to put the matte on all the clips (without compound clips) ?

Greetings from South of France/Provence

Jonathan Lawrence · November 4th, 2011, 02:09 PM

Tim - what you have created may solve my problem too - THANKS for this - I cannot seem to find the path "Movies/Motion Templates/Effects folder" to drag your widescreen folder into - I am on a mac pro tower - am i missing something?

Jonathan Lawrence · November 5th, 2011, 12:57 AM

Is that a path for Motion? I may have misunderstood -- I thought it was fix for Premiere CS 5.5 !

June 24th, 2011, 02:40 PM	#1
Matt Portwood Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Danville, IN Posts: 54	No widescreen matte generator? Any workarounds? Where I would usually use the Widescreen Matte generator in FCP 7 to apply a 2.35:1 matte and offset my clips accordingly I can't seem to find that generator or its equivelent in FCP X. Has anyone found a work around for this? The key for me is being able to easily offset my clips as needed. __________________ Matthew Portwood - http://www.matthewportwoodfilms.com --Sony A7s, Premiere Pro CC, iMac i5

June 24th, 2011, 03:41 PM	#2
William Hohauser Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 2,650	Re: No widescreen matte generator? Any workarounds? Pick a clip on the timeline, go to effects and find letterbox. You can choose "stylize" to reduce the number of filters. Drag the effect onto your clip. The ratio choices are available in the inspector window. __________________ William Hohauser - New York City Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation

June 24th, 2011, 06:19 PM	#3
Matt Portwood Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Danville, IN Posts: 54	Re: No widescreen matte generator? Any workarounds? I find it interesting that they have implemented this as an effect rather than a generator. As a generator it was just a matte which you could offset the image underneath. As an effect unless I am missing something there is no way to fine tune your framing for each clip. __________________ Matthew Portwood - http://www.matthewportwoodfilms.com --Sony A7s, Premiere Pro CC, iMac i5

June 24th, 2011, 07:53 PM	#4
Tim Dashwood Wrangler Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Posts: 3,637	Re: No widescreen matte generator? Any workarounds? I can probably whip something up pretty quickly for you. However, in FCP3-7 this was a filter, not a generator, that could be applied to each clip so that you could shift the underlying image up and down. __________________ Tim Dashwood

June 24th, 2011, 11:38 PM	#6
Matt Portwood Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Danville, IN Posts: 54	Re: No widescreen matte generator? Any workarounds? Tim you are a wizard! Thanks so much for that it works great! I don't know how the hell you did it, but big props to ya! __________________ Matthew Portwood - http://www.matthewportwoodfilms.com --Sony A7s, Premiere Pro CC, iMac i5

June 25th, 2011, 12:52 AM	#7
Tim Dashwood Wrangler Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Posts: 3,637	Re: No widescreen matte generator? Any workarounds? For everything that went "missing" in FCP X, there was actually a lot of cross-compatibility added to Motion 5 so it is fairly easy to put together basic geometric effects for FCP X or even tunnel FxPlug plugins back into FCP X. That's basically what I did since the Widescreen filter was FxPlug and still existed in Motion 5. This same technique can be used to port over lots of the old FxPlug plugins. Just let me know what seems to be missing and I can do it quickly. I've spent the last three days doing the same thing for all my own plugins. __________________ Tim Dashwood

June 25th, 2011, 11:40 AM	#8
William Hohauser Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 2,650	Re: No widescreen matte generator? Any workarounds? Then it's time to finally learn Motion for me. __________________ William Hohauser - New York City Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation

June 29th, 2011, 04:02 AM	#9
Pierre Alt New Boot Join Date: May 2011 Location: Metz-Paris-Avignon / France Posts: 5	Re: No widescreen matte generator? Any workarounds? Thank you, Thank you very much Tim, for you matte generator. 2 questions: Which offset must need to have a matte : 1: 2,40 ? And how to put the matte on all the clips (without compound clips) ? Greetings from South of France/Provence

November 4th, 2011, 02:09 PM	#10
Jonathan Lawrence New Boot Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Burbank, CA Posts: 15	Re: No widescreen matte generator? Any workarounds? Tim - what you have created may solve my problem too - THANKS for this - I cannot seem to find the path "Movies/Motion Templates/Effects folder" to drag your widescreen folder into - I am on a mac pro tower - am i missing something? __________________ Pre Planning Prevents Poor Production.

November 5th, 2011, 12:57 AM	#11
Jonathan Lawrence New Boot Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Burbank, CA Posts: 15	Re: No widescreen matte generator? Any workarounds? Is that a path for Motion? I may have misunderstood -- I thought it was fix for Premiere CS 5.5 ! __________________ Pre Planning Prevents Poor Production.