Final Cut Pro X Beyond the Basics, 2nd Edition

Chapter 11 Compositing

Compositing is the ability to combine multiple layers of video on a single screen and have them interact with one another. This capability adds great depth to Final Cut Pro. In the previous chapter on animation, we built stacks of images in layers. Compositing allows you to create a montage of images and graphics that can explain some esoteric point or enhance a mundane portion of a production.

Good compositing work can raise the perceived quality of a production. Compositing is used for a great deal of video production work on television— commercials, of course—but also on news programs and for interstitials, the short videos that appear between sections of a program. Be warned, though, that compositing and graphics animation ...