Working with Graphics Clips of Different Sizes
If you import a graphic or still image with a frame size that doesn’t match the frame
size of your edited sequence, you have two choices.
 You can resize the image, enlarging or reducing it to fit the frame size of your image.
 You can leave the image as is, in which case you’ll be able to see only a small part of
it if the image is too big, or the image will be surrounded by black if it’s too small.
If you’ve imported a high-resolution image that’s significantly larger than the frame size
of your project, Final Cut Pro allows you to take advantage of the image’s increased
resolution to create sophisticated motion effects.
Important:
If you try to enlarge an image that was originally shot on video, or a
graphic that is smaller than the frame size of your sequence, you’ll find that scaling it
up past a certain point creates noticeable artifacts that you may not want.
3000 x 2000
720 x 480
Relative frame sizes of the same
image at 720 x 480 and 3000 x 2000
when imported into Final Cut Pro
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Part II
Effects
Bit Depth of Imported Graphics
Final Cut Pro can import graphics with a bit depth of up to 16 bits per pixel per color
channel, although 8 bits per color channel is the bit depth most commonly used. The
more bits used to represent color in an image, the more accurately the color is
represented. This is important when you are trying to preserve color detail in motion
picture or still-image film.
Scaling a Graphic to Fit the Frame Size
If you want your imported graphic to fit entirely into your image frame, you can select
the clip once it’s edited into the Timeline and use the Scale to Sequence command to
set the scale of the graphic so that it fits as neatly as possible into your frame size.
To scale a graphic:
1
Select a clip in your sequence to rescale.
2
Choose Modify > Scale to Sequence.
If the aspect ratio of your imported graphic doesn’t match that of your edited
sequence, the graphic will not exactly fit the dimensions of the Canvas and will
therefore appear letterboxed or pillarboxed. For more information about aspect ratios,
see Volume IV, Appendix A, “Video Formats.”