Single-camera slowmo cutaways in FCPX

So you want to replace a bit of hasty panning with slow-motion of the cutaway angle?
Keeping the audio track intact and using a bit of classy motion flow, eh?

But you've got FCPX ... so instead you're getting ...

1. Stabilisation refusing to turn on — you were wanting to use that, right?
2. Audio timeline collapsing when you don't want it

The trick is to do everything in this order:

Cut Primary ⇨ Stabilise ⇨ Delete Audio ⇨ Fill Audio ⇨ Trim Cutaway

1.  Go blade cutting at the maximum extent of your primary angle.

     (worry about trimming the cutaway footage later)

2.  Turn on Stabilisation for cutaway angle.

     FCPX won't allow dominant motion analysis after step 3:

     If you delete your audio track first, a bug prevents DMA.

3.  Separate, then split off audio track of cutaway angle.

4.  Delete cutaway audio;  then extend (de-trim) previous audio track.

     Extend it to the start of the next audio track.

     This provides a reliable anchor in the new FCPX paradigm.

5.  Temporarily disable Stabilisation if required.

6.  Now apply re-speed and trim your cutaway angle.  Rinse & repeat.
     Using opt-[ and opt-] is generally the most fun way to go about trimming.
     The de-trimmed audio track will keep a hold of your endpoint.

7.  Turn on Motion Flow and reactivate Stabilisation as necessary.

Interestingly ... you may find that Motion Flow does a better job at Stabilising

all by itself.  After all, a wobbly camera is less wobbly at 25% rate.  I've never

seen a handheld video at 240fps that looks like it needs a tripod or steadicam.

H.264 workflow: Flawless 1080i to 1080p with JES

OK, so you've got some 1080i60 footage in H.264.

Freaking out because:

1. Final Cut is showing just black
2. QT Player X is showing just black
3. QT Player 7 re-export is showing jitter: 1-in-60 fields out of place in the timeline

You're starting to regret not shooting 1280x720p60, because it's such a pain in the arts.

Never fear — just skip over the running waters with these 4 stones:

1.  Convert from ersatz 1080p60 to an "embedded 60i" 30fps movie:
     — export with QTP7 not QTPX
     — enforce 29.97fps
     — use H.264* with high bitrate / low crunch
     This gets a better result than the QuickTime 7.5.5 hack to allow 1080i compatibility
     (a crude 100% threading in-playback filter, changing dominance EVERY frame).

     * you could use intra (pixlet/AIC/prores) but it's a once-use-only intermediate.
     Plus, bypass another colourspace transform (funnily enough, with Apple's codec).

     QuickTime Player 7.5.5+ tells you H.264 1080i60 is 1080p60, by faking it.

2.  Check your "30p" movie has true interlacing, NOT field doubling:

     — open file in QuickTime Player and view in Original Size (Cmd-1)

     — skim forward to a frame with no global motion, and some horizontal edges

     — look for any staircasing, effectively 540p not 1080p

     If you find problems, repeat step 1 but remove a frame from the source.
     Delete one or three or five frames ("60p" ersatz) from the original & save a copy.

3.  Convert to 1920x1080p60 using JES Deinterlacer:
     — input = NOT progressive, top field first*
     — enforce 59.94fps
     — enforce 1080 lines, 1920 width in 'custom' under Standards Conversion
     — slide open that Inspector, and select NTSC and 'Video' range
     — video output 'Direct' to Apple Intermediate Codec
* you may have to switch TFF to BFF if you've been trimming

I've seen all sorts of problems with colour shifting, if you select "HD" instead of "NTSC";  brilliant green dresses become dull or turquoise, and skin tones lose their pink blushing highlights.

Living in a PAL world I still see the occasional problem with NTSC colourspaces looking dull on TV, but things have improved a lot since the big shift of 2009.  The only persistent offenders now are ESPN 1&2 HD and SD, which continues to insist on heavier shadows and a brown/purple bias on PAL displays and HDTVs in PAL land.

4.  Check your original / target with an overlay test:
     — open both files on the same frame in QuickTime Player
     — slide windows exactly over the same space
     — use Cmd-` (command-backtick) to repeatedly switch

Bright areas unequal are a likely sign that gamma values are wrong.
Dark areas unequal are a likely sign that NTSC/HD colourspace wrongly selected.

In a previous project I found I had to use 'Use Separate Gamma' with values of 2.11 and/or 2.12.  If brighter areas are mismatching, try this.  (I think I may have been using JES for step 1 as well as step 3).