# Final Cut Pro animation effect?



## SoyMac (Apr 16, 2005)

Hi Friends
I'd like to make some live-action footage in Final Cut Pro (5.0.4) look like animation.

I know it provides exactly what I'm looking for, but I'm not nearly rich enough to even consider buying Synthetik's Studio Artist.

I wonder if you can suggest a less expensive effects filter that will make footage look like animation, or if you know how to tweak FCP's filters to get that look.

Thank you!


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## MacDaddy (Jul 16, 2001)

There was a thread about this at my forum (emotionDV.com) but I cannot seem to find it. I will look some more and let you know if I find it.


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## SoyMac (Apr 16, 2005)

MacDaddy said:


> There was a thread about this at my forum (emotionDV.com) but I cannot seem to find it. I will look some more and let you know if I find it.


THANKEE! :clap:


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## Roger (Sep 6, 2002)

There is also this plugin for a 'painting/brush stroke' effect for video:

http://www.revisionfx.com/videogogh.htm

I had played around a bit with an old OS9 standalone version that needed a lot more RAM than I had available most of the time...


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## SoyMac (Apr 16, 2005)

Roger said:


> There is also this plugin for a 'painting/brush stroke' effect for video:
> http://www.revisionfx.com/videogogh.htm...


Thanks, Roger!
You've brought back memories! I remember being very impressed by that painting effect in the movie "What Dreams May Come", way back in the olden days. 

The price is better, but 89 dollars is still a lot of money to pay for just a single effect.  
(If they bundled a few more of their effects together and sold them for around a hundred doallrs, I'd beg and borrow the money and buy it.)

So far, I'm painstakingly tweaking the Solarize, Posterize, and Unsharp Mask filters on each individual clip in FCP to get about halfway to the animation look I want.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks!


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## a7mc (Dec 30, 2002)

> So far, I'm painstakingly tweaking the Solarize, Posterize, and Unsharp Mask filters on each individual clip in FCP to get about halfway to the animation look I want.


As far as I know, that's about the best you'll get without an expensive plugin. You may also want to add some extra color saturation to make colors pop a little more (apply the saturation before the other filters). For the most part, you should be able to make a "favorite effect" once you're happy with one clip, and use your "favorite" to apply to other clips in one shot. As long as the footage has roughly the same light/white balance it should require almost no tweeking.

A7


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## SoyMac (Apr 16, 2005)

a7mc said:


> ...You may also want to add some extra color saturation to make colors pop a little more (apply the saturation before the other filters). For the most part, you should be able to make a "favorite effect" once you're happy with one clip, and use your "favorite" to apply to other clips in one shot. As long as the footage has roughly the same light/white balance it should require almost no tweeking...A7


I'll try the saturation trick.

Thanks, A7mc!


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## apple4life (May 6, 2006)

Look into After Effects


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## SoyMac (Apr 16, 2005)

apple4life said:


> Look into After Effects


$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:lmao:


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## mojoprofilms (Nov 17, 2002)

Well, given how much time you're spending trying to get the effect, $89 doesn't sound like a lot of money...


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## SoyMac (Apr 16, 2005)

*Here's What I Found!...*



mojoprofilms said:


> Well, given how much time you're spending trying to get the effect, $89 doesn't sound like a lot of money...


Well, I sure wish I was rich like you!  

I did a very careful search on effects filters/plug-ins for FCP, and I found some very good products and prices!
In case you're interested in this stuff, I'm including it here for you.

The best resource I found to examine the FCP plug-ins situation is located - where else? - on the Apple site!
Please see: http://guide.apple.com/action.lasso

The pages of Made-4-Mac products that come up are not necessarily for FCP - they're mostly for iMovie and After Effects. But don't worrry, I've done the culling work for you - so please read on ...

I discovered that there are dozens of big and little companies putting out many types of filters and plug-ins for Apple video software. 
But I was looking for filters that would give my footage a comic/cartoon look, so my results here are oriented to these and related filters. 
If you'd like to find filters that can do just about anything, including the look I was going for, please see the above link.

Here are the links (with my little commentary) to the filter packages that most appeal to my needs:

- http://www.nattress.com/ 
Nattress Plugins for Apple's Final Cut Pro provide technical and creative solutions to the problems video editors face on a daily basis. Whether it is making your video look like film, converting between PAL and NTSC or adding a special effect, Nattress Plugins have what you need. All our plugins work in FCP3, 4 and 5. They also work in Final Cut Express.
A set of over 20 filters and plug-ins from nattress costs $30 US.

- http://www.virtix.com/fcp/ 
... Expand the artistic possibilities of your productions with effects like One Color, which isolates a single color in your image and turns the rest black and white. Make your movies burst with excitement using our Laser and Lightning effects. Use the Pixel Fixer effect to fix broken pixels in your video images.
Virtix's set of 30 FCP plug-ins sells for $125 US

- http://www.chv-plugins.com/cms/Downloads/Downloads.php
Plugins for Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express
Fx-Script Plugins
Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express provide us with several plug-in interfaces. One of the widely used interfaces is called Fx-Script...Our Fx-Script plug-ins are compatible with:
Final Cut Pro 2, Final Cut Pro 3, Final Cut Pro 4 and Final Cut Pro 5
Final Cut Express (all releases), Final Cut Express HD (all releases)
...on Apple's PowerPC based and Intel-based computers.
CHV has a number of packages at various prices. CHV also offers a couple of free, nifty filter downloads here: http://www.chv-plugins.com/cms/Downloads/Downloads.php

- http://conoa-store.stores.yahoo.net/conoaeasyfxv10.html
Conoa aims to bring 3d functionality to video and film production. The Conoa plug-in is the first to bring advanced raytracing to a wide array of video editing and compositing environments.
Conoa also has a range of packagaes and pricing. The package I would be interested in has 5 effects for $109 US.

Oddly, the following effects that I found the most appealing, were offered for iMovie only.
I guess I could import to iMovie, gussy up the footage, and then export it back to FCP.
The prices are _very_ reasonable with these options;

- http://www.stupendous-software.com/
Stupendous Software, purveyor of fine iMovie plugins.
16 iMovie plugin packs : 467 iMovie effects & titles : 68 Free!
Now Available For iMovie 6 HD!
These iMovie effects packs are mostly around $30 CDN for 30 plug-ins, plus some free plug-ins are available from their site.

- http://digitalthoughtsoftware.com/de/deEffects/Welcome.html
Digital Thought Software is proud to announce deDigitalEffects, a package of over 100 special effects iMovie plugins. deDigitalEffects harnesses the power of Mac OS X 10.4’s Quartz Composer and OpenGL to bring you the coolest digital effects iMovie has ever seen.
Effects include: 3D Video Wall, Comic Book Look, Water Color, Oil Painting, Hearts, Explosions, 3D Bubbles, iPod Commercial, Underwater, 3D Titles, FireWorks, Video Feedback, Video Cubes, Particles, Comets, Fire, Video Fountains, Plasma, 3D Balls, Lights, Cube in Cube, Video Matrix, Dots, and multiple Psychedelic Effects. 
Over a 100 iMovie plugins for $30 US!

- http://www.imovieplugins.com/index.html 
cf/x is a small company specializing in electronic graphical arts and effects. we provide artistic support to our clients. our goal is to aid our customers in enriching their artistic work, making the process of creation easier and more fun.about cf/x
These guys are amazing. Not only do they sell single plug-ins for as low as $1, many of their best plug-ins are free! http://www.imovieplugins.com/fxhome.html 

- http://sdelaroque.free.fr/products.html
Sebastien sells individual effects filters for between 8 and 15 dollars US.
His impressionist paint filter looks particularly good - http://sdelaroque.free.fr/ie/help.html

I have to say, the effects for iMovie are not only the best priced. they're the most like what I had envisioned. I think that's the way I'm going to go.


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## wtl (Mar 15, 2006)

I did a bit of experimenting with some footage I had handy..

You can try this; double the footage, one on top of the other.

On the top one, put the line art filter, set Opacity (in the motion tab) to around 50%, and play around with the settings there.

What style of animation are you trying to duplicate?


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## wtl (Mar 15, 2006)

Oh, and a cool note about Nattress.com - he's local to you and I - he's in Ottawa - I met him at one of the ByMUG meetings a while back - he *really* knows his Mac stuff.

(Speaking of ByMUG, I should post the meeting information on ehmac).


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## Suite Edit (Dec 17, 2003)

Hi there, it seems like you have a very specific idea in your head, so I don't know if this is what you're going for... but after playing around for a little, this is what I came up with: Link.

I don't want to explain how I did it if you're not going to use it... don't really feel like typing it out @ 1am  Let me know if it's good enough without spending any $, and I'll list the layers.

wtl - I have version 5.1, and that doesn't have a "line art" filter... was this an add-on of yours?


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## SoyMac (Apr 16, 2005)

Suite Edit said:


> Hi there, it seems like you have a very specific idea in your head, so I don't know if this is what you're going for... but after playing around for a little, this is what I came up with: Link.
> 
> I don't want to explain how I did it if you're not going to use it... don't really feel like typing it out @ 1am  Let me know if it's good enough without spending any $, and I'll list the layers....


Ho, yeah, Suite Edit! That's fantastic!
I definitely would highly appreciate what you did to get that effect!
( :yawn: Feel free to get some sleep first  )

:lmao: And that looks like footage taken by a baby shooting what it sees as it's being born. 
"Hello, Doctor! Pay attention. I'm coming out right now and I have a Canon ZR in my little fingers!"


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## SoyMac (Apr 16, 2005)

Suite Edit said:


> ...
> wtl - I have version 5.1, and that doesn't have a "line art" filter... was this an add-on of yours?


I just installed 5.1 (received my crossgrade today!  ), and I looked for the "Line Art" filter. 
The "Line Art" filter is located in the effects tab, in the "Stylize" bin - right between the "Lens Flare" filter and the "Noise Dissolve" filter.


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## wtl (Mar 15, 2006)

Suite Edit said:


> wtl - I have version 5.1, and that doesn't have a "line art" filter... was this an add-on of yours?


No, actually it isn't. It's been in there for some time - at least 4.5, maybe even FCE2

I'm runing 5.1.2, and it is under Effects --> Stylize --> Line Art.

I'd be quite curious to hear how you achieved the effect, if the mood to share strikes you. ;-)


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## Suite Edit (Dec 17, 2003)

hah, in my sleepiness I forgot that I could have grabbed some screens...

It's 2 layers of video. The first layer has these filers on it. The "color corrector" is just upping the color saturation to 200. The blur really takes the edge off the posterize filer.

The seond layer has these filers on it. The "color corrector" is making the footage more contrasty (the numbers in the levels section are 509,177,-53 but your footage will be different). That provides the crisp black areas.

It's not a whole lot like a cartoon, but it kinda reminds me of some scenes in Waking Life (not nearly as cool, of course). I'm definitely banking this one for a drug-trip sequence down the road 

Oh, and I don't have the line art filter  I'm gonna check my install DVDs...


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## wtl (Mar 15, 2006)

Suite Edit said:


> Oh, and I don't have the line art filter  I'm gonna check my install DVDs...


That is just plain strange. 

Thanks for the info on the effect.


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