How to bring a clip to front or back in FCP 11 ?

I have a horizontal footage which I try to rearrange in vertical (1080 x 1920) in FCP.

In some locations, I am using 3 clips repositioned one above the other. However, in order to fill all the black space, I need to resize (transform) each clip. For one in the middle, because of the resizing the one at the top, I end up with a black zone over part of the middle clip.

Isn't there a simple way (such as what a photo editor can do with pictures) to have this middle clip ''at the front'' of the resized top clip ?

Been searching for such a feature for over an hour now...

Mac mini, macOS 14.7

Posted on Mar 25, 2025 4:48 PM

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5 replies

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,777 points

Mar 25, 2025 6:27 PM in response to lanstrad1

Is the black border part of the top image or just the black background of the viewer? If the former use the crop function to trim it off. If the latter move the middle image in the viewer higher in the frame and maybe scale it up a bit.

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,777 points

Mar 25, 2025 4:54 PM in response to lanstrad1

I’m not sure I really understand what you’re doing. A screenshot might help. You could try combining the three clips into a compound clip and then scaling the compound.

lanstrad1 Author

Level 3

557 points

Mar 25, 2025 6:08 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

The clip above is enlarged and its black border is hiding half of the middle clip. I want to bring that half in front of that black border. Yes I admit writing the original message was not an easy one to explain. An image worths a thousand words.

lanstrad1 Author

Level 3

557 points

Mar 25, 2025 9:19 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

YEs actually the black border is part of the top clip - because it's basically a Zoom call. When you say crop, do you mean to use the letterbox effect ?

lanstrad1 Author

Level 3

557 points

Mar 25, 2025 9:50 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Oh perfect! got it ! Cropping in the viewer worked perfectly!

Thanks a lot!

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How to bring a clip to front or back in FCP 11 ?