Final Cut Pro 7: Visual QuickPro Guide

Using the SmoothCam Filter

The SmoothCam filter uses motion compen-

sation to smooth out jerky jittery handheld

shots and bumpy dolly moves. Unlike other

FCP filters, the SmoothCam filter process

has two parts. Clip analysis is a background

process you can complete before you apply

the SmoothCam filter. Final Cut Pro ana-

lyzes every pixel of every frame of your

media file to calculate the motion compen-

sation required. FCP will analyze the entire

clip, not just the section marked by In and

Out points—so shorter, discrete clips will be

analyzed more quickly. Once clip analysis is

complete, you can apply the SmoothCam fil-

ter and adjust the filter’s parameters with

real-time previewing.

To apply SmoothCam motion

compensation to a clip:

1.

In the Browser, select the clips you want

to analyze, then Control-click in the

SmoothCam column and choose Run

Analysis from the shortcut menu

(Figure 16.9).

Final Cut Pro queues the selected clips

and performs motion compensation

analysis as a background process

(Figure 16.10). You can continue to

work in FCP during clip analysis.

2.

When clip analysis is complete, select a

clip and choose Effects > Video Filters >

Video > SmoothCam to apply the filter.

Using the clip’s analysis data, Final Cut

Pro creates a real-time preview of the

smoothed shot using the filter’s default

settings (Figure 16.11). Review this real-

time preview before making settings

adjustments.

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Filters and Compositing

Filters and Compositing

Figure 16.9 Select the clips you want to

analyze, then Control-click in the Browser’s

SmoothCam column and choose Run

Analysis from the shortcut menu.

Figure 16.10 Final Cut Pro queues the selected

clips, performing motion compensation analysis

as a background process. FCP will analyze the

entire length of the clip’s media file.

Figure 16.11 Once you’ve applied the SmoothCam

filter, FCP uses the motion compensation analysis data

to create a real-time preview of the corrected shot.