Hello, I have some video that I need to sharpen.
I am new to plugins
Which plugin should I use?
When I download a plugin does it automatically
embed intoFCut....
Is there any else that I need to know?
FCP X doesn't use Plugins any longer, it uses specialized Motion 5 templates. So if you see folks on forums referring to effects, generators, titles, transitions, it's what we used to call plugins. Plugins are written using a specialized scripting program code, such as FXScript. With FCP X and Motion 5 us end users can do it all on our own, you just have to learn Motion, which is way easier than learning a programing language.
There is a Sharpen effect inside the Blur category. CHV's "Quartz Integration" has some much better sharpening effects for a good price. Be aware you can only sharpen so much, you can't make horrible footage perfect. Only improve it to a degree.
The larger developers will give you an "installer" that will place the effects in the correct places. They all go in [User Folder] > Movies > Motion Templates > and then into the appropriate folder there. Freebies you can find online (and there are tons of great ones, such as at fcp.co) should come with instructions on where to put what. It's not difficult to learn the system.
Motion 5, if you're really interested. Because all of this stuff comes to FCP X via Motion 5 and you can customize any of them, and create your own from scratch.
Yes, you do, very much. I'm on the road but will post some info about sharpening in Motion 4, and some recommended basic plugins. Give me a couple of hours. I just didn't want to leave you hanging.
OK, in Motion 4 you have Sharpen and EdgeSharpen. Library tab, highlight Filters on the left, ALL on the right, then type "sharp" into the search field. It should show them to you.
The only two plugins I ever recommend if you just want stuff are CoreMelt Complete V2, and CHV Quartz Composer Integration FX. CHV, Nattress, CoreMelt and Noise Industries are my favs. But CoreMelt and CHV Quartz are my top picks.
Hey Ben, is the core melt complete package a good one to get for $ 200 and I think the sharpen tools are in the filters tab. also does it embed directly into FC.
Also I really appreciate your help, thanks.
My company is new this year and I am making every mistake in the book, but learning.
If you can afford it. If not, look over the individual effects, get only what you "need".
I say these are my 2 must haves. But, if you're on a budget, only buy what you need for a client's job, and work the prices of that plugin into your job fee to the client.
If clients are not paying for your stuff, you're losing money.
I download the free trial of core melt but the sharpen categories are still the same, there is a whole bunch of other great stuff, both in motion and FC.
am I looking in the wrong place?
Third parties will not add to the existing categories, they always make their own.
As for sharpening specific filters, you'll not get much beyond what is included. Sharpening is straight forward, and you'll only be able to go so far with it. Remember, if a clip needs to be "fixed", only expect to "improve it somewhat", not make it 100% better.
Hey Ben, The footage I am trying to sharpen is in a format that has a .MPG at the end. Final cut works with it but Motion does not, so I was spitting out Quick Time Movies and working with that. Is that a mistake? Is there a better way of doing it. I know I wont be able to get as sharp as the footage from my camera. Core melt plugs are way better than FC.
This is my first big paying gig and I am considering giving it away, I believe I will gain more respect that way. I have a certain standard I go by. What would you do?
Any Long-GOP format is horrible to work with like this. The flavors of MPEG are Long-GOP formats. They demand too much processing per frame, and fall apart quality wise with not much processing like this.
When you say "QuickTime movies", what codec? QT is a library of codecs. You want to use ProRes LT or ProRes 422 depending on the original format. For MPEG, I'd say convert it to ProRes 422 LT.
This can be done with FCP 7/x, Compressor, or QTPro.
