PowerDirector Competitors: Best Mobile Video Editors for Android & iOS

Best PowerDirector Alternatives for Android and iOS

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Video editing was once exclusively the realm of the PC, but with the power of modern smartphones and tablets even professionals are more frequently editing on the go. This should come as no surprise as most of our photos and footage are stored on mobile devices, while apps like PowerDirector give the full functionality of a professional editing suite on mobile technology.

Currently PowerDirector is only available on Android, but if you’re using an iOS device you’re sadly missing out. Luckily there are several alternative apps that allow you to edit your footage from a mobile device; see our reviews below.

Best PowerDirector Alternatives for Android and iOS

1. Kinemaster - £2.91 per month

System: Android, iOS

Kinemaster is an impressive app that brings simplicity to complex professional editing tools, making it easy to use even on a small screen. It supports multiple layers including unlimited text, handwriting and sticker layers, as well as up to two video layers and four additional audio tracks. The precision editing features allow you edit frame by frame and it’s easy to quickly import extra footage and add additional effects. With a host of other features we haven’t mentioned it’s amazing how simple this app is. The only downside is the pricing model; instead of a one-off payment you’re saddled with £2.91 per month, an investment that could end up exceeding the value of the app.

2. LumaFX - £2.99

System: iOS

LumaFX is a treasure trove of editing effects and goodies, allowing you to completely change the look of your video. The colour and FX sections of the app have a variety of filters and presets that allow you to do anything from fixing annoying colours to transforming your video into a psychedelic cartoon. The versatility of crop tools is also incredibly impressive, allowing you to crop your clip to different aspect ratios that can then be can be flipped and rotated, slowed down, reversed, and trimmed. Even if you decide on another more powerful editing app, the low cost and range of features of LumaFX makes it ideal for using in conjunction with your app of choice to produce the ultimate video content.

3. iMovie – Free

System: iOS

Every iOS user should be familiar with iMovie as it comes bundled on every apple device. Costing nothing is a big upside, especially when the technology handles as intuitively as it does. Splicing footage becomes laughably easy. On the audio side you can add music and personalised voiceovers to your videos and if you’re in the mood for something a little silly there are plenty of over the top TV templates and movie style themes. Accessibility is a big plus for iMovie, but it’s definitely geared to more casual users – professionals will find high end features lacking and should consider a more powerful paid alternative.

4. Adobe Premiere Clip - Free

System: Android, iOS

Another free offering, Adobe Premiere Clip shares many of both the benefits and flaws of iMovie. For the casual user its ideal, offering a straightforward means of arranging clips that’s predominantly designed for speed. The creative cloud allows you to continue editing on the desktop Premiere Pro making it a handy extension for existing Adobe customers. It’s also a much more compact download than iMovie; 91 MB compared to 600. There’s a standard array of editing features including trimming and a basic title editor, as well as the option to export options to social sharing sites of your choice, but unless you already work within the creative cloud there’s limited reasons to choose this over the superior iMovie.

There really is no beating PowerDirector for Android, but iOS users should be able to find an app or combination of apps to allow them to continue editing on the move.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Video editing was once exclusively the realm of the PC, but with the power of modern smartphones and tablets even professionals are more frequently editing on the go. This should come as no surprise as most of our photos and footage are stored on mobile devices, while apps like PowerDirector give the full functionality of a professional editing suite on mobile technology.

Currently PowerDirector is only available on Android, but if you’re using an iOS device you’re sadly missing out. Luckily there are several alternative apps that allow you to edit your footage from a mobile device; see our reviews below.

Best PowerDirector Alternatives for Android and iOS

1. Kinemaster - £2.91 per month

System: Android, iOS

Kinemaster is an impressive app that brings simplicity to complex professional editing tools, making it easy to use even on a small screen. It supports multiple layers including unlimited text, handwriting and sticker layers, as well as up to two video layers and four additional audio tracks. The precision editing features allow you edit frame by frame and it’s easy to quickly import extra footage and add additional effects. With a host of other features we haven’t mentioned it’s amazing how simple this app is. The only downside is the pricing model; instead of a one-off payment you’re saddled with £2.91 per month, an investment that could end up exceeding the value of the app.

2. LumaFX - £2.99

System: iOS

LumaFX is a treasure trove of editing effects and goodies, allowing you to completely change the look of your video. The colour and FX sections of the app have a variety of filters and presets that allow you to do anything from fixing annoying colours to transforming your video into a psychedelic cartoon. The versatility of crop tools is also incredibly impressive, allowing you to crop your clip to different aspect ratios that can then be can be flipped and rotated, slowed down, reversed, and trimmed. Even if you decide on another more powerful editing app, the low cost and range of features of LumaFX makes it ideal for using in conjunction with your app of choice to produce the ultimate video content.

3. iMovie – Free

System: iOS

Every iOS user should be familiar with iMovie as it comes bundled on every apple device. Costing nothing is a big upside, especially when the technology handles as intuitively as it does. Splicing footage becomes laughably easy. On the audio side you can add music and personalised voiceovers to your videos and if you’re in the mood for something a little silly there are plenty of over the top TV templates and movie style themes. Accessibility is a big plus for iMovie, but it’s definitely geared to more casual users – professionals will find high end features lacking and should consider a more powerful paid alternative.

4. Adobe Premiere Clip - Free

System: Android, iOS

Another free offering, Adobe Premiere Clip shares many of both the benefits and flaws of iMovie. For the casual user its ideal, offering a straightforward means of arranging clips that’s predominantly designed for speed. The creative cloud allows you to continue editing on the desktop Premiere Pro making it a handy extension for existing Adobe customers. It’s also a much more compact download than iMovie; 91 MB compared to 600. There’s a standard array of editing features including trimming and a basic title editor, as well as the option to export options to social sharing sites of your choice, but unless you already work within the creative cloud there’s limited reasons to choose this over the superior iMovie.

There really is no beating PowerDirector for Android, but iOS users should be able to find an app or combination of apps to allow them to continue editing on the move.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Video editing was once exclusively the realm of the PC, but with the power of modern smartphones and tablets even professionals are more frequently editing on the go. This should come as no surprise as most of our photos and footage are stored on mobile devices, while apps like PowerDirector give the full functionality of a professional editing suite on mobile technology.

Currently PowerDirector is only available on Android, but if you’re using an iOS device you’re sadly missing out. Luckily there are several alternative apps that allow you to edit your footage from a mobile device; see our reviews below.

Best PowerDirector Alternatives for Android and iOS

1. Kinemaster - £2.91 per month

System: Android, iOS

Kinemaster is an impressive app that brings simplicity to complex professional editing tools, making it easy to use even on a small screen. It supports multiple layers including unlimited text, handwriting and sticker layers, as well as up to two video layers and four additional audio tracks. The precision editing features allow you edit frame by frame and it’s easy to quickly import extra footage and add additional effects. With a host of other features we haven’t mentioned it’s amazing how simple this app is. The only downside is the pricing model; instead of a one-off payment you’re saddled with £2.91 per month, an investment that could end up exceeding the value of the app.

2. LumaFX - £2.99

System: iOS

LumaFX is a treasure trove of editing effects and goodies, allowing you to completely change the look of your video. The colour and FX sections of the app have a variety of filters and presets that allow you to do anything from fixing annoying colours to transforming your video into a psychedelic cartoon. The versatility of crop tools is also incredibly impressive, allowing you to crop your clip to different aspect ratios that can then be can be flipped and rotated, slowed down, reversed, and trimmed. Even if you decide on another more powerful editing app, the low cost and range of features of LumaFX makes it ideal for using in conjunction with your app of choice to produce the ultimate video content.

3. iMovie – Free

System: iOS

Every iOS user should be familiar with iMovie as it comes bundled on every apple device. Costing nothing is a big upside, especially when the technology handles as intuitively as it does. Splicing footage becomes laughably easy. On the audio side you can add music and personalised voiceovers to your videos and if you’re in the mood for something a little silly there are plenty of over the top TV templates and movie style themes. Accessibility is a big plus for iMovie, but it’s definitely geared to more casual users – professionals will find high end features lacking and should consider a more powerful paid alternative.

4. Adobe Premiere Clip - Free

System: Android, iOS

Another free offering, Adobe Premiere Clip shares many of both the benefits and flaws of iMovie. For the casual user its ideal, offering a straightforward means of arranging clips that’s predominantly designed for speed. The creative cloud allows you to continue editing on the desktop Premiere Pro making it a handy extension for existing Adobe customers. It’s also a much more compact download than iMovie; 91 MB compared to 600. There’s a standard array of editing features including trimming and a basic title editor, as well as the option to export options to social sharing sites of your choice, but unless you already work within the creative cloud there’s limited reasons to choose this over the superior iMovie.

There really is no beating PowerDirector for Android, but iOS users should be able to find an app or combination of apps to allow them to continue editing on the move.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Video editing was once exclusively the realm of the PC, but with the power of modern smartphones and tablets even professionals are more frequently editing on the go. This should come as no surprise as most of our photos and footage are stored on mobile devices, while apps like PowerDirector give the full functionality of a professional editing suite on mobile technology.

Currently PowerDirector is only available on Android, but if you’re using an iOS device you’re sadly missing out. Luckily there are several alternative apps that allow you to edit your footage from a mobile device; see our reviews below.

Best PowerDirector Alternatives for Android and iOS

1. Kinemaster - £2.91 per month

System: Android, iOS

Kinemaster is an impressive app that brings simplicity to complex professional editing tools, making it easy to use even on a small screen. It supports multiple layers including unlimited text, handwriting and sticker layers, as well as up to two video layers and four additional audio tracks. The precision editing features allow you edit frame by frame and it’s easy to quickly import extra footage and add additional effects. With a host of other features we haven’t mentioned it’s amazing how simple this app is. The only downside is the pricing model; instead of a one-off payment you’re saddled with £2.91 per month, an investment that could end up exceeding the value of the app.

2. LumaFX - £2.99

System: iOS

LumaFX is a treasure trove of editing effects and goodies, allowing you to completely change the look of your video. The colour and FX sections of the app have a variety of filters and presets that allow you to do anything from fixing annoying colours to transforming your video into a psychedelic cartoon. The versatility of crop tools is also incredibly impressive, allowing you to crop your clip to different aspect ratios that can then be can be flipped and rotated, slowed down, reversed, and trimmed. Even if you decide on another more powerful editing app, the low cost and range of features of LumaFX makes it ideal for using in conjunction with your app of choice to produce the ultimate video content.

3. iMovie – Free

System: iOS

Every iOS user should be familiar with iMovie as it comes bundled on every apple device. Costing nothing is a big upside, especially when the technology handles as intuitively as it does. Splicing footage becomes laughably easy. On the audio side you can add music and personalised voiceovers to your videos and if you’re in the mood for something a little silly there are plenty of over the top TV templates and movie style themes. Accessibility is a big plus for iMovie, but it’s definitely geared to more casual users – professionals will find high end features lacking and should consider a more powerful paid alternative.

4. Adobe Premiere Clip - Free

System: Android, iOS

Another free offering, Adobe Premiere Clip shares many of both the benefits and flaws of iMovie. For the casual user its ideal, offering a straightforward means of arranging clips that’s predominantly designed for speed. The creative cloud allows you to continue editing on the desktop Premiere Pro making it a handy extension for existing Adobe customers. It’s also a much more compact download than iMovie; 91 MB compared to 600. There’s a standard array of editing features including trimming and a basic title editor, as well as the option to export options to social sharing sites of your choice, but unless you already work within the creative cloud there’s limited reasons to choose this over the superior iMovie.

There really is no beating PowerDirector for Android, but iOS users should be able to find an app or combination of apps to allow them to continue editing on the move.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Full Guide: How to Add a Skin Smoother Effect with Final Cut Pro

Full Guide: How to Add a Skin Smoother Effect with Final Cut Pro

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

It’s quite common for vloggers to try to show the best of their states. However, makeup, weather, and the shooting equipment may disagree. So, how to tackle this problem?

Fortunately, we have the best solutions to fix the skin tone issue by using FCPX’s built-in tools or smooth skin plugins. You will learn how to strategically adjust your footage’s look for stylistic purposes and impress your audience with your video-editing skills. Now, let’s understand what a skin smoother effect is before learning how to add it in FCPX.

• Part 1: How to Add a Skin Smoother Effect without Plugins in Final Cut Pro?
• Part 2: Where to Find Good Skin Smoother Plugins?
• Part 3: How to adopt Skin Smoothing Plugins into FCPX?
• Part 4: How to Smooth Skin in Filmora?
• Part 5: How to smooth skin in Adobe Pro?

Part 1: How to Add a Skin Smoother Effect without Plugins in Final Cut Pro?

Smoothening the skin in Final Cut Pro is very simple. Simply select the video, choose Video effects to be applied, and adjust the percentages from the Inspector pane. You will get wrinkle-free skin with an astonishing look. While multiple plugins are also available to apply a skin smoother effect, you can use the built-in features of Final Cut Pro to smoothen the skin and decrease the amount of contrast.

Here’s how you can do this:

step1Choose the starting image and edit the clip into the timeline. Press Option and make a connected copy of the clip by dragging it up. The start and end points should match for syncing. In the Effects Browser, drag Blur > Gaussian Blur to apply the blur effect on the upper clip.

step2Open the Inspector pan and select Compositing from its bottom. Switch the Blend Mode to Lighten and adjust the Opacity slider as per your desired glow. Usually, 40 to 45% is ideal.

step3Now, go to the top of the Inspector and turn on the blue checkbox next to Gaussian. Adjust the blurring effect until you achieve your desired level of skin softening. It is highly recommended to blur using the horizontal setting to soften the skin while keeping the eyes sharp. Here, the glow is controlled by Opacity while skin softening is controlled by the Blue Amount.

For better results, add a Vignette by selecting and combining the two clips into a Compound Clip. From the Effects Browser, select Stylize > Vignette and adjust drag the vignette. Now, customize the compound clip settings in the Inspector pane until you achieve your desired look. Compare the results between two images before and after editing

Part 2: Where to Find Good Skin Smoother Plugins?

Plugins make it easy for beginners and users with limited expertise to add a skin smoother effect in Final Cut Pro X. You can find both free and paid skin smoother plugins for FCPX online. Given below are some popular skin smoothening plugins for Final Cut Pro X.

1. Skin Smoother 2

Skin Smoother 2 is a powerful and easy-to-use plugin that allows you to smooth out unwanted skin details and enhance your facial appearance.

Price: $19.99 (One-time Charges)

Software Requirements: FCP 10.2 or later

Features:

• Enhanced control over facial adjustments with fine-tuning giving more natural results;
• Precise color sampling without a need to match up with present skin tones; and
• 3 to 5 times faster rendering.

1. Color Finale

Color Finale is a user-friendly, fine-tuned, and fully-featured professional skin smoother plugin purpose bit for FCP.

Price: $152

Software Requirements: FCP 10.4.8 - 10.5.1

Features:

• Color wheels, curves, and LUT utilities;
• A complete professional color toolset for videographers, colorists, and editors; and
• Allows personal preference on the interface.

1. Universe

A comprehensive FCP tool with 89 individual plugins to apply the next-generation skin smoothening and facial improvement effects.

Price: $199/year

Software Requirements: FCPX 10.5 or later

Features:

• Advanced transitions and effects and motion graphics tools;
• A variety of cool presents and text generators; and
• Number counters, chromatic aberration, VHS looks, camera shake, glitch effects.

Part 3: How to adopt Skin Smoothing Plugins into FCPX?

Follow these steps to use the Skin Smooth 2 Plugin for Final Cut Pro X:

1. Purchase and download the Skin Smoother 2 plugin. Go to downloads, unzip the folder containing the plugin and install it on your computer.
2. Open the FCPX, go to Effects, and click on Skin Smoother 2. A list of options will appear. Import the image or video you want to edit.
3. To apply the skin-smoothing effect, click on Add Color Mask, and select the areas of the face where the color mask has to be added.
4. Adjust the Skin Smoothing, Smoothing Mix, and the Softness of the color mask as per your requirements.
5. Finally, click on Add Shape Mask, two circles will appear on the image. Adjust the covering area of both circles for Shape Mask 1 to add a smiling face.

Part 4: How to Smooth Skin in Filmora?

Wondershare Filmora features advanced tuning tools and a variety of video filters and overlays. Learn how to smooth skin or beautify your face in the video with this advanced video-editing software.

1. Open Filmora, open New Project and click Import to load your videos to the timeline.
2. Double click on the video to open the editing window. Open the Color panel and adjust parameters according to your preference such as white balance, tone, and 3D LUT, etc.
3. Open the toolbar, click the Advanced Color Tuning icon, go to the advanced color tuning window, and adjust the white balance, color tint and temperature, HSL, 3D LUT, Vignette, and Light. If you are a beginner, try applying the present templates.
4. To set a specific tone or beautify your video, open the Tools tab and click the Color Correction option to change the color tones.
5. Open Effects and Transitions and select the skin smooth filter. Hover the cursor over the filter and click the plus icon in the middle to add that effect. You can also apply the effect to the whole clip by dragging and dropping it directly onto the video clip.

Part 5: How to smooth skin in Adobe Pro?

Given below are simple steps to create a face matter, control the skin smoothing, adjust color correction, and correct the skin glow in Adobe Pro by using the Beauty Studio Effect:

1. Applying the Beauty Studio effect smoothens all parts of the image including the background. However, it will make your footage look artificial, which is not desired. Hence, turn on the Pixel Chooser, pick two colors with the eye dropper tool. Color A for the darker area and Color B for the lighter area.
2. Underneath the Mocha Matte, use the eyedropper tool to select colors on the skin of the subject in your footage.
3. Now, click on View Matte/Mask to visualize the image areas where you are applying the skin smoothing effect. The Beauty Studio will affect the smoothing effect in the white area while the black area will remain unsmoothed.
4. Adjust the Saturation, Hue, and Luma softness to enhance the appearance of the skin, eyes, and mouth.
5. To prevent the rest of the image from getting affected, create a Mocha mask around the face by clicking on the Mocha logo and drawing a mask with the X-Spline tool. Make sure the mask moves as the subject is moved after your track forward and back.
6. Beauty Studio offers four levels of skin smoothing. You can adjust these levels as per your situation by lowering the smoothing amount for each level. For better results, adjust the levels at 70 or below.
7. For the final touch, adjust the sharpening between 10-20 points, add saturation between 3 to 8 points for color correction, and add 5 to 10 points of glow. Your image is ready, compare the results before and after applying the effect.

Conclusion

Smooth skin with clear facial expressions attracts everyone. You can apply a skin smooth effect in your video by using advanced video editing tools like Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premium, and Wondershare Filmora.

There are two methods to add a skin smooth effect with FCPX: By using in-built software settings, or by using plugins like Skin Smoother 2, Color Finale, and Universe. Use Beauty Studio Effect in Adobe Pro to smooth skin and improve facial appearance. Finally, you can beautify the face in your video by adding transitions, making color adjustments, and applying different effects with Wondershare Filmora.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

It’s quite common for vloggers to try to show the best of their states. However, makeup, weather, and the shooting equipment may disagree. So, how to tackle this problem?

Fortunately, we have the best solutions to fix the skin tone issue by using FCPX’s built-in tools or smooth skin plugins. You will learn how to strategically adjust your footage’s look for stylistic purposes and impress your audience with your video-editing skills. Now, let’s understand what a skin smoother effect is before learning how to add it in FCPX.

• Part 1: How to Add a Skin Smoother Effect without Plugins in Final Cut Pro?
• Part 2: Where to Find Good Skin Smoother Plugins?
• Part 3: How to adopt Skin Smoothing Plugins into FCPX?
• Part 4: How to Smooth Skin in Filmora?
• Part 5: How to smooth skin in Adobe Pro?

Part 1: How to Add a Skin Smoother Effect without Plugins in Final Cut Pro?

Smoothening the skin in Final Cut Pro is very simple. Simply select the video, choose Video effects to be applied, and adjust the percentages from the Inspector pane. You will get wrinkle-free skin with an astonishing look. While multiple plugins are also available to apply a skin smoother effect, you can use the built-in features of Final Cut Pro to smoothen the skin and decrease the amount of contrast.

Here’s how you can do this:

step1Choose the starting image and edit the clip into the timeline. Press Option and make a connected copy of the clip by dragging it up. The start and end points should match for syncing. In the Effects Browser, drag Blur > Gaussian Blur to apply the blur effect on the upper clip.

step2Open the Inspector pan and select Compositing from its bottom. Switch the Blend Mode to Lighten and adjust the Opacity slider as per your desired glow. Usually, 40 to 45% is ideal.

step3Now, go to the top of the Inspector and turn on the blue checkbox next to Gaussian. Adjust the blurring effect until you achieve your desired level of skin softening. It is highly recommended to blur using the horizontal setting to soften the skin while keeping the eyes sharp. Here, the glow is controlled by Opacity while skin softening is controlled by the Blue Amount.

For better results, add a Vignette by selecting and combining the two clips into a Compound Clip. From the Effects Browser, select Stylize > Vignette and adjust drag the vignette. Now, customize the compound clip settings in the Inspector pane until you achieve your desired look. Compare the results between two images before and after editing

Part 2: Where to Find Good Skin Smoother Plugins?

Plugins make it easy for beginners and users with limited expertise to add a skin smoother effect in Final Cut Pro X. You can find both free and paid skin smoother plugins for FCPX online. Given below are some popular skin smoothening plugins for Final Cut Pro X.

1. Skin Smoother 2

Skin Smoother 2 is a powerful and easy-to-use plugin that allows you to smooth out unwanted skin details and enhance your facial appearance.

Price: $19.99 (One-time Charges)

Software Requirements: FCP 10.2 or later

Features:

• Enhanced control over facial adjustments with fine-tuning giving more natural results;
• Precise color sampling without a need to match up with present skin tones; and
• 3 to 5 times faster rendering.

1. Color Finale

Color Finale is a user-friendly, fine-tuned, and fully-featured professional skin smoother plugin purpose bit for FCP.

Price: $152

Software Requirements: FCP 10.4.8 - 10.5.1

Features:

• Color wheels, curves, and LUT utilities;
• A complete professional color toolset for videographers, colorists, and editors; and
• Allows personal preference on the interface.

1. Universe

A comprehensive FCP tool with 89 individual plugins to apply the next-generation skin smoothening and facial improvement effects.

Price: $199/year

Software Requirements: FCPX 10.5 or later

Features:

• Advanced transitions and effects and motion graphics tools;
• A variety of cool presents and text generators; and
• Number counters, chromatic aberration, VHS looks, camera shake, glitch effects.

Part 3: How to adopt Skin Smoothing Plugins into FCPX?

Follow these steps to use the Skin Smooth 2 Plugin for Final Cut Pro X:

1. Purchase and download the Skin Smoother 2 plugin. Go to downloads, unzip the folder containing the plugin and install it on your computer.
2. Open the FCPX, go to Effects, and click on Skin Smoother 2. A list of options will appear. Import the image or video you want to edit.
3. To apply the skin-smoothing effect, click on Add Color Mask, and select the areas of the face where the color mask has to be added.
4. Adjust the Skin Smoothing, Smoothing Mix, and the Softness of the color mask as per your requirements.
5. Finally, click on Add Shape Mask, two circles will appear on the image. Adjust the covering area of both circles for Shape Mask 1 to add a smiling face.

Part 4: How to Smooth Skin in Filmora?

Wondershare Filmora features advanced tuning tools and a variety of video filters and overlays. Learn how to smooth skin or beautify your face in the video with this advanced video-editing software.

1. Open Filmora, open New Project and click Import to load your videos to the timeline.
2. Double click on the video to open the editing window. Open the Color panel and adjust parameters according to your preference such as white balance, tone, and 3D LUT, etc.
3. Open the toolbar, click the Advanced Color Tuning icon, go to the advanced color tuning window, and adjust the white balance, color tint and temperature, HSL, 3D LUT, Vignette, and Light. If you are a beginner, try applying the present templates.
4. To set a specific tone or beautify your video, open the Tools tab and click the Color Correction option to change the color tones.
5. Open Effects and Transitions and select the skin smooth filter. Hover the cursor over the filter and click the plus icon in the middle to add that effect. You can also apply the effect to the whole clip by dragging and dropping it directly onto the video clip.

Part 5: How to smooth skin in Adobe Pro?

Given below are simple steps to create a face matter, control the skin smoothing, adjust color correction, and correct the skin glow in Adobe Pro by using the Beauty Studio Effect:

1. Applying the Beauty Studio effect smoothens all parts of the image including the background. However, it will make your footage look artificial, which is not desired. Hence, turn on the Pixel Chooser, pick two colors with the eye dropper tool. Color A for the darker area and Color B for the lighter area.
2. Underneath the Mocha Matte, use the eyedropper tool to select colors on the skin of the subject in your footage.
3. Now, click on View Matte/Mask to visualize the image areas where you are applying the skin smoothing effect. The Beauty Studio will affect the smoothing effect in the white area while the black area will remain unsmoothed.
4. Adjust the Saturation, Hue, and Luma softness to enhance the appearance of the skin, eyes, and mouth.
5. To prevent the rest of the image from getting affected, create a Mocha mask around the face by clicking on the Mocha logo and drawing a mask with the X-Spline tool. Make sure the mask moves as the subject is moved after your track forward and back.
6. Beauty Studio offers four levels of skin smoothing. You can adjust these levels as per your situation by lowering the smoothing amount for each level. For better results, adjust the levels at 70 or below.
7. For the final touch, adjust the sharpening between 10-20 points, add saturation between 3 to 8 points for color correction, and add 5 to 10 points of glow. Your image is ready, compare the results before and after applying the effect.

Conclusion

Smooth skin with clear facial expressions attracts everyone. You can apply a skin smooth effect in your video by using advanced video editing tools like Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premium, and Wondershare Filmora.

There are two methods to add a skin smooth effect with FCPX: By using in-built software settings, or by using plugins like Skin Smoother 2, Color Finale, and Universe. Use Beauty Studio Effect in Adobe Pro to smooth skin and improve facial appearance. Finally, you can beautify the face in your video by adding transitions, making color adjustments, and applying different effects with Wondershare Filmora.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

It’s quite common for vloggers to try to show the best of their states. However, makeup, weather, and the shooting equipment may disagree. So, how to tackle this problem?

Fortunately, we have the best solutions to fix the skin tone issue by using FCPX’s built-in tools or smooth skin plugins. You will learn how to strategically adjust your footage’s look for stylistic purposes and impress your audience with your video-editing skills. Now, let’s understand what a skin smoother effect is before learning how to add it in FCPX.

• Part 1: How to Add a Skin Smoother Effect without Plugins in Final Cut Pro?
• Part 2: Where to Find Good Skin Smoother Plugins?
• Part 3: How to adopt Skin Smoothing Plugins into FCPX?
• Part 4: How to Smooth Skin in Filmora?
• Part 5: How to smooth skin in Adobe Pro?

Part 1: How to Add a Skin Smoother Effect without Plugins in Final Cut Pro?

Smoothening the skin in Final Cut Pro is very simple. Simply select the video, choose Video effects to be applied, and adjust the percentages from the Inspector pane. You will get wrinkle-free skin with an astonishing look. While multiple plugins are also available to apply a skin smoother effect, you can use the built-in features of Final Cut Pro to smoothen the skin and decrease the amount of contrast.

Here’s how you can do this:

step1Choose the starting image and edit the clip into the timeline. Press Option and make a connected copy of the clip by dragging it up. The start and end points should match for syncing. In the Effects Browser, drag Blur > Gaussian Blur to apply the blur effect on the upper clip.

step2Open the Inspector pan and select Compositing from its bottom. Switch the Blend Mode to Lighten and adjust the Opacity slider as per your desired glow. Usually, 40 to 45% is ideal.

step3Now, go to the top of the Inspector and turn on the blue checkbox next to Gaussian. Adjust the blurring effect until you achieve your desired level of skin softening. It is highly recommended to blur using the horizontal setting to soften the skin while keeping the eyes sharp. Here, the glow is controlled by Opacity while skin softening is controlled by the Blue Amount.

For better results, add a Vignette by selecting and combining the two clips into a Compound Clip. From the Effects Browser, select Stylize > Vignette and adjust drag the vignette. Now, customize the compound clip settings in the Inspector pane until you achieve your desired look. Compare the results between two images before and after editing

Part 2: Where to Find Good Skin Smoother Plugins?

Plugins make it easy for beginners and users with limited expertise to add a skin smoother effect in Final Cut Pro X. You can find both free and paid skin smoother plugins for FCPX online. Given below are some popular skin smoothening plugins for Final Cut Pro X.

1. Skin Smoother 2

Skin Smoother 2 is a powerful and easy-to-use plugin that allows you to smooth out unwanted skin details and enhance your facial appearance.

Price: $19.99 (One-time Charges)

Software Requirements: FCP 10.2 or later

Features:

• Enhanced control over facial adjustments with fine-tuning giving more natural results;
• Precise color sampling without a need to match up with present skin tones; and
• 3 to 5 times faster rendering.

1. Color Finale

Color Finale is a user-friendly, fine-tuned, and fully-featured professional skin smoother plugin purpose bit for FCP.

Price: $152

Software Requirements: FCP 10.4.8 - 10.5.1

Features:

• Color wheels, curves, and LUT utilities;
• A complete professional color toolset for videographers, colorists, and editors; and
• Allows personal preference on the interface.

1. Universe

A comprehensive FCP tool with 89 individual plugins to apply the next-generation skin smoothening and facial improvement effects.

Price: $199/year

Software Requirements: FCPX 10.5 or later

Features:

• Advanced transitions and effects and motion graphics tools;
• A variety of cool presents and text generators; and
• Number counters, chromatic aberration, VHS looks, camera shake, glitch effects.

Part 3: How to adopt Skin Smoothing Plugins into FCPX?

Follow these steps to use the Skin Smooth 2 Plugin for Final Cut Pro X:

1. Purchase and download the Skin Smoother 2 plugin. Go to downloads, unzip the folder containing the plugin and install it on your computer.
2. Open the FCPX, go to Effects, and click on Skin Smoother 2. A list of options will appear. Import the image or video you want to edit.
3. To apply the skin-smoothing effect, click on Add Color Mask, and select the areas of the face where the color mask has to be added.
4. Adjust the Skin Smoothing, Smoothing Mix, and the Softness of the color mask as per your requirements.
5. Finally, click on Add Shape Mask, two circles will appear on the image. Adjust the covering area of both circles for Shape Mask 1 to add a smiling face.

Part 4: How to Smooth Skin in Filmora?

Wondershare Filmora features advanced tuning tools and a variety of video filters and overlays. Learn how to smooth skin or beautify your face in the video with this advanced video-editing software.

1. Open Filmora, open New Project and click Import to load your videos to the timeline.
2. Double click on the video to open the editing window. Open the Color panel and adjust parameters according to your preference such as white balance, tone, and 3D LUT, etc.
3. Open the toolbar, click the Advanced Color Tuning icon, go to the advanced color tuning window, and adjust the white balance, color tint and temperature, HSL, 3D LUT, Vignette, and Light. If you are a beginner, try applying the present templates.
4. To set a specific tone or beautify your video, open the Tools tab and click the Color Correction option to change the color tones.
5. Open Effects and Transitions and select the skin smooth filter. Hover the cursor over the filter and click the plus icon in the middle to add that effect. You can also apply the effect to the whole clip by dragging and dropping it directly onto the video clip.

Part 5: How to smooth skin in Adobe Pro?

Given below are simple steps to create a face matter, control the skin smoothing, adjust color correction, and correct the skin glow in Adobe Pro by using the Beauty Studio Effect:

1. Applying the Beauty Studio effect smoothens all parts of the image including the background. However, it will make your footage look artificial, which is not desired. Hence, turn on the Pixel Chooser, pick two colors with the eye dropper tool. Color A for the darker area and Color B for the lighter area.
2. Underneath the Mocha Matte, use the eyedropper tool to select colors on the skin of the subject in your footage.
3. Now, click on View Matte/Mask to visualize the image areas where you are applying the skin smoothing effect. The Beauty Studio will affect the smoothing effect in the white area while the black area will remain unsmoothed.
4. Adjust the Saturation, Hue, and Luma softness to enhance the appearance of the skin, eyes, and mouth.
5. To prevent the rest of the image from getting affected, create a Mocha mask around the face by clicking on the Mocha logo and drawing a mask with the X-Spline tool. Make sure the mask moves as the subject is moved after your track forward and back.
6. Beauty Studio offers four levels of skin smoothing. You can adjust these levels as per your situation by lowering the smoothing amount for each level. For better results, adjust the levels at 70 or below.
7. For the final touch, adjust the sharpening between 10-20 points, add saturation between 3 to 8 points for color correction, and add 5 to 10 points of glow. Your image is ready, compare the results before and after applying the effect.

Conclusion

Smooth skin with clear facial expressions attracts everyone. You can apply a skin smooth effect in your video by using advanced video editing tools like Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premium, and Wondershare Filmora.

There are two methods to add a skin smooth effect with FCPX: By using in-built software settings, or by using plugins like Skin Smoother 2, Color Finale, and Universe. Use Beauty Studio Effect in Adobe Pro to smooth skin and improve facial appearance. Finally, you can beautify the face in your video by adding transitions, making color adjustments, and applying different effects with Wondershare Filmora.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

It’s quite common for vloggers to try to show the best of their states. However, makeup, weather, and the shooting equipment may disagree. So, how to tackle this problem?

Fortunately, we have the best solutions to fix the skin tone issue by using FCPX’s built-in tools or smooth skin plugins. You will learn how to strategically adjust your footage’s look for stylistic purposes and impress your audience with your video-editing skills. Now, let’s understand what a skin smoother effect is before learning how to add it in FCPX.

• Part 1: How to Add a Skin Smoother Effect without Plugins in Final Cut Pro?
• Part 2: Where to Find Good Skin Smoother Plugins?
• Part 3: How to adopt Skin Smoothing Plugins into FCPX?
• Part 4: How to Smooth Skin in Filmora?
• Part 5: How to smooth skin in Adobe Pro?

Part 1: How to Add a Skin Smoother Effect without Plugins in Final Cut Pro?

Smoothening the skin in Final Cut Pro is very simple. Simply select the video, choose Video effects to be applied, and adjust the percentages from the Inspector pane. You will get wrinkle-free skin with an astonishing look. While multiple plugins are also available to apply a skin smoother effect, you can use the built-in features of Final Cut Pro to smoothen the skin and decrease the amount of contrast.

Here’s how you can do this:

step1Choose the starting image and edit the clip into the timeline. Press Option and make a connected copy of the clip by dragging it up. The start and end points should match for syncing. In the Effects Browser, drag Blur > Gaussian Blur to apply the blur effect on the upper clip.

step2Open the Inspector pan and select Compositing from its bottom. Switch the Blend Mode to Lighten and adjust the Opacity slider as per your desired glow. Usually, 40 to 45% is ideal.

step3Now, go to the top of the Inspector and turn on the blue checkbox next to Gaussian. Adjust the blurring effect until you achieve your desired level of skin softening. It is highly recommended to blur using the horizontal setting to soften the skin while keeping the eyes sharp. Here, the glow is controlled by Opacity while skin softening is controlled by the Blue Amount.

For better results, add a Vignette by selecting and combining the two clips into a Compound Clip. From the Effects Browser, select Stylize > Vignette and adjust drag the vignette. Now, customize the compound clip settings in the Inspector pane until you achieve your desired look. Compare the results between two images before and after editing

Part 2: Where to Find Good Skin Smoother Plugins?

Plugins make it easy for beginners and users with limited expertise to add a skin smoother effect in Final Cut Pro X. You can find both free and paid skin smoother plugins for FCPX online. Given below are some popular skin smoothening plugins for Final Cut Pro X.

1. Skin Smoother 2

Skin Smoother 2 is a powerful and easy-to-use plugin that allows you to smooth out unwanted skin details and enhance your facial appearance.

Price: $19.99 (One-time Charges)

Software Requirements: FCP 10.2 or later

Features:

• Enhanced control over facial adjustments with fine-tuning giving more natural results;
• Precise color sampling without a need to match up with present skin tones; and
• 3 to 5 times faster rendering.

1. Color Finale

Color Finale is a user-friendly, fine-tuned, and fully-featured professional skin smoother plugin purpose bit for FCP.

Price: $152

Software Requirements: FCP 10.4.8 - 10.5.1

Features:

• Color wheels, curves, and LUT utilities;
• A complete professional color toolset for videographers, colorists, and editors; and
• Allows personal preference on the interface.

1. Universe

A comprehensive FCP tool with 89 individual plugins to apply the next-generation skin smoothening and facial improvement effects.

Price: $199/year

Software Requirements: FCPX 10.5 or later

Features:

• Advanced transitions and effects and motion graphics tools;
• A variety of cool presents and text generators; and
• Number counters, chromatic aberration, VHS looks, camera shake, glitch effects.

Part 3: How to adopt Skin Smoothing Plugins into FCPX?

Follow these steps to use the Skin Smooth 2 Plugin for Final Cut Pro X:

1. Purchase and download the Skin Smoother 2 plugin. Go to downloads, unzip the folder containing the plugin and install it on your computer.
2. Open the FCPX, go to Effects, and click on Skin Smoother 2. A list of options will appear. Import the image or video you want to edit.
3. To apply the skin-smoothing effect, click on Add Color Mask, and select the areas of the face where the color mask has to be added.
4. Adjust the Skin Smoothing, Smoothing Mix, and the Softness of the color mask as per your requirements.
5. Finally, click on Add Shape Mask, two circles will appear on the image. Adjust the covering area of both circles for Shape Mask 1 to add a smiling face.

Part 4: How to Smooth Skin in Filmora?

Wondershare Filmora features advanced tuning tools and a variety of video filters and overlays. Learn how to smooth skin or beautify your face in the video with this advanced video-editing software.

1. Open Filmora, open New Project and click Import to load your videos to the timeline.
2. Double click on the video to open the editing window. Open the Color panel and adjust parameters according to your preference such as white balance, tone, and 3D LUT, etc.
3. Open the toolbar, click the Advanced Color Tuning icon, go to the advanced color tuning window, and adjust the white balance, color tint and temperature, HSL, 3D LUT, Vignette, and Light. If you are a beginner, try applying the present templates.
4. To set a specific tone or beautify your video, open the Tools tab and click the Color Correction option to change the color tones.
5. Open Effects and Transitions and select the skin smooth filter. Hover the cursor over the filter and click the plus icon in the middle to add that effect. You can also apply the effect to the whole clip by dragging and dropping it directly onto the video clip.

Part 5: How to smooth skin in Adobe Pro?

Given below are simple steps to create a face matter, control the skin smoothing, adjust color correction, and correct the skin glow in Adobe Pro by using the Beauty Studio Effect:

1. Applying the Beauty Studio effect smoothens all parts of the image including the background. However, it will make your footage look artificial, which is not desired. Hence, turn on the Pixel Chooser, pick two colors with the eye dropper tool. Color A for the darker area and Color B for the lighter area.
2. Underneath the Mocha Matte, use the eyedropper tool to select colors on the skin of the subject in your footage.
3. Now, click on View Matte/Mask to visualize the image areas where you are applying the skin smoothing effect. The Beauty Studio will affect the smoothing effect in the white area while the black area will remain unsmoothed.
4. Adjust the Saturation, Hue, and Luma softness to enhance the appearance of the skin, eyes, and mouth.
5. To prevent the rest of the image from getting affected, create a Mocha mask around the face by clicking on the Mocha logo and drawing a mask with the X-Spline tool. Make sure the mask moves as the subject is moved after your track forward and back.
6. Beauty Studio offers four levels of skin smoothing. You can adjust these levels as per your situation by lowering the smoothing amount for each level. For better results, adjust the levels at 70 or below.
7. For the final touch, adjust the sharpening between 10-20 points, add saturation between 3 to 8 points for color correction, and add 5 to 10 points of glow. Your image is ready, compare the results before and after applying the effect.

Conclusion

Smooth skin with clear facial expressions attracts everyone. You can apply a skin smooth effect in your video by using advanced video editing tools like Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premium, and Wondershare Filmora.

There are two methods to add a skin smooth effect with FCPX: By using in-built software settings, or by using plugins like Skin Smoother 2, Color Finale, and Universe. Use Beauty Studio Effect in Adobe Pro to smooth skin and improve facial appearance. Finally, you can beautify the face in your video by adding transitions, making color adjustments, and applying different effects with Wondershare Filmora.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Unlock Seamless Audio: A Step-by-Step Guide to L-Cuts and J-Cuts in FCPX

Final Cut Pro X Tutorial: L-Cuts and J-Cuts

Benjamin Arango

Aug 18, 2022• Proven solutions

If you wish to edit or create videos like a pro, you do not need to be a professional. Instead, be creative, learn new things, and think out of the box. You could draw inspiration from videos and films for their great clips and animations. If you are already familiar with video making, you would know basic editing tasks like trim, crop, transitions, filters, and so on. Ever knew the term J-Cuts, and L-Cuts?

It could be surprising, but yes, your well-known Final Cut Pro X has this powerful feature still overlooked by many people. So, today, we take it on hand and shall share what L-Cuts and J-Cuts mean. You will be able to create it on your own by the end of this article.

Part 1: The Use of L-Cuts and J-Cuts in Video Editing

Ordinary images, text, subtitles, and GIF doesn’t work anymore to get followers or likes on a video on YouTube channel or Instagram. Thus, video creators are tired of trying the same filters, transitions on the video editor tool. To create amazing videos like the ones played on your television and favorite movies, all you need is the split edit type techniques, a powerful editing tool used by professional editors. Although called professional, it isn’t difficult for a beginner if you know J-Cuts and L-Cuts.

They are nothing but the transition between the video and audio at different times and are entirely separate from wipes and fades. Such video editing technique helps in maintaining visual continuity. These super basic cuts are a combination of dialogue and imagery, thus keeping the video flow without a monotonous feeling.

When you look at the above interface, you will see the basic phenomenon behind the two split cuts. In L-Cuts, although the first video ends, the audio continues to clip two as well.

Then, what is a J cut in Final Cut Pro? It is ultimately reverse or opposite of L-Cuts. Yes, the second clip’s audio starts a while before the scene of the first video ends.

Part 2: Step-by-step Guide on Using L-Cuts and J-Cuts in Final Cut Pro X

As Final Cut Pro X comes overloaded with advanced, powerful tools, you can find it a little tricky. Hence, we are here to help you perform the Final Cut Pro L-Cuts in this session. And, yes, the Final Cut Pro J-Cuts as well.

Step 1: Import media files

Once you launch Final Cut Pro X on your Mac device, create a new project by tapping project under the new section of the “File” menu.

You can now import the video file to the workspace by executing “File > Export > Media” or by tapping the “Import Media” option on the welcome screen.

Step 2: Expand audio in video

Now, drag the videos to the timeline in the respective order, and expand or detach the video’s audio on the timeline for easy or precise working.

Step 3: Drag the second video to the left

To create the Final Cut Pro L-Cuts, make sure that the first clip’s edit point or audio fades out at the end.

Finally, drag the second clip’s edit point to the left so that the video gets the audio of the first video.

L-Cuts are now in Final Cut Pro X.

Note: Here, the L-Cuts added video clip has no audio and has related well enough to the first video clip. If the second video has audio, it must be detached first, and then you should drag the edit point.

Step 4: Final Cut Pro J-Cuts

In the case of Final Cut Pro J-Cuts, the process is reverse, where you need to detach the audio of the preceding or following video clip and drag the first video to the right.

When you look at the transition closely, you can see that it resembles the letter J.

Part 3: Final Cut Pro X Keyboard Shortcuts for L-Cuts and J-Cuts

Final Cut Pro X offers specific keyword shorts to perform Final Cut Pro L-Cuts and Final Cut Pro J-Cuts.

1. As the first step, trim the clips shorter to get the media handles. To detach audio from the video clip, you need to press “Ctrl + S” which will expand the audio.

2. Now, move or place the playhead at the endpoint of both the video clips where here are the keyboard shortcuts:

• To shift the playhead to the earlier edit point: press “Semicolon (;) or up arrow key”.
• To move the playhead to the next edit point: press “Apostrophe (‘) or down arrow key”.

3. To choose the audio or the video edit point, you can do one of the following:

• Press “**Shift-Backslash (\)**” to select both sides of the audio endpoint.
• Press “**Backslash (\)**” to pick both sides of the video endpoint.

4. Here is the actual process or the keyboard shortcut that helps accomplish final cut pro-L-cuts or final cut pro-J-cuts by nudging the edit points.

• To nudge or push the edit point to the left or right: press “**Comma (,) or period (.)**”.
• To move the edit point to the left or right with ten frames: press “**Shift-Comma (,) or Sift-Period (.)**”.
• Using timecode to add or subtract the present edit: press the “**Plus (+)” or “Minus (-)**” key with the timecode duration.

Conclusion

Are you wondering and puzzled that you are a popular Final Cut Pro X user but weren’t aware of this powerful split edit tool till now? It isn’t too late for you to start yet. Finally, as assured at the beginning of the article, we gave you detailed information on what are J-Cuts in Final Cut Pro along with L-Cuts. With practical implementation on creating Final Cut Pro L-Cuts and J-Cuts, all the best for your first video project!

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Aug 18, 2022• Proven solutions

If you wish to edit or create videos like a pro, you do not need to be a professional. Instead, be creative, learn new things, and think out of the box. You could draw inspiration from videos and films for their great clips and animations. If you are already familiar with video making, you would know basic editing tasks like trim, crop, transitions, filters, and so on. Ever knew the term J-Cuts, and L-Cuts?

It could be surprising, but yes, your well-known Final Cut Pro X has this powerful feature still overlooked by many people. So, today, we take it on hand and shall share what L-Cuts and J-Cuts mean. You will be able to create it on your own by the end of this article.

Part 1: The Use of L-Cuts and J-Cuts in Video Editing

Ordinary images, text, subtitles, and GIF doesn’t work anymore to get followers or likes on a video on YouTube channel or Instagram. Thus, video creators are tired of trying the same filters, transitions on the video editor tool. To create amazing videos like the ones played on your television and favorite movies, all you need is the split edit type techniques, a powerful editing tool used by professional editors. Although called professional, it isn’t difficult for a beginner if you know J-Cuts and L-Cuts.

They are nothing but the transition between the video and audio at different times and are entirely separate from wipes and fades. Such video editing technique helps in maintaining visual continuity. These super basic cuts are a combination of dialogue and imagery, thus keeping the video flow without a monotonous feeling.

When you look at the above interface, you will see the basic phenomenon behind the two split cuts. In L-Cuts, although the first video ends, the audio continues to clip two as well.

Then, what is a J cut in Final Cut Pro? It is ultimately reverse or opposite of L-Cuts. Yes, the second clip’s audio starts a while before the scene of the first video ends.

Part 2: Step-by-step Guide on Using L-Cuts and J-Cuts in Final Cut Pro X

As Final Cut Pro X comes overloaded with advanced, powerful tools, you can find it a little tricky. Hence, we are here to help you perform the Final Cut Pro L-Cuts in this session. And, yes, the Final Cut Pro J-Cuts as well.

Step 1: Import media files

Once you launch Final Cut Pro X on your Mac device, create a new project by tapping project under the new section of the “File” menu.

You can now import the video file to the workspace by executing “File > Export > Media” or by tapping the “Import Media” option on the welcome screen.

Step 2: Expand audio in video

Now, drag the videos to the timeline in the respective order, and expand or detach the video’s audio on the timeline for easy or precise working.

Step 3: Drag the second video to the left

To create the Final Cut Pro L-Cuts, make sure that the first clip’s edit point or audio fades out at the end.

Finally, drag the second clip’s edit point to the left so that the video gets the audio of the first video.

L-Cuts are now in Final Cut Pro X.

Note: Here, the L-Cuts added video clip has no audio and has related well enough to the first video clip. If the second video has audio, it must be detached first, and then you should drag the edit point.

Step 4: Final Cut Pro J-Cuts

In the case of Final Cut Pro J-Cuts, the process is reverse, where you need to detach the audio of the preceding or following video clip and drag the first video to the right.

When you look at the transition closely, you can see that it resembles the letter J.

Part 3: Final Cut Pro X Keyboard Shortcuts for L-Cuts and J-Cuts

Final Cut Pro X offers specific keyword shorts to perform Final Cut Pro L-Cuts and Final Cut Pro J-Cuts.

1. As the first step, trim the clips shorter to get the media handles. To detach audio from the video clip, you need to press “Ctrl + S” which will expand the audio.

2. Now, move or place the playhead at the endpoint of both the video clips where here are the keyboard shortcuts:

• To shift the playhead to the earlier edit point: press “Semicolon (;) or up arrow key”.
• To move the playhead to the next edit point: press “Apostrophe (‘) or down arrow key”.

3. To choose the audio or the video edit point, you can do one of the following:

• Press “**Shift-Backslash (\)**” to select both sides of the audio endpoint.
• Press “**Backslash (\)**” to pick both sides of the video endpoint.

4. Here is the actual process or the keyboard shortcut that helps accomplish final cut pro-L-cuts or final cut pro-J-cuts by nudging the edit points.

• To nudge or push the edit point to the left or right: press “**Comma (,) or period (.)**”.
• To move the edit point to the left or right with ten frames: press “**Shift-Comma (,) or Sift-Period (.)**”.
• Using timecode to add or subtract the present edit: press the “**Plus (+)” or “Minus (-)**” key with the timecode duration.

Conclusion

Are you wondering and puzzled that you are a popular Final Cut Pro X user but weren’t aware of this powerful split edit tool till now? It isn’t too late for you to start yet. Finally, as assured at the beginning of the article, we gave you detailed information on what are J-Cuts in Final Cut Pro along with L-Cuts. With practical implementation on creating Final Cut Pro L-Cuts and J-Cuts, all the best for your first video project!

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Aug 18, 2022• Proven solutions

If you wish to edit or create videos like a pro, you do not need to be a professional. Instead, be creative, learn new things, and think out of the box. You could draw inspiration from videos and films for their great clips and animations. If you are already familiar with video making, you would know basic editing tasks like trim, crop, transitions, filters, and so on. Ever knew the term J-Cuts, and L-Cuts?

It could be surprising, but yes, your well-known Final Cut Pro X has this powerful feature still overlooked by many people. So, today, we take it on hand and shall share what L-Cuts and J-Cuts mean. You will be able to create it on your own by the end of this article.

Part 1: The Use of L-Cuts and J-Cuts in Video Editing

Ordinary images, text, subtitles, and GIF doesn’t work anymore to get followers or likes on a video on YouTube channel or Instagram. Thus, video creators are tired of trying the same filters, transitions on the video editor tool. To create amazing videos like the ones played on your television and favorite movies, all you need is the split edit type techniques, a powerful editing tool used by professional editors. Although called professional, it isn’t difficult for a beginner if you know J-Cuts and L-Cuts.

They are nothing but the transition between the video and audio at different times and are entirely separate from wipes and fades. Such video editing technique helps in maintaining visual continuity. These super basic cuts are a combination of dialogue and imagery, thus keeping the video flow without a monotonous feeling.

When you look at the above interface, you will see the basic phenomenon behind the two split cuts. In L-Cuts, although the first video ends, the audio continues to clip two as well.

Then, what is a J cut in Final Cut Pro? It is ultimately reverse or opposite of L-Cuts. Yes, the second clip’s audio starts a while before the scene of the first video ends.

Part 2: Step-by-step Guide on Using L-Cuts and J-Cuts in Final Cut Pro X

As Final Cut Pro X comes overloaded with advanced, powerful tools, you can find it a little tricky. Hence, we are here to help you perform the Final Cut Pro L-Cuts in this session. And, yes, the Final Cut Pro J-Cuts as well.

Step 1: Import media files

Once you launch Final Cut Pro X on your Mac device, create a new project by tapping project under the new section of the “File” menu.

You can now import the video file to the workspace by executing “File > Export > Media” or by tapping the “Import Media” option on the welcome screen.

Step 2: Expand audio in video

Now, drag the videos to the timeline in the respective order, and expand or detach the video’s audio on the timeline for easy or precise working.

Step 3: Drag the second video to the left

To create the Final Cut Pro L-Cuts, make sure that the first clip’s edit point or audio fades out at the end.

Finally, drag the second clip’s edit point to the left so that the video gets the audio of the first video.

L-Cuts are now in Final Cut Pro X.

Note: Here, the L-Cuts added video clip has no audio and has related well enough to the first video clip. If the second video has audio, it must be detached first, and then you should drag the edit point.

Step 4: Final Cut Pro J-Cuts

In the case of Final Cut Pro J-Cuts, the process is reverse, where you need to detach the audio of the preceding or following video clip and drag the first video to the right.

When you look at the transition closely, you can see that it resembles the letter J.

Part 3: Final Cut Pro X Keyboard Shortcuts for L-Cuts and J-Cuts

Final Cut Pro X offers specific keyword shorts to perform Final Cut Pro L-Cuts and Final Cut Pro J-Cuts.

1. As the first step, trim the clips shorter to get the media handles. To detach audio from the video clip, you need to press “Ctrl + S” which will expand the audio.

2. Now, move or place the playhead at the endpoint of both the video clips where here are the keyboard shortcuts:

• To shift the playhead to the earlier edit point: press “Semicolon (;) or up arrow key”.
• To move the playhead to the next edit point: press “Apostrophe (‘) or down arrow key”.

3. To choose the audio or the video edit point, you can do one of the following:

• Press “**Shift-Backslash (\)**” to select both sides of the audio endpoint.
• Press “**Backslash (\)**” to pick both sides of the video endpoint.

4. Here is the actual process or the keyboard shortcut that helps accomplish final cut pro-L-cuts or final cut pro-J-cuts by nudging the edit points.

• To nudge or push the edit point to the left or right: press “**Comma (,) or period (.)**”.
• To move the edit point to the left or right with ten frames: press “**Shift-Comma (,) or Sift-Period (.)**”.
• Using timecode to add or subtract the present edit: press the “**Plus (+)” or “Minus (-)**” key with the timecode duration.

Conclusion

Are you wondering and puzzled that you are a popular Final Cut Pro X user but weren’t aware of this powerful split edit tool till now? It isn’t too late for you to start yet. Finally, as assured at the beginning of the article, we gave you detailed information on what are J-Cuts in Final Cut Pro along with L-Cuts. With practical implementation on creating Final Cut Pro L-Cuts and J-Cuts, all the best for your first video project!

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Aug 18, 2022• Proven solutions

If you wish to edit or create videos like a pro, you do not need to be a professional. Instead, be creative, learn new things, and think out of the box. You could draw inspiration from videos and films for their great clips and animations. If you are already familiar with video making, you would know basic editing tasks like trim, crop, transitions, filters, and so on. Ever knew the term J-Cuts, and L-Cuts?

It could be surprising, but yes, your well-known Final Cut Pro X has this powerful feature still overlooked by many people. So, today, we take it on hand and shall share what L-Cuts and J-Cuts mean. You will be able to create it on your own by the end of this article.

Part 1: The Use of L-Cuts and J-Cuts in Video Editing

Ordinary images, text, subtitles, and GIF doesn’t work anymore to get followers or likes on a video on YouTube channel or Instagram. Thus, video creators are tired of trying the same filters, transitions on the video editor tool. To create amazing videos like the ones played on your television and favorite movies, all you need is the split edit type techniques, a powerful editing tool used by professional editors. Although called professional, it isn’t difficult for a beginner if you know J-Cuts and L-Cuts.

They are nothing but the transition between the video and audio at different times and are entirely separate from wipes and fades. Such video editing technique helps in maintaining visual continuity. These super basic cuts are a combination of dialogue and imagery, thus keeping the video flow without a monotonous feeling.

When you look at the above interface, you will see the basic phenomenon behind the two split cuts. In L-Cuts, although the first video ends, the audio continues to clip two as well.

Then, what is a J cut in Final Cut Pro? It is ultimately reverse or opposite of L-Cuts. Yes, the second clip’s audio starts a while before the scene of the first video ends.

Part 2: Step-by-step Guide on Using L-Cuts and J-Cuts in Final Cut Pro X

As Final Cut Pro X comes overloaded with advanced, powerful tools, you can find it a little tricky. Hence, we are here to help you perform the Final Cut Pro L-Cuts in this session. And, yes, the Final Cut Pro J-Cuts as well.

Step 1: Import media files

Once you launch Final Cut Pro X on your Mac device, create a new project by tapping project under the new section of the “File” menu.

You can now import the video file to the workspace by executing “File > Export > Media” or by tapping the “Import Media” option on the welcome screen.

Step 2: Expand audio in video

Now, drag the videos to the timeline in the respective order, and expand or detach the video’s audio on the timeline for easy or precise working.

Step 3: Drag the second video to the left

To create the Final Cut Pro L-Cuts, make sure that the first clip’s edit point or audio fades out at the end.

Finally, drag the second clip’s edit point to the left so that the video gets the audio of the first video.

L-Cuts are now in Final Cut Pro X.

Note: Here, the L-Cuts added video clip has no audio and has related well enough to the first video clip. If the second video has audio, it must be detached first, and then you should drag the edit point.

Step 4: Final Cut Pro J-Cuts

In the case of Final Cut Pro J-Cuts, the process is reverse, where you need to detach the audio of the preceding or following video clip and drag the first video to the right.

When you look at the transition closely, you can see that it resembles the letter J.

Part 3: Final Cut Pro X Keyboard Shortcuts for L-Cuts and J-Cuts

Final Cut Pro X offers specific keyword shorts to perform Final Cut Pro L-Cuts and Final Cut Pro J-Cuts.

1. As the first step, trim the clips shorter to get the media handles. To detach audio from the video clip, you need to press “Ctrl + S” which will expand the audio.

2. Now, move or place the playhead at the endpoint of both the video clips where here are the keyboard shortcuts:

• To shift the playhead to the earlier edit point: press “Semicolon (;) or up arrow key”.
• To move the playhead to the next edit point: press “Apostrophe (‘) or down arrow key”.

3. To choose the audio or the video edit point, you can do one of the following:

• Press “**Shift-Backslash (\)**” to select both sides of the audio endpoint.
• Press “**Backslash (\)**” to pick both sides of the video endpoint.

4. Here is the actual process or the keyboard shortcut that helps accomplish final cut pro-L-cuts or final cut pro-J-cuts by nudging the edit points.

• To nudge or push the edit point to the left or right: press “**Comma (,) or period (.)**”.
• To move the edit point to the left or right with ten frames: press “**Shift-Comma (,) or Sift-Period (.)**”.
• Using timecode to add or subtract the present edit: press the “**Plus (+)” or “Minus (-)**” key with the timecode duration.

Conclusion

Are you wondering and puzzled that you are a popular Final Cut Pro X user but weren’t aware of this powerful split edit tool till now? It isn’t too late for you to start yet. Finally, as assured at the beginning of the article, we gave you detailed information on what are J-Cuts in Final Cut Pro along with L-Cuts. With practical implementation on creating Final Cut Pro L-Cuts and J-Cuts, all the best for your first video project!

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Easy Video Rotation: Tips and Tricks for a Quick Flip

How to Flip Video Quickly and Easily

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

It’s very common that you filmed some amazing portrait or landscape videos but in the wrong direction. This is an error made by many people because not everyone will always think about orientation when filming. Is there an easy way to flip/rotate videos so that you can watch them without turning your head sideways?

What you need is just an ease to use video editor like Wondershare Filmora to flip/rotate your video clips easily and quickly. This application offers a remarkably easy way to flip videos clockwise or anticlockwise, horizontal or vertical. What’s more, this flip software also offers a broad range of video editing features, effects and intro/credits.

In the following, I’ll describe how to flip a video in Windows using this video flip program. If you’re a Mac user, just adopt Wondershare Filmora X for Mac (Latest Filmora version X for Mac) to achieve the same.

First, please download Filmora X for free as per your operating system, and then follow the steps below.

1. Import Your Original Video Clips

After launching Filmora X, click “New Project” to begin. Click “Import” to browse your file folder on computer or drag the video clips directly into the media library.

When you import all of them, click the thumbnails showing in the left pane to preview in the right screen window.

Note that this video editor supports an array of video & audio formats, such as MOV, MP4, AVI, WMV, DV, avchd (MTS, M2TS). And still image files like JPG, BMP, JPEG, PNG. TIFF are all fully compatible.

And then drag your video files from media library to the video Timeline.

Learn the complete list of supported files formats of Filmora X.

2. Flip the Whole Video

Then double click the video in the timeline to access the editing panel. In the window that appears, switch to Video tab and you will find Transform option located on the top.

Click on the Transform to expand the four options including Rotate, Flip, Scale and Position. To get the effect you need, you can adjust the Rotate and Flip settings and check the real-time effect in the previewing window. Though only four buttons available, you can create more options by using them together.

• Rotate: rotate video at any angle by entering the angle value or moving the Rotate slide: rotate 90° clockwise & anti-clockwise, rotate at 180°, rotate 270°, and more
• Flip: Flip video horizontally, i.e. flip video left to right; flip video vertically that is fliping video upside down
• You can combine Rotate and Flip feature to flip video vertically and rotate 90°clockwise or flip video vertically and rotate 90°counterclockwise.

Besides, you can also change the video position and the video scale. This is the step of flips the whole part of the video.

3. Flip Only a Part of the Video

Sometimes, you may just need to flip parts of your video file, e.g. only 1 minute instead of the whole video. In this case, you need to split your video into separate files , and then repeat step 2 to flip them individually.

To do it, just move the playhead to the position you want to split, and click the “Scissors” icon in the menu bar.

Learn more about how to split videos

4 Export Flipped Video

When you’re satisfied with the result, click “Export” in the middle right to save the flipped video. In the pop-up output window that appears, select your wanted format or configured preset for your portable player directly to watch on the go.

You may also want to upload your creation to YouTube or burn to DVD disc for better preservation, just go for it. Finally, click Export to let this video flip program perform the rest.

With the latest Filmora X video editor, you can do more than just flipping video files. For example, you can apply special effects, add background music, create picture-in-picture effect, and more. Try it now!

Check Best Program to Flip Video

---

Conclusion

If you are someone that can’t be bothered to learn a new video editor or someone that doesn’t want to fuss around and just want to get things done, Filmora is designed for you. Known for its lowest learning curve and low price, Filmora can help you to get the job done easily. Try it out with the buttons below to see if it matches your appetite.

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

It’s very common that you filmed some amazing portrait or landscape videos but in the wrong direction. This is an error made by many people because not everyone will always think about orientation when filming. Is there an easy way to flip/rotate videos so that you can watch them without turning your head sideways?

What you need is just an ease to use video editor like Wondershare Filmora to flip/rotate your video clips easily and quickly. This application offers a remarkably easy way to flip videos clockwise or anticlockwise, horizontal or vertical. What’s more, this flip software also offers a broad range of video editing features, effects and intro/credits.

In the following, I’ll describe how to flip a video in Windows using this video flip program. If you’re a Mac user, just adopt Wondershare Filmora X for Mac (Latest Filmora version X for Mac) to achieve the same.

First, please download Filmora X for free as per your operating system, and then follow the steps below.

1. Import Your Original Video Clips

After launching Filmora X, click “New Project” to begin. Click “Import” to browse your file folder on computer or drag the video clips directly into the media library.

When you import all of them, click the thumbnails showing in the left pane to preview in the right screen window.

Note that this video editor supports an array of video & audio formats, such as MOV, MP4, AVI, WMV, DV, avchd (MTS, M2TS). And still image files like JPG, BMP, JPEG, PNG. TIFF are all fully compatible.

And then drag your video files from media library to the video Timeline.

Learn the complete list of supported files formats of Filmora X.

2. Flip the Whole Video

Then double click the video in the timeline to access the editing panel. In the window that appears, switch to Video tab and you will find Transform option located on the top.

Click on the Transform to expand the four options including Rotate, Flip, Scale and Position. To get the effect you need, you can adjust the Rotate and Flip settings and check the real-time effect in the previewing window. Though only four buttons available, you can create more options by using them together.

• Rotate: rotate video at any angle by entering the angle value or moving the Rotate slide: rotate 90° clockwise & anti-clockwise, rotate at 180°, rotate 270°, and more
• Flip: Flip video horizontally, i.e. flip video left to right; flip video vertically that is fliping video upside down
• You can combine Rotate and Flip feature to flip video vertically and rotate 90°clockwise or flip video vertically and rotate 90°counterclockwise.

Besides, you can also change the video position and the video scale. This is the step of flips the whole part of the video.

3. Flip Only a Part of the Video

Sometimes, you may just need to flip parts of your video file, e.g. only 1 minute instead of the whole video. In this case, you need to split your video into separate files , and then repeat step 2 to flip them individually.

To do it, just move the playhead to the position you want to split, and click the “Scissors” icon in the menu bar.

Learn more about how to split videos

4 Export Flipped Video

When you’re satisfied with the result, click “Export” in the middle right to save the flipped video. In the pop-up output window that appears, select your wanted format or configured preset for your portable player directly to watch on the go.

You may also want to upload your creation to YouTube or burn to DVD disc for better preservation, just go for it. Finally, click Export to let this video flip program perform the rest.

With the latest Filmora X video editor, you can do more than just flipping video files. For example, you can apply special effects, add background music, create picture-in-picture effect, and more. Try it now!

Check Best Program to Flip Video

---

Conclusion

If you are someone that can’t be bothered to learn a new video editor or someone that doesn’t want to fuss around and just want to get things done, Filmora is designed for you. Known for its lowest learning curve and low price, Filmora can help you to get the job done easily. Try it out with the buttons below to see if it matches your appetite.

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

It’s very common that you filmed some amazing portrait or landscape videos but in the wrong direction. This is an error made by many people because not everyone will always think about orientation when filming. Is there an easy way to flip/rotate videos so that you can watch them without turning your head sideways?

What you need is just an ease to use video editor like Wondershare Filmora to flip/rotate your video clips easily and quickly. This application offers a remarkably easy way to flip videos clockwise or anticlockwise, horizontal or vertical. What’s more, this flip software also offers a broad range of video editing features, effects and intro/credits.

In the following, I’ll describe how to flip a video in Windows using this video flip program. If you’re a Mac user, just adopt Wondershare Filmora X for Mac (Latest Filmora version X for Mac) to achieve the same.

First, please download Filmora X for free as per your operating system, and then follow the steps below.

1. Import Your Original Video Clips

After launching Filmora X, click “New Project” to begin. Click “Import” to browse your file folder on computer or drag the video clips directly into the media library.

When you import all of them, click the thumbnails showing in the left pane to preview in the right screen window.

Note that this video editor supports an array of video & audio formats, such as MOV, MP4, AVI, WMV, DV, avchd (MTS, M2TS). And still image files like JPG, BMP, JPEG, PNG. TIFF are all fully compatible.

And then drag your video files from media library to the video Timeline.

Learn the complete list of supported files formats of Filmora X.

2. Flip the Whole Video

Then double click the video in the timeline to access the editing panel. In the window that appears, switch to Video tab and you will find Transform option located on the top.

Click on the Transform to expand the four options including Rotate, Flip, Scale and Position. To get the effect you need, you can adjust the Rotate and Flip settings and check the real-time effect in the previewing window. Though only four buttons available, you can create more options by using them together.

• Rotate: rotate video at any angle by entering the angle value or moving the Rotate slide: rotate 90° clockwise & anti-clockwise, rotate at 180°, rotate 270°, and more
• Flip: Flip video horizontally, i.e. flip video left to right; flip video vertically that is fliping video upside down
• You can combine Rotate and Flip feature to flip video vertically and rotate 90°clockwise or flip video vertically and rotate 90°counterclockwise.

Besides, you can also change the video position and the video scale. This is the step of flips the whole part of the video.

3. Flip Only a Part of the Video

Sometimes, you may just need to flip parts of your video file, e.g. only 1 minute instead of the whole video. In this case, you need to split your video into separate files , and then repeat step 2 to flip them individually.

To do it, just move the playhead to the position you want to split, and click the “Scissors” icon in the menu bar.

Learn more about how to split videos

4 Export Flipped Video

When you’re satisfied with the result, click “Export” in the middle right to save the flipped video. In the pop-up output window that appears, select your wanted format or configured preset for your portable player directly to watch on the go.

You may also want to upload your creation to YouTube or burn to DVD disc for better preservation, just go for it. Finally, click Export to let this video flip program perform the rest.

With the latest Filmora X video editor, you can do more than just flipping video files. For example, you can apply special effects, add background music, create picture-in-picture effect, and more. Try it now!

Check Best Program to Flip Video

---

Conclusion

If you are someone that can’t be bothered to learn a new video editor or someone that doesn’t want to fuss around and just want to get things done, Filmora is designed for you. Known for its lowest learning curve and low price, Filmora can help you to get the job done easily. Try it out with the buttons below to see if it matches your appetite.

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

It’s very common that you filmed some amazing portrait or landscape videos but in the wrong direction. This is an error made by many people because not everyone will always think about orientation when filming. Is there an easy way to flip/rotate videos so that you can watch them without turning your head sideways?

What you need is just an ease to use video editor like Wondershare Filmora to flip/rotate your video clips easily and quickly. This application offers a remarkably easy way to flip videos clockwise or anticlockwise, horizontal or vertical. What’s more, this flip software also offers a broad range of video editing features, effects and intro/credits.

In the following, I’ll describe how to flip a video in Windows using this video flip program. If you’re a Mac user, just adopt Wondershare Filmora X for Mac (Latest Filmora version X for Mac) to achieve the same.

First, please download Filmora X for free as per your operating system, and then follow the steps below.

1. Import Your Original Video Clips

After launching Filmora X, click “New Project” to begin. Click “Import” to browse your file folder on computer or drag the video clips directly into the media library.

When you import all of them, click the thumbnails showing in the left pane to preview in the right screen window.

Note that this video editor supports an array of video & audio formats, such as MOV, MP4, AVI, WMV, DV, avchd (MTS, M2TS). And still image files like JPG, BMP, JPEG, PNG. TIFF are all fully compatible.

And then drag your video files from media library to the video Timeline.

Learn the complete list of supported files formats of Filmora X.

2. Flip the Whole Video

Then double click the video in the timeline to access the editing panel. In the window that appears, switch to Video tab and you will find Transform option located on the top.

Click on the Transform to expand the four options including Rotate, Flip, Scale and Position. To get the effect you need, you can adjust the Rotate and Flip settings and check the real-time effect in the previewing window. Though only four buttons available, you can create more options by using them together.

• Rotate: rotate video at any angle by entering the angle value or moving the Rotate slide: rotate 90° clockwise & anti-clockwise, rotate at 180°, rotate 270°, and more
• Flip: Flip video horizontally, i.e. flip video left to right; flip video vertically that is fliping video upside down
• You can combine Rotate and Flip feature to flip video vertically and rotate 90°clockwise or flip video vertically and rotate 90°counterclockwise.

Besides, you can also change the video position and the video scale. This is the step of flips the whole part of the video.

3. Flip Only a Part of the Video

Sometimes, you may just need to flip parts of your video file, e.g. only 1 minute instead of the whole video. In this case, you need to split your video into separate files , and then repeat step 2 to flip them individually.

To do it, just move the playhead to the position you want to split, and click the “Scissors” icon in the menu bar.

Learn more about how to split videos

4 Export Flipped Video

When you’re satisfied with the result, click “Export” in the middle right to save the flipped video. In the pop-up output window that appears, select your wanted format or configured preset for your portable player directly to watch on the go.

You may also want to upload your creation to YouTube or burn to DVD disc for better preservation, just go for it. Finally, click Export to let this video flip program perform the rest.

With the latest Filmora X video editor, you can do more than just flipping video files. For example, you can apply special effects, add background music, create picture-in-picture effect, and more. Try it now!

Check Best Program to Flip Video

---

Conclusion

If you are someone that can’t be bothered to learn a new video editor or someone that doesn’t want to fuss around and just want to get things done, Filmora is designed for you. Known for its lowest learning curve and low price, Filmora can help you to get the job done easily. Try it out with the buttons below to see if it matches your appetite.

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

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