The Importance of Using a Checkerboard Player Background in Final Cut Pro 10

In this video, we will explore why it's essential to use a checkerboard player background when editing videos in Final Cut Pro 10. As most of you know, I recently started composing my videos in Final Cut Pro 10 and adopted a two-to-one aspect ratio for 4k, which translates to a resolution of 3840 by 1920 instead of the standard 3840 by 2160 for a 16 by 9 aspect ratio. This change means that I have to deal with black bars or black pillar boxes on the sides of my video when I import it.

The issue arises because my video is still shot in 16 by 9 aspect ratio 4k, resulting in black bars or pillar boxes being displayed on either side of the viewer. To make this fit inside the two-to-one aspect ratio, I have to choose between two options: either zooming in or using the spatial conform option and setting the view type to fill. The latter will automatically zoom in and crop out the top and bottom portions of the video, which may seem like a bad idea on paper, but it actually provides added creativity options in post-production.

One of the key benefits of this approach is that I can reframe my shot by adjusting the y-axis, allowing me to move up or down on the axis to display exactly what I want the viewer to see. This technique gives me more control over the composition of my video and allows for a greater degree of flexibility in post-production.

However, there's an important caveat to consider when using this approach: it's easy to accidentally introduce unwanted borders into my video by adjusting the y-axis too far. To illustrate this point, I'll export a steel frame from the video and preview it. Upon reviewing the output, I notice that I inadvertently introduced a white border at the top of the frame due to my mistake.

So, where does the checkerboard player background come into play? The issue stems from using a black player background that blends in with the rest of the Final Cut Pro 10 UI, making it difficult to recognize when I've moved the video too far. This can lead to mistakes like the one I made earlier. Fortunately, there's an easy solution: enabling the checkerboard player background option.

In the preferences under the player tab, you'll find that the default setting is still black. However, you can easily change this by selecting another color, such as white, which will provide a clear visual indication when you've moved the video too far. Moreover, the checkerboard pattern itself doesn't blend in with the rest of the UI, making it much easier to detect any mistakes that may occur.

One of the key advantages of using a checkerboard player background is that it allows me to immediately tell whether I have light or dark content on my timeline. This is because the checkerboard pattern won't blend in with either light or dark footage, providing a clear visual cue for ensuring that my video is properly composed. Even if I accidentally introduce a small border, the white color of the checkerboard will still be visible against the background, allowing me to correct any mistakes quickly and easily.

In conclusion, using a checkerboard player background in Final Cut Pro 10 is an essential tool for editors who work with aspect ratios or need to crop out unwanted borders from their videos. By enabling this option and taking advantage of its benefits, you can ensure that your video compositions are accurate and polished, and avoid the frustration of introducing unwanted errors due to mistakes like the one I made earlier.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enin this video we consider why it's important to use the checkerboard player background when editing videos in Final Cut Pro 10 and it's not just because we want to play games okay you know so recently as most of you folks know I started composing my videos in Final Cut Pro 10 and a two-to-one aspect ratio so for 4k that means 38 40 by 1920 instead of 3840 by 2160 which is a 16 by 9 aspect ratio but since I still shoot all of my videos in 16 by 9 aspect ratio 4k that means that I have to deal with black bars or black pillar boxes on the sides of my video when I import and you can clearly see the black pillar boxes on each side of the viewer for this particular video now to make this fit inside the 2 to 1 aspect ratio you have two options number one you can't just zoom in or number two you can use the spatial conform option and then set that view type to fill and that will automatically zoom in and will crop out the top and bottom portions of the video now that may seem like a bad thing on paper but it's actually pretty cool because it gives you added creativity options in post and here's what I mean you can reframe your shot on the y axis so you can move up and down on the y axis so that you can display exactly what you want the viewer to see right there in the frame like that now here's a caution when you're adjusting the y axis on the fly it's very possible that you can go past the actual video and introduce an unwanted border in that video by adjusting too far so let me illustrate what I mean I'm just going to export this video here or export a frame from this video a steel frame and then we're going to be able to see how I inadvertently went too far down on the y axis introducing that border so I've exported that steel frame and once it loads we're gonna just open it up so let's click show here and let's preview that so you can see at the top you see that little white line that is the border that we inadvertently introduced because we adjust it too far on the y-axis too far down let me open it up fully in preview and you'll be able to see it a little bit better now you see that little white line that shouldn't be there but it can easily happen because the black player background blends in with the rest of the Final Cut Pro 10 UI and you don't even realize you move the video too far ok that all makes sense but where does the checkerboard come into play so as I mentioned this whole issue stems from the fact that we're using a black player background and it's blending in right here with this portion of the Final Cut Pro 10 UI which is already dark right so it's hard to recognize when you've moved that video too far the good news is that there's a very easy way to prevent this from happening if you go to Final Cut pros preferences under the player tab you'll see player background now by default it's set to black but there's other options inside you can set it to white so you can see immediately that white line sticks out but even better is the checkerboard option because that's gonna cover you fully it doesn't matter what you place on the time line you're gonna be able to immediately tell whether you have light content or dark content it's not gonna blend in with the player background because of that checkerboard so even if you just have a little sliver there watch how I adjust this here so even if you just have a little sliver you can tell that there's there it's moved too far down right you can tell there even with that just that little bitty sliver so that is super handy to have that checkerboard player background it's one of the reasons why I always recommend enabling that before you begin editing in Final Cut Pro 10 so ladies and gentlemen that is an illustration as to why it's important to use the checkerboard player background when editing videos in Final Cut Pro 10 if you have any comments questions suggestions please leave them down below in the comment section and also if you have any special requests anything you would like me to cover also leave those down below as well until then folks I'll see you next time on another episode of Final Cut Fridayin this video we consider why it's important to use the checkerboard player background when editing videos in Final Cut Pro 10 and it's not just because we want to play games okay you know so recently as most of you folks know I started composing my videos in Final Cut Pro 10 and a two-to-one aspect ratio so for 4k that means 38 40 by 1920 instead of 3840 by 2160 which is a 16 by 9 aspect ratio but since I still shoot all of my videos in 16 by 9 aspect ratio 4k that means that I have to deal with black bars or black pillar boxes on the sides of my video when I import and you can clearly see the black pillar boxes on each side of the viewer for this particular video now to make this fit inside the 2 to 1 aspect ratio you have two options number one you can't just zoom in or number two you can use the spatial conform option and then set that view type to fill and that will automatically zoom in and will crop out the top and bottom portions of the video now that may seem like a bad thing on paper but it's actually pretty cool because it gives you added creativity options in post and here's what I mean you can reframe your shot on the y axis so you can move up and down on the y axis so that you can display exactly what you want the viewer to see right there in the frame like that now here's a caution when you're adjusting the y axis on the fly it's very possible that you can go past the actual video and introduce an unwanted border in that video by adjusting too far so let me illustrate what I mean I'm just going to export this video here or export a frame from this video a steel frame and then we're going to be able to see how I inadvertently went too far down on the y axis introducing that border so I've exported that steel frame and once it loads we're gonna just open it up so let's click show here and let's preview that so you can see at the top you see that little white line that is the border that we inadvertently introduced because we adjust it too far on the y-axis too far down let me open it up fully in preview and you'll be able to see it a little bit better now you see that little white line that shouldn't be there but it can easily happen because the black player background blends in with the rest of the Final Cut Pro 10 UI and you don't even realize you move the video too far ok that all makes sense but where does the checkerboard come into play so as I mentioned this whole issue stems from the fact that we're using a black player background and it's blending in right here with this portion of the Final Cut Pro 10 UI which is already dark right so it's hard to recognize when you've moved that video too far the good news is that there's a very easy way to prevent this from happening if you go to Final Cut pros preferences under the player tab you'll see player background now by default it's set to black but there's other options inside you can set it to white so you can see immediately that white line sticks out but even better is the checkerboard option because that's gonna cover you fully it doesn't matter what you place on the time line you're gonna be able to immediately tell whether you have light content or dark content it's not gonna blend in with the player background because of that checkerboard so even if you just have a little sliver there watch how I adjust this here so even if you just have a little sliver you can tell that there's there it's moved too far down right you can tell there even with that just that little bitty sliver so that is super handy to have that checkerboard player background it's one of the reasons why I always recommend enabling that before you begin editing in Final Cut Pro 10 so ladies and gentlemen that is an illustration as to why it's important to use the checkerboard player background when editing videos in Final Cut Pro 10 if you have any comments questions suggestions please leave them down below in the comment section and also if you have any special requests anything you would like me to cover also leave those down below as well until then folks I'll see you next time on another episode of Final Cut Friday\n"