Custom Alpha Transitions

I have been going back and forth with Mikey via private message regarding Alpha Transition issues I am having with FCPX. I figured I should bring my next round of questions here to the forum in case anyone else has the same problem.

Mikey,

I found out I may be asking the wrong question of you. Apparently the custom alpha transition I have is NOT based on the stock Mist transition at all. I was misinformed. Which brings me to my next question...

Is there a way in FCPX to have Alpha Transitions where you have your own clips? I have 3 clips... One is an Alpha Matte, one is an Wipe Matte, and one is a Clip. The transition is based on a mask somehow it seems (I have a ton of photoshop experience), but I can't work out how to get it to work.

I've tried stacking the files and messing with their layer types, etc.

I believe it is the same type of output that comes from After Effects. Is there a way to make this type of transition work in FCPX?

Thanks again in advance Mikey!

I'm not sure what you mean by stacking. The files are not put in the timeline. Only the transition is in the timeline. The matte, alpha, and image files are put in the appropriate Wells in the transition controls in the inspector. Have you looked at the controls? Where each type of image goes is clearly marked.

This how I get the equivalent of a Alpha transitions to work in X as it did in FCP 7
I have been using the alpha transitions supplied with FCP 7

Put your 'outgoing' shot on the Secondary
Put your 'incoming' shot on the Primary and overlap by, lets say 1 sec
Add the Wipe Matte on V3 at the start of the overlap and apply 'Stencil Luma'
Select V3 and V2 and create a compound clip.
This gives you the transition only, governed by the wipe matte

Drop the 'Clip' (ie Fill) on the next storyline above the transition and the 'Alpha Matte' on top of that.
Apply 'Stencil Luma' to the Alpha Matte and make a compound clip of those two clips.
Should now have a transition as required!

Go have a cup of tea and a sticky bun!!

Jimmy, I will try this fix thank you.

Tom, I am not able to FIND the transition screen with the clip wells within FCPX. I do not seem to be able to get these 2 plugins installed correctly. My computer is NOT recognizing the 9 transitions are installed. I followed Mikey's instructions which were the same as yours Tom. Neither worked for me with regards to installing the Alpha Transitions. I am assuming it is my machine at this point, and will be installing FCPX on one of my office machines to test.

Once again, thank you Jimmy, I will try your fix!

Cheers,

Gil

What you get from Apple are NOT the transitions. They are only the content to use in the transitions.




The content from Apple or wherever you get it from is in the event browser. The transition is in the transitions browser. The transition is applied. The content is applied by putting it into the wells in the transition inspector.

Do you have the transition in the transition browser? Have your applied it? Have you looked at the inspector of the applied transition?

This transition, the way Mikey constructed it, works exactly as it did in FCP7.

Hey there Tom,

I understand I am not getting the transitions from Apple, but the content to use for 9 transitions. I technically do not need the stock transitions since I do have my own custom ones.

In my event browser, I do not see an option for Alpha Transition as I see in your screenshot. It is not there in my version of FCPX. I don't believe I have properly installed Mikey's part of this equation...

I have attached a screenshot showing my event browser with transitions the available types of transitions, and there is also a small shot of my finder window showing where transitions are installed to be positively sure they are in the correct spot.

Thanks again for your time, and I apologize for being such a rough case!!!

Cheers,

Gil

NO. Do NOT repeat NOT put the alpha transition content in the transition folder. You import that into the event browser as media.

You do not have the Alpha Transition installed. Your Transition folder should look like this

Tom.

You're so awesome.

The alpha transition is installed. I have not tried it yet, but I suspect that it will work correctly now.

I apologize for needing to be coddled along on this. I also THANK YOU Tom (and everyone else who helped) once again for taking the time out to help me with my issue. Thanks to Mikey for making this available!!!!

Cheers,

Gil

Damn, I've been doing it the hard way!!!

Ok Now that this is installed and working properly, I have tried importing my own custom transition which looks like smoke coming in, sweeping across the screen, and then another scene appears. It is basically a wipe with smoke on top.

There are 3 clips, one for each clip well. They are named properly, clip, clip alpha matte, and clip wipe matte, so I am putting them in the correct clip wells. These are the same clips my friend made and uses.

This is all working great except that it does not seem that I am able to see the entire transition being played. My transition clips are 3 seconds long, and I have made the alpha transition 3 seconds long as well. It seems the clips are timed within the transition so that they stop playing early no matter what the duration of the alpha transition is set to. I tried setting it both shorter and longer than 3 seconds.

Basically, when the transition is played, it comes in smooth as silk but seems to end suddenly revealing the next clip rather than transitioning smoothly to it the same way it came in.

I hope this makes sense...

Once again... Thank for your time!

Cheers,

Gil

Gil,

Can you post your 3 clips and I will take a look at it. Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been swamped with work.

Tom, thanks for fielding the post!

Hey there Mikey,

I sent you a PM with a link to the 3 clips. Please let me know if they work for you!

Thanks and talk to you soon!!!

Gil M.

Hi Mikey,
i appreciate how busy you are but if you can, it would be soooo awesome if you could upload a totorial video on you tube on how to install and use you plug in.
I thought that the alpha transition feature in fcp7 was awesome and would love to be able to make and use my custom tansitoins in fcpx
Thanks in advance brotha