Twixtor Final Cut Pro Examples.

NOTE: You need Twixtor 4.0 for these examples. You also need Final Cut Pro 4.0, FCP HD or later.

Important: These tutorials assume you have read the manual that was put on your disk with the plugin upon installation.

Before opening the project examples, make sure to move the movies from the SourceMovies folder into this folder (make sure the movies are in the same directory with the Final Cut Pro projects, otherwise F inal Cut Pro will have trouble finding them).

It is important to note that for Twixtor to work in FCP you need to:


1_Make4x  This is a great starter example!

Shows you how to take footage and make the footage four times as long.

  1. "Can't Do This" sequence. You might be tempted to just put Twixtor on the original footage. However, when you do this FCP does not create any frames past the length of the original footage. But we want a sequence that's twice as long!
  2. Sequence 2a) and 2b). So you create an intermediate sequence that's twice as long, and put the intermediate sequence inside another sequence. However FCP still doesn't create frames past the original footage length because it sees that there are "empty" frames for the second half of the intermediate sequence.
  3. Sequence 3a) and 3b). So the answer is to create an intermediate sequence that is twice as long and has a valid frame everywhere in the intermediate sequence. You might be tempted to use the "Slug" video generator, but FCP won't process the sequence with Twixtor at every frame because it knows that SLUG sequences don't change... so we use multiple copies of the original footage instead (so that the duration of the interim sequence is as long as the desire final retimed footage). We then include the intermediate sequence into another sequence and apply Twixtor. We then include the intermediate sequence into another sequence and apply Twixtor. Sequence 3b)'s Field Dominance setting set to Lower Field First (setting found in Settings...->General tab in FCP) so sequence 3b) creates interlaced material using Twixtor's interpolation methods to create each field. Sequence 3c) creates progressive material because the sequence settings in FCP for that sequence has Field Dominance set to None.
  4. To see the Twixtor settings on an intermediate sequence (that is inside another sequence), you might be tempted to double-click on the intermediate sequence while viewing the parent's sequence timeline... but that simply jumps you to the intermediate sequence's timeline. To see the filters (and their settings) for the intermediate sequence, select the sequence in it's parent sequence, then select FCP's View->Sequence menu option.

2_KeyFrameRemap

This sample project shows how you might keyframe the time remapping for a more dynamic effect. Note that in the comp Twixtor Retimed, Soeed that the Time Remap Mode setting is set to Speed and we animate the Speed% setting. In the comp Twixtor Retimed, Frame Number note that the Time Remap Mode setting is sett to Frame Number and that the FrameNum setting has been animated.


3_WorkingWithEdits

This sample project has a piece of footage that is being slowed down by a factor of 5. Note that there is a hard cut in the source footage. In the comp ProblemShown you can see the problem of interpolating between the frames of the hard cut. Y It's "obvious" that this transition should be marked so that Twixtor does not interpolate inappropriately across the transition.

In the sequence MarkSegments you'll see that we've marked the start of the first cut by setting Twixtor's Src: Mark Segments to 1. Then we've placed another key at the end of the first segment with another key of '1'. We then set another key for Src: Mark Segments at the first and last frames of the second segment with a value of 2. In this way Twixtor can tell which frames are part of which segment. between the first and second segments. No motion interpolation or color blending between frames is used when Twixtor creates a retimed output frame that is between the two segments.

Note: To reinforce that Src: Mark Segmentsshould be set and animated in the original timing of the clip or composition being retimed, Src: Mark Segments should only be set when Twixtor's Display setting is set to Source.


4_TrackingProblem

This sample project shows how you might provide recover when there is a section where Twixtor performs poorly. We apply Twixtor to a sequence and time stretch it by a factor of 3.0. We show that at 100% Motion Sensitivity that the hand "pulls" the face around. Also, the hand is not tracked properly because of the face behind it and inappropriately stutters upon retiming. We then turn down the sensitivity by setting Motion Sensitivity to 20 (down from 70). This reduces the amount of movement each pixel can make (and it's influence on surrounding pixels), effectively eliminating the "gloop" (however, the background face and head does not track nearly as well).


5_SmartBlend

This sample project shows the difference of using Smart Blend on a sequence with significant movement at the edges of a moving sequence. With Smart Blend turned off we see significant smearing at the edges when one of the frames is warped to match the other. With Smart Blend turned on we see this problem disappear.

Rule of thumb: turn Smart Blend on when there is significant motion at the edge of the frame.


Twixtor PRO examples


6_LayersExample

This sample project shows how, with Twixtor Pro, you can use a matte to separate foreground and background for even better results when an object in front passes other objects. Note that the matte has been dropped into the FG1 clipwell, without having to make an intermediate sequence first.


7_ThreeLayersExample

This sample project shows how, with Twixtor Pro, you can use multiple layer mattes to separate several foreground elements for even better results when an objects pass over each other.

This project exhibits how a better result can be obtained by supplying mattes for the two foreground objects.

For you to do and notice:


8_TrackPointExample

This sample project show how, with Twixtor Pro, you can get better results by guiding Twixtor the use of a few judicial Track Points.

The composition "Problem Shown" exhibits what happens with regular Twixtor with no manual tracking guidance. Note that the object on the left is ghosted in the Twixtored result.

The composition "Twixtor Pro w Tracking Pts" shows how you can guide Twixtor... in this case with 3 tracking points.

For you to do and notice:


9_TrackPointsAndLayerExample

This sample project show how, with Twixtor Pro, you can get better results by guiding Twixtor the use of a few judicial Track Points used in tandem with Twixtor's layer separation feature.

The composition "Problem Shown" exhibits what happens with regular Twixtor with no layer separation. Note that the result is very unsatisfactory.

The composition "Twixtor Pro w Tracking Pts" shows how you can guide Twixtor. in this case with 1 tracking point per layer.

For you to do and notice:


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