Izzy Video tutorials make it easy to learn video.

If you’ve been editing in Final Cut Express (or Pro) for a while, there’s a good chance you’ve accidentally used the wrong sequence settings…but you found out about it long after you were done editing. How can you fix the problem?

There are several different ways to deal with the incorrect sequence settings. In this video, I demonstrate one way you can do it. (This is a major time-saver.)

The full version of this video is for Izzy Video Members only.

I saw this last night and couldn’t stop laughing. If you edit on Final Cut Pro or Final Cut Express, take a moment to watch this “tutorial” where the host does EVERYTHING wrong (intentionally). Make sure you watch it all the way to the end.

FCP Quick Tips – episode #183 from Rob Imbs on Vimeo.

Hilarious! Rob is brilliant.

* Found via Pro Video Coalition.

My goal for this video is to answer all at once the three most common questions I get about Final Cut Express. Here they are: (more…)

This video tutorial will show you a real time-saver in Final Cut Express because it demonstrates how to add custom buttons. They give you quick access to functions you use frequently.

It’s easy to do, and it only takes a minute. Check out this video to see how it works:

If you’ve watched my other Final Cut Express training videos, you’ll know that I use keyboard shortcuts a lot. This saves time because I don’t have to move the mouse all the way up to the menu bar, click on a word, move the mouse again, click on another word, and so on.

Keyboard shortcuts speed things up, but what happens if you’re on a laptop computer that doesn’t have the keys you need for the shortcut?

Unfortunately, the current version of Final Cut Express doesn’t allow you to create your own keyboard shortcuts (unlike Final Cut Pro which does give you the ability).

The solution? Create custom buttons instead.

When you create a custom button, you can give yourself quick access to the functions you use the most in Final Cut Express.

I hope you find this tip helpful!

Have other tips related to custom buttons in Final Cut Express? Let me know in the comments…

I get this question a lot. When I received it again in my email this morning, I decided to make this tutorial for you. It shows you an advanced technique in Final Cut Express.

The resulting effect? You can put moving video inside text on the screen, and then overlay the video text on another video. When you do it right, it creates nice visual interest.

There are several steps to this. Here is how you use the Travel Matte – Alpha composite mode in Final Cut Express:

1. Place the background element on video layer 1 in the sequence.

Video layers in Final Cut Express are similar to to layers in Photoshop and other image editing programs. Layers pile up on top of each other, and whatever is on bottom is furthest back. So when you’re creating this effect, it’s a good idea to start by placing the background element first.

2. Place your text on top of the background element.

I highly suggest that you use BIG FAT FONTS. The bigger the font, the more you’ll be able to see inside the letters to see the video within them. In this video tutorial I use Arial Black with a bold style applied.

Big fat fonts work great for this effect.

3. Place another layer of video on top of the text layer. This is the video that you want inside the text.

In the tutorial I should have mentioned that it helps to have highly contrasting video clips, otherwise it will be difficult to see the letters themselves. If they’re too similar, they tend to blend. You don’t want this.

4. Apply the “Travel Matte – Alpha” composite mode to the top clip.

In Final Cut Express, select the top clip, go to the “Modify” menu, then Composite Mode, then Travel Matte – Alpha. This will apply the composite mode to the top clip.

A composite mode defines how the pixels in the clip interact with the pixels underneath it. In this case, it looks at the alpha channel (area of transparency) of the clip beneath it, and applies the transparent area around the letters to the top clip.

By the way, you’re not limited to only using text. You can use any gray scale image with transparency instead of the text.

Experiment with different images and patterns to see what kinds of results you get.