Final Cut Pro X effect: Alex4D Widescreen Matte
Alex4D Widescreen Matte is a Title Generator effect that produces a matte that can cover all the clips in your project:
Here are the controls…
…and the ratios available:
There are options to reduce the strength, the position of the matte. You can also choose whether it is generated in landscape or portrait format:
Here are the controls that produced that result:
This isn’t an effect, you’ll find it in the titles browser:
Drag onto the timeline so that it is above all the content you’d like to matte:
As the matte is on its own layer you can reposition clips under the matte using the transform control, or by changing the scale and position parameters in the inspector.
For more about how to use title generators as mattes, check out the instructions in my ‘Alex4D Dimensions’ post. In that post there are instructions for how to use Compressor and other free tools to crop off the matte from your outputted movies.
Installation instructions
Download the effect archive for Final Cut Pro X here.
Expand the ZIP archive and add the four folders to the Motion Templates folder in the Movies folder of your home directory. Create an Alex4D folder in the Titles sub-folder:
If you don’t have Motion installed, you won’t have a Motion Templates folder in your Movies folder. Download this set of empty folders and add them to the Movies folder of your home directory.
Although the folder is called Motion Templates, you don’t need to have Motion installed on your computer for this effect to work.
Check out my other free effects and articles on my Final Cut Pro X home page.
Does it work with final cut express 4???
Unfortunately no.
Final Cut Pro X uses a different effects system than the Final Cut Classic series of software.
I am saying it again – thank you so much for this essential tool!
And once again FCP X is one tiny step closer to being able to be used as a really professional tool. Alex, you’re doing the entire FCP community a tremendous favor with your great pioneering detective and FX work!
alex, what would we do without you….thanks for all the great plug-ins..
Hey Alex,
I upgraded to FCPX 10.1 and now your plug ins (Widescreen Matte) wont work. They do appear in the timeline but there is no more letterbox effect… ;(
You’re right. I’ll work on creating a new version that works in the current version of FCPX.
I’ve updated the file at the link in the blog post above – http://www.alex4d.com/plugins/fcpX/Home-Movies-Motion%20Templates-Titles-Alex4D-Alex4D%20Widescreen%20Matte.zip
Hey Alex,
I downloaded it but all I got was this:
1. Alex4D Widescreen Matte.moti Unix file
2. media folder with nothing in it.
3. small PNG
Those are the files needed for effects in Final Cut Pro X. Use the installation instructions that you used with the previous version (in the post above) to move the ‘Alex4D Widescreen Matte’ to the correct place on your computer.
Okay, I did it. and it worked. THANKS AND CHEERS!!
What about the other plug ins, such as your dimensions? Do I need another file for those to be replaced?
Thanks… You rock.. !
Alex – thank you so much for making this available for the public. Fantastic, quick, easy-to-use tool that should be a standard for FCPX.
Cheers
Phillip
i dont get anything
please help !!
thank you very much! very usefull!
You are genius!
SO many thanks, great plug in !!!
Thanks – but how do you export the sequence in the different format without the matte?? With this technique the output will just be the original formal with black mask – if you’ve positioned the mask differently on different parts of the sequence your matte will appear to move around through your movie.. Any thoughts – thanks
The Anamorphic matte seems to change the ratio slightly as the film gets edited…