Random Movement Generator for creating a better seamless Handheld effect in Final Cut Pro

Thank you! (I think it's the rotation variation that "sells it").

I can't say how many hours specifically. There was the first attempt which had some new experimentation in it and the second version which pulled in some things I had done before. The time I put into it was probably divided equally between development and testing. I took out the auto-scaling feature, so that cut a lot out of the development time. Overall, I spent a couple of "days" on it (about 6 hours or so, tops — I've been having to deal with a lot of cleanup from Francine...:P).

How does my handheld effect compare to Dylan's Truly Handheld?

I really like your invisibility effect — I've been trying to "pull it off" in Motion for a drag'n'drop effect in FCP.

Whiz-geriatric? You and me both! I'm 70.

This one appears to be well regarded. It's FREE but there is a "donation" box where you can give what you think is a fair price.

If you want it free just put in 0 (zero).

Truly Handheld

As you can see from this screenshot there are 3 different focal length effects and far more adjustments than the inbuilt filter.

Give this a try:

https://fcpxtemplates.com/sdm_downloads/sc-handheld/

It will work for an hour — there is no looping. You can set the X/Y movement and the Z Rotations, as well as their "frequencies" (shakiness) separately.

If I understood your request, you should be able to make significant adjustments to speed and intensity. Just be aware that if you're keyframing variation that the image auto-zooms to accommodate the offsets, both positional and rotational.

There is a slight distortion horizontally when the Rotation is set above 0, so I recommend keeping the Rotation at 2 or less. (Max is +/- 4º or 8º total.)

When Distance and Rotation are both set to 0, the "zoom" is only about 4 pixels at the edges, total. That is, you still can't start or end with an exact fit (it shouldn't matter). However, if you blade the clip and animate the incoming (last frame of the clip) or outgoing (first frame of the clip) to end or start at 0/0, you won't notice the difference.

This should work for any aspect ratio clip. However, if you add it to a vertical and the image distorts (narrow), just delete the effect and add it again (this is weird... maybe it's just my version of FCP).

Let me know when you've tried it out. I'm interested in your opinion of it.

HTH — fox

Fair enough. I rebuilt this thing from scratch:

https://fcpxtemplates.com/sdm_downloads/sc-handheld-camera/

I decided to remove the auto-scaling feature. The manual scaling can be keyframed and when all animation is stopped, the clip can be reset to its natural size. (There might be some call for this feature...)

There are 3 distinct motions — horizontal distance, vertical distance and a small amount of rotation. All animations can be randomized. I don't think this is available in Dylan's effects as he basically used a Track Motion to "record" the handheld movements... if I understood correctly. It's certainly not available in the effect that comes with FCP.

Read the download page - it provides important information.

Remember you can set your preferred settings and create your own versions of this with Effect Presets. (You might not like my preferred defaults.)

Let me know if it works for you! (TIA — Fox)

I'm still using FCP 10.4.10 — don't have a Scene Removal Mask... LOL!

To keep from exporting (a memory expensive) PR4x4 clip, try duplicating the clip in the Event Browser (but only if you need to use it without the scene removal mask somewhere else). Select the duplicate and Command-Option-O (Open Clip) in its own timeline. Apply the Scene Removel Mask to the duplicate clip. [Navigate back to the regular storyline by clicking the "back arrow" to the left of the project name under the timecode clock in the viewer.]

In your regular storyline, you should be able to add your background clip, the Stencil effect, and use the duplicate clip in the Event Browser for the drop zone (and never have to resort to exporting a 4x4 clip!)

You could also make a compound clip of the scene removal clip and use the CC in the drop zone.

As it turns out, if you have a green-screen subject, you don't need to key it at all. It works just find in the Stencil effect without a keyer. It looks like any "flat, evenly colored" background should work similarly.

I gave up talking in tutorial videos a long time ago... my "regular voice" from my "younger days" changed into something more like Rod McKuen's (remember him?) Every time you listen to him talk, he makes you want to clear your throat? (To paraphrase Rod...)

BTW — you did a good job with the tutorial — well paced — succinct.

One of the secrets of effective simulated handheld is to be subtle.

The eye can discern the slightest movement so there is no need for any large motion to give the impression it is a natural shot and not a tripod based one.

The camera has no need to be waving around frantically unless you are portraying running or fighting.

Incidentally I have noticed a typo in my first post. There are 6 focal lengths plus a custom setting.

Go with Dylan's plugins... I turned off the download for mine — I want to work on it some more (there are issues that showed up after I restarted FCP this morning... :P ).

I have played with your Handheld effect and am duly impressed with the sheer number of adjustable variables.

You can go from subtle to Shakin' Stevens in no time at all but I must admit that I'm not the best person to test it as I spend most of my time trying to avoid shake.

What do you think about it FilipOfficial?

Here's a little postscript I just came across.

I had just downloaded the latest FREE version of DaVinci Resolve so that I could compare it with the paid Studio version and happened to notice the Camera Shake effect.

Quite a few variables on the freebie. Makes FCP look rather feeble . . .

IMPRESSIVE!

I have always been in awe of people who could program computers and create effects etc.

How many hours did it take to create that "Handheld" from scratch?

Here's a snippet I just produced using FilipOfficial's "stencil" instructions and your "handheld" effect.

It's the closest I ever get to pretending I'm a computer whiz-kid (or whiz-geriatric?) . . . by using other people's creations!

INVISIBILITY PROJECT Part 2

You are a mere juvenile as I'm a decade older!

Is it worth making an effect to provide the invisibility as it's dead simple?

By pure coincidence I was experimenting with OBS and made this video tutorial seconds before the email notification came in.

Doing Invisibility In FCP

You can tell I'm not used to speaking and using FCP simultaneously!

Drat! I used the compound clip method when I did the effect originally in DaVinci Resolve but forgot about it when I reverted to FCP.

Yes, exporting 90 seconds of PR 4444 took nearly 150 seconds on my basic M2 mini so the compound clip method is incredibly faster.

I have replaced the original version with one using a compound clip as you suggested . . . far simpler and thanks to FilipOfficial for providing the stencil technique.

Final Cut Pro Invisibility Effect

(I doubt FilipOfficial is even going to take a look at it — so far — only one download.)

This effect is capable of extremes.

I set the effect up to be subtle by default (basically drag'n'drop), but I built in enough latitude to make it look like somebody *running* with a camera (I wasn't really sure what FilipOfficial was originally asking for: "speed and intensity"). The H and V Distances are separated so that in a case like running you might want more up and down movement than lateral movement. Rotations are limited to +/- 5º. 0 (zero) "Instability" is no movement (or rotation) at all for each "variable". With no movement, there can be no Jitter, so that parameter relies on the amount of instability applied. Each movement can be *randomized*.

I also built this so it could be keyframed to go to no movement (or no effect) at all (or as variable as needed). It was important to address the problems I had with the first version I made (which introduced scaling distortions — a whole other story! [which I am not likely to tell ;)])

So, if you set the distances to higher values and the Instability to a very low value (with little to no jitter), there are nice smooth movements as if panning. Increasing Instability increases the movement speeds over the given distance. Distance values are not limited. Increasing Jitter past 50 will add "nervousness". Instability and Jitter values are limited to their maximum provided values.

All edges are "repeated" (reflected actually) and in *most* cases, especially with "even" backgrounds, the offsets of the image will not be all that noticeable (even with rotations). Scaling in this effect has been made manual and a Show Frame outline is available to be able to apply the most minimal amount of Scaling that might be needed (simply scale until the frame disappears). Once the appropriate Scaling is applied, turning off Show Frame will not be necessary as it will never be visible given enough scaling, anyway.

Find settings you like for a particular kind of look and save as Effects Presets. Randomizing saved settings will not change the overall effect saved, but will make it different (more unique) than those used before and without requiring having to create new Effects Presets for each variant.

This effect was also made to work perfectly with any aspect ratio media (tested from 9:16 up to 8:1).

What's a little bit fun is if you apply this effect *before* the Text > Stencil effect, it will affect only the background and not the invisible "elements".