HD

770 Part IX Effects
Example: Adding Camera Motion to Still Images
You’ve probably seen documentaries that show a graceful camera pan or tilt across a
still image, sometimes slowly zooming in or out. These kinds of effects are traditionally
done with a motion control camera, which is a device that consists of a static camera
and a mobile, programmable photo table. The photo table can be programmed to
move slowly past the camera in several directions and rotate around a pivot point.
These sorts of camera moves bring life to otherwise static images, greatly enhancing
movies that must rely on archival photographs and documents to create a meaningful
visual narrative.
Final Cut Express HD can achieve similar effects by animating the motion parameters of
a high-resolution still image.
Important: To create moving graphics with acceptable quality, the horizontal and vertical
dimensions of your still image must be greater than the frame size of the sequence that
contains it. If you need to set the scale parameter of your image over 100% to achieve a
particular effect, your still image wasn’t created with high enough resolution.
Follow these steps to learn how to create a motion control camera effect with a still
image in Final Cut Express HD.
Note: For more information about learning to use keyframes, see Chapter 50,
“Adjusting Parameters for Keyframed Effects,” on page 719.
Step 1: Prepare and import your still image into Final Cut Express HD
There are two key things to be aware of before you import the image:
 Frame size: The still dimensions need to be significantly larger than the frame size
dimensions of your sequence, so that the still can move about the frame without
displaying any edges.
For example, a DV-NTSC (4:3 aspect ratio) sequence has a frame size of 720 x 480
pixels, so any stills used for this effect in a DV-NTSC (4:3) sequence should be larger
than 720 x 480. The longer you want the pan to last and the more detail you want to
show, the larger the still dimensions should be. Check the size of your sequence
frame and the size of the imported still by looking at the Frame Size column in the
Browser. A good rule of thumb is to make your still image with twice the horizontal
and vertical dimensions. Using exact multiples makes it easier to make precise,
predictable adjustments to your image within the Canvas.
4000 x 3000
Canvas
720 x 480