Main  © 2003-2009 by Eiperle CGM

How to use graphics and logos



Using graphics and logos with Final Cut Pro or Final Cut Express is normally a straightforward business, but there are some basic rules you should follow otherwise you'll get black edges when you apply a 3D effect to the graphic. 
This is the arrangement I used in these examples: I placed a gray scene on V1 as background (where your video or background pattern normally appears). The logo is placed in V2 and I applied the 3D effect Swing to make it swing out.

TIFF with alpha channel:

You should always use TIFFs with a defined alpha channel. You'll see that the edges look perfect while the Swing transition rotates the logo in the 3D space.

Workshops number 12 and 13 show how to generate a logo with correct alpha channels.

Standard image, cropping the edges in Final Cut Pro/Express:

When you have no alpha channel defined and you crop using the CGM Crop function You'll get perfect edges, every time.

Standard image, cropping the edges in Final Cut Pro/Express:

Using the Final Cut Crop function you'll get the black edges, not only while applying the 3D effects.

Standard image which is smaller than the actual video resolution:

When you use a logo or image in Final Cut Pro/Express you should always use the project size as image size. This is 720x480 when working in DV NTSC. You should take care to scale the logo in Photoshop to the correct size in order to avoid problems such as scaling artefacts, arbitrary cropping, black edges and a flicker filter that refuses to work properly (if you apply this to the image to get a higher video quality).

Image as Photoshop file with transparency information:

When you produce a image or logo in Photoshop and the PSD contains transparency information, you can use this file in Final Cut Pro/Express. The transparent areas are still transparent, but if you apply a 3D effect you'll get the unwanted black edges.