Changing Clip Speed Mid-Clip

[Chris_Lynch]

Hi,

I had an FCP question last night and ncje was quick to help me out. Hopefully someone will know the answer to this one:

Is there a way to slow down a clip mid-way through, a la Matrix and things like that? (ie, a car is driving along and then suddenly it is in slow motion as it passes the camera)

I have tried using the motion tab in viewer but cant seem to find a way to keyframe different speeds. Is it possible with FCP? If not, is there a way to split clips (like iMovie) so that I can slow down the particular section?

Thanks in advance,

Chris

 

[tbanucci]

There are a ton of ways to do this. You should read the manual- but here is the quickest way:

- place a cut in the clip where you want to change speeds with the razor blade tool and then on the 2nd half of the clip do an apple-j and reduce the speed.

 

[imgentertainment@mac]

what you are doing is called time ramping. There is a tutorial by Capt Mench in the tutorial sticky at the top of the page.

 

[bbalser]

Get the Apple Pro Training Sereise books on FCP. Get all your questions answerd right there.

 

[aravance]

1) Double-click the clip in the Timeline to open it up in the Viewer.
2) Click the Motion tab, and then open the Time Remap section at the bottom.

This is where you can create a variable speed change in-clip by using keyframes.
A 45-degree angle of the line represents a constant 100% speed, and if you use keyframes to create a lower-angle section of the line, you will create a slower speed.

But be aware, if you make changes in the speed of a certain segment of the clip, the frames that follow play either faster or slower in order to accomodate this speed change. If you go all the way out to the end of the clip though, it should be fine.

Happy editing!

 

[Lake Films]

I have found that the easiest way is to split the clip like stated above...

 

[bbalser]

The Matrix would acutally be the variable speed adjustment. Those scenes didn't go from one speed, cut to another. They has a very short ramp down (or up) in speed. It's worth the effort to experiment and learn the variable speed tool.

 

[aravance]

Sure, cutting the clip apart using the Razor Tool might seem like the easiest thing to do, but it also gives you the least amount of control. The Time Remap option gives you complete control, and once you take the time to learn it, it is definitely the 'easier' option. Because that's what they made it for.