This video tutorial originally appeared in Mac MediaCast episode 3.

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Today I’m going to show you how simple it is to make that Apple-like reflection in Final Cut Pro. I should mention that I decided to do it in episode 1 when I wanted to mix old Standard Definition footage with the new High Definition footage. I didn’t want to stretch the video up and lose quality, so I sat the video on a virtual black background and reflected it, like we were watching a little video screen.

OK here we are in Final Cut Pro. First, edit together the footage that you’d like reflected. I like to place it in the top 2/3rds of the screen. If you’re editing a bunch of similar footage, you can position the first clip, copy it, and then use the incredibly time-saving “Paste Attributes” command, or Option-V on the remaining clips. Then choose “Basic Motion” to paste the position and scale attributes on the following clips.

I like to move the footage up to the third or fourth track so I have a visual representation of the “source” of the reflection.

Select all the footage, click on it, hold down the Shift and Option keys, and drag it 2 tracks below. The option Key copies, while the shift key constrains the motion and keeps you from creating an irritating insert edit.

Go to your first clip and move it down so it’s just below the original clip. The distance you move it will ultimately give the illusion of how far above the black “floor” the clip is floating.

Next, I use a plugin from Boris called BCC DVE that allows you to manipulate your footage in 3D. I adjust the “spin” and “rotate” attributes to 180 degrees, which flips and mirrors the clip. You can do the same thing with Final Cut Pro’s built-in plugin called Basic 3D, found in the Video Filters / Perspective folder. Just adjust the Y and Z values to 180, just like I did in the Boris plugin.

So now we have a clip and its reflection. To make the reflection look a little more real, click the button in the Viewer and choose Render / Custom Gradient. What you need is one that goes from white at the top to black at the bottom. Place the gradient on the track between the original clip and its reflection. Right-Click on it and choose Composite Mode - Multiply. This composites the clip, making anything white transparent and less transparent and the white moves to black, so immediately you can see the reflection fading from visible to invisible on our virtual shiny black floor.

Make any final adjustments to taste, extend the gradient as far as you need to, and then be sure to copy and paste attributes from the first clip of the reflection to all the following clips.

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