Using Paste Attributes

Posted on by Larry

[ This article was first published in the January, 2005, issue of
Larry’s Monthly Final Cut Studio Newsletter. Click here to subscribe. ]


The Paste Attributes dialog has a lot of useful functions, but today I want to talk about only one: using it to paste content without affecting already applied effects and transitions.

This grew out of a problem had during an edit where I needed to replace the content of a shot, but not the effects associated with a shot. This became a perfect example of using a lesser known feature of Paste Attributes.

Here’s the problem: I had a posterized shot to use as a bumper; similar to this.

I had a push wipe in from one direction at the start and a push wipe out from a different direction at the tail. There was text above that I was using for a bumper type-on. What I wanted was to change the content of the posterized shot, but not have to redo all the filters and effects.

Here’s how.

 

1. I located the shot I wanted to use for the new bumper. In this case, I wanted to use a still frame, so I typed Shift > N to create a still image in the Viewer.

 

 

2. I changed the duration of the still to match the length of the clip it would replace (3:04 in this case).

 

3. I copied the still to the clipboard (Edit > Copy). Note that while I am using a still in this example, the technique works the same for moving video.

 

 

4. I selected the clip I wanted to replace by clicking on it.

 

 

5. I chose Edit > Paste Attributes and checked “Content” so that only the content of the selected shot would be replaced.

 

 

6. Ta-Da! The old shot is replaced, but everything else is intact.

What a time-saver!

 


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