Easy Focus Pulls with Final Cut Pro’s Reverse Clip

Every week, Frame.io Insider asks one in all our knowledgeable contributors to share a tip, device, or approach that they use on a regular basis and couldn’t dwell with out. This week, Reuben Evans demonstrates how you can use Final Cut Pro’s Reverse Clip device to make focus pulling simpler.

Make focus pulling simpler with Final Cut Pro’s Reverse Clip

When you’re capturing a video of somebody dealing with a key prop, you typically have to shift focus out of your actor to the prop they’re holding. This could possibly be a cell phone or a e book that, when held by an actor or mannequin, doesn’t all the time cease in precisely the identical spot with every take.

This could make pulling focus troublesome, and it wears out novice expertise in a rush. But the script requires focus to maneuver from an actor to a selected level on a prop. So what are you able to do?

Think backwards

The resolution is to plan your shot in reverse throughout manufacturing. And then use the Reverse Clip device in Final Cut Pro to retime your shot throughout publish. So begin your shot with essential deal with the prop, perhaps even a selected phrase on a web page. Then tilt as much as the expertise.

When you’re in Final Cut Pro, drop the clip into the timeline. Select it after which click on the drop-down menu subsequent to the retiming icon within the viewer. Then choose Reverse Clip.

Now your shot performs in reverse on the timeline, and your focus strikes from the expertise to the essential spot of the prop. This approach is actually useful once you’re capturing solo and also you’re going to be the editor. But if another person is modifying the footage, be certain to allow them to know you shot it in reverse!