Dive Into Your Imagination

One of the more advanced tricks in Final Cut Pro is the ability to use the photoshop style composite modes. If you are not familiar with what a dissolve, hard light, or overlay mode is then I hope I can explain. Better yet, I can pull a definition from the internet: Compositing in FCP is the blending or merging of two video tracks to produce a new image which is a combination of the two video clips. There are many variations on the way that we can composite two clips in FCP.

Check out the link above to get a nice visual on the uses for composite modes. I will show you one of the most popular uses that I have seen for these composite modes just to give you an idea of what uses these might be good for.

In order for this particular effect to work, you must have 2 identical layers placed on top of each other. One method for doing this is to simply drag your clip out of the viewer a second time and place it on the layer above the first. Another trick you can do is to hold SHIFT+OPTION then click on your clip in the timeline and drag it up....it has duplicated your layer! Now double click the lower layer so that it appears in your viewer. Switch to your effects tab in the browser and locate the GAUSSIAN BLUR filter in the VIDEO FILTERS>BLUR folder. Drag it to the clip in your viewer. Switch to the Filters tab in the viewer and drag up the GAUSSIAN BLUR radius to about 10. You won't see anything happen unless you pull the filter tab out and see the video tab below.

Now its time for a composite mode! The easiest way to get to these options is to right click/control click the TOP layer in the timeline. Find the composite modes and choose SCREEN. If your playhead is on your layers you should see the effect in the canvas! There it is, a useful dreamy looking composite. There are other uses out there, explore the internet for more tricks!

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