Zoom Effect Using 4k Footage in 1080p Project

I'm working on a 1080p project. All my footage is 1080p, except for one clip I shot in 4k. I want to add the clip to the project and while the clip is playing, zoom in to a section of the clip.

My questions is this...

When I drop the 4k footage into the project, does it remain at 4k, or does it compress down to 1080p?

Adam

asilver wrote: … When I drop the 4k footage into the project, does it remain at 4k, or does it compress down to 1080p? …

yes.
That's the fun with 4k - you can re-frame, scale 200% - without losing a pixel

on final export, for sure, it gets resized to your projects/exports setting.

I do this daily. What I like to do is start by selecting the 4K clip I want to zoom in on, go to the Inspector, and set its Spatial Conform to "none". That gives youth image at its full size normal resolution. I tend to push it about 50% over that before expecting to see deterioration from over enlarging.

Greatly helps with mutlitcams of taking heads, gives you an extra "fake" camera angle, so your 2 or 3 angels don't get so boring over time.

Thanks for the answers. I really appreciate it!

Adam

… published some time ago illustrated advice how to create 'additional cameras' with 4k footage, for use in Multicam …

www.fcp.co/forum/4-final-cut-pro-x-fcpx/...lticam-faking-angels

great for interviews!

asilver wrote: ...When I drop the 4k footage into the project, does it remain at 4k, or does it compress down to 1080p?...

When you drop 4k into a 1080p project then crop/zoom into that frame, upon final export at 1080p it will show the extra resolution from the original 4k material. You do not need to use a 4k project to get this benefit.

This behavior is nice since there are some performance benefits to editing 4k in a 1080p project.

Awesome! Thanks joema! That's what I wanted to hear!

Adam

Hi everybody.

I'm used to the same procedure that Fcpx Guru described: 4K footage on 1080p timeline, inspector then "spatial conform" set to "none" and then you can play with the 4K footage as much as you want.

That's clear, but I have another related question: I'm working with a multicam clip, made by 2 videos shot in 1080p e 1 video shot in 4K. What I want to do is to mix the three cameras and to apply only to the 4K footage some fake-movement effect, like zoom in or pan.

When I create the multicam clip, what resolution should I choose (screenshot)? I chose the same of my timeline (1080p), then I went into my multicam clip, selected the 4K footage and set in the inspector "spatial conform" to "none" and "scale" to 50%, as I usually do in my timeline.

But where should I apply my fake zoom-in? Inside the multicam clip where the three cameras stand separated (in this case I won't be able to know the exact moment where I made my cuts between my cameras..so it's almost impossible) or directly in my timeline when the 4K footage is "active" (in this case, in the inspector I see the scale starting from 100% - not from 50% as I set inside the multicam clip - so I have to push it till 110-120-130%... are we sure that I'm not loosing quality in this way?).

I hope I have made myself clear. Eitherway ask me for more info. And thank you for the help!

igor.riccelli wrote:
When I create the multicam clip, what resolution should I choose (screenshot)? I chose the same of my timeline (1080p), then I went into my multicam clip, selected the 4K footage and set in the inspector "spatial conform" to "none" and "scale" to 50%, as I usually do in my timeline.

Hi Igor,

I'm new to FCPX but from my understanding, FCPX wants you to set the spatial conform of the clips in the inspector prior to creating the multicam clip. there may be other ways but this the only way I've found to work so far. If you didn't do this prior to creating the multicam clip , no worries. You can change spatial conform setting of the clip and then re-add the clip in the angle editor.

If you want that room for pan and zooming, I would choose 1080p resolution.

But where should I apply my fake zoom-in? Inside the multicam clip where the three cameras stand separated (in this case I won't be able to know the exact moment where I made my cuts between my cameras..so it's almost impossible) or directly in my timeline when the 4K footage is "active" (in this case, in the inspector I see the scale starting from 100% - not from 50% as I set inside the multicam clip - so I have to push it till 110-120-130%... are we sure that I'm not loosing quality in this way?).

Where you reference " inside the multicam clip" I believe you are referring to the angle editor. I wouldn't do it there as you mentioned, it may be difficult to know the exact moment where you made your cuts. The timeline (multicam clip) should work fine.

The issue you have with scaling should be resolved if you refer to my earlier comment about changing the spatial conform setting prior to creating or adding an angle to the multicam clip.

igor.riccelli wrote: …When I create the multicam clip, what resolution should I choose (screenshot)?…

Welcome Igor to fcp.co

My advice for using diff. formats in a MC:
set the MC to highest res and frame-rate participating.

example:
I'm using three cams, two delivering 1080/50p and a cam 4k/30, my project is 1080/25
=> I set the MC to 4k/50p ....

In result, I can reframe 'lossless' by 200% (…the 4k parts) and 'Automatic Speed' gives my nice slowmo (…the 50fps parts) …

When I don't reframe/retime, FCPX does all the magic necessary to make the source material 'fit' the project … easy.

Hello. Thanks for your prompt help!

To check if I got it: I have three cameras (in my case two 1080/50p and one 4K/50p). I have my project/timeline set to 1080/25p, then I create a multicam clip to 4K /50p. This way I can create fake movements, like zoom in and pan, pushing till 200% "lossless" (why the inverted commas?). Is this correct? No effect on the 1080/50p cameras in the 4K MC?

And what if (same project, same cameras): I set the MC to 1080/50p, then in angle editor I set for the 4K camera "spatial conform" to None and "scale" to 50%. Then to create fake zoom, I go in my timeline and in the inspector I use keyframes and push the clip between let's say 110% and 120%. Is this the same as the procedure you described before? Or am I loosing quality in this way?

I know it's technicality but I'd like to understand all the possibilities Fcpx offers. Thanks for your help!

Sorry. In the meantime I've been looking for some articles about multicam clips and reframing and I found this: larryjordan.com/articles/fcp-x-reframe-h...or-multicam-editing/

This article says that the spatial conform has to be set to None before creating the multicam clip. And that the multicam clip has to match the project both in resolution and frame per seconds.

I'm a little bit confused... :S