Elevating Your Videography with AI Images in Final Cut Pro

Introduction

In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, incorporating AI into videography can dramatically enhance the quality and professionalism of your video projects. Hi everyone, this is Blake Anderson, and I'm a videographer here in Toronto, Ontario. In this blog post, which supplements my YouTube video on the topic, we'll explore the way in which you can enhance your videography with AI images in Final Cut Pro, particularly using Magic Masks, the relatively new feature in Final Cut Pro. Whether you're creating content for a therapy channel, educational presentations, or professional videos, this approach can help you up the production value and make your messages more impactful. By focusing on AI-generated backgrounds and conceptual illustrations, you can create a more professional look to your presentations—ideal for therapists looking to engage clients through visually compelling videos.

Enhancing Videos with AI: Why It Matters for Professional Content

Artificial Intelligence offers endless possibilities for videography. So in this post, I'm going to be covering primarily Midjourney, so that's an AI image program and company that allows you to generate AI images. And I would say it's generally the higher quality in terms of what you can get with AI creation. Programs like Midjourney allow you to generate high-quality AI images, which can add a professional touch to your video's presentation. By leveraging AI, you can conceptualize and illustrate your concepts. So if there's something you want to convey, if you input that into AI, it gives usually a really good image in terms of conveying what you want.

This is especially useful for therapy-related videos, where subtle visuals can help illustrate emotional concepts or therapeutic ideas without overwhelming the viewer. If you really want to up the production value of your videos and you also use AI to generate, typically what I do is a background image. So it's a little more subtle than having it right front and center in terms of using B-roll. But the way I like using AI is to conceptualize and illustrate my concepts, making your content more engaging and memorable. Have you ever struggled to visualize abstract ideas in your videos? This method could be a game-changer for you.

Generating AI Images with Midjourney: From Concept to Creation

Midjourney is a powerful tool for creating AI images. To get started, you'll need a pro subscription, which enables you to generate and customize up to four images simultaneously. When you first open up Midjourney, you can see here I created this nature image. You can create all these types of looks. As you can see, many different examples of images that I created using Midjourney. In terms of just, you just click this Midjourney, you have to get a pro subscription if you want to have access to Midjourney. If you download and access the pro version of Midjourney, you can generate four images at once and then customize it, so it's really helpful. In the journeys, you can customize the look and feel of your images, and then you can download them all at once.

Typically, I would go through, select them, download them, and then get better quality that use Topaz Photo AI. And so Topaz Photo AI basically will allow you to up the resolution. So typically when you're generating AI images, you're not getting the full quality. This allows you to upscale the image so that when you're in Final Cut Pro and in the video, they are very sharp images versus more blurred images. So let's just take an example here. So I'm gonna upload these about seven images, and then what I'll do is I'll just select them all. I'll apply autopilot, and typically you would have a way to see your image. But I think you get the idea that on the right here it shows that it's gonna de-noise, sharpen it, and then upscale it. In upscaling, I can ensure that it's graphics. So that's typically the AI model I'll be using. Once I have all these seven images, click apply autopilot and export the images to a TIF file and save them to my hard drive, and I can add those images to my Final Cut Pro.

For SEO purposes, if you're searching for "Midjourney AI images for videography" or "upscaling AI images with Topaz," this workflow ensures your Final Cut Pro projects stand out with crystal-clear visuals.

Drawing Inspiration from Professional Examples

I'm gonna be taking some inspiration from the Peterson Academy. So that's Jordan Peterson's Academy, where they do a really good job of highlighting quotes and main concepts and definitions. I'm gonna teach you how to do something similar in Final Cut Pro where you generate these images. Typically what I can do and what I'll teach you how to do is using a transcript. You can then, from your transcript of your video, come up with 10 main concepts and image ideas using AI, generate those 10 concepts in terms of image prompts, and then from those image prompts, you can input them into Midjourney.

This technique mirrors how influential platforms like the Peterson Academy emphasize key ideas, making it perfect for therapy videos where you might want to highlight therapeutic quotes or concepts. Imagine transforming your video transcript into visually stunning illustrations—it's a simple yet powerful way to boost viewer retention.

Using Magic Masks in Final Cut Pro: A Detailed Tutorial

Magic Masks in Final Cut Pro are relatively new but highly effective. By dragging a mask onto your video, you can selectively highlight your subject while managing the background. This feature ensures a professional look by allowing layered animations and text integration, similar to techniques used at the Peterson Academy.

In Final Cut Pro, you search for magic. So you first go to masks. So in Final Cut Pro in the effects, you're going to find masks and keying. And then this is a relatively new feature to Final Cut Pro, but basically you just drag drop it onto the video that you'd want to create a mask for, and then using, let's say AI, it's gonna allow you to select the subject. Typically, you're going to have a subject and has to be relatively, the ability for it to tell the difference between the background and the subject. Final Cut 90% of the time, if not higher, does a very good job of selecting the object. So, as you can see here, it's highlighting myself. It's gonna go through each frame and create a mask of my subject so that I can then erase the background.

Practical Application: Layering Backgrounds, Animations, and Quotes

Imagine incorporating AI-generated backgrounds and quotes into your video. First, use Final Cut Pro's Magic Masks to focus on your subject. Then, layer AI images or quotes behind them, utilizing plugins like MotionVFX for dynamic presentations. Aligning these elements can significantly enhance your video's production value.

Tips for Seamless Integration

• Layering and Masking: Create a compound clip with multiple layers, ensuring that one layer has masks applied while others are used for background or text effects. This allows you to convey yourself in front of the image and the quote, giving a really cool professional look.
• Choosing Colors: Consistent color schemes across your projects add uniformity and professionalism. So I typically like going with these colors that I already have for a lot of my projects.
• Quote Integration: Use text plugins to animate quotes behind subjects, amplifying your message while maintaining visual appeal. Similar to the Peterson Academy, it really emphasizes your words and gives a bit more context to what you're saying.
• Advanced Blending: And then here I went up to my mask, and that's the way that I create a nice looking background. At the end, I might select all these layers and then make a compound clip.

What are your favorite ways to integrate AI into your video editing? Share in the comments below—I'd love to hear how this technique works for your videos.

Final Touches: Polishing Your Video for Maximum Impact

Upon integrating AI images and effects, consider adding finishing touches with Magic Bullet Looks and Mojo, particularly sharpening the image. So typically when I'm finishing, I'm gonna add a bit of noise, so some compression proofing and some sharpening, just so that the image looks the best and you're then applying that to all layers.

This, in this post I've walked through how you can add nice looking AI images using Midjourney, and also showed how you can use animated backgrounds as well to allow yourself to stand out as the subject, so your magic, creating a magic mask on the subject, and then you're having the quote and the images suddenly animate behind you as you talk. This way you can emphasize your message. I would say that this is a great way of upping your production value and making your videos look a lot more professional.

Conclusion

Incorporating AI images in your videography workflow using Final Cut Pro and Magic Masks can greatly enhance your videos by adding a layer of professionalism and creativity. By learning to expertly blend these technologies into your projects, you can produce visually engaging content that captivates your audience, similar to the renowned approaches used by influential academies like the Peterson Academy. By following these steps, you can significantly up the production value of your projects, creating visually compelling stories that resonate with your viewers—perfect for therapy websites aiming to connect deeply with clients. If you're ready to take your videography to the next level, try this out and let me know your results! For more tips on "AI-enhanced video production" or "Final Cut Pro tutorials for professionals," stay tuned to my channel.