Scaling and Letterboxes

Hey guys. Does anyone know how to zoom a shot (Scale All) and still maintain Letterbox settings? I'm doing a slow zoom-in on a clip using keyframes but the letterbox doesn't maintain it's aspect ratio. Depending on the amount of scaling I'm doing, the letterbox could eventually be non-existent.

In other words, thoughts on how to keep the letterbox glued while scaling the clip bigger? Thanks.

Make the whole project a compound clip and apply the letterbox to that. Or apply the letterbox to an adjustment layer. Or create the letterbox as a graphic and put it on top of everything.

Thanks much Tom. I'll give those ideas a try.

I find Tom's second and third suggestions the most flexible. That way you are not locked into compound clips and can move things around behind the letterbox much more easily.

You betcha! I'm going to try an adjustment layer later this weekend.

You also can use my free SMPTE Letterbox generator, that is probably the easiest way.
Put it above a clip, whole sequence or whatever and work with your clips same way as without letterbox.

Download: www.spherico.com/filmtools/Motion%20Temp.../SMPTE_Letterbox.zip

Unzip and click the installer package - the generator will be installed and can be found in FCPX under Spherico's category.
Usage is simple select one of the SMPTE letterbox sizes.

- Andreas

Another Option I found very easy was to apply a custom generator (Its default is a black screen). Then Use a Mask to create the bar size of your choice.