FINAL CUT SLIDESHOW HELP

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BrandonRussell
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p.1 #1 · FINAL CUT SLIDESHOW HELP

I'm trying learn to use Final Cut Studio to create slideshows, but I'm stuck. Does anyone use FC to create slideshows? I see it's potential to do far more than many other programs like FotoMagico, etc., but where do I start. It's so complex. What's the workflow? Man I'm lost. How do you create motion, or the Ken Burns Effect? I like that fact that it's not all automated, but how do you create these things? Thanks a ton for any help.
Brandon

Dec 23, 2007 at 02:34 AM

invalid2
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p.1 #2 · FINAL CUT SLIDESHOW HELP

What do you want to do? and how much experience do you have with FCP/FCE or similar editors?

You can start off with simple still slides by simply putting the images you want in the sequence. If you want to do a dissolve between them, you can add it in to each transition, or drag them onto the canvas and insert/overwrite with transition.

For moving the images around, you can add keyframes and change the center/rotation/scale/crop setting at each keyframe. If you have FCS, Motion.app has better keyframing support for motion effects, but I usually skip it because I find FCP easier for the simple effects that I usually use.

Dec 23, 2007 at 08:40 PM

JimboCin
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p.1 #3 · FINAL CUT SLIDESHOW HELP

I use FotoMagico and others like it too. They are very easy to learn on your own. Unfortunately as you (and I) have seen Final Cut is not the same type of program. It takes a LOT of work to learn. If you are interested in putting in the time to learn this somewhat complex program, you may want to look into the following:
1. Look at the Amazon site for books on the subject.
2. If you have an Apple store nearby, find out if they offer classes on this.
3. I bet there are other on-line and DVD courses in FinalCut that you can find with a little Googling.

If you don't want to put the time and effort into learning FinalCut now (not sure I do) then other software tools might be of interest other than FotoMagico. Some of these (on the Mac) include:
- iMovie (most likely you already have this). It can do basic slide shows but certainly does have its limitations.
- SoundSlides Plus (this is what I typically use. Easy, but certainly NOT full-featured like FinalCut)

Lightroom, Aperture, iPhoto and PhotoShop all have some ability but they are more limited than what I care to use normally.

If you have a newer Mac and can boot into Windows there are some interesting (and free) programs there that I like too. Microsoft Photo Story 3 is the one I like the best there. Simple to use and has some nice functionality.

JimR

Dec 24, 2007 at 07:51 PM

invalid2
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p.1 #4 · FINAL CUT SLIDESHOW HELP

I do not know how much you want to do, but you can take a look at this for a basic intro to motion control in final cut express - I think it should help for fcp as well.

As JimboCin lists, there are other tools to make simple slideshows - depending on the work, you may want to consider some of them.

from: http://dvcreators.net/discuss/showthread.php?t=12557
Of course, specialised apps will make you work faster, but if you go the keyframing route, you'll soon be working very quickly and retain the ability to do just about anything, when specialised apps won't let you go out of their scope of possible things.

Dec 25, 2007 at 04:54 AM

gillyohan
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p.1 #5 · FINAL CUT SLIDESHOW HELP

I would also ask this type of question in the Apple discussion forum. There are always helpful people there for Apple apps.

Dec 25, 2007 at 11:22 PM

BrandonRussell
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p.1 #6 · FINAL CUT SLIDESHOW HELP

Ok, thank you all.
First, I don;t know FCP beyond what I've been able to put together in the last week. I know the simpler software. I use FotoMagico and I used ProShow on my PC, and I got FCS for a heavily discounted price (I didn't just drop $1200 for a program I knew nothing about), but I see the possibility of doing amazing things with Final Cut that aren't going to happen with FotoMagico, like some of the LiveType functions such as the scripting of text and different transitions, etc. Most of the literature (and the manuals that came with the APP) are geared toward Video editing and it would be nice to see something from somebody that used the program specifically for still image presentations. Also, the possibilities of Compressor look promising. Sometimes these shows we do in FotoMagico, etc. don't look great when rendering motion, etc.
One thing I've tried in the last 24 hours that shows promise is building the basic show in FotoMagic and opening it in FC. It opens the show as, essentially, one track that can't be edited on a slide-by-slide basis, but different chapters could be combined and music edited to the whole thing in FC. Anyone gone about it like this? Thanks again for any opinions, suggestions, as well as to those already given.
Brandon

Dec 26, 2007 at 02:42 AM

invalid2
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p.1 #7 · FINAL CUT SLIDESHOW HELP

I think that for specifically FCP, you should learn how to do some of the basic video editing work - clips, sequencies, how things go together, etc... You can learn it on your own with the user manual or a book (library or store), you can go to an Apple store and ask them for a brief walkthrough, or possibly (depending on your location) you can get a basics class. In Hawaii, the community tv stations provide free to low cost training on it.

If you would like to peruse some online resources (not basics) to get some idea of what people do and how, you can try looking at:
(1) - http://www.lafcpug.org/tutorials.html
(2) - http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/fcp_homepage_index.html

and the bits that seem closer to slideshows are:
(3) - http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/no_keyframes.html
(4) - http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/cutting_to_the_beat.html

I figured out most of the stuff in (4) on my own while putting together some photo montages in FCP - it talks about using it for what sound like pop music (lots of beats), but the techniques can be adapted for slower music for a peaceful slideshow or photo montage.

If you want to put something together and then edit that video in FCP, that should give you some of the benefits of both tools. If you want to have synchronized motion of text and images, you should probably look at Motion.app - it can use video as well.

Dec 26, 2007 at 09:11 PM


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