[ 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!
