Final Cut Friday - Creating better-looking Instagram Stories

Creating Vertical Videos with Final Cut Pro 10: A Step-by-Step Guide

In today's digital age, Instagram stories have become an essential platform for businesses and individuals to showcase their products, services, and personalities. With over a billion active users, Instagram offers a unique opportunity to reach a vast audience. However, creating engaging vertical videos that capture the attention of viewers can be challenging. In this article, we will explore how to create high-quality vertical videos using Final Cut Pro 10.

Setting Up Your Project

To start, you need to set up your project with the correct aspect ratio and frame rate. Since we are working in a vertical orientation, we choose a one-to-two aspect ratio, specifically 19:20 by 38:40. This setting allows us to capture stunning visuals that will look great on an iPhone screen. Next, we select our desired frame rate, which in this case is 24fps or 30fps. We can choose any settings we want, but these are the settings I use to create vertical videos in Final Cut Pro 10.

Camera Setup

To ensure high-quality footage, it's essential to set up your camera correctly. In this example, we're using a Sony A7 III with a 16-35mm lens, mounted on a tripod and positioned at an angle to capture the desired shot. The tripod provides stability, allowing us to shoot smooth and steady footage, even in low-light conditions. With our camera setup complete, we can now import the clip into Final Cut Pro 10.

Importing and Rotating the Clip

To get started with our video editing project, we import the clip into Final Cut Pro 10 by dragging it from the media browser onto the timeline. We then set in-and-out points to define the desired length of our video. To rotate the clip to match our aspect ratio, we manually type in negative 90 degrees for the rotation and adjust the spatial conform settings to fill the frame. By scaling up the clip, we achieve a smooth and polished final product.

Editing and Adding Effects

With our clip rotated and scaled, it's time to edit and add effects to make our video stand out. We trim the beginning of the video to create a more balanced composition between the Galaxy Buds and AirPods. Next, we add a call-to-action using Final Cut Pro 10's text animation tools. By adjusting the opacity and timing, we create a seamless transition that draws the viewer in.

Adding Music and Voiceover

To enhance our video, we add music to the timeline using a pre-recorded audio file or a live recording from our microphone. We then record a brief voiceover to provide context and engage with our audience. By adding a call-to-action and adjusting the audio levels, we create an immersive experience that encourages viewers to take action.

Exporting and Sharing

Once we're satisfied with our edited video, it's time to export it in the correct format for Instagram stories. We select H.264 as our codec and choose a default export settings. Finally, we name our file and click "Export" to render our final product.

Airdropping to iPhone and Posting on Instagram Stories

With our video exported, we can now airdrop it to our iPhone and post it directly to Instagram stories. By doing so, we can share our content with our audience in real-time and reach a wider audience.

Conclusion

Creating vertical videos with Final Cut Pro 10 is a straightforward process that requires some planning and creativity. By setting up your project correctly, choosing the right camera settings, and editing with care, you can produce high-quality videos that engage your audience. Whether you're a business or individual looking to showcase your products or services, Instagram stories offer an excellent opportunity to connect with your audience. With Final Cut Pro 10, you have the tools and flexibility to create stunning vertical videos that capture attention and drive results.

Ladies and Gentlemen

This is Jeff Benjamin with 9 to 5 Mac. We've compared the Galaxy Buds with the Apple earpods go ahead and swipe up now for more.

We're almost there we're almost finished now it's just time to export so I'm gonna choose just a normal export file and for settings you just leave it all default, I changed it to H.264 so it's gonna be a smaller file obviously. I'm gonna click next and just go to name it Instagram stories Galaxy buds versus Airpods.

All right so we'll export and show you the final product how's it going ladies and gentlemen boys and girls this is Jeff Benjamin with 9 to 5 Mac. We've compared the Galaxy buds with the Apple earpods go ahead and swipe up now more.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enin this week's final cut Friday I show you how to create better-looking Instagram stories using a dedicated camera and Final Cut Pro check it out so of course you can just use your iPhone to create Instagram stories easily but I like to use Final Cut Pro in a vertical orientation so I'm gonna show you how to do that now first of all you want to create a new project I'm just gonna call this Instagram stories and for video we're gonna select custom and I'm gonna set up a one to two aspect ratio in a vertical orientation so basically portrait mode nineteen twenty by thirty eight forty I want to choose my frame rate and click OK now of course you can use any settings you want but these are the settings that I use to create vertical videos in Final Cut Pro 10 all right so you can see that vertical orientation there so nineteen twenty by thirty eight forty is at one to two aspect ratio here's my camera setup have this and fertile tripod and I had my camera the a7 three with a sixteen to thirty five lens melted on its side like this so them able to get great-looking vertical video so the end result will look something like this which is perfect for Instagram stories so let's head back over to Final Cut Pro 10 and let's import that clip that we just shot into our project so lets that are in and out points here and then we'll insert it into the project alright so there we go now it obviously doesn't look just right we're going to have to rotate it to make it fit this project so to do that just go up to our inspector and we'll manually type in negative ninety for our rotation and you can see it's rotated just right now you want to go down to where it says spatial conform and you want to set the type to fill like this and now it's just a matter of scaling out just like that and we're good so this already looks way better than the video we get if we shot this on an iPhone so now it's just a matter of cutting down trimming the video making any edits we need make and we're gonna add a transition between the galaxy buds in the air pods so I think that looks like a pretty nice transition yeah really like that so let's trim the beginning of the video a little bit more so it's more balanced between the galaxy buds and the air pods so we'll just trim over like that so now we just want to add a call to action and again you can do this within Instagram itself but I like to do it all within Final Cut Pro 10 or at least as much as I can because you really have just so many more tools and options and flexibility when you do it in Final Cut Pro alright so there's my title and I'm just gonna type in here swipe up for more that call-to-action will change the text size and we'll drag it up a little bit so it's not covering our subject and that looks great so now let's show our video animation for our title and we're gonna open up the opacity and we're just gonna drag like this to add you fade in and drag out like that to add a fade out so that looks even better for our call to action and now we'll add some music to the timeline and record a brief voiceover so let's do that now how's it going ladies and gentlemen boys and girls this is Jeff Benjamin with 9 to 5 Matt we've compared the galaxy buds with the Apple earpods go ahead and swipe up now for more all right so we're almost there we're almost finished now we just want to trim up the voiceover here and now it's just time to export so I'm gonna choose just a normal export file and for settings you just leave it all default I changed it to h.264 so it's gonna be a smaller file obviously I'm gonna click next and just go to name it Instagram stories galaxy buds versus air pods all right so we'll export and show you the final product how's it going ladies and gentlemen boys and girls this is Jeff Benjamin with 9 to 5 Mac we've compared the Galaxy buds with the Apple earpods go ahead and swipe up now more all right so now I'm just going to airdrop this video to my iPhone and then I'm gonna use my iPhone to add that video to my Instagram stories so airdrop it go ahead and click the phone and it's sent all right now let's head over to our iPhone and add this video to Instagram stories so I've already added the video there now it's just a matter of adding a URL obviously not everyone has access to this you have to have a certain number of subscribers before you I think it's ten thousand subscribers before you can add links but you can still use stories you don't have to have the ability to add links but I like it because it allows me to advertise or videos or send out teasers of our videos and then users can watch the teaser and swipe up to be taken directly to the post oh 9 to 5 Mac so ladies and gentlemen that is how I use a standalone camera with Final Cut Pro 10 to create better looking Instagram stories what do you guys think let me know down below in the comments this is Jeff with nine-to-five Mack youin this week's final cut Friday I show you how to create better-looking Instagram stories using a dedicated camera and Final Cut Pro check it out so of course you can just use your iPhone to create Instagram stories easily but I like to use Final Cut Pro in a vertical orientation so I'm gonna show you how to do that now first of all you want to create a new project I'm just gonna call this Instagram stories and for video we're gonna select custom and I'm gonna set up a one to two aspect ratio in a vertical orientation so basically portrait mode nineteen twenty by thirty eight forty I want to choose my frame rate and click OK now of course you can use any settings you want but these are the settings that I use to create vertical videos in Final Cut Pro 10 all right so you can see that vertical orientation there so nineteen twenty by thirty eight forty is at one to two aspect ratio here's my camera setup have this and fertile tripod and I had my camera the a7 three with a sixteen to thirty five lens melted on its side like this so them able to get great-looking vertical video so the end result will look something like this which is perfect for Instagram stories so let's head back over to Final Cut Pro 10 and let's import that clip that we just shot into our project so lets that are in and out points here and then we'll insert it into the project alright so there we go now it obviously doesn't look just right we're going to have to rotate it to make it fit this project so to do that just go up to our inspector and we'll manually type in negative ninety for our rotation and you can see it's rotated just right now you want to go down to where it says spatial conform and you want to set the type to fill like this and now it's just a matter of scaling out just like that and we're good so this already looks way better than the video we get if we shot this on an iPhone so now it's just a matter of cutting down trimming the video making any edits we need make and we're gonna add a transition between the galaxy buds in the air pods so I think that looks like a pretty nice transition yeah really like that so let's trim the beginning of the video a little bit more so it's more balanced between the galaxy buds and the air pods so we'll just trim over like that so now we just want to add a call to action and again you can do this within Instagram itself but I like to do it all within Final Cut Pro 10 or at least as much as I can because you really have just so many more tools and options and flexibility when you do it in Final Cut Pro alright so there's my title and I'm just gonna type in here swipe up for more that call-to-action will change the text size and we'll drag it up a little bit so it's not covering our subject and that looks great so now let's show our video animation for our title and we're gonna open up the opacity and we're just gonna drag like this to add you fade in and drag out like that to add a fade out so that looks even better for our call to action and now we'll add some music to the timeline and record a brief voiceover so let's do that now how's it going ladies and gentlemen boys and girls this is Jeff Benjamin with 9 to 5 Matt we've compared the galaxy buds with the Apple earpods go ahead and swipe up now for more all right so we're almost there we're almost finished now we just want to trim up the voiceover here and now it's just time to export so I'm gonna choose just a normal export file and for settings you just leave it all default I changed it to h.264 so it's gonna be a smaller file obviously I'm gonna click next and just go to name it Instagram stories galaxy buds versus air pods all right so we'll export and show you the final product how's it going ladies and gentlemen boys and girls this is Jeff Benjamin with 9 to 5 Mac we've compared the Galaxy buds with the Apple earpods go ahead and swipe up now more all right so now I'm just going to airdrop this video to my iPhone and then I'm gonna use my iPhone to add that video to my Instagram stories so airdrop it go ahead and click the phone and it's sent all right now let's head over to our iPhone and add this video to Instagram stories so I've already added the video there now it's just a matter of adding a URL obviously not everyone has access to this you have to have a certain number of subscribers before you I think it's ten thousand subscribers before you can add links but you can still use stories you don't have to have the ability to add links but I like it because it allows me to advertise or videos or send out teasers of our videos and then users can watch the teaser and swipe up to be taken directly to the post oh 9 to 5 Mac so ladies and gentlemen that is how I use a standalone camera with Final Cut Pro 10 to create better looking Instagram stories what do you guys think let me know down below in the comments this is Jeff with nine-to-five Mack you\n"