like a film projector?
December 1, 2008 10:06 AM   Subscribe

video effects! how do i get the rounded cornered, blurred edged look of a film projector (like the first 10 seconds of this)?

i have imovie and final cut express to work with.
posted by thatelsagirl to Media & Arts (2 answers total)
 
You can try a nice vignette or soft edges filter (I don't know if those are available in express, but look under your video filters in final cut pro). It's been awhile since I used express, but if you can do composite layers, you could make a mask in photoshop and then drop it in over your video layer. Google composite layers to get a sense of how to play with them. They're great for all sort of things.
posted by history is a weapon at 11:33 AM on December 1, 2008


Another option would be to download a piece of stock footage from a place like this.

Then put that footage on a layer over the footage you are treating and use it as a mask . The bonus is that you get the flicker of the projector AND the non-uniform vignette look. To REALLY make it look like 8mm film, you can use a plugin like GenArts' Sapphire effects to add grain and scratches, hair, etc, to make it look more authentic.

You may have trouble finding the right piece of stock footage for the job. You just simply need a black and white, flickering film frame. I did this exact same thing a while back for a friend's wedding. Luckily, I had an old 8mm Bell & Howell projector, and some old family movies. The first few seconds of leader as it ran thru the projector was exactly what I needed. White frame, flicker, vignette, everything. I set up a camera and shot it, and it turned out to be a seriously cool effect.

I have no idea about the capabilities of either iMovie or FCP Express (I use Avid and FCP pro) but I'm pretty sure FCP Express should be able to do it. Nthing history is a weapon's suggestion of brushing up on composite layers.

Alternatively, find a friend who knows (and has) After Effects. It would be pretty simple for them to composite the two elements together and give you back a Quicktime file to use in your project. Good luck!
posted by Spyder's Game at 2:14 PM on December 1, 2008


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