USING THE 8-POINT GARBAGE MATTE IN FINAL CUT PRO X

Using the RT 8-point Matte for Final Cut Pro X
By Steve Martin & Mark Spencer

8-Point Mattes are a useful tool for matting out uneven or poor lighting for green-screen composites; removing unwanted elements in the scene (c-stands, boom poles etc); and for doing dirty composites for shot pre-visualizations.

You can download the RT 8-Point Matte by clicking this link

After installing, follow these steps to apply the 8-Point Matte to any clip (or clips) in the Final Cut Pro X timeline:
In the Effects Browser, select the Custom category, then locate the RT 8 Point Matte.

To apply the effect, drag and drop it onto a clip in the Timeline.  With the clip selected, press Command-4 to reveal the Inspector window.  The 8-point garbage matte and its parameter controls appear at the top of the inspector.  8 control points appear around the image in the Viewer.



To shape the matte, drag the control points anywhere on or off the image area. Using the 3 parameter sliders, you can adjust the matte roundness, feather and falloff.



You can also invert the matte by clicking the "Invert Mask" button.



To composite the matted clip over video (or still image), drag the background clip below the Primary Storyline.  The composite image appears in the Viewer.



  Footage courtesy of iStockphoto.com