Trying to do Monty Python animations in FCP

[Luis Ortega]

I used to do little animations in the style of those shown on the Monty Python Flying Circus TV show using Premiere Pro and I was quite good at it. It was easy to use the Premiere Pro motion, scale, rotate features on a clip in a very visually direct way and add keyframes for exact timings.
Now I am using Final Cut Pro and I am having a lot of trouble because I am so unfamiliar with the way it works.

If I have a clip on the timeline I can use the image plus wireframe setting in the canvas window to allow me to grab the material and move it around and add keyframes with the little radio button of that window, but it doesn't show me the keyframes anywhere and I can't adjust them for better timings.

If I double click on a clip already in the timeline and it loads into the viewer window, I can access the motion features window that is nested in the viewer window to add keyframes and make adjustments to the timings, but it seems rather clumsy and more fiddly than the method used in Premiere Pro, especially if you don't have a huge monitor and screen space is tight.

It doesn't even seem to have a plain motion control, although it appears that the center control acts as a way of making an element move around on the screen, but it is also fiddly in that it creates lines for each movement and it's easy to activate a line and pull it or distort it without meaning to.

There doesn't seem to be any effects editing workspace in FCP that might make things easier either.

One thing that FCP does nicely is that when I create a layered file in Photoshop in preparation for use in FCP it automatically distributes each of the layers in the file to a different video track so it's all set up and ready to be worked on.

I think that FCP is a very well featured editor so I am wondering if there is a better way to manipulate this sort of work so that it's easier to do and more visually direct.

Am I using the correct approach or is there another way to be able to move, scale and rotate elements on the timeline and keyframe their timings that is visually clear?

Thanks a lot for any help.

 

[AviationFan]

Luis,

I haven't used Premiere Pro, so I can't compare the two. I wonder, though, if what you are trying to do could be accomplished much more easily with Motion. Since you have FCP, I'm guessing you have access to Motion, too?

- Martin

 

[Eric Piercey]

You can grab the video tab and drag it so its possible to view the video tab at the same time as the motion tab. Or, if you're working on a clip already on the timeline be sure to 2x click it to open it in the viewer, and your changes should show up in both canvas and on the external monitor should you have one.

 

[Poeben]

You should definitely be doing this in Motion. It is waaaay easier.

but it doesn't show me the keyframes anywhere and I can't adjust them for better timings.

There is a keyframe editor in the motion tab (by default those green horizontal lines to the right of the Add Keyframe buttons are current values.) You can easily add keyframes using opt-click. You can drag the motion tab to create a new (bigger) window. You can also resize the keyframe display by dragging the borders.

One thing that FCP does nicely is that when I create a layered file in Photoshop in preparation for use in FCP it automatically distributes each of the layers in the file to a different video track so it's all set up and ready to be worked on.

Motion works in much the same way, as does After Effects. Assuming you have Motion, give it a try. You will forget all about Final Cut for this sort of work.

 

[P-Worm]

I believe there is a button somewhere that allows you to display your keyframes right in the timeline instead of using the motion tab.

P-Worm