Stack effects in DepCut without overdoing it

Every effect in DepCut is its own bar on the timeline. Put two bars over the same moment and both play, one on top of the other. That gives you a lot of range, and it is also how a clean shot ends up buried under a pile of treatments. This post covers how stacking works and how to keep it under control.

How stacking works

Effects keep their own rows, above the clips on the timeline. Two effects on the same row sit one after another and never overlap. To make two play at the same time, drag one bar onto a different row.

When effects overlap in time, their treatments add together. Color changes combine into one look, and movements such as Shake and Zoom add up. Each effect keeps its own Amount slider in the right panel, so you can balance them against each other.

Row order decides what an effect touches

The top row is the front of the stack. An effect treats the footage and everything on the rows below its own. Elements on rows above it stay clean.

The first effect you add opens a row at the very top, so by default it also treats titles, shapes and stickers beneath it. To keep a title crisp under a Vintage look, drag the title's bar up to a row above the effect's row.

Subtitles are drawn on top of every effect and are never treated, so your captions stay readable whatever you stack beneath them.

Keep it tasteful

• Let one effect do the main job. Choose the one treatment that carries the feeling of the scene, and add a second only when it supports the first.
• Start at the default. A new effect sits at an Amount of 50. If the treatment draws attention to itself, lower it. If you cannot see it, raise it a little.
• Match the effect to the length. Steady treatments such as Film grain and Vignette can run across a whole scene. Effects with motion, such as Shake, Glitch and Flash, work best as short beats on a single moment.
• Place a Flash on the beat. It pops at the start of its bar, so line the start of the bar up with the moment you want to hit.
• Compare often. Click the eye icon on a bar to switch it off, watch the shot, and switch it back on. If the shot looks better without it, delete the bar.

Two stacks to try

1. A warm, slightly rough scene. Place Film grain over a clip. Place Vignette next, and drag its bar onto a second row so the two overlap. Keep both Amounts low so the picture stays natural.
2. An emphasis on a key line. Put a Zoom on the clip where the point lands, and drag the focus puck onto the speaker. Add a Flash whose bar starts at the same moment, set to a low Amount.

Play each stack with the effects off, then on. The best ones feel like part of the shot.

Undo is there when you need it

Press Ctrl+Z, or Cmd+Z on a Mac, to step back from a stack that went too far, and try another arrangement.

Try it

Open a project in DepCut, add one effect to a clip, and add a second only if the shot needs it.