i Movie or FCP? w.r.t. Ken Burns

[Jeremiah Boucher]

I have iMovie 3 running on my B&W G3 under OS10.1.5
and
FCP 2 on a G4 under OS 9.1.

I am preparing a slide show consisting of only photographs. I created one really simple version using only quicktime.

I started to a more complex version using FCP, motion, titles, soundtracks, etc. then stopped when I discovered the Ken Burns effect in iMovie.

I have never used iMovie up until now.

My question is, will scaling and moving stills in FCP produce results equal to the built in effect in iMovie?

I found the photoshop to FCP tutorial by Ken Stone (Great Stuff!!!) and am preparing photos as suggested.

I have yet to export.

It would be a good learning experience to try both applications and compare results, however, I have more than 200 photos so I was looking for some feedback before jumping in.

My first experience with iMovie is that it is too limiting, however if the Ken Burns effect treats my still images better than FCP can, I will consider learning how to use iMovie.

Thank you in advance for any feedback

[Ken Tanaka]

Hello Jeremiah,
That "Ken Burns" effect in iMovie 3 is pretty funny. I've not used iMovie 3 much but I couldn't help chuckling to think that Ken Burns was paid a royalty to have his name lent to the efffect. (Actually, I'd bet that Burns probably uses a motion-control camera to produce his pans.)

FCP offers you much more control than iMovie. I've done a great deal of "Ken Burns"-style motion pans, creeps and crawls on stills with Final Cut Pro. It takes some practice and judgement. But FCP's motion controls can certainly produce outstanding results with good planning.

The main tip is to start with the best quality stills you can get. I generally start with still resolutions roughly twice that of video frame (1440 x 960), but not higher than that. Your motion acceleration should generally model that of a train. That is, start slowly, accelerate slowly just a bit, and then slow to a stop. It's best to first determine where you want to start and stop on each shot, then determine the time available for the shot (most are 5 secs or less, but some approach 10 secs.)

It's a very time-consuming process, more so than editing video footage. But FCP is definitely the better way to go if you have it available.

Have fun!

[Jeremiah Boucher]

Thanks for the reply Ken, I agree, the effect is somewhat of a gimic. As you pointed out, it can be time consuming to work with stills in FCP, which is why I was looking at iMovie. I was giving the i-apps the old college try.

I have since decided that iMovie does not give me the control I am used to with FCP. I am going to slug it out in Final Cut. I was working with photos that were too large, I will reduce the pics as you suggest. thanks again.

[Jeff Donald]

Not wanting to muddy the waters there is another option that I've used for very quick down and dirty "Burns" effects. It is called Photo to Movie and it outputs a full resolution QuickTime for FCP. It is very easy to learn and is very good quality.

[Steve Clodfelter]

Is there something similar to Photos to Movies for Windows XP?

[Jeff Donald]

Not that I'm aware of, but post in the PC forum for more informed response.

[Simon Plissi]

Personally I think Apple should have localised the Ken Burns effect. (please note: this isn't another rant on bringing back the wastebasket)

Apart from the fact that I think it's a stupid name for what it does, Apple should have at least have called it the Ken Morse effect for us Brits. ;-)

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about. Ken Morse is the hardest working man on British TV. If you tend to watch more documentaries or factual programmes, like I do, then you're sure to see his name in the credits.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Ken+Morse+rostrum&btnG=Google+Search

[Jeremiah Boucher]

Thanks for the tip Jeff, I have downloaded the demo for Photo to Movie. Looks promising.

As to the name of the effect in iMovie, isn't (wasn't) Ken Burns and american historian?

[Ken Tanaka]

Ken Burns is a filmmaker who specializes in cultural and historical topics.

[David LeBlanc]

CAN FCX DO THE KEN BURNS EFFECT thank you David Leblanc

[Jeff Donald]

It can do the effect but you have to adjust keyframes, etc. yourself. iMovie requires less user participation. If your looking for a less involved software that will produce that effect you might try Photo to Movie.