Today, we’re taking a look at the new Scene Removal Mask in Final Cut Pro,
how to get the best results from it,
and a few different ways you can use it in your next project.
With the 10.6.6 update,
Apple added a couple new masking tools to Final Cut Pro,
most notably, the Scene Removal Mask.
This promises to detect objects in the foreground of a video clip
and automatically remove the background
without the need for a green screen.
But if you don’t take the proper steps when filming your clip,
this is what you’ll end up with.
Before you film your clip,
there’s a few things you need to keep in mind.
For best results, you need to film in a bright,
evenly lit place,
and have good contrast and separation between your subject
and the background.
In my example, I’m wearing light clothes
against a dark background,
and standing about 6 to 8 feet away from the wall.
Your camera needs to be perfectly still,
so it’s best to set it on a tripod,
and film against a simple, static background.
And here’s the most important part.
During the first or last second of your clip,
you need a clean plate of your background.
This is what Final Cut Pro will use for reference
when isolating your subject.
Once you film your clip,
import it into Final Cut Pro, and drop it down into your timeline.
Press Command 5 to open your effects browser,
select the Masks and Keying category,
and grab the scene removal mask.
Drag and drop this effect over your clip.
This is all you need to do.
If you followed the filming instructions
your subject should perfectly cut out.
To demonstrate this even better,
I’ll add a custom generator below my clip,
and set the color to Pink just so we can clearly see.
Let’s just take a look at a couple more clips,
and see how to deal with some of the issues that might come up.
In my next clip, when I apply the Scene Removal Mask,
only a part of my background is removed.
This is because the frame I used for reference
isn’t a clean plate of my background.
If I disable this mask and go back to the first frame,
you can see part of my body still in the frame.
You get 4 options you can use for a reference frame.
First frame,
First frame plus one second,
last frame minus one second,
and last frame.
If one of these 4 frame options is a clean plate of your background,
select it,
and you will get a much better key than before.
The last clip I want to show you is a little more tricky.
I didn’t follow instructions for this one,
and I’m in the frame in all 4 reference frame options.
Even if I ripple trim my clip,
so it starts on a clean plate of my background in my timeline,
Final Cut Pro still references the original clip for this,
so that doesn’t really help.
Luckily, I do have a few frames of a clean background
a couple seconds into my clip, so in this case,
I can trim this clip outside of Final Cut Pro,
and re-import it back in.
Select your clip in the media browser,
right click on it, and select Reveal in Finder.
Make a copy of this clip by holding down the Option Key,
and dragging it out to your desktop.
Right click on this clip, and open it with Quicktime.
From the Menu bar select Edit, and Trim.
Use the yellow handles to trim your clip,
so either the first or your last frame
is a clean plate of your background.
Save your clip, and import it back into Final Cut Pro.
Adding the Scene Removal mask now gives us a much better result.
So now, with our background removed,
here’s a couple things we can do with our clip.
The first thing we can do, is obviously,
add another clip or one of the new animated backgrounds
behind our subject.
To add a new background,
just select a clip or a generator in your media browser,
and drag it down into your timeline,
connecting it underneath your original clip.
Your cutout will be superimposed on top of the clip you’ve just added.
Another thing you can do is add a color grade
or an effect to your background,
to make your subject pop.
Let’s add a bit of blur to the background in our next clip
for a shallow depth of field look.
First thing we need to do is duplicate our clip.
Select it, hold down the option key
and drag straight up to make a copy of it.
Select the bottom copy, go up to the video inspector,
and remove the Scene Removal Mask by selecting it,
and hitting Delete.
In your effects browser,
select the Blurs category,
grab the Gaussian blur effect,
and apply it to your bottom clip.
Bring down the amount to about 15
to make this look more realistic.
Perhaps the most useful thing we can do
with the Scene Removal Mask
is use it to add text behind a moving subject.
Just like before, make a copy of your clip,
and delete the Scene Removal mask in the bottom clip.
Go to your titles and generators browser,
select a title preset you want to use for this,
and drag it down into your timeline.
Place this title between your two clips,
and adjust it to look exactly the way you want.
So that’s the new Scene Removal Mask in Final Cut Pro.
As you can see, it’s far from perfect,
but there is a few things it can be useful for.
If you want something that works quite a it better
and is not so limiting,
check out the Keyper plugin from FX Factory.
Thanks for watching,
and I’ll see you back here next week.