More Final Cut Express Effects Questions

A little while ago I posted some questions about FCE and since then I've a little bit better working with it, but not much. Anyway, I have some more questions about certain effects.

YouTube - [Chuck/Blair] Anywhere But Here

This video was definitely made with FCE so I know I can use any of the effects from this video. There is really only one effect used in this video, which is the light, subtle flashy thing. I know how to make a "flash" using FCE but the flash used in the video is much different. It's very light, if you know what I mean. It's almost invisible or transparent because it's so light. Anyway, I've tried to make a flash like this for a while but I can't figure it out. I know how to shorten the time of the flash, but I can't make it the right...thickness if that makes any sense. I've played with the opacity, everything. It would be so great if someone could help me with this.


YouTube - Yellow (Chuck/Blair; Gossip Girl)

I'm not sure if this vid was made with FCE or not but I'm still curious if I can use some of these effects. First off, on second 42, the clip gradually turns from color to black and white. I know how to make clips b and w but not gradually. Secondly, how do you do the effect used from seconds 45-46? It's like, the character comes out of the character (bad description). Can you use either of these effects on FCE?


I know my...endless amounts of questions can be irritating but it would be fantastic if someone could answer them. Thanks in advance.

Ouch, my eyes and head hurt after watching that first one for about 15 seconds I had to shut it off.

The first one - even IF I could figure out how to do those messed up dissolves - I'd never tell because I hated it so much I wouldn't want to see it on more videos on youtube

The second one - although some of the very short fast cuts were a bit jarring, it was more tolerable. The black and white stuff shouldn't be too bad.

There are multiple ways you could do it...

Option 1: I'd imagine you could litterally duplicate a clip, convert one to b&w leaving the original color, line them up so they are in sync, trim them so that if you joined them side by side that the frame would be a seamless cut between color & B&W (ie: only thing that would change would be the lack of color), then put a cross dissolve between the two - since they are in perfect sync timing wise, it would appear that the color is fading into B&W.

Option 2: Using key frames, desaturate the image until it is black and white at the time you want it to be.

That weird effect at 45ish seconds, my guess is you could do it by placing a duplicate clip of the first above it, set it's opacity so you have kind of a ghosting image, enlarge and offset the video a little to the left and keyframe it to move the video frame over while enlarging a bit and fade out back to original clip..

At least that's how I would first attempt it, tweaking settings until I got the shot the way I wanted it.

Off the top of my head...

For the first one, first make all the clips very short. In the Effects tab in the Browser, choose Transitions>Dip to Color Dissolve. Add the dissolve to the first edit in the timeline and turn snapping OFF. It's the third button on the top right hand side of the timeline (you can toggle snapping on and off by pressing the N key). With snapping on, whenever you move a clip, edit or transition it will "snap" to the nearest adjacent edit point or to the playhead like a magnet. Turning snapping off gives you more control. Then you can drag the edges of the dissolve to make it as short or long as you like. But you'll have more control if you double click on the dissolve to open it up in the viewer. There the transition editor gives you even greater control over the duration, color, etc. Play around with the settings there until you get it the way you like, save the transition, then apply it to every other edit point. I'm not sure, but I think the effect you want has to do with the opacity or color of the dissolve or something.

For the second effect, I'd put a desaturate filter on the clip (from the Effects tab again). Double click the clip to open it up in the Viewer. In the Filters tab will be the keyframe editor for the Desaturate filter. Make sure the playhead in the timeline is where you want the effect to begin (the head of the clip) and that the color is desaturated. Click the keyframe button there in the Filters tab. Then move the playhead to the place in the timeline where you want the clip to be full color. Use the slider in the Filters tab to bring the color up to the saturation you want, then hit the keyframe button again. Render if necessary then play back the clip. If you want the clip to be full color a little before or after, you can always move the keyframe in the keyframe editor left or right until the timing is perfect.