Final Cut Pro Interface
Trapcode 3D Stroke has been ported to run as an FX Plug in Final Cut Pro 5.1.4 and later. NOTE: Earlier versions of Final Cut Pro do NOT support FX Plug plug-ins. You will need to purchase an upgrade to Final Cut Pro 5.1.2 or later to use FX Plug plug-ins.
Interface
Trapcode 3D Stroke offers nearly the same controls as the After Effects version, except for the lack of mask support due to limitations in Final Cut Pro. The 3D Stroke Filter is accessible from Effects > Video Filters > Trapcode > 3D Stroke.
The interface in Final Cut Pro 5.1 and later does not support group hiding and revealing, so the interface for all controls is shown and will require scrolling. The full interface for Final Cut Pro is shown below.
Options
The Options button the top of the user interface can be used to enter a serial number to authorize a copy or get purchasing information. See the Installation section for more information.
Shapes and Scale
3D Stroke offers two options for working with shapes. You can open an arbitrary .SVG shape file or choose one of the 40 preset shapes under the Preset menu. You can see the options for the presets in the New in version 2.5 section.
Open
The Open File... button will bring up a dialog where you can choose a .SVG shape file to use as the 3D stroke source shape. This file can contain one or more open or closed shapes, but should not contain animation of the shape.
Preset
Choose one of the four preset shapes as the base for 3D stroke to render.
Scale X
Use the Scale X control to modify the height of the base shape. For example, if you wanted the shape to appear larger than the canvas, then enter a value of 3 or greater to expand the shape outside the visible canvas. This will scale the corresponding stroke and any other transforms as if the shape had been drawn outside the canvas window.
Scale Y
Use the Scale X control to modify the width of the base shape. For example, if you wanted the shape to appear larger than the canvas, then enter a value of 3 or greater to expand the shape outside the visible canvas. This will scale the corresponding stroke and any other transforms as if the shape had been drawn outside the canvas window.
Floating-Point Support in Final Cut Pro
The Trapcode 3D Stroke plug-in filter will support greater than 8-bit per channel output, but you have to change the Sequence settings to render using high-precision YUV. Choose Final Cut Pro > Audio/Video Settings... and then click the Sequence tab. Click the Edit... button to change the Sequence settings. You can then access and modify the Video processing options. Click the Render all YUV material in high-precision YUV button. See "Using the Video Processing Tab" in the Final Cut Pro manual for more information.